Inkmeup is Moving

Oh Dear!

So I just realised I still had this blog and I'd better do something with it! As of 16th March 2015 Inkmeup will no longer be it's own shop and shall be joining Feltmeupdesigns on my new shiny website and Etsy store.

All Ink related updates shall be coming from Feltmeupdesigns Blog and new products will be listed in the webshop. The Inkmeup facebook page is staying though as I have followers who aren't interested in seeing millions of felt birds and have expressed a desire to keep receiving their Inky updates via Facebook!

I've realised I can't keep up with so many shops and need to streamline my business. Inkmeup designs have been appearing on Not On The High Street for a little over a year and look quite splendid alongside their felted counterparts! So I am biting the bullet and combining them.

My etsy shop has a sale on to clear some things before I move them all so pop over and have a look, I've made up some rather nice mystery packs of prints and there are some fabulous bargains to be had in the sale!

Thank you everyone who has supported Inkmeup I hope you will continue to do so in our new incarnation!

xx
mel

Neglected Ink

Poor neglected Inky shop! Well my last post was way way back in February and I have had a busy few months. The Felt Menagerie has been super super busy with lots of wedding orders and some new galleries and shops to supply and I haven't had any time to make new inky things or do anything except maintain my shops. 

In fact there was a point in the last few months where John and I discussed just closing down Ink altogether and selling off my supplies and remaining stock. I was just worn out from being a feltmaker my drawing and printing were falling by the way side. Not helped by the lack of energy and the fact that I had only been able to make it to 2 ceramics classes last term. Frankly the whole thing was getting me down until this last couple of weeks where there was a lull in the felty orders and I had a little more time to play... maybe it's just the seasons changing but I have started feeling a bit more energised and inspired.

I have been making these lino plates of nests for ceramics class and printing them on to procelain, I have to wait to fire the ceramics before I take any pictures but I am very very happy with my prints and there should be some paper versions appearing in the shop soon. Also I am drawing again, for some reason I am obsessed with bears... so at the top of this post is my favourite grumpy bear drawing which I will be making into a gocco print soon. 

 It feels very good to be inspired and working again, sometimes us creative types get stuck in a bit of a rut and it takes a while to work thru it. I'm looking forward to a creative summer *:D

xx
mel

Wearable Art!

I have been planning a super secret project recently... secret because generally when I announce my intentions I usually fail to see it thru!
It's an idea I have been working on for a while, a way of making my designs wearable... I can't get a consistently good print with the gocco to do T-shirts or other clothing (good enough for me anyway... blame the perfectionist in me) so I decided to start small with Brooches.
I used my new feather designs which I made specially for this project and sewed them to felt with interfacing between them to strengthen and stiffen the fabric. I wanted to make something quite big so it could be wearable art... but I made some little ones too!
I'll be listing them on etsy very soon, they are all unique and the buttons on them are all collected over the last 10 years from various places. It's nice to be able to use them for something, normally I just hoard them!

New Designs, Feathers and Neglectful Blogging

Oh Dear... It's been a while since my last blog so I should probably fill you in on the last months happening. I haven't had much time for Inky things and have been really busy with my other felty business, Feltmeupdesigns... I booked my first fair, and while some inky things are coming with me it's the Wool Weekend in Harrogate so I can only take a few and the rest needs to be wooly things.
I have managed to make time for a couple of new designs the Little Owl prints you may have already seen in my shops and some new feather designs. I got a new riso fountain pen which has the ink that is required to make gocco screens in it so have been experimenting with that, it's lovely and makes the most beautiful fluid mark... the fibretip pens I have been using are great but they don't quite feel right to draw with when you are used to dip pens.I have also been working on a secret project... secret because I wasn't sure if I would mess it up so I am keeping it quiet for now... let just say it involves sewing... and is quite pretty! I might unveil it later in the week but I want to make a few new things before I do.I have been slowly building up my folksy shop... I'm aiming for 100 items in it by early september and I'm getting there... it involves a lot of going thru stock and listing, which can be painfully slow but very necessary.I'm looking forward to getting this fair out of the way so I can focus on more Ink based projects! I have so many ideas my head may explode!!!

Singing Bird...

Here's a sneak peek at my latest drawing which I plan on turning into a print... it's a wood warbler in full song.These tiny little guys are amazing they weigh less than 1o grams but make a migration from Africa to the UK and Europe every year. I thought he would look great on some vintage music sheets and book pages... I also have some fabric collage ideas but that's a secret project for later in the year!I drew this little chap freehand, the first time in a long time I have trusted my skills and not drawn a pencil outline first, it means that my style is a little freer and more spontaneous... I'm really happy with him!

Print Class Part 2

My print class has finished for the year and I feel a bit sad that it's over... luckily it's starting again in the new year and we will be learning new things... yay!
Being a bit rubbish and totally snowed under with work I only made it to about half the classes this term but I did finally manage to get a handle on repeat lino cuts... not contented to "do something simple to try it out first" as the teacher advised I decided that I really wanted to do a circular pattern. One lino cut which when turned thru 90 degrees would form a circle.
This involved rather more swearing in the registering process than my class mates were comfortable with, the teacher was impressed with my ambition, which I took to mean that I was running before I had learned to walk but then I have never really been one for half measures!
I decided to try a wren on a nest and I am really quite pleased with the result, the print quality isn't amazing but we have been promised a go with the presses next year which should improve that... and I shall be trying it out myself at home with some oil based ink as soon as the festive season is out of the way.
I also made one in blue and brown which is going to be my mum's Christmas gift... it's a shame I couldn't go to all the classes as I now have so many ideas that I think my brain may explode! They will have to wait for the new year tho a the festive shopping rush is in full swing and my inky fingers are being kept very busy wrapping orders!
x
Mel

An Inky Update... Busy Busy Busy!

Inkmeup has been having a hectic couple of weeks so this blog post is a little overdue I am afraid. Last week Inkmeup's very own Doris lavender bag was luck enough to be featured in an Etsy Finds Email... so began a scrabble to best take advantage of the feature with frantic sewing of Doris' galore!
The Doris-a-thon resulted in 12 Doris's all clucking their ways to new homes and several other creatures finding a new home too!My sewing machine has gone into overdrive and as well as a whole Gaggle of Doris lots more Kitties have been made, some with festive red bows I time for the holidays season and while I was scouting around the flat for a place to store stock I cam e across a box full of zip and just had to make some pouches! Available in Doris, Kitty and Wren!


Also my Robin Illustrations and tree decorations hit the shop too... selling 3 before I even had a chance to list them... I really like the Red Breasted Robin, larger decoration but the cheeky robin makes me smile! Robins are also available as notebooks, prints and lavender bags and of course my lino cuts which I am so proud of! There will be Robin cards soon too!
So I am already changing up the gears for a great festive season, I half terrified and half excited... I know this year is going to be huge, not bad for a shop I opened just to pay for my gocco printer!

A New Toy!

About 100 years ago (ok maybe 14 years ago!) I got bought a lovely Bernina Minimatic sewing machine which I loved intensely and took off to uni with me where I punished it by sewing about 10km of various threads to make lots of lacy projects with vanishing fabric... sewing machine held up remarkably under the strain and then proceeded to move house with me 10 times in the next 10 years.I loved my first sewing machine so much... even tho it weighed around the same as me but sadly a few weeks ago it died, living in a damp basement flat for a year and then being stuffed in a storage cupboard for another year has completely rusted the mechanism so it just sits there sulking now!I bagged my self a super bargain to replace it... In my family we rarely have anything new so I thought maybe it's about time I did! I got my lovely new Toyota machine delivered and then was too busy/tired/lazy to use it for 2 weeks! Today I dragged it out, set it up and, after some confusion as to where the lever to drop the foot was, sewed away!I've made a bunch of new lavender bags and made a small dent in my work in progress pile... and have found my new favourite smell! New Sewing Machine Smell... ooo it's lovely and it also sounds so good too!
I'm off to settle down and try and clear my pile of lavender bags to sew now... see you soon!
x
Happy Mel

Sorting Out The Inkery

Out with the old!

Here at the Inkery we can generally expect a certain level of chaos caused by running 2 businesses from 1 small 1 bedroomed flat! I'm generally a hoarder but when I realised the sheer amount of shoe boxes, filled with inky things, under my desk was preventing me from getting close to it I sprang in to action and stumbled down to the sales.

In with the new!

The contents of 8 shoe boxes have now been shifted into a lovely big basket so I can see my inky goodies and will no longer have to open every box to find that Wren lavender bag!


All my teatowels, totes, notebooks and lavender sachets are now wrapped in cellophane bags to keep them clean and gently placed in my lovely basket....

... But I have filled it already so I may need to go get another one now... whoops!

Inkmeup Blog Launch Giveway

Inkmeup has been going strong for 9 months now and it's been a really fun ride so far. Ink has spent a lot of time piggy backing on her big sister shop Feltmeupdesigns and it's time for the baby girl to break free and have her own identity and her own blog!

So to launch said blog what better way then to have a giveaway! The winner gets to chose from a Kingfisher, Owl, Wren, Blue Tit or Chicken Goody bag. I'm offering a prize of 1 notebook, 1 print and one lavender bag and a goody bag with some postcards, mini prints and other bits in, this is a fab prize worth $40.So how do you enter to win this fab prize? There are lots of ways to enter but you MUST do step 1 to get entered.
1. Visit Inkmeup's shop at etsy and then come back here and leave a comment on the blog with your favourite inky item and with a way to reach you if you win (etsy, twitter or folksy username or email address in the format of me(at)myemailaddressdotcom)
2. Follow the blog and leave a comment to say you are following here

3. Tweet the competition and then leave a comment here to say you have tweeted. Copy and paste this link to twitter:
"Win an Inky goody bag from inkmeup @feltmeupdesigns http://inkmeupdesigns.blogspot.com/"
4. Follow Inkmeup on facebook and Leave a comment here to let me know you have followed me.
Competition closes 25th July and winner will be notified and asked to chose their goody bag within 3 days of competition closing

If you can't wait to get some inky goodies how about checking out our Etsy Christmas in July sale at the shop for some lovely bargains. I can't wait to get doing some serious inky bloggage!