Peruse the wares.

I have been a bit absent over the last week, just seems time got away from me. Don't think that I was particularly busy but it was one of those very draining work weeks. Anyway, we played Record Store day at Head Records in Belfast and it was a really great experience. The frozen yogurt at the end of the day made it all the more sweeter.
Everything is shaping up for our single launch music-wise but I am still getting the merch together for it. As a person of practicality (sort of), I think that a two song single in cd format is not that viable so I have designed some other things to sell. They will come with a download code so you get something more with your purchase. Of Montreal did it with their Skeletal Lamping album and everything for it was well designed. They had these awesome wall decals which are currently displayed in my living room. It certainly inspired me in this whole process.
What I have planned is not really out of the ordinary, the badge packs that I mentioned and some tote bags but I am hoping to have t-shirts done in time. I am going to do lino printing because the designs are simple enough and it is going to work out a lot cheaper. Although I will probably pay with blood considering my clumsiness combined with carving awkward linoleum. I don't have to best tools either so it should be interesting nonetheless. 

 

I only have the designs for you today as far as the tote and the shirt go. The font will most definitely be changed as it won't lend well to the print process. The font needs to be bigger and I have an idea for the shirt but not sure where to put it on the tote bag. I like the small type on the bag so the arrow stands out. The feathers on the arrow will be embroidered so I am really excited to see everything completed...although there will be a lot of hours (and hissy fits) put in to it. Should be a great couple of days ahead of me but I feel bad for anyone around me.

The badge packs turned out really great. I love them and hope that people really respond to them. The square badges are pretty excited on their own.
That is all for today, should have some more things coming up later in the week!

Funday Evening...

End of the week, I am really glad that the good weather is coming back. Hopefully we get more of a summer here then usual. I shall leave you with a few pictures telling the tale of my weekend. It was a friend's birthday on Saturday so I made some Butter Tart Squares to bring to the gathering.  They were very delicious! I used this recipe but just used pecans instead of raisins and walnuts. They were definitely a hit. I don't think that I was completely aware that they were a Canadian treat but it is nice to introduce my friends here in Belfast to delights from the homeland.

Also, went ahead and painted my keyboard stand. I am not totally confident that I like the colour. It is kind of a toned down raspberry but the picture makes it look kind of barn red. I like the pale green on my bandmate's stand, it is total paint envy. It will most likely look less harsh on stage so I trying not to be to finicky about it.

I will leave you with my cat Quincy, you can see my ghostly reflection in the corner. It is a nice face to see when I come home from work.

Peace out!

World of more craft.

Today I present a bunting flag that I made for my band. This bad boy took me close to two years from idea to finished product. There is a lot of detail and all of the appliqués are hand sewn which is definitely the main reason that it took me so long. There was some much needed time away from all that sewing that lengthened the process. Eventually I invested in a sewing machine so I was able to finish and cross it off my growing list of incomplete projects.

When I came up with the idea for this, it started off for a different project and when Morning Claws started up I felt it was the right time to bring it back to light.  Seems like bunting is everywhere these days, when I started it I hadn’t really seen bunting flags around but then I started planning my wedding and the stuff is everywhere wedding blog-wise. I still love the look of it and bunting is definitely an easy way to add some charm so I’ll keep it around…until I buy into another fad.

So I tea stained the main fabric which was pretty easy, not too sure that there is  a more complex process such as buy finest teas, leave in a dark cupboard and heat set. If there is then I am completely unaware. We had a load of terrible store brand tea that I would rather do without tea then drink so it at least provided one last noble service of dying the fabric.  I just left it in a large bowl of boiled water and quite a few teabags and it worked out well.  Not too sure how washing it affects the saturation of the tea as this probably will not get laundered but it served its purpose. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out even though it is not the tidiest. Generally, I think I am beginning to accept that I am just not so neat and I don't really mind!

Feline Inspired.

Of sorts... Just sharing some artwork that I have done for the band I play in. We are called Morning Claws and we play some excellent tunes but perhaps I am biased (I'm definitely not).  I am one of the synth players and my mean instrument is a Korg MS2000. It has wood sides which is a secret requirement for the synths in our band. Also, as far as stats go it adds +12 aesthetic points.
When I first moved here I had not been doing so much artwork since leaving school and started designing album covers, posters, and badges for my boyfriend's (now husband) band.  Now we are involved in Morning Claws along with our friends Grace, Chris and Dan.

The top pictures are gig posters and the bottom images are album/single covers.  We are launching our single "Slack Magic" on the 28th.  I designed a pack of badges which will include a download of the two track single. Eventually I will include some pictures of everything printed and packaged so you may view on them as if it was real life. Aside from that, most of my designs for the band get printed on recycled card so that adds to the look of the simple designs.  Here is a mock up of the badge pack.

Should be a swell evening and you can have a listen here at the morning claws website or on our bandcamp.

Adieu for now!

Well hello there!

This would be the premier post of my newfangled blog. I can speak for ages, but writing is definitely not my strength so this could have the potential to get awkward. Perhaps it will provide more pizazz for my non-existent literary profile, or I may just end up being a less wordy blogger. I just may be ok with that! 
To continue on, there is not really a specific plan for what I will be doing here. I am hoping that it will motivate my artistic side to be a bit more productive. Since finishing school I have not really pursued a career in the arts and for whatever reasons I have held myself back so far I would like to change that and be more creative. Since I am the type of person who wants to do everything, it will most likely be a random assortment of treats.
Personal pep talks aside, promise I won't be so after school special about it all and to anyone who takes a gander at what I got going on here, hope it is a good'un!


P.S. Please do not search for acceptable grammar, I doubt you will find any.