Next Weekend

I shall be exhibiting work at the following fairs next weekend, get them in your diary for some great Christmas Shopping ideas! Headingley Arts Trail runs both Sat and Sun across various locations in Headingley, Leeds (see The Bowery website for more details) whereas Otley Designer Fair is the Sunday only (13th) 10am - 4pm. Hope to see some friendly faces!

Busy Bee!

So, here are some pictures from the Manchester Artist Book Fair the other week, it was great fun and I met some really lovely people. Sorry for my lack of posts lately, I've got 2 fairs and an exhibition opening next week so things are a little hectic! Hopefully things will calm down soon though! 

Manchester Artists Book Fair...

...is tomorrow (Sat 22nd).
Pop along if you're in town and see our collection of limited edition screened and bound artist books and other printed treats. It's at the Holden Gallery on Cavendish Steet. Will pop some photo's up when I get back tomorrow!

Ilkley Arts Trail

It's currently the Ilkley Arts trail in Ilkley (surprisingly) West Yorkshire. As part of the event I have some work showing at Cakewalk, a fab treasure trove for all things hand made and vintage. If you're around the area and fancy a lovely day out why not pop along and have a look at some of the art and craft on show! The event runs up until the 16th Oct.

How did you spend your Sunday?

I spent mine painting up papers and cutting out new motifs for some new projects I've got up my sleeve. Who cares if it's raining if you've got coloured paper and scalpels to play with! :)

Doodley one colour prints

It's the Ilkley Arts Trail next weekend (the 8th Oct) and I'm exhibiting some pieces as part of it. I ideally need to bust out 4 new prints for Cakewalk to display as well as some of my notebooks and cards. As time is of the essence, think I might give some simple one colour prints a go, just finalising some ideas now - hmm, what do you reckon?

More abstract forest ideas

So, I have a couple of exhibitions and art fairs on the horizon and have had a bit of a panic about the amount of work I've got to do. Need to get at least 6 design ideas for my abstract forest collection, getting there - playing with this owly one today...how many times has he come out to play!? Still a fave though... plus I finalised my print palette - happy days.

Mirrors have arrived!

My new pocket mirrors have arrived. Busy photographing this afternoon, then they'll be up on my etsy site too. They look so cute in the flesh! 

Snapping some product shots today!

Thank goodness the sun is shining today as I'm attempting to photograph some of my products for Etsy and general press purposes. Finding it really hard to make the photos look good - need to practice my photography skills a bit more for sure. Enjoying my capsicum red tea-towel with some beans out of the garden though, but it is making me hungry! 

Sneeky peek!

Been working on an illustration tonight for Amelia's magazine - a little different to my normal stuff but nice to try something I wouldn't normally do!

Abstract forest number 2

This morning has been spent putting together another print for my series of 'abstract forests'. Looking forward to seeing them screen-printed and all together! Maybe next week with a bit of luck.

Notebooks ahoy!

I have been super busy during my Summer vacation from work, making and printing lots of new stock for forthcoming events! Really excited about putting the finishing touches to some new 'Pink Parakeet' items and a rather fun new venture I'm embarking upon - more of that soon!

Today has been spent binding and trimming these little boat print notebooks, whilst munching on copious amounts of coffee and cake! The perfect way to spend a productive afternoon. Just 40 more to go!

Yay a new print!

Finished a little screen print this week - and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Like the thought of having a selection of pattern/abstract prints within my forest theme collection alongside some more 'illustration' prints. Time to fashion a few others to go with it now - happy days!

What to do in a thunderstorm?

I always turn my computer off when there's thunder about - paranoid maybe but I don't want my precious Mac dying on me because of a power serge! There has been plenty of rumblings this afternoon here in Leeds so whilst the skys were going a little crazy I took the time to make up some cards.
These I screen-printed a little while ago but thought they looked a bit drab so have been 'colouring them in'. Now they look like a just doodled card ready to send - perfect for my next craft sale!

Work in progress.

Been cutting out bits of paper today for some simplistic/abstract woodland scenes in contrast to the busy illustrations I started on yesterday. Still a bit of a way to go though. At least I've got my colour palette sorted!

Might these be the colours?!

So hard to know what they'll look like just by seeing them on a computer screen - every monitor makes them look slightly different which is very annoying, much prefer mixing paint in a pot. 

Something bright and cheerful with a touch of autumn is what I think I'm going to go for. Maybe a little bit of changing when I see them together in paint on paper but along these lines - hurrah! 

What a productive day.

Hooray for Mr Fox!

Hmm, which colours? Going to keep tweaking...

Finally Mr Badger comes to life!

After drawing these guys a few weeks ago I've managed to finally get around to making them into print designs - will start screen-printing them tomorrow with a bit of luck - yippee! What do you think - shall I leave the text on or not? 

Tigerprint Competition

Been seriously slack on these competition briefs of late. Just managed to throw together these for the male pattern brief, with 1 hour to spare! Will try and consider my entries a little more next time.

Unseasonable work...

Busy working out some simple xmas ideas for winter 2012 - which seems a little weird as today was lovely and warm. Never-mind, I still enjoy drawing Christmas trees - whatever the season!

Gig poster design

It's been ages since I've done any posters for shows, but here's a little flyer I've just done for a 30th birthday gig. Looking forward to this night of riffs....

Woodland friends

Sorry I've been a bit slack at posting anything new of late - I've been busy though don't you worry! Let me introduce you to some new friends I've been working on as part of a new series of prints/drawings based around woodland creatures. Hope you like them, they make me chortle quite a lot - which is always a good thing in my mind! They're just simple mocked up sketches at the moment so I look forward to letting you see them once they've developed a little bit further.

Little Bubbler

My very lovely and talented friend Jayne has recently set up her Etsy shop packed full of fabulous screen-printed T-shirts and Totes! Expect future collaborations between Little Bubbler and Pink Parakeet - exciting times! Check out Little Bubblers new store here. 

Seaside fun

My newest theme for some prints is going to be the good old British seaside; think beach-huts, deck chairs, sand castles and ice cream! Just in time to get me ready for the Summer sunshine - can't wait. These little huts will definitely be making an appearance!

Wise old owl

A new little repeat featuring some owls I sketched out the other day. These little fellas make me chuckle!

Tweet Tweet!

Pink Parakeet is now on Twitter! Still finding my way around it though ... sure I'll get there, how hard can it be?! Follow me here. 

Everything stops for tea!

It's another Bank Holiday here in the UK today - hurrah! - which, in our house, means lots of drinking tea and relaxing. Which probably has something to do with the fact that this afternoon I seem to be doodling all things tea related. Right, time to put the kettle on again..

Happy days.

I'm so glad it's a bank holiday as it gives me loads of creative time which is brilliant! Busy beavering away at some more summer flowers in pots - can't stop drawing today, must be the sunshine!

Bank Holiday Sunday = garden and doodle time!

It's Bank Holiday Sunday and the weather is glorious. To celebrate I've been sewing seeds in the garden and re-potting my herbs! They don't quite look at pretty as this little illustration but I'm hoping that having drawn them this way they'll have something to aim for once they've grown a little!

Craft fair thank you

The rain just about held off today - yippee! Thank you to those who popped down and everyones lovely comments. Here's to the next one!

Craft Fair Today!

Anyone in Leeds today can come and visit me at the Arts Mix Craft Fair on Albion Street in the City Centre - 11-5. I'll be posting piccies later on, would be great to see you!

Love your garden

Some new ideas I'm working on for prints and tea towel designs. I love my little garden, can't wait to get everything planted up ready for the summer sunshine!

Craft fair prep

I've got a stall next Sat at one of the Art Mix craft markets here in Leeds so this week will be a frenzied rush around to get everything printed/sewn/packaged etc. Screen-printed notebooks (inspired by knitting patterns) all printed and bound this weekend though, so things are looking up. Just cards, tote bags, bunting, tea towels to go - hmm, not much then. 

If you're in Leeds next Sat drop by and say hello, the fair is on Albion Street (opposite Urban Outfitters) 10-5pm. 

Papercut Shanghai project

A little while ago I was asked to produce a papercut piece as a wedding gift for a bride to give to her husband to be. It's taken quite a while to plan out what was going where and this week I've been beavering away cutting it all out. My finger is about to drop off! Here are a couple of 'in progress' shots and I'm hoping to get the rest of it cut out within the next week ideally. I'm excited to see it all finished! Hope they like it.

Little boats

I've been having lots of fun doing some work for my new UK based gift/homewares agent today - here's a sneaky peak!

Friday night is doodle night!

Can't stop drawing owls - they're too cute!

To dry for

It's the deadline for the 'To Dry For' competition tomorrow, I meant to draw some fab new illustration for it but haven't had the time and everything I have drawn this evening is totally rubbish. Having a full time job really puts the pressure on in terms of time for night time doodlings! Where does the time go? Anyway as a result I'm just going to tweak this comedy guy into a new design - he might have been doing the rounds for a while now but he still makes me chuckle. I hope it comes out ok, fingers crossed! 

New cards and more owls.

Hopefully finishing drawing/printing my latest range of greeting cards over the weekend/next week. Just in time for my next craft fair at the end of April... more news on that to follow!

New stuff

Thank you to all my wonderful followers - I've now reached 100 - thank you all so much! Some new little illustrations on the way - and some tea-towel designs coming soon too - how exciting!

Thank you!

To everyone who came to see us at the Artists Book Fair this weekend. We had a blast and met such a lot of lovely people. Can't wait 'till next year!