Peterley Manor Farm Christmas Market

My first time at this lovely market but not my first time at the Farm!  You will recognise it from previous posts on my design work for the Wild Strawberry Cafe that they have in the Yurt there, and my on going work with them (pictures shared via instagram as well!).  The market was such a success last year that they opened up some extra space so that it was bigger and better than last year, and offered more and variations on what shoppers would of experienced last year as well.

I was next to some lovely stall holders and also was lucky enough to meet some online friends - love it when that happens!  We were there till around 4pm both Saturday and Sunday, which, with the light fading fast and early was just perfect to get a nice glow from the fairy lights before packing up.

The Wild Strawberry Cafe strayed from it's home in the Yurt to bring us mulled wine, coffee, tea and baked goods - all the yumminess!  The Christmas cards I designed for the Farm Shop also made their debut which was lovely to see, they looked so cute all tied up with string in their packs.

I had a few enquiries for house portraits (which are my favourite!) so I went home a super happy girl.  Thank you for having us all Peterley Manor Farm!

www.peterleymanorfarm.co.uk

This year the market was on the 28th and 29th of November, so keep an eye out in 2016 for similar dates!  Or check the above link to sign up to the newsletter from Peterley Manor Farm.

Pet Portraits for Christmas

I was asked by an extended family member to illustrate their Mum's French Bulldog for them to gift to her at Christmas - what a lovely present!  I didn't share too many photos of this in progress as I didn't want their Mum seeing anything she might recognise.

So meet Dave, the French Bulldog.  Isn't he handsome?  Get in touch if you'd like me to illustrate your pet for you or a loved one.

Holidays are coming!

All 4 designs together

Christmas is creeping up on us faster than ever, and I'm ready for it!  Well, in the sense that I've illustrated 4 beautiful new cards for you to send off to friends and family (I haven't done my Christmas shopping yet don't worry!).

Available individually or in packs of 4, you can find them on both Etsy and Not on the High Street and I'm posting worldwide on both.  Please remember that posting overseas can take remarkably longer (15 days) but I shall do my best to post them out asap once I have your order.

www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

www.notonthehighstreet.com/charlottevallanceillustrationanddesign

£2.50 per card + p&p
or
£8.50 per pack of 4 + p&p

Homemade Christmas Presents

I love giving gifts, creating gifts, and of course receiving gifts!

Christmas is for me a lot about family.  I care about getting the right presents for them.  I don't buy something for the sake of giving a present!  In fact, people I love will often get a present from me when it's not Christmas, their birthday, or some other present giving occasion, just because I have seen something perfect for them, or that perhaps made me think of them.

This year I have tried to buy handmade, or make my own.  Twitter, Facebook, various Blogs, craft fairs and Etsy have over the year given me endless inspiration.  I use the 'Add to favourite items' on Etsy to remind myself of gifts for people, and the 'Add shop to favourites' to bookmark shops by friends, inspirational shops and suppliers.  All this has helped me track down the perfect gifts for my friends and family!

1. Lolly print by Sean Mort via HelloDODO

My sister spyed this gorgeous print at The Renegade Craft Fair earlier in the year and fell in love with it.  But with a small budget and small flat she couldn't justify buying it.  She's now moved to a slightly bigger flat, so what a perfect present!  HelloDODO had written up a blog post here about the fair and I was able to buy the print via Sean's website. Perfect.

 

2. Jewellery by Wear Me Out @ The Handmade Makers Market in Oxford

The Handmade Makers Market was in fact my first 'real' craft fair - HURRAH! You can read about the day here.  Myself and Chloe seemed to have a mutual love of each others crafts.  My sister declared she loved everything, so I selected a matching necklace and set of earrings for her main Christmas present.  'Wear me Out' jewellery is made to be worn everyday - none of that keeping it for best malarky!  With that in mind I chose something I knew would go with everything and was suitable for work too - she's got no excuse!

3. Tote bags inspired by a conversation with Anna Jane Searle on Twitter

I've followed Anna for quite a while now on Twitter and love her jewellery in her Etsy shop.  She also has a gorgeous illustration style that is clearly well liked as she's had issues recently with people stealing her designs for t-shirts!  We were having a chat about this and the outcome was that I should try out some designs of mine on tote bags :-) and I am so glad I did!  I did 4 tote bags for some of the ladies in my life (Mum, sisters, friends) instead of gift bags - they pretty much cost the same!  As well as this I put some of my Untapped Cities building illustrations onto some for the craft fairs I did and had a great reaction, which was ace.  So Anna, thank you so much for the inspiration!

4. Handmade soap.  Kit bought from Soap Basics

I can't quite remember how I came up with this idea...but it went down really well.  I got a mix of clear and opaque, green and purple, pumice powder and poppy seeds, grapefruit scent and see breeze scent.  Wrapped each in waxed paper and hand wrote a nice label for each :-) I only got a standard rectangle shaped soap mould, but there was a little gem mould in it too!  So cute!  So I was able to do a bag of mini soaps for a friend of mine who is 8, she loved them.



5. Felt iPhone case with felt sourced from Piglet's Pincushion

I had intended on buying one of these from a shop on Etsy but after postage and tax were added, it was just a bit much for a present I wasn't sure would be used or not.  I then came across a tutorial (here!) and decided it must be fate as I had some felt already from a previous project, and got to work!  It was loved, and I think he does actually use it :-)

 

6. Knitting wool bowl by Little Wren Pottery

Browsing Etsy I came across Victoria Baker's lovely shop and thought that these bowls were such a great idea, I knew my Mum would love it too!  I didn't think that my Mum would particularly like the snail design but liked the garden theme so I got in touch with Victoria to make me one with a leaf design instead and the text 'Just keep knitting' round the side.  She was very easy to talk to and happy to do a leaf design for me.  I ended up getting two, one for my Mum and one for a friend :-) Gorgeous bowls, so lovely, and my Mum was amazed.

7. Cross stitch iPhone case by Miso Funky @ Renegade Craft Fair

Another one for my Mum.  She really is into her knitting and cross stitch!  I thought this was a great present, and will certainly get people's attention when she finishes it!  Looking on their website there are more designs and objects to cross-stitch too :-)

8. T-shirt by Tim Easley

I've followed Tim on Twitter for ages and love his selling blurb!  Makes me laugh out loud the things he comes up with to give you a reason to buy a magnet/tote bag/t-shirt/print - it's great!  When I saw this design, I knew my boyfriend would love it - he's a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory series.  The t-shirt came with other goodies too (which I kept for myself :-p ) and is a lovely quality.

9. Ship in a bottle screen print by HelloDODO

Two friends of mine love boats, sailing, and travelling in general and this print just seemed perfect for them.  Such lovely colours, the yellow I think is a great contrast with the blue.  It's going to look fab in their new house too.


So.  Did you go handmade this year too?  What did you make/buy?

Independent Retail shopping crawl and map

The first weekend in December 2012 boasted the first 'Indie retail shopping crawl' for Old Amersham.  This meant that the independent retail shops in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, UK got together and produced a map.  On the allocated days you then took your map (available in all participating shops) with you and collected a stamp from each on your map.  You didn't have to buy anything, just to simply go in and ask for a stamp.  Of course I stopped for a chat in most shops and it took me about half a day but theoretically you could probably do it in half an hour.

This lovely little map really opened my eyes.  I discovered shops I didn't know were there, bumped into friends and enjoyed a lovely breakfast out.  I booked appointments and got some Christmas presents sorted.  This is a great event to do with friends or family and is a lovely day/half a day out!

And as a bonus, if you completed the map and got all of your stamps, hand over your map to a participating shop and you're entered into a prize draw to win a hamper of goodies which features something from all the shops involved.  Absolutely amazing!

If you missed out, not to worry!  The shopping crawl will be back to Old Amersham again in 2013.  Keep an eye out on here for updates and in local BUCKS and HERTS magazines and papers.  You can see here about how I first got involved in this project.

The illustrations used in the map of the shops in Old Amersham were also used on Christmas cards.  If you'd like to pre-order then please get in touch by leaving a comment below or emailing charlotte_vallance(at)hotmail.com

Berkhamsted Craft Market

My second craft market!

Unfortunately I barely got any photos, the market was a short one from 10-2pm on Sunday 16th December in the lovely Berkhamsted.  We kept nice and warm in the Town Hall (right above Carluccio's if you were wondering!) and it was lovely meeting some more local arty people and to see what people have been up to.  I had a great big table to fill which almost over-whelmed me, but once i figured that the table cloth still fit, I draped my new tote bags over the front and hey presto, it was filled up pretty quickly!

The market wasn't as busy as I had expected, I put this down to the people of Berkhamsted being very organised with their Christmas shopping - not to worry I shall be back earlier next time.  HA!

If you missed out on this local (Herts & Bucks) Art and Craft Market and would like something you've seen in my shop, please get in touch as I can always arrange for you to collect your goodies rather than pay for postage.

It's getting Christmassy!

This year has been all about me illustrating buildings more.  I love to draw buildings, street views, aspects of cities, etc and really felt the need to get this into my work more.  Through Untapped Cities this has really become possible towards the end of this year and continues on into next year hopefully!  In June I participated in the '30 Days of creativity' challenge and illustrated a building everyday in June.

 

I think that my Christmas cards this year, continue on in this fashion and show Christmassy shop fronts from all different kinds of shops.  I used watercolour to illustrate and then put them together digitally to bring together a collection of 5 designs.

I'm really happy with them - and I'd love to know what you think.

You can see last years cards here and you can buy both (while stocks last) in my online shop here.  If you can't see them in the shop please leave me a message with your details and I'll organise your order for you.

Thank you!

X

I'll be at this lovely market selling my illustrations and various goodies as well!  If you're after something in particular then let me know and I'll have it ready for you to collect on the day.

Apart from the books I plan on taking everything I have available in my Etsy shop:

www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THIS NOW!

Thank you

Thank you friends and family for a lovely Christmas!

Last year I went for the classic round swirly lollypop and this year we have the Christmas tree edition!  It always inspires me at Christmas dinner to see these lollies staring at me, waiting for me to finish my dinner.  Yes thats right, they are sat in the middle of the table looking lovely, the whole time!  So, of course, come thank you card writing, they are all I can think about!  I thought I'd share my process of the watercolour with you all.  It's different to normal you see.  I have not used any black fine liner, or fine liner of any colour for that matter.  And for once, I have taken the time to do layers of colour!  It was slowly built up over a day, very patiently I might add, to give it a deeper, vibrant colour.

Enjoy!

X

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!

The Red Gallery aka Material

My lovely little '(Delft) Blue' Amsterdam book has made it into a shop - HURRAH!  Lucy, from The Red Gallery spotted it at The Whitechapel Gallery, London Art Book Fair and got in touch to sell it at both their London shop and their Ludlow shop too.  I am so excited about this!  I got to the shop quite late so the photos are a bit dark, but you can see what a nice space they have and all the other great books and artwork they have for sale by various artists.

You can find The Red Gallery @ 1-3 Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3DT

And the Ludlow shop @ 131 Corve Street, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 2PG

Alternatively you can have a browse on their website: www.materialmaterial.com

The Amsterdam book has had the pleasure of being in this shop a month or so now, it looks like it's made itself at home nicely.  This week I dropped off a few of my 'Down Your Street - Old Amersham' books as well as a selection of my Christmas cards for some lucky Londoners!

All of these are also available in my Etsy shop if you can't make it to The Red Gallery or are not local, which you can find at www.etsy.com/charlottevallance


Thank you for reading,

X

Down Your Street

 

Ive recently been working on a sketchbook project (see tab at the top of the blog) 'Down your street' and these are Christmas-a-fied sketches from that in Drypoint using Chine Colle.

They came out pretty well, I'm pleased with how the Christmas trees look.

Thank you!

A massive thank you to everyone who made my Christmas! Love you all xxx

21/12/08

The question that came up today was, 'Where do all of our letters to Santa go?'.  I told my friend that I wasn't too worried because I always sent mine up the chimney like you're supposed to!  She'd been posting them through the letter box so was slightly worried/intrigued about where they might of got to!