She believed she could...

...so she tried her damn best!

My first print of 2014 and I'm really proud of it.  Last year myself and my friend Alex over at youdeer.blogspot.com embarked on what we planned to be a 12 month project, but which unfortunately lasted about 3 months - oh the optimism of the new year!  I've started off this year in the same frame of mind, and last January our theme was 'positive quotes', so here I am starting off 2014 with a positive quote.  Quite a fitting quote I feel no?

It was massively inspired by Nicola Rowlands' 'She believed she could so she did' illustration, so thank you Nicola!  This lovely print is going off to all my girlfriends :)  And I couldn't decide on a colour scheme so I printed two, ten of each in a limited edition of 20.

Bespoke Recipe Screenprint

What a lovely commission I've had to work on in the run up to Christmas.  A recipe that is part of family tradition for my client, hand written and illustrated and then screen printed all by myself.  I love it when customers get in touch after being inspired by one of my products, and the outcome is something that is genuine and personal to them.

With this in mind I will soon be offering a 'bespoke screen printed recipe' listing in my Etsy shop.  How does it work?  You purchase the listing, choose a colour and message me the recipe.  Don't worry if you can't figure it out, I will send you a message which you can pick up via your email  just be sure to check your junk mail.  Your print will be in the colour chosen on A3 paper and will be posted out to you after it's been printed - please allow up to 2 weeks for this, in a hard backed envelope for protection.

Interested?  Get started here : www.charlottevallance.etsy.com  Feel free to ask any questions before hand if you are unsure about anything.

Cushions, cushions, cushions!

With the success of last years Amsterdam cushions, I've done a second run.  This time I have opted for a thicker material and gone with a dark, navy blue as well as the bright, peacock blue - a nice contrast I think.

You can get them via my Etsy shop at www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

And as a last minute decision I attempted to print a limited edition of 4 in red (slightly larger in size with an added triangle border).  But unfortunately they haven't all worked out so they won't be going in the shop just yet!

A new book - HURRAH!

This has been a long time in the making...sorry for the delay folks!

As always this book is based on my travels.  I haven't been able to get away properly for a while, so short, sweet and perfect city breaks have taken priority.  Back in June I had a lovely long weekend in Paris with my sister and a friend of ours (met in Melbourne Australia, many years ago!).  It was fantastic as we saw a Parisian's Paris rather than a tourist one - makes a nice change seeing a city with a local.

I'm pleased to say that this book has had a great reception at book fairs and craft markets a like!

Personalised stationary

Front and reverse shown with brown envelope.

One of my lovely clients recently asked me for some personalised stationary.  She was moving house and wanted something she could use as a 'new address' card but also for general note cards.  As I'd recently printed my lavender print fabric, and my brief was 'olive tree', I tried my hand at another screen printed pattern of olive branches.  I then digitally printed on her name and address across the top of the reverse of the cards.  (You can see in the example where I have used my own contact details).

Rather than design a single greeting card/postcard I put together a pattern for bigger sheets and then cut the cards down to the required size.  Because of this not each card is the same, there are variations thanks to where the pattern falls within the cut of each card - each card is quite individual, and over the 50 she ordered, there were quite a few different crops on the pattern.

All boxed up and ready to send.  

These boxes are great for postage and for the client to keep the cards in.

Lavender Sachets

As you saw in this post here, I printed May's screen print 'Lavender'. Creating a 2 colour pattern I printed on both different papers and some fabric too with the idea that I'd make the fabric into lavender sachets.  Well, here I am at that point now!

The first one was made as a gift for a friend and turned out well!  I then opted to make smaller ones - half the size - as the lavender had such a strong sent to it that you don't need mass amounts to make the most of it.

I've sewn various shapes, circles, triangles, rectangles, diamonds etc...and all with a looped ribbon so you can hang them up, or alternatively just have them in a drawer.

Tea towels...Salted Caramel Kisses

I received lots of lovely feedback when I produced this recipe as a screen print.  So much so that I've splashed out and printed it onto tea towels!  So if you've run out of space on the wall, or aren't sure that a friend would want a print, this tea towel offers a nice alternative.  Practical, useful and pretty!

Printed in a dark pinky-red (aka maroon) onto a 48mm x 78mm cotton tea towel, pre washed and ironed, ready for use straight away.  Just £10 plus P&P, and available from my 'Not on the High Street' shop.

This is not an App

Modelled here by the lovely Romilly, she's 6 months and wearing a '6-9 months' size vest.

You may of seen my little range of new baby greeting cards in my 'Etsy' shop here, and they are now proving popular in my brand spanking new 'Not on the High Street' shop as well - hurrah!

I've taken the 'This is not an App' design to a new level and it's now available on baby vests!  Screen printed in one of the set colours, or bespoke - whichever you prefer - onto the size vest to fit the baby.  Whether it's a new born gift or for a baby a few months old, I'm happy to accommodate.

Available in both 'Etsy' and 'Not on the High Street'.  Or get in touch with me directly on here.  Each are £10 + P&P (varies depending on where you live!).

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!

March : Beginning

February, March, January

This months subject of choice is 'Beginning' and was chosen by the lovely Alex.  What a challenge!  The subjects you've seen for January and February were quite open not too vague - whereas this is both!  So much scope for directions and ideas, it was tricky to know where to start.

I put my head down and worked hard on this.  I haven't done that much botanical work and certainly not in screen printing, so I was keen to play on the 'beginning' of Spring.  The plan was to make use of Spring buds, but as my idea formed I could only see it as more of a 'frame' than an actual image.  I then had a good ol' chat to my sister and she suggested the New Zealand fern!  Brilliant.  I then check out my paper and decided I could brave a two colour job that wouldn't jump around as much as previously, and developed the illustration for print from there.

The fern represents new beginnings, new life.  But more than that as I went travelling in New Zealand in 2010, such a gorgeous country, loads of wildlife and stunning scenery.  When you're travelling, there are constantly new beginnings - friendships, trips, experiences - the list goes on.  So this print is to remind us that there is always a new beginning where ever we go.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this piece and the project so far, so spare a moment and leave a comment - thank you!

February : Food

The second instalment of the 12 month collaboration with You, Deer.  Have a look on Alex's blog to see where she's up to with her side.  It's so exciting to see how each of us interprets the theme of the month.  We live in very different places (different time zones and everything) so we really don't swap ideas or take a peak over the others shoulder.  Each piece is completed independently from the other.  This is half the excitement with a project like this.

I really don't do much cooking - it's generally baking for special occasions or helping others cook meals.  The recipe that I have illustrated for February is one that I have done the past two Christmases and it has been such a hit!  If you get a chance to try out this recipe then let me know :-)

I have again used gorgeous handmade paper.  It's heavily textured and in fact has a natural wave the crinkles the edges in a lovely manner.  A little note to self : if printing on similar paper in the future, make it a one colour print!  It was a little hard to interpret where the screen would move the paper to - as it caught when going under the screen.  The result of this is a lovely off bonk print on most of the 10 prints I did.

Do you have a recipe you'd like to see me illustrate?  Leave a comment and let me know :-)

This print is now available in my Etsy shop : www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

January : A Positive Quote

'If you can dream it, you can do it' - Walt Disney

You may of heard me talking on Twitter about a collaborative project with my friend Alex Stokes from You, Deer.  In fact I needed some help getting her attention, which you can read about here!  Well, we're now (well) into February and so far so good.  I have my January designs and my February one is taking shape - really happy with them so far.

For Christmas I was lucky enough to get some lovely handmade papers in all different sizes.  I'm using these for each design.  So January's screen print has only 4 of each design as thats all the sheets I had in that size!

I couldn't decide on which design to do so I did both.  I thought that January was a good month for the topic 'Quotes'.  It sort of links in with New Year resolutions but in perhaps a more supportive way.  The ink is a very dark creamy purple in colour.

Both designs are available to buy in my shop and Alex's will soon be up in hers too.  This collaborative project will be running for 12 months, so that's 12 prints I'll be illustrating and printing.  Every month there will be a chance to win one of them through various social media so sign up for updates or keep your eyes peeled!

These first prints can be found in my Etsy shop now and are just £5.00.  They measure 8.5" x 6" and will look great framed or unframed as the paper is a textured thick stock with it's natural edges.  The paper did jump around a little so your print may not be central on the page - it's all in the fun of screen printing!  Each print will come signed and dated by me and cellophane wrapped, posted with a hard back envelope for protection in the post.  Postage costs £1.50 in the UK £2.50 everywhere else.

Be sure to check out Alex's blog to see her design and you'll be able to get them in her Etsy shop if you'd like to buy one of hers.

Collaboration with You Deer

My friend Alex (You Deer) lives, works and plays over in Oakland, California.  She came to visit last year which was amazing and I miss her a lot.  We wanted to do a project together, one that would help us stay creative throughout the year.  This has led us to develop a 12 month project, a brief a month, a final piece a month and hopefully more creative fun every month.

For myself I'm setting the rule of screen printing.  I do not do enough of this!  I love it, and whilst I doodle and use watercolours a lot, I hardly ever screen print.  So this project is in effect giving me that kick up the bum I need to do more printing.  This in turn means more designs - HURRAH!  Designs for me that is.  So much of last year was spent doing lovely commissions that I felt I didn't get the time to develop and grow my style much.  Untapped Cities gave me a helping hand with this in September 2012 in my watercolour work, as I illustrate every 2 weeks for them, it keeps me fresh and gives me a chance to challenge myself.

So I've started on mine, but I am yet to hear from Alex.  I'll be able to share the whole print when Alex has done her piece too!  Perhaps you can do me a favour and leave her a comment on her blog asking when she is starting her side of our project?  Brilliant, thank you so much!  Oh, and if you do, leave me a comment saying so, or Tweet me and I'll send you a little thank you ;-) deal?


Alex's blog : youdeer.blogspot.co.uk
Alex's shop : www.turnipturnip.etsy.com

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.

It's nearly the 7th Manchester Artist's Book Fair!

Not long to go now - YIKES I best get on with making books so I have something to sell!  Every year I think I should of had time to get up to Manchester so I could screen print a 'Manchester' book.  Yet again, I have not!  However, I will hopefully have one ready of York which is at least in the right direction eh?

Oh and also Lisbon, which is a newbie and an old favourite, my '(Delft) Blue' Amsterdam book will be available too.  I will also have some pocket mirrors, screen prints, limited edition prints of watercolour illustrations and a few cards too.

Gocco Printing

Whilst looking for ideas on workshops to do for my sister's birthday (see my last post here) I put a little shout out on twitter to see if anyone could recommend any or point me in the right direction.  The lovely Vicki of 'Accidental Vix' responded with a Gocco Printing workshop that she had booked onto in a few weeks time.  I was introduced to Vicki through Rob Jelinski and the Sketchbook Project.  And we've kept in touch since, offering feedback and support to each other and others involved in the projects.

This workshop seemed great, so while I offered it up as an option to do with my sister I knew I was going to do it even if she picked a different option!  £40 for a 3 hour workshop, and to come away with a screen that you can use further at home, as well as prints from the workshop and lots of lovely new knowledge about Gocco printing!

Above here you can see Vicki's lovely gocco prints.  She was thoughtful enough to bring along some baby grows to print onto as well as all the paper provided in the class.  I love the introduction of the little hearts sporadically over the surrounding area. 

You can visit Vicki's shop here and follow her on twitter here.  I met Vicki through doing the sketchbook project, and we fast became twitter friends, enjoying our arts and crafts and helping to support and promote each other.

My gocco print wasn't quite as successful.  I'm so used to printing with silkscreen that I didn't quite get it right.  However, I haven't given up yet!  Being able to take the screen home with me and re-use it, I'll be pracitsing to get it perfect.  The design i used was apparently a little tricky, but Xtina who runs the class managed to print it and was glad I'd opted to push the boundaries of gocco printing a bit as she now knows that something like my design is possible, where as before might not of been attempted.

If you'd like to do a Gocco printing workshop you can find the information in Xtina's shop here.

Printmaking and Polaroids

Printmaking and
Polaroids












For the past couple of weekends I have been frantically getting together material for my upcoming exhibition and this has involved two sessions at the East London Printmakers.  Unfortunately last weekend wasn't so successful as my images weren't quite black enough for exposing a screen with (silkscreen printmaking).  So it was really frustrating, but I literally didn't even get one colour printed.  This weekend however, more pressure to get it right!  I went away and got my images improved and came back fighting!  Last weekend I had had my trusty helper and loving boyfriend with me, this weekend, it was just me.

I did it. I printed an edition of 27 two colour MASSIVE Amsterdam silkscreen prints.  You can see how massive in the polaroid where I'm holding it up!

I am so relieved that I managed this small feat.  If I hadn't, it wouldn't of been the end of the world but I would of been a bit disappointed.









HURRAH!


After I had finished up at the printers I headed on over to Brick Lane to meet up with my cousin Tom Wright as he'd just held a Polaroid workshop there that morning (Impossible Project Workshop)...I was a bit late for the workshop, but I did manage to get a few photos taken on my little but chunky Fuji Mini Polaroid and even a few on a 'proper' polaroid camera of Tom's.  I let Tom take my polaroids back to Manchester with him so i'll have to share those with you another time!

Myself & Tom

Me & Lauren

THE Goat

Ahem...I think maybe I need to clean my scanner.