ryo takemasa

I spotted the lovely work of japanese illustrator Ryo Takemasa this morning. 

It remind's me a lot of Charley Harper's work. 

Ryo has a brand new shop where you can purchase his work.

And there's a lot more to see over on his website.

fiore magazine

I was very happy to find the second issue of Fiore magazine in my inbox this morning. Flipping through its pretty pages I was inspired at every turn and thinking I really must blog about this. What a surprise and delight then to find my work featured in its Pretty Etsy Shops section! Fiore is brought to you by Rachel Follett of Lovely Clusters fame who has a superb eye for all things beautiful. Make you Monday and prettier place and have a look.

keeping up with inflation

Well, the sales are all finished and I've had a good clear out of the shop. The shelves are looking a little bare, with just twelve prints left after a major purge of my digital collages, but it had to be done. Out with the old and in with the new (coming soon I hope). Regrettably I've had to increase my prices to keep in line with printing and postage costs, but as I haven't increased my prices for nigh on three years now I hope you will forgive me. I do hope you will find a small £1.50 increase to £20.00 still reasonable for a 12x16 high-quality giclee print (around about A3 size). If not, please do tell me... I can only rely on your feedback. I'm also feeling the need to re-brand and re-design my whole look, so stay tuned!

ladies who print

Mary Kate McDevitt

Snowdon

Bunny Pumpkin

I'm taking a short break this week. A few days at my folks house in sunny Lincolnshire while George is away on a last minute business trip in Abu Dhabi. Gives me plenty of time to trawl through reams of inspiration on the internet. Here is a selection of work from three talented lasses who have recently impressed me. Enjoy!

the big january sale

First off I'd like to wish everyone a very happy new year! Welcome 2013!! Goodness, how time flies. Anyone made any resolutions? I can't believe nearly a year has gone by since I was anywhere near what you could describe as active around here. I've kept my shop ticking over, but I haven't had much time to concentrate on it. So I've had a good sort through and think it's high time I dusted off the shelves and had a grand clear out. From the end of January I will no longer be selling my digital collages. They've served me well and been some of my best sellers, but I no longer feel they really relate to what I'm doing anymore, so it's time to say a fond farewell. All my digital collages are now 30% off in the shop, with everything else at 20% off. I'm hoping to start concentrating on producing some new work soon! Oh, and I've also got some potentially exciting projects in the pipeline, but more of that next time.

secretly in love

Very happy to be part of this pretty treasury today...

[ CLICK IMAGE FOR LINKS ]

eva juliet: new work

I was very excited to see this beautiful new range of prints from the very talented Eva Juliet on Etsy today!

Inspired by the Norwegian Rosemaling style...

Pick a number and add your own text...

I shall certainly be saving my pennies for one!

lettuce & yellow bird

A very pretty treasury today from Kasia...

[ CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LINKS ]

unique art

I simply wish I had a spare four hundred bucks for one of these amazing beauties from Spencer Studio.

YOUNG BALLERINA DANCING NEAR WATER

WOMAN WITH CHINOISERIE WALLPAPER

DESERT LANDSCAPE

bright and beautiful

Loving neon pink right now...

[ CLICK IMAGE FOR LINKS ]

new printable calendars: pt2

I had a lot of lovely comments about my new 'Through the Forest' printable calendar yesterday, so thank you all very much. Five of you will receive their free copies very shortly via email! As I mentioned, it was the first of two calendars, so without further ado, let me show you the second one...

It's called 'Pretty Geometry' and as you can see it's quite different in bold black, white and red! The idea is that you can save the patterns and use them for scrapbooking, craft projects, gift tags or anything else that takes your fancy. Why not save the whole lot and use them for this year's Christmas gift wrapping or use them throughout the year for birthdays and other occasions.

washi tape strips from pugly pixel

Any which way, I'd love to hear what you do with them!
If you like your patterns bold and beautiful please leave me a comment below... the first five to comment with their email address will receive a free pdf.

it's a black friday, cyber monday offer

For the whole of the weekend up to midnight PST (Pacific Standard Time) I will be offering all customers to my shop this exclusive free 8x10 festive 'JOY' print with their order. I have created the print especially for this weekend only... it will never be repeated or for sale!

To bag your free high-quality giclee print, first would you kindly follow my blog and like me on Facebook. This is a mere 2-click movement. Then hop on over to Etsy and purchase one or more prints and leave me this message in the 'note to seller' box when you checkout: (you can copy and paste this bit ;)

I saw your lovely JOY print on your blog/Facebook page and had to have one. Please include it with my purchase!

Three prints and over will qualify you for a second free JOY print, plus a 10% discount on the total sale. If you buy three prints and over, please also add the coupon code OLB10 when you checkout. I look forward to seeing you in the store!

a joyful thing

There are some truly wonderful and talented folks out there in Blogland! One such folk is Tif Fussell (aka Dottie Angel) who I must mention today as she is having her Joyful Shop Update over on Etsy. This means throughout the day today, 14 November, she will be posting lots of new beautiful handcrafted lovelies including good old favourites like apron wraps and wall hangings alongside new wares like 'lappity lap blankets' and 'perfectly peachy pinnies'... So grab your purses and give one of her wonderful items a forever home!

feeling better

A big thank you to all of you who commented on my last post and to lovely Emma Lamb! The offending Etsy shop is now virtually empty of all it's stock bar one old camera, so they've received their rap on the knuckles from Etsy. I felt much better today and just got down to cleaning the house and playing lots with my lovely boy...


Despite my shop being closed, I still have to say a big thank you to everyone who treasured me in February... an astounding 56 of you!


I have posted all the treasuries on my new Facebook Page with links to everything.
So, with a new positive swing in my step and a long weekend away to look forward to I hope to be seeing you all again in March!

Etsy store closed!

My Etsy store's been doing pretty good lately... I've been getting loads of attention from various bloggers and websites and been featured in over 50 treasuries in February alone - I even made the front page the other day! And sales were just beginning to pick up again after the new year slump!

It was all going too well. In three days I've received three messages from very peeved customers from the United States asking where their prints are. Apparently there are big delays into the US from Europe and the UK, with some people waiting as long as 2 months for their items. I know this, because I am not the only seller suffering from delayed postage syndrome. But what can I do? I have asked very nicely that they hold on for another week or so. But then what? I have to offer a refund or replace the item. As I have to outsource printing, it works out quite expensive for me. And then today, my printer has informed me that his postage rates are woefully out of date and they have gone through the roof! I have no choice but to raise my prices too!

To cap it all off, there is some little so and so out there on Etsy called Ceeologyy who is selling other people's work as their own. I am one of his victims. My good friend Emma Lamb was kind enough to let me know about it after spotting one of my prints on there. Laura Amiss is another victim. If you are an illustrator please check out their shop to make sure they are not passing your work off as their own too. I wrote a message in the 'report this shop' at the side of the shop, only to receive a message from Etsy telling me off for not reporting the copyright infringement in the correct manner! I had no idea that there was a whole copyright infringement and intellectual property page! And it's all in legalese, which I don't understand!!!

Sadly, I've had to temporarily close my Etsy shop... in a nutshell I'm not having a good day. I really hope to get my postage issues resolved soon and in the meantime, let everyone you know know about Ceeologyy!

Poppytalk Look Book

Wow... what a gorgeous cover was my first thought! The latest lookbook from Poppytalk Handmade is for the current Affordable Art & Home exhibition. Featuring beautiful ceramic vases from one of my favourite Etsy stores, Dahlhaus, this e-book really stands out. So much to enjoy inside as well... why don't you take a peek... (click below)!

Open publication - Free publishing - More vintage

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!!

My little shop has been nominated for The Lovelies! It would mean the world to me to get one of these. Voting ends soon! Please, please vote for me!

Simply hit the Facebook 'like' button! Thank you <3

just in!!

New in the shop today!
typewriter
pheasant

All readers of my blog get 10% off... just add code 'OLB10' in the box at checkout!

monday talent (on a wednesday)

Hem, well I think I shouldn't really be restricting myself to a day if I can't keep it up, should I. Again, I'm late off the mark, but I am really super busy (which I shall explain in another post). Anyway, this week is the turn of Noisedup. Nothing to say except some things sometimes make me say 'holy wow'!!!

le chignon
katherina
jo
chelsea
buns and combs

There's lots more styles to choose from... all very reasonably priced. She does lovely bags and postcards too.

it's a giveaway day!

OK folks! It's time for my very first giveaway!! About bloody time I hear you cry! My all new Etsy shop is up and running and generating interest... so in celebration of this auspicious event I am giving away a free 'Beef Cuts' 9x11 print - a gallery quality Giclée print on heavyweight 180gsm matte paper printed with long-lasting archival inks. It's a thing of beauty of which I am especially proud.


Simply leave a comment below with your name and email address. I will pull a winner out of the hat on Friday 4th February. And as I'm feeling generous today the winner will also receive a one-time 15% discount coupon for my shop!

Good luck!

Giveaway is open until midnight PST. Winner will be notified Saturday 5 February.