Not on the High Street

I've finally taken the plunge and opened up a 'Not on the High Street' shop!  On it you'll be able to get digital prints of watercolour illustrations, original screen prints, greetings cards, postcards, pocket mirrors and more.  I'm in the process of slowly expanding my product range, so over the coming months I'll be adding tea towels, tote bags and a wider range of pocket mirrors, cards and prints.

A little note to self, if you spend over £30 you'll get free delivery - how nice is that?

                        

My first order - slipped in a few extra 'hello sunshine' stickers!

My first order was for one of my favourite pieces I do - handmade new baby greeting cards - the Beer, Bottle and Wine design has gone down well in my Etsy shop, so it's lovely to know that Not on the High Street are enjoying it too!

Have a look around the shop here ; www.notonthehighstreet.com/charlottevallanceillustrationanddesign

...that's a bit of a mouthful...really should of chosen something shorter!

I'd love to hear what you think of it, and whether you're more inclined to shop on here or in my Etsy shop?

May : Lavender

Another pattern!  I enjoyed working on my last piece and transforming it into a pattern, so this month has also gone down that route!

The lavender print was inspired by lavender sachets - you see them a lot in little European town markets? - But I also have a lovely home made string of them in my wardrobe!  Whilst selling at The Little Fox market in Rickmansworth (May), I was next to the lovely Caroline who, as well as all of her gorgeous soaps, had some dried lavender for sale.  I saw this as a sign and bought some quick, I've been pondering the design ever since.

I've chosen to print onto a loose weave fabric, in natural and a soft grey, and of course a couple of sheets of thick watercolour paper to make notecards.  The material will soon be sewn into lavender sachets which I'll more than likely be giving as gifts for a while, but if you're lucky, you'll be able to snap one up in my online shop.

                

 So happy with how this has turned out!  A lovely little pattern - what do you think?

April : Super

This subject had me stumped for a little while.  The initial thing to spring to mind is 'super heroes' and it's hard to continue thought along a different path once something is stuck in your mind!  However, I did break off from this train of thought and arrived at 'super fruits'.  Super fruits are full of goodness and make you feel super!

I've never branched out into pattern work.  It often doesn't work with what I'm illustrating.  But, this is something I want to try, work at, improve on...therefore 'Super' is my first attempt at pattern work!  Even sticking to fruits that are really similar in colour I've ended up with a 4 colour screen print.

As you can read about in the first post on this project here, I'm using papers I received as presents at Christmas to print onto.  They are lots of different sizes and finishes making each set of prints even more individual.  This month is no different and I've printed onto a lovely handmade, unbleached, super soft, paper.  This one is the largest yet that I've done, so I've also printed onto a couple of sheets of thick watercolour paper as well, these will be cut done to make note cards and smaller prints.

                                           

As you can see in the last photo - the light really catches the pomegranates and cranberries.  This is because I've used a tinted gloss varnish to mimic the glossiness of the real fruit!