I love Print

I've always loved prints, in a way much more than paintings and I don't quite know why. Maybe it's because I think I can almost do it, whereas painting I never could!
Anyway, my very good friend Nick Curtis has an exhibition in a hip coffee shop just a bike ride away from my house and I fell in love with this one and just had to have it! Apparently it was quite popular with the girls and why not I say.
I haven't bought a print for ages (not since this sweetie from Dee Beale anyway) and it was just so nice to get it and have a good look at the work that's gone into printing the various layers and colours. Even Stanley noticed the new edition to the living room!
Bargain for £35 limited edition.
It's on for another week if you're a Hackney local.
Website to follow soon
www.nickcurtis.net
Venetia's Cafe on Flickr

Last Two! Holiday Club Workshop

Last Two!, originally uploaded by Helen Rawlinson.

These two were a real pair of cheeky monkeys. I'm amazed they actually sat down and had a go as there was so much huffing and puffing about it all. Bingo was just about to start in the next room and they were in such a dilema as they were just about to print. In the end, I lost one to the bingo and got a great print out of the other! Sadly no photo of the result.

More Screen Printing Fun!

More Screen Printing Fun!, originally uploaded by Helen Rawlinson.

This time the theme was shapes and snowflakes.
Notes to self: Get them to draw with pencil not coloured felt tips as the focus is on shape making and cutting, not colouring in. Also, felt tip transfers on to the screen which then transfers on to the next print. Less washing of screens and more printing is the key!
Black silhouette story board works best to get kids to understand the stencil/collage aspect.
Newsprint works best.

Hard work but fun!
More on Flickr

Valentine for Haiti

I'm never quite sure what to think about Valentine's Day. We never really make a big thing of it and my other half is often very bah humbug about it until the actual day and then he completely catches me out with a home made something or other that just blows me away. He's a 'sound' man by profession and has quite a different artistic viewpoint to me so when he presented me with a paper cut 3d flower out of Stanley's paintings last year I was quite speechless! It still sits on our dresser alongside the paper poppies pinned to a piece of dowel layered with elastic bands from the previous year (sadly the elastic is now disintegrating!). As for me, I never quite get it together. This year is not much different, I failed to jump on the major marketing potential that this day offers and I'm a skinflint when it comes to buying cards, mainly because I always think, I WILL make something! So, time is my enemy, but I've decided to try and do something positive in these last few days of money making chances.
I'm still in a state of flux with work and being a mother and how it will all pan out, so I've been looking at some of the things I've enjoyed doing over the last few years. One such project was a range of 'everyday' cards for the company Paperlink. I'd illustrated a book called 'I Love My Dog' for the US market and had a great time drawing dogs and collaging them all together. Paperlink picked up on this and asked me to do a range of cards for them, all on the canine theme, with a few cats thrown in to complete the collection. One of my favourites was this:
I Nose You're Lovely. So this is where the love comes in with Mr. Valentine....
I'd like to offer a bit of daft cuteness to all and sundry as a last minute printout.
It's a downloadable PDF file (Download Acrobat Reader for free). The image is 300 dpi and measures approx. 18 x 13 cm / 7 x 5". It will make a good quality print on your home computer or you could just send it as an email and cut out the paper stuff. The exciting thing is that it will only cost you £1 or $2 on Etsy AND the main thing is that all the proceeds of this sale will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Haiti Earthquake Appeal (minus PAYPAL/ETSY fees).
If I get a good enough response (please!) I'll keep it going for a little while and try and raise as much cash as I can. So all you have to do is go to my Big Cartel or Etsy Shop, click to buy, pay via paypal and within 24hrs, I Nose You (WILL) Be Lovely, will be yours (via email)

Alternatively you can click the buy now button just here on this blog, nice and easy!

Hopefully it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that this file/image is intended for personal use only. All rights reserved, copyright Helen Rawlinson 2005. Not be used or altered in any way for commercial purposes. Thank you!

I'm still stuck for what I'll do on Sunday!!!

Shapes and Things Take The Tube

I had some of my Shapes and Things patterns made in to tube lights. I love my lamp bases, but manufacturing is always a bit of a nightmare, so I'm happy to be able to offer an alternative! They are also much more sturdy in a nursery setting as the bottoms are weighted, so no toppling over is assured! Find them in my shop here with more colours to follow soon....

HR Makes and Thanks!

Next one up is Yokomono Studio.
I've had my eye on her shop for quite some time and couldn't resist buying this tissue box cover which I love.
Yoko picks some great fabrics to work with and her bag in bag is such a brilliant idea, so I was very chuffed when she used my pebble fabric range for her 'Independent Textile Designer' collection! She also chose Kalla design, one of my favourite screen printers on Etsy, so it's nice to be in good company!

Thanks Yoko!
Yokomono Studio on EtsyKalla Textile Design Love this Tea Cosy!

HR Makes and Thanks!

I've had some great buyers recently who have made some fab stuff out of my fabrics. I just wanted to give them a big cheer and thanks for supporting me!

KLT Works:
Kristin makes these gorgeous softies in lovely bright fabrics. The characters are bold and graphic, with a hint of cheekiness, perfect for kids. I've been honored with three funsters to show off my fabrics and here they are:
Ollie Owl
Valentine Dewey
...... and Gunk Gunk Slug, look at those teeth!

I absolutely love her porcelain felt pins. This picture is fab!
You can find her on Etsy, Facebook and Twitter

More lovely people to follow when I get a minute!

Sunset Strip....I need some of this!

This cold weather is really getting boring, so I've just listed this hot little shade to brighten up my day and make me feel warm again!
Inspired by a trip to New York, many moons ago!
You can find it glowing in my Shop
Also comes in white, which I haven't listed yet as I've none in stock.....coming soon.

Moozle Love

My sister-in-law sent these pics of my very gorgeous and very chubba nephew Rudy and I couldn't resist sharing them. Ok so there's a bit of product placement going on.....mostly Moozles! The vintage one was the first to arrive then the Shapes and Things came for Christmas.
The very large Eames thing in the background, just happened to be hanging around like most things in their super design clad (oh so tidy) pad! Well my big brother is an interior designer, so you have to let him off.
Every time I go and visit them, I come home and look at all my mess and think, right that's it, time to get sorted. It almost looks respectable for a few days then it all goes to pot! I thought that with the arrival of Rudy, they might at least get a bit messy to make me feel better, but apparently not!
(Thankfully Matt took control of the french decor and keeps us all in check during the family summer get together!)

Anyway, Rudy you are very welcome to come and play with Stanley's Moozles anytime you like! If you can find them that is!
Thanks for the pics Emma, love ya! Please come visit soon x
Lovely Moozles by Kate at Moozlehome

Happy New Year!

Christmas and New Year are a distant, merry, fuzzy blur. The tree's come down and baubles are packed away for another year. Time to get back to normality..... I've got my head down, intent on cracking my accounts for a little while, so it may be a bit quiet on the blogging front.
Here's just a few picks of the last few weeks:

The month of December starts here......
Counting down the days on the fridge.

Our Tree!

A walk to the pub on Christmas Day with Mr. Big Gloves

New Year's Day, a whizz round a merry-go-round and a walk along the Thames!

Baubles packed away in their new Advent Calender Home .........Oh mY! This is an add on as Ive just realised I've been spelling Calendar wrong and no one TOLD ME, what a blinking idiot! To think I am about to launch into the educational side lines of my son's schooling... I better keep well back on spelling homework that's for sure. Oh well, maybe I'll change it when it comes out of hiding for next year!!!!!!

Here comes the snow
Back in a little while.....