Autumn Notecards And A Touch Of Christmas For Handmade Monday

I'm torn in two directions on the creative front at the moment. Christmassy requests are coming in now and i've made my first Christmassy sale of the year this week. I'm starting to feel inspired by all things festive and also have that familiar feeling that i should have started on my Christmas makes a lot earlier...

However, i love Autumn, its my favourite time of year and my passion for the season of 'mists and mellow fruitfulness' means i can't resist spending a little longer celebrating it in my creative work before fully committing to full on Christmasness. The result is that i've been very busy and have a mixed bag to share with you today :)

Autumn Greeting Cards

If you popped by my blog last week you might remember that i had just placed an order for some more greetings cards to be printed. Well, they arrived hot off the press from Moo midweek so i have a selection to show you today.

Autumn In Nature Cards

First is a set of three Autumn themed nature photograph cards (priced £5.25 and available now from my website and Etsy shop).

I had such happy moments capturing these images, i hope they come across as a celebration of the season.

Falling Leaves And Apples Cards

I have also picked a couple of my hand drawn Autumn designs to be printed onto cards - this set of two (priced £3.50 and available on Etsy and my website) features my falling leaves design and Autumn apples design. I love the warmth of the colours against the crisp white, i hope you do too :)

Old Oak Tree Card

This final card isn't specifically Autumn themed but it is nature themed. Its printed with a photograph i took a few weeks ago of a gorgeous old oak tree, full of character (its also available now on Etsy and my website, priced £1.85).

Is it me or does the hollowed out part at the bottom look like it could be a doorway?!  It reminds me of a book i loved as a child called 'The Far Away Tree' - anyone else read that one too? :)

'Carols For Cats' Christmas Cards

Okay, things are getting festive now... If you visited my blog last week you may recall i gave you a sneaky peak at the first of my Christmas card designs, 'Carols For Cats'. I'm really happy with how it looks printed up in card form and have so many more ideas for others i'd like to create if i can find the time from somewhere!

There are two versions of this card. This is the 'all singing all dancing' one...

...and this is a simplified one with more of a clean, fresh feel.

They aren't listed in my shops yet but do contact me if you'd like to put in an early order. They will be sold singly at £1.85 and also in packs of three for £5.25.

Love And Peace Hearts

And finally, in a bid to get organised for the Christmas rush i have been painting some of these pretty ceramic love and peace heart decorations - they were one of my most popular makes last year. Here they are on their way into the oven to bake the porcelain enamel paint hard...

...and here are some all ready for hanging on a tree.

I think they would work well at other times of year too though... what do you think?

They are priced £6.50 (which includes having a personalised message painted on the back) and available now from my website, Etsy shop and other outlets.

Phew! That's it from me for another week, i hope i haven't overloaded you! I wonder if anyone else over at Handmade Monday has gone up a gear for Christmas yet... i'm off to find out :)

Have a wonderful week! x

Dog Mugs And Cat Fabrics For Handmade Monday

Its all about animals this week... I've got some cute kitties coming up but first i want to tell you about a very special doggy project i've been working on recently.

Hand Painted Mug Commission - Digby Dog

As many of you reading this will know its a real privilege to be asked to make something for a fellow crafter, so i was thrilled when Ann of Tickled Pink Crafts asked me to paint a mug for her (many of you will know of Ann's gorgeous bees and other felted creations as she is a Handmade Monday regular but if you don't, i recommend popping by her blog or facebook page to find out more!)

Ann's request was for the image of her super cute giant schnauzer, Digby, to be hand painted on two mugs. I mocked up a digital image which could easily be adjusted until she was happy with the design...

...before painting it onto the mugs.

Its hard to see from the picture but the ears and snout are slightly textured for a 'harier' look!

Here's the design i did for the back.

I'm really happy with how they turned out and what's more important Ann likes them too!

As a dog lover i know what a treasured member of the family they can be so it was a real pleasure to work on this celebration of a very loved doggy :)  (thank you Ann! x)

Cat Fabrics

From canine to feline... This week i've been working on a collection of cat themed fabrics. My black cat mugs have always been a popular item in my shop so i've had in my mind for a while to create some more cat items. I was also contacted recently by a lovely pet product website interested in stocking some of my items which spurred me on to working on this range (doggies will be next :)).

Here's some pictures. I'd be super grateful if you could scan through and let me know your favs in the comments!

Black Cats

Black cat designs have always been popular for me so i started out with these black cat designs.

Colourful Cats

I liked the 'cats in love' image so much that i decided to make it available in a range of colours.

Cats In Love On Green

More Colour Ways Available

And i did the same with the heart paw print design which i though would make a really versatile design for any cat/dog themed project!

Heart Paw Prints On Pink

More Colour Ways Available

Cat Patterns

I had lots of fun turning my colourful cats into patterns too. I'm not sure if these designs are 'modern' or 'retro' or a bit of both!

Pink and Green Retro Cats

Pink and Yellow Retro Cats

Rainbow Cats

Psychedelic Cats! 

More Cats!

These two final designs feature slightly different colours to the rest of the collection. These miaowing cats coordinate with my colourful cats mug.

'Miaow Miaow Miaow'

and these cute kittens feature soft shades perfect for so many kitty themed creations.

Kittens

Its a little hard to make out the details from this image so here's a closeup on my fav 'marmalade' kitten doing just what i feel like doing! :)

If you'd like to more details about anything featured here today, do contact me. You can also find out more about the fabrics over at my Spoonflwer shop - here's a link to the whole 'Cool Cats' collection. They will be for sale in the next couple of weeks - just let me know if you'd like to be notified when they're available.

Thank you for visiting my corner of blogland today, i do hope you'll take a peek at some of the other Handmade Monday blogs too, there's always lots of lovely things to see!

Have a great week x

p.s. I have started knitting.... more on that soon! :)