Welcome to the my blog. My name is Lucy Farfort i'm a freelance illustrator & designer maker. This is where you can find out what i've been up to of late, read my attempts at a decent post & the rantings of a visual addict. Hope you like it. You can contact me to say 'hi' by email on lucy@lucyshappyplace.com
If you would like to take a look at my work (& i would very much like you to) please visit my site:
lucyshappyplace.com

Thursday 24 May 2012

Jetting off

Just a short one to say i'll be off for a little while as we're going to Lake Orta in Italy for a friend's wedding. As we're going all that way we thought hey why not make a holiday of it, so we're staying for 5 nights - whoop whoop :)
Don't feel too jealous though as apparently the weather in England over the next week or so is actually going to be warmer than in the mediterranean! 

I should be back blogging again in a week all being well and in the meantime here is a pretty picture.
I'm sure it's something many of you will be playing with or seeing a lot of this weekend if the weather keeps up. Bye!

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Pleased to meet you. Interview #9 Gingermelon

1. Please tell us your name business name & where you are based.
My name is Shelly and my little business is called Gingermelon.  I live in beautiful British Columbia, Canada with my hubby and two teenage boys.

Woodland Fox PDF Pattern



















2. What do you create and how would you describe your style? 


I design and create felt plush dolls and animals and offer patterns of my creations for those who'd like to make them.  It is my mission to inspire a love of sewing and making things hand made:)

Dainty Darlings pdf Pattern



















3. How did you get into making?

I've always been fascinated with Japanese crafts, especially anything in the style of Anime and Kawaii, and try to convey that sweet, innocent style in my work. 

Flora the Explorer pdf Pattern

4. What is your favourite piece of work or a favourite project you’ve worked on?


I'd have to say that my favourite project so far has been the collection of twelve Fairy Tale Dolls I recently did.  It was quite a challenge, but so worth it in the end!  I'm currently working on a similar project - the International Dolls, and am hoping to have a collection of eight of them. 

Fairy Tale Dolls pdf Patterns - You Choose Two

5. If you could achieve any business goal with your work no matter how fantastical what would you most like to do? 

My ultimate goal is to inspire others to make the leap and see how fun it is to create something hand made.  There is such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment once you've made something from your own hands!

6. Do you have any tips for others who want to set up a creative crafty business?
Not sure how to answer this question...  But I will say that excellent customer service is of utmost importance!  Also, I believe in providing my customers with only the best of what I can do.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist and want everything I create to reflect on that.  Another key tip is to have great pics of your creations!  Keep backgrounds simple and clean and focus on getting a great photo using different angles or layouts.  There are a number of free photo editing sites on the internet that are wonderful for correcting and enhancing your photo's.

Gingermelon Man pdf Pattern, Pattern, Christmas Ornament Pattern, Holiday, Needlecraft, Gingerbread Man 


















Quick fire round.
These questions a just for fun to help us get an idea of the kind of things you like. Pick 1 answer from each of the following. If you don’t fancy either just choose the 1 you most prefer:

1. Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash?
Johnny Cash



2. Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia? 
Harry Potter

3. Lasagne or Moussaka?
Moussaka

4. Knit or sew?
Sew

5. Pen or pencil? Pencil



6. Cut or paste?
Cut

7. Mug or Cup?
Mug

8. Half full or half empty?
Half full :)



9. Mac or PC? 

PC

10. Amy Butler or Cath Kidston
?
Cath Kidston

Pocket Pals - Teddy and Bunny PDF Pattern

If you love Shelly's work as much as i do follow her beautiful GingerMelonDolls blog to keep on top of all her new adventures. You can also follow Shelly on Facebook and on Flickr where you can view lots of gorgeous photos of her makes.
To get your mitts on Gingermelon creations you can visit the shop on either of the following links: Etsy, Luulla, Zibbet or Big Cartel.

A MASSIVE thank you to the lovely Shelly for taking part. I have admired her work for ages and its been an absolute pleasure to feature it on my humble blog.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Digital Artist Commission

In April I was over the moon when Digital Artist Magazine contacted me to do a commission for a piece on textures to feature in this month's issue.
The commission was to do an illustration of the Owl and The Pussycat in their pea green boat which would highlight the use of textures in my work. The feature also includes a detailed step by step tutorial plus tips on how it was produced. 
So here's the now published illustration:



Its now published and you can read all about how i created the piece in issue 33 of the magazine.

Friday 18 May 2012

A beautiful thing

Eeek is that the time already! It appears that i'm a bit late of the mark today with my Friday post, but better late than never as they say.
As you've probably already guessed from the title this is not the usual 'Folksy Friday' post, instead i had to show off a very lovely thing i got through the post from fellow illustrator Katie Chappell.
I was delighted to receive one of Katie's awesome illustrated guides to craft markets in Newcastle and, bonus - I also was sent a fabulous craft fairs printed tote bag for use at said events.






 










Not only is it incredibly informative it really is a beautiful thing. Full of gorgeous illustrations and printed on very nice quality paper so you can carry it around in your bag or pocket and it won't get crushed.
The guide contains some very useful tips and even as a hardened craft market veteran i found out about markets which i had never heard of, so for a craft market newbie this is a flipping Godsend. To boot Katie also sends email updates to customers with any new information about the events i.e venue changes etc. It also comes beautifully packaged like this:
















So if you live in or around Newcastle Upon Toon and you like visiting or taking part in crafty and/or vintage events i urge you get one of these babies and this is where you can: http://www.freewebstore.org/storepage1392453.aspx

 Right i hear its beer o' clock. See ya!

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Pleased to meet you. Interview #8 Kayleigh O'Mara

1. Please tell us your name business name & where you are based.
My name is Kayleigh O'Mara, which I suppose you could say is also the name of my business. I recently moved to London, having lived in Lancashire most of my life and the last couple of years in Leeds.



















2. What do you create and how would you describe your style? 



I create illustrated crafts, mainly brooches, earrings and greetings cards – and hope to eventually be making all types of stationery and soft toys as well. I very recently designed the invitations for my boyfriend's sister's wedding, and was very pleased with the results. So this is another area I'm looking to possibly move into. I would describe my style as simplistic and fun with childlike qualities. I achieve this with basic line drawings and bold digital colour – I've never enjoyed drawing in a realistic way.


 


















3. How did you get into making and do you make a living out of your creations?



I've always loved drawing and making, so my obvious decision was to do an illustration degree. I was taking part in a fair at university, and I'd just been introduced to shrink plastic. So I decided to make a few brooches and to my surprise they sold really quickly. Since then, it's been a great combination of doing something I love and making a bit of pocket money. Unfortunately, It's still just a hobby at the moment – I have a day job in the city which helps pay the bills.












4. What is your favourite piece of work or a favourite project you’ve worked on?



My favourite piece of work to date is a children's book I wrote and illustrated, called This Is Owl. It was 'highly commended' in the Macmillan Book Prize competition in 2009. There's a video of the book on YouTube if you want to see what I'm talking about!


5. If you could achieve any business goal with your work no matter how fantastical what would you most like to do?


I would love to have my own little shop, where I would showcase my work alongside all the creations of my favourite illustrators and crafters.




















6. Do you have any tips for others who want to set up a creative crafty business?


I think the best advice I could give anyone is to establish an online presence. Start with a Folksy or Etsy shop and document your work-in-progress on a blog. You should also use all the social networks to promote your work. The internet is the best tool at our disposal – it's cheap to start-up online, and there's really no limit to what you can achieve. But you have to be prepared to put in lots of hours!



 












Quick fire round.
These questions a just for fun to help us get an idea of the kind of things you like. Pick 1 answer from each of the following. If you don’t fancy either just choose the 1 you most prefer:

1. Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash?
Bob Dylan – but I do love the trumpets on "Ring of Fire"



2. Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia?

If I had to choose, it would be Narnia – because it's got big talking animals in it.



3. Lasagne or Moussaka?
My homemade lasagne



4. Knit or sew?

I can't do either very well – but I'd love to be able to knit myself a jumper.



5. Pen or pencil?

Pen – pencil's too easy to rub out when things go wrong.



6. Cut or paste?
Probably cut. I spend hours cutting out my designs ready for shrinking!



7. Mug or Cup?

Cup to look fancy, but mug for a big old everyday brew.



8. Half full or half empty?

Half empty. I'm a terrible pessimist, but I'm trying to change.



9. Mac or PC? 

Mac all the way! I'm not a PC.



10. Amy Butler or Cath Kidston
?
Cath Kidston



.

To scope out more of Kayleigh's charming little designs get yourself onto her "Oh My' Folksy shop or take a look at the 'O My Illustrations blog' where you can also see Kayleigh's super sweet illustrations.




















Awesome work Kayleigh! Thank you for sharing

Friday 4 May 2012

Folksy Friday - Kitted out


Yippee the May bank holiday weekend is pretty much upon us - not that I have much planned apart from working from home, but i won’t miss out on the opportunity for a lie in.
I’ve a short Folksy Friday for you today then if its okay with you lovely lot, I’ll be having a blog hiatus next week to give me a little extra time to finish some work for this new project I keep whispering about. So there will be no artist interview on Tuesday, but hopefully by the end of the week I’ll be able to announce what this project is all about, depending on how much I manage to get done.

I have the making bug at the moment the only problem is I don’t have any time to make anything as the illustration has taken over, which is a good thing as it means I have ‘paid’ work for once which is a rare and wonderful thing!  So I’ve been compiling a list of things I want/need to make; some bits for the house, clothes for the summer and also wedding decoration stuff which I don’t really need to think about now but I just like planning new makes :)
Fruitless though it may be, to spur on my mood for creating i've chosen to theme this post on craft kits, patterns and all things Folksy related that make you wanna make:


































I had to add this cheeky Etsy find in too because its just too lovely not to mention:

Woodland Stufflings PDF Pattern



















Happy making and enjoy your long weekend if you're luck enough to have Monday off.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Pleased to meet you. Interview #7 Gillian Chapman

1. Please tell us your name, business name & where are you based?
Gillian Chapman is the name I've traded under for the past 35 years, in recent times as a feltmaker, but in the past as an illustrator, writer & children's book designer. I live & work from my home at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight.




















2. What do you create and how would you describe your style?
I make felt and teach the skills in my practical workshops. Using both wet felted fibres & knitted felt I like to think my designs are equally functional and pleasing.


3. How did you get into making and do you make a living out of your creations?
I've always made a living out of what I create. I went to Harrow Art School and trained as an illustrator - this gave me a fantastic grounding. I freelanced up until very recent times when the down-turn in children's publishing affected my work. I had more time for my felt making and this has become my full-time occupation, but I still consider myself an illustrator.

4. What is your favourite piece of work or a favourite project you’ve worked on?
It's always what I'm working on at this moment - although I loved working on Trixy Felts my blog mascot and I'm designing some friends for her for this summer's Open Studios. More about her at :  http://www.gillianchapmanfelts.info/2011/10/introducing-trixy-felts.html




















5. If you could achieve any business goal with your work no matter how fantastical what would you most like to do?
It would be very nice to have one of my children's dual-language picture books published…!




















6. Do you have any tips for others who want to set up a creative crafty business? Listen to advice, it's always well meaning but in the end just be true to yourself.  You can make a creative living out of hard work and persistence, but you also need some luck! Most important - there needs to be quality and a spark of originality in everything you do….. "Things worth while are never quick & easy…" 

















Quick fire round. These questions a just for fun to help us get an idea of the kind of things you like. Pick 1 answer from each of the following. If you don’t fancy either just choose the 1 you most prefer:

1. Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash 
Dylan

2. Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia 
Narnia

3. For meat eaters - Lasagne or Moussaka
Lasagne

4. Knit or sew 
Knit

5. Pen or pencilPencils

6. Cut or paste
Paste

7. Mug or Cup
Mug

8. Half full or half empty
Half full

9. Mac or PC
 
PC

10. Amy Butler or Cath Kidston
Neither I'm afraid!

Gillian's stunningly vibrant felt work can be seen on her blog 'Felting Matters' and her pieces are available for purchase on Folksy. Wow just look at those gorgeous colours!



Thanks Gillian for sharing your gorgeous work with us :)