It's been a while...

I cannot be the only one who gets that Stain'd song in my head whenever I spout that phrase! It is true, it has been a terribly long time since I have updated this blog. Perhaps I should stop limiting myself. I think that I started this because like most people in the world, I don't know where I fit and I want a forum to express my likes, dislikes and what creative things I am doing as I would like to motivate myself to do more.  At the moment my husband is the only one following my blog which perhaps gave me an excuse to be lazy about it. So I will put that motivational speech I just gave myself to the side and talk/write about what I have been doing.
Our band Morning Claws just released our ep Pet Storms, Ancienct Clouds and it was a culmination of a lot of work and it really paid off. I am so pleased with it and I hope other people enjoy it. The artwork was a bit of a struggle for myself this time around as I the concept I started with didn't really work. I was going for a vintage sort of look and I busted out the gouache for the first time in a long time and painted this flower inspired by a vintage swatch of wallpaper. However, didn't really work as my limited graphic design skills couldn't work out the appropriate text.
In frustration I started working on an old photo I took of my friend's dog while we were in Donegal. I then mixed it with a photo I took of Niagara Falls. It is the most personal I have been with art in a way as it combines my old home with my new home!

There she be! There is text and such on the final image but it is a strong image on its own so it deserved a little attention.

Audio-Visual time.

We recently did a video with Bandwidth for an acoustic version of our single "Slack Magic". It was a pretty painless process and we capped the night with a lovely dinner, some wine and or course, crisps.


IN STORES NOW#55: Morning Claws / "Slack Magic" from Bandwidth on Vimeo.

Leftovers

Oh Sundays, the one day you can feel alright recovering from whatever you did earlier on in the weekend. Although the recovery process is hindering my mad writing skillz.  We are recording some more songs tomorrow on the way to releasing another single. I am trying to think of some ideas for single artwork but haven't come up with much just yet. Perhaps something slightly different then I have done in the past such as some sort of drawn illustration. I have kind of let go on the drawing and painting side of things but I am really missing it.
So summer is ahead and it will hopefully contain many adventures and better weather. This rainy week has been a tad bit of a let down after such recently nice days. But I'll not bore you with the weather. Or will I? Seems I may have already. Sorry about that.
Lately I have been thinking about a few crafts I made for our wedding and I am not too certain of what to do with them now. I meant to make garlands out of the pom poms but found it a bit to fiddly at the time. Perhaps I can use it all for gig decorations. They could make nice decor but I am currently feeling the clutter factor in the house interior design-wise so am not in the mode to add to that.

I've a few projects that I am planning on working on so the fruits of that labour will be up in the future sometime. It is mostly the ultimate aim of getting band t shirts made. I am just not looking forward to the linoleum carving again. If I had better tools it would probably not be so awkward. Getting back to sketching is also an aim. I really love the look of a filled in sketchbook but I think my approach has always been pretty formal. Mine were always finished drawing after drawing but I never tested things out but it is quite an important thing to do.

Maybe the mini bunting would be good for that dollhouse I have always wanted to build...

So there ends my reflective Sunday post and here's to a superb week ahead for all!

Launched

Since we last spoke we have successfully launched our single Slack Magic and I tried to not to melt the entire world while trying to get all the merch together. It all went pretty smoothly, better than anticipated even.
Also on the bill were Tom McShane and Third Man Theme and they were all very fantastic. I am getting excited about Belfast music again, and it has been a while but I think some different sounds are happening as opposed to the straight forward rock which isn't my personal taste.

The tote bags took quite a lot of time but also turned out a lot better than I pictured so it was worth it. I had never embroidered before but I really enjoyed it...although I think it best to not put so much work in at the last minute. I don't make a very nice person when I feel the stress. They are being sold through the bandcamp for £6 and they are probably worth a lot more considering the work but don't think people want to spend too much on tote bags. Perhaps the cost will change in the future but for now they are a pretty decent deal and come with a free download.
The badge packs weren't so popular. We sold one. To a band member's sibling. I really hope that people do purchase them over time because I am really happy with them and don't want to be the only one hanging out with them. To my surprise a lot of people bought the actual CDs, so the format must not be entirely dead.
Aside from that, it was a friend's birthday and we all made some food and had a glorious pot-luck feast. I illustrated him this picture of Admiral Ackbar.

I forgot to take a picture before gifting it, but Chris took this of it proudly displayed in his room. I think I prettied Ackbar up, I never realised how unfortunate he was in the looks department. Not that I had some hidden attraction to him but I never had such an opportunity to study him before.
Well it is Mother's day back home so I look forward to speaking to my parents today when it is a more appropriate hour, time-zone wise.

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!