And the winner is....!

Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in my little competition :-)  I'm so grateful for you all taking the time to enter, it gives me lovely feedback so I can see how I'm doing, it's a bit of fun, and someone comes out a winner!  That lucky lady was Laura Bertinelli!  Congratulations Laura (@la_bertinelli), and as you know your winning prize went into the post just before Christmas so I hope it reaches you soon (and unharmed!).

As I stated in the original post, I chose the winner the lovely old fashioned way of putting everyones names in a hat and picking one out :-)  It was definitely a fun way to do it!

We'll have to wait to hear from Laura to find out what was in her winning package...!

Follow my blog to find out about my next competition/giveaway!  You can also sign up to receive my newsletter which I send out when something interesting has been happening.

Thank you

X

A little something for you!

Hello All!

So since joining Twitter, Facebook and having a Blog, I have entered a fair few competitions, met loads of people (some in real life as well!), enjoyed supporting other illustrators and artists, and I am so grateful for the support that you also give me.

As a little thank you, and as it is the season for giving...for a lucky participant I shall put together a little package of goodies for you to get through the post.  If you have any special requirements then you can let me know but ultimately it will be a surprise!  And yes, I shall post to ANYWHERE!

In order to be chosen you need to leave a comment on this blog post, or tweet to me ( @charlsvallance ) which of the following books is your favourite, and tell me why, as well as why you would like to win!  I shall choose the winner the old fashioned way by putting everyones names in a hat and selecting one :-)

Row of Houses

Wake up and Smell the Coffee

(Delft) Blue

Birds, Boats & Buildings

(THE AMAZING FOLDING BOOK!)

Buildings

Statues of Europe

You have until Sunday 18th December 12noon :-)

Thank you everyone!

X

Wake up and Smell the coffee

This Drypoint printed Artists Book was inspired by my time spent working at Seasons Cafe Deli in Old Amersham, near were I live.  It consists of a front cover, 6 prints of different coffee and a contents page on the back page which tells you of the contents of the different coffees seen in the book.

I've used drypoint printing technique with Chine Colle to attach tissue paper/newspaper to areas of each print.  To do this I apply glue to the tissue and pass it through the press with the print plate when it gets printed.  The whole book is actually on one sheet of paper.  This makes making the book less time consuming, meaning that if you are interested in buying a copy then it works out cheaper than it may of done!  Nice huh?

I made an edition of 12, last year infact, I think it didn't get talked about because I was giving one as a Christmas Present!  However, now you can buy it as a gift too.  It's for sale in my Etsy shop HERE.

Impossible at Rough Trade, Brick Lane

Last Thursday I supported my Cousin Tom of @Un_Frame at Rough Trade just off London's Brick Lane, where himself and Gina were talking with passers by, shoppers and polaroid fanatics alike about the Impossible Project and it's lovely lovely quality that you just can't get with digital cameras.  The Impossible project is all about using polaroid cameras, and one of Tom's loves is using a different film than that intended in a particular camera, or of using old, out of date film.  By doing this, he adds to the unpredictability of the final photo.  Which I quite like as well.  Here are the polaroids I walked away with:  

If you'd like to see/read/hear more about what Tom does you can have a look-see at his blog HERE.  When ever I am with Tom I'm lucky that he randomly takes lovely photos of whats going on, whether it's me at work or whats been going around me.  Do have a look on his facebook page HERE for some more photo updates :-)  Here is a polaroid that he took of me at The Manchester Book Fair this year:

Thank you for reading, are you a fan of polaroid?

Sinterklaas

I always worry a lot about presents.  This stems from the thought and idea that I really want the person receiving the present to love it and not be disappointed.  But also for it not to sit in some cupboard for the next year!

So now I know my boyfriends family better than i did last year, so for Sinterklaas (5th December) we celebrated at their home in Oosterhout, Holland.  There was food, drink, family and presents!  I also felt much more in control this year, as last year I was spoilt rotten and had no former warning...this year I was prepared.

These are the paintings that I did for my Boyfriend's Mum and Dad.  The garden is for his Mum and the Landrover is for his Dad.  I must admit, I think there were a few tears!

Have you made any presents this year?  Leave me a link so I can check them out!