Water-Colour Travel Kit

This is one of my favourite products :)  I'm still testing the water with them and learning as I go along, but the last 2 years have gone down really well so now I'm streamlining the process and hopefully having more available for you guys.

2014 watercolour kits

Initially I made the cases out of fabric I had screen printed with a bike print pattern.  This bag was my first attempt, it was unlined but sturdy, and housed the paints, jar, watercolour postcards and mechanical pencil.

2015 watercolour kits

Last year, they had the same contents, but the material was digitally printed (with a pattern made up of a silkscreen print I'd done) and this time was lined.  HURRAH!  Finally, it is reflecting the amount of time and effort that goes into it.

This year, I'm planning on designing a new pattern/design, continuing to have them lined but I will rethink the shape.  Last year was a struggle with the lining (we won the struggle and they turned out great BTW), so this year I'm going to take the time to master some more sewing conundrums.


You can follow my hashtag on Instagram and Twitter #watercolourtravelkit and see the postcards I paint while I'm out and about or on holiday.  If you have a kit, then use the hashtag to share with me what you've been painting on your travels.


All of last years kits are sold but there are a couple of cases left, in different sizes, if you wanted to snap up something with this fab fabric!

www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

Not just for Valentines Day

Valentines Day.

You either love it or you hate it.

But I'm actually somewhere in between.  

So my 'Valentines' card this year celebrates an action rather than just full on love, which reminds me that love isn't just for a significant other.  It's for friends and family too, where ever they may be.

This was the valentine that I gave to my boyfriend last year, and we went on many adventures together, I'm looking forward to another year of that but feeling the pressure to produce a better card than last year...

 

You can buy this card (A5 and printed on a lovely textured stock) in both my Etsy and Not on the High Street shops, if you fancy exploring with someone you love.  Here are the links to the shops:

www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

www.notonthehighstreet.com/charlottevallanceillustrationanddesign

10 Handmade Holiday Postcards

My family hasn't had a proper big holiday with all of us together in years!  Life I guess has got in the way with each of us doing things with our partners or friends.   This year, we felt the need to change this and booked a big house in Turuc, Turkey for all of us to bring our partners as well.  Never done before, to have all of us for so long under one roof but it was a success and I can see it happening again soon!

Being the illustrator I am, it's always strange for me to not be drawing, painting or printing in my spare time so the idea of a two week holiday away from what I love doing was a bit daunting.  To balance it out, and not put any pressure on myself to work on certain projects or ideas I simply packed up my watercolour travel kit with the idea that I'd paint a few postcards.

It's great because you don't have to bring anything extra back with you - simply pop them in the post to send to friends and family!

I take my watercolour travel kit pretty much everywhere with me.  It's fab, and I add to it or keep it minimal depending on the journey.  I love it so much that I've put together a kit that you can purchase through my online shops - hurrah!  It includes a book of blank watercolour postcards, watercolour travel paints + mini brush, mechanical pencil, jar for your water and all comes in a lovely case sewed by myself and my Mum.  Fab.

You can find this in my Etsy shop : www.charlottevallance.etsy.com


Do you love to send postcards too?  Do you paint your own or seek out lovely ones from local shops?

My Favourites

My partner in crime! Jessica and myself on one of many cafe visits :-)

This year for my holiday I went to California - namely San Francisco - and spent my time relaxing, visiting friends, travelling a bit, but mainly eating and drinking.  There were many, many recommendations of places to get coffee, snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as a lot of 'go here, and order this', instructions from friends - knowing what I like, and they were always spot on.

Here are some snaps of time spent illustrating in cafes and illustrations of the cafes - enjoy!

Spin City

Atlas Cafe

Cha Cha Cha

Bi Rite

Cafe St Jorge

Jane

Have you been to San Francisco?  Any recommendations for me?

30 Days of Creativity

We're well into June now and that means I'm totally stocked up on postcards!  Throughout June I've pledged to 'Create Stuff' that I will be creative everyday in June.  There are no rules, and in fact when I first did this in 2011 I had no structure to my creativeness!  But last year and this year I decided to set myself a little project.  2012 saw me illustrating a building a day in a cute little watercolour Moleskin sketchbook.  This year I'm illustrating a postcard a day!  This falls in line with my personal task of the year-not buying any cards, greeting cards,postcards...none!

Here's a little peak at my progress along the way.  Ill be posting these off to friends and family over the month - but if you'd like one then just shout out,send me your details and ill pop one in the post.  

You'll notice quite a Parisian theme going on with the first week and that's because I was in Paris when I started the project!  Perfect timing as I'm always tempted to buy a million postcards when I'm travelling - this project saved me from doing so!

                                  

Have you pledged to 'Create Stuff' everyday in June too?  Share a link to your progress!

Travel Bunnies

I had the absolute pleasure of painting this commission for a gift from a friend to her sister as a little gift to wish her well on her travels round Thailand.  When younger, the sister had a toy bunny and upon seeing my bunny doodles for the Brown Paper Bunny (aka Jessica Mack) she was inspired to ask me to do a special one.

Are you off on travels?  Or have you been to Thailand?  Share a little story in the comments!

I went to Thailand for a month in 2009.  I had intended on seeing a temple made of beer bottles - recycling to the extreme!  Only I never quite found it, no one knew what I was talking about.  Next time I shall do more research before I go :-) I enjoyed a very relaxed lifestyle and enjoyed the Thai food, even did a cookery lesson.

A travel commission

I can finally share this with you! HURRAH!

My latest client commission has been an amazing piece to work on.  Back in 2009 I went travelling with my sister for a year, and if you look far enough back on this blog, I'm sure there are a few posts on it too!  Before, during and since I went travelling many others have done so as well.  One of which was a friend of a friend who went with her boyfriend and did a similar trip to myself.  As a birthday present for him, she commissioned me to illustrate 16 of their top destinations / experiences.  Amazing no?

Going left to right on each row:

1.  Christ Redeemer

2.  Iguassu Falls

3.  Maccu Picchu

4.  Salt Flats

5.  Bunji Jumping New Zealand

6.  Sky Diving and Pancake Rocks

7.  Patronus Towers

8.  Sydney Harber

9.  Angkor Thom

10.  Federation Square, Melbourne

11.  Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

12.  Lanterns in Hoi Ann, Vietnam

13.  Hong Kong Skyline

14.  Terracotta Army

15.  The Great Wall of China

16.  Tori Red Gates

I absolutely loved working on this, although it has given me seriously itchy feet to jet off to a beach somewhere lovely and exotic.  I'll have to resist for now, and enjoy these pieces instead.

Have you been to any of these amazing places?

Down Your Street : York

YAY I'm back with a new artist book!  It's been over a year since I made one of these.  In the same style as '(Delft) Blue' & 'Down Your Street : Old Amersham' this little book opens out in an accordion fashion to stand open on a shelf, table or mantle.  Folded, it's not even A6 in size and is printed in 2 colours, the perfect treat for yourself or as a gift.

I recently visited York to see my Aunt while she was living up there but also mainly to see all the gorgeous buildings and streets the city has to offer.  It's such a mix of lovely styles and architecture it was hard to know where to look first!

Available in my online shop here for £16.