Happy New Year to those of you i haven't encountered in blog land over the last couple of weeks, i hope you are feeling refreshed after all the festive fun?!
I had a fantastic family Christmas but now i'm itching to get started on a host of new projects i've got planned for this year... i will tell you more about some of them very soon!
Custom Mug Designs
I love being given the opportunity to work together with a customer on an idea they have for something they'd like made, especially when its a gift for someone special - somehow their enthusiasm rubs off on me and i'm always super inspired and excited by these kind of projects!
Today i'd like to share with you a couple of mug designs i've created over the last few months, both were for talented crafters which added a bit of extra pressure to create something special! They were both very pleased with the results though i'm happy to say :)
Mugs For Men - The Kite Surfer Design
If you've been reading my blog for a while you may remember me showing you this drummer mug which i painted back in August.
Well, a lovely lady called Zoe saw it and asked me if i would create a similarly styled silhouette mug for her husband. She wanted the image to be a kite surfer, with a wrap around design, a splash of colour, and the words 'i'd rather be kite surfing'. This is what i came up with...
The wrap around design makes it a bit difficult to photograph but hopefully you get the idea with these shots. I had so much fun working on this design and i'm super grateful to Zoe for trusting me to do it!
Rainbow Umbrella - Best Friend Mug
Sandhya is a lovely lady who i connected with through Etsy. She has a gorgeous Etsy shop of her own (which i'll be doing a feature on soon so watch this space!) and i was thrilled that she wanted me to design a special Christmas gift for her to give to her best friend.
She wanted something based around the Rihanna song, 'Umbrella', with a rainbow colour scheme, and we put our ideas together to come up with this design.
I love all the bright colours and had so much fun painting it - happily, the recipient of the mug loved it too!
Commission Your Own Custom Design Hand Painted Mug
If you have an idea for a mug design that you'd like my help to bring to life then do get in touch (my email is in the sidebar, or you can contact me through my website, Etsy or other shops) i'm more than happy to chat things over, share my ideas and let you know what is possible!
The price for a large mug is £14/£15 and a regular mug, £12/£13.
Christmas Pressies! A Colourful Pen Roll
I haven't forgotten that i promised to show you some more of the Christmas pressies i made for friends and family. I have to confess that i neglected to photograph most of the things i intended to show you before i gave them as gifts! Such is the way of things during the franticness of pre-Christmas preparations :)
However, i briefly borrowed back this colourful pen roll (complete with a much coveted set of coloured fineliner pens) from the lovely young lady i gave it to, just to get a couple of photos for you!
I'm really pleased with how it turned out (and am sooooooooooo in love with this Michael Miller fabric!) i hope you like it too :)
Handmade Monday
Its time to say thank you for visiting for another week and fly off through cyber space to Handmade Monday to find out all about what my fellow crafty bloggers have been up to... see you next time! x
It's great that the mugs are so personal to the person receiving them, it makes them so much more extra special and a reminder of the giver everytime you have a drink.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) yes, i agree, its lovely to receive a really personal gift - one of the joys of handmade! x
DeleteI love the movement you have achieved with your kite surfer... you can almost here the wind buffeting the kite... fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ros! I'm really glad you like it :) x
DeleteBoth your custom mugs are great. You must have such a steady hand to paint so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI like your pencil roll. I also made one as a Christmas gift, but prefer your fabric to the leopard print I made mine in. But I thought it would appeal to a teenager.
Thank you! I'm glad you like them :)
DeleteLeopard print sounds really fun for a teenager! x
Your mugs are amazing. I can see how the male species may prefer the silhouettes but I like the bright colours.:)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
DeleteYes, i prefer bright colours too, but i also enjoy going out of the comfort zone of my own tastes and trying something new :) x
Love the mugs, may just have to commission a kite surfing mug one of these days, but the recipient is travelling at the moment and not back till later in the year. Will see what happens :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you like them :)
DeleteLet me know any time, i'd love to paint a mug for you x
I wish I drank tea or coffee so I could order myself a mug....they are amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!!
Sarah x
Awww thank you very much Sarah :)
DeleteHappy New Year to you too! x
I love the umbrella mug. The colours are gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! x
DeleteOh my goodness! i'm full of respect for your painting talent. what a steady hand! im really impressed with the neatness of your details. truly professional :)
ReplyDeletelove the umbrella cup - so vibrant and positive, you just cannot not like it. oh, and the pen roll - what a fab creation and great idea on its own. bet all girls would kill for one :)
Awww thank you very much! That's very kind of you to say :)
DeleteI love the bright colours of the umbrella mug too, i was so happy to be asked to do it, it was a very cheery project to work on! x
After all the rain we've had that umbrella mug seems so apt too! Lovely :)
ReplyDeleteHa! That's very true - 2012 was the wettest year on record apparently! x
DeleteYour mugs are lovely and a great idea to have them personalised. Hope you have a good week
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you like them :) x
DeleteI love personalised items and your mugs are really lovely, I'm not surprised that your buyers are delighted with them.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you have done the writing on them :)
Jan x
Thank you very much Jan :) I like personalised items too - both to work on, or give/receive, they always feel that bit more special x
DeleteI love the silhouette mugs (along with all the others). Gorgeous designs and wonderful colours. Have a crafty week.
ReplyDeleteAli x
Thank you very much Ali! xx
DeleteThe mugs are fab-u-lous !!!! You are so talented ! I'll bet the guy who got that kite-surfing mug was simply thrilled! The pen roll is such a cute and simple idea! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteAwww thank you! I'm really glad you like them :) x
DeleteLove those mugs, especially the rainbow colours of the umbrella one!
ReplyDeletethanks Penny! I know you love rainbow colours too :) x
DeleteI absolutely love the kite surfing mug - in particular, I like how sleek your desigs are. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAwww thank you very much! I'm glad you like them :) x
DeleteThey're all gorgeous but I especially love those silhouette mugs, and I have a sneaking suspicion you are only getting started on them - I have visions of you creating many, many more. Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy! Your encouragement means a lot :)
DeleteHappy New Year to you too! x
I love those mugs, you do such beautiful work, you must have an amazingly steady hand. When I did the Sharpie ones (not of your caliber!) I realized how difficult it is to *paint* on a round surface. Made your work even all the more impressive. I like the Kite surfing the best especially since we see them out here at the beach all the time, they are so pretty to watch against the sky.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your kind words Susie :)
DeleteYou're right, painting on a curved surface definitely takes some getting used to!
How lovely to be by the sea and able to watch the surfers, it must be beautiful! x
Gosh, I can't imagine having to handwrite all those words. You must have really steady hand ! I always opt for the 'arty, messy look' where nothing ment to be straight.
ReplyDeletethank you! Yes it is a bit tricky to get things completely straight when writing with a paint brush! x
DeleteOops - I missed Handmade Monday this week and just visited by chance!! Love the rainbow mug... will have a think about who I could get custom mugs made for - I love that idea :-) Simmi xx
ReplyDeleteThere's so much to keep up with in the online crafting world isn't there!
DeleteThank you for your kind words Simmi :) I'd love to work with you on a mug design, just let me know x