New User Friendly Website Shop

Just a quickie to let you know i've been making some changes to my online shop.
Quite a lot of of the feedback from my giveaway survey a couple of months ago pointed towards the shop being a bit confusing due to excessive imagery and it being slow to load.

Therefore i have given it a bit of an overhaul. I've made it more simple visually so you don't go cross eyed. +
There are now thumbnails of each item on the shop sections which you can click on individually to take you to the full size pic of item. This means that its a lot quicker for the shop pages to load. +
I've added a secondary navigation system so rather than going back to the shop menu you can go direct to a different category.

Hope you like the changes.
Please take a quick look and let me know what you think: Go directly there to take a sneaky peek

Made in Newcastle Pop-Up Shop, Gallery & Cafe

A month ago I was asked if I wanted to take part in a collaboration between artists and makers in Newcastle to set up a 6 month pop-up shop, gallery and café in an empty shop space. Of course I said 'YES!' Now the project is well under way and soon to be open to the public.

Here's how it works - we were granted funding from Newcastle City Council to help set up a shop which showcases the work of local makers and designers and offers them a platform to sell from. Designers get the chance to have their work on sale in the shop for no commission in return for contributing time or skills to the project.
There are now around 10-15 people involved so far and its growing.
Take a look at some photos of the shop space here. Its pretty bare at the moment, but the furniture is arriving and believe me there has been some serious charity shopping taking place and some of the display pieces are retrotastically awesome!

The shop will be launched on Sat 10th July and there will be a fashion show, an art jam and a swap as part of the launch, so its going to be 'mint' (as they say in Newcastle). Please visit the blog for more info on the project and check out the flyer (and logo above) which I produced for Made in Newcastle here: www.madeinnewcastle.blogspot.com

Oh yeah and don't forget to join us if you're on Facebook.

Its All Go

This month i’ve have been up to all sorts of things illustrations wise

In early June i completed an illustration commission to produce 4 images of Newcastle Upon Tyne landmarks for the Albatross Backpackers Inn website.

I was asked to do 4 funky modern illustrations of the Angel of the North, the Tyne Bridge, the Sage Gateshead and the Millenium Eye Bridge.
The images are now being used as a skyline for the background of the hostel’s site check them out here: http://www.albatrossnewcastle.co.uk/ Last week i was working with a class of school kids and their teacher Mr Hood at Ravenswood Primary School, to help produce a mural for their garden wall. I was very excited to be offered the opportunity to do this. It’s not something I have done before and I jumped at the chance.

The kids are 10-11 years old and they were all great and so polite. The brief was pretty open and the only requirements for the mural was that it be original and something that the kids could take part in.

I'd been reading the novel 'Wicked' and it was this that inspired me to come up with idea of producing a treasure style map of the garden area, as there is a simple map of 'Oz' at the front of the book. The school have a BIG garden which is kind of split up into different sections, so I asked the kids to come up with fantastical names for each bit. I loved the idea of areas of the garden forever more being referred to by its alternative name. Such as 'Hut of No Return', 'Hunters Cove' and 'The Black Sea' to name a few.

The mural is nearly finished and the photos will be up put on here once its complete.

Now the other thing i've been working on is sooo exciting that i'm going to put it in a separate post so read on...

Whats New?

Hello dear followers. This Sunday is market day and i'll be taking myself and a whole load of stock along with some shiny new items (photos above/below), to the Make and Mend Market.

There will be 20 creative types (including me) along with 2nd hand traders from 12noon - 5pm at the Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle. The venue is in the district of Ouseburn, about 10 mins walk from Newcastle city centre. The bar will be open for drinks and entry is free.

I also now have some of my artwork and pouches in 'Between the Buttons Vintage', a lovely little shop on Vine Lane just off the main high street in Newcastle.
There is also some very exciting news on the horizon...all i'll say is - 'pop up shop'. More info to come.