Flow feature

Some of my illustrations were featured in the recent issue of Flow magazine, as part of an article about modern portraitmakers.  It's a beauty of a mag, check it out!

Learn to do it yourself

Do you make cool stuff at home but not sure how to sell it online?

This summer I will be teaching a very special EtsyCraft Entrepreneurship course to help guide beginners in the Manchester area through the process of starting a new business, photographing products and getting setup online.

The course is every Wednesday morning from July 16 - 20 August (6 weeks) 10.30-12.30 at Oldham College's brand new learning hub.  Unfortunately it's open to Oldham residents only.

To register just contact madeinoldham@oldham.gov.uk or call 01617703480

On Teevee

A couple weeks back I travelled down to Wimbledon studios in London to take part in the first Etsy TV advert. I was chosen from a whole bunch of individuals (1200 apparently), probably to fill the 'very tall person' quota, and spent the day with 66 other etsy sellers on set as part of a cool 'street party/market' scene, as we did take after take (after take after take) to get the ad just right.  You can now see the advert on tv and if you pause it just at the right moment you can see my blurry profile (behind the two guys carrying the chair.)

You can in fact spot me a few times in this super behind-the-scenes video made by the nice people at Mollie Makes:

Sunny Day

Goodness me time is flying! We had a good weekend that began with milkshakes and enchiladas, involved a visit from our friend and her dog and surplus overdue house cleaning.  There was also much cushion stuffing and I finally saw my advert on the TV!

I managed to squeeze in a really good swim yesterday and today I walked instead of taking the bus because there's a lot of free Vitamin D to be had and because the bus stinks.

I'm off now to listen to Uhh Yeah Dude while sewing more cushions!

No time for sleep!

Not much sleep has happened over this past week!  But it's all good here, busy busy and enjoying it. Managed to get out for a swim before the cushion-sewing madness began yesterday and this morning when I saw how sunny it was I threw some runners on, left my phone behind and headed outside for a really nice run to get the day started.  Juneathon is back on track and I thought it was a good time to show you this brand new print as I head off to stuff cushions and make my way to the post office before the etsy craft Party tonight followed by more cushion stuffing afterwards!

Totally over feeling guilty!

Since the Not on the High Street Fathers Day advert went live things have gotten a little out of hand over here!!!

My threat to exercise has been thrown by the wayside for two days in favour of stuffing pillows into the wee hours and printing off an almost overwhelming amount of dispatch sheets.  I'm currently packing my bag to head out for a swim before things get manic today but thought I'd share a few things that have been keeping me going during this very busy period... because we all need fuel if we're going to get through this Juneathon of a month right.

1. Teetering on the edge of whether to jump on the matcha tea bandwagon. Ya know. Cuz we need more teas and powders to add to our already overflowing cabinets. This one looks good.
2. These berry Nak'd bars (you can buy bulk boxes of them on Amazon did you know???)
3. I met a couple at a wedding last week and we chatted for ages (it doesn't happen often when you meet people you really really like and come away thinking man I wish we were friends with them) and we got onto the subject of podcasts, we swapped favourites and I'm glad to now have Dinner Party Download as part of my rotation.
4. Cherries. I can destroy a punnet thereof faster than you can say 'where did I put those cherries I just bought?'

Anyways I've gotten over beating myself up over skipping two days of exercise and have counted my blessings instead - I'm so so chuffed that so many nice people have been ordering custom cushions to give their Dads on Fathers Day. What a cool thing I get to be a part of their lives in a teeny tiny way.

Juneathon-ing

It's super busy over here at the moment... so busy I'm catching up on photos from before we had our bedroom wall replastered! This is a framed portrait I did back in February.

Because I'm slacking on the blog front I've decided to join the Juneathon game a few days late.  On Sunday I went on a very long walk with my best buddy and yesterday I started the day with a real nice run in the sun.  Today has been nonstop drawing custom cushions all day so that I can get out of the house and go to either yoga or swimming later on.

Been wearing these jazzy Salomon CityTrail shoes lately for my local runs. I really like them! Will write a proper review soon but.. look at them!