Meet Ben Mostyn and Anya Rice

A couple of weeks ago when it was a beautiful sunny day I had the pleasure of joining photographer Ben and his wife Anya on a mini portrait shoot- me being the portrait model. It actually turned out to be more of a nature ramble with a little bit of photo-shooting as the weather was so lovely and we were all probably a little too relaxed for serious camera posing! Below is one of the portrait pictures from the reel. I also managed to sneak a few pictures of Ben and his wife- I find photographers are notoriously hard to capture but managed to get them with their guards down on swanpool beach.

Ben and Anya moved to Falmouth around a month ago from Oxford and are both working freelance so it's been great to connect with them and show them a little of what Falmouth has to offer.
Check out Ben's photography work and blog here and here and make sure you also visit Anya's website here and blog-featuring snaps of fashionable folk in and around Cornwall here.

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The wonderland fair - new event from petite pencil

This Saturday I will be taking part in the first Wonderland Fair - a new event organised by Cornish based blogger Petite Pencil. It runs from 11-3pm at The Old Cattle Market in Helston and will feature a variety of Cornish based businesses, selling all sorts of items from food to artisan bread, vintage, homeware, records and gifts and there'll be things for kids too! Find out more on Petite Pencil's Facebook page and blog. I'll make sure I take some snaps and show them on the blog too. See you there if you're in the area!

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New designs for Mellybee - Aprons

Is it me or did we loose a month? I'm sure last time I looked it was March and we were heading for Easter and now it's May?! Well I guess I better get on and tell you about what's been happening this last month.

I've been aiming to get some new things designed since the beginning of the new year and felt I needed  to put some time into coming up with new products to keep things fresh and interesting. So April has been more or less dedicated to getting my head down and working on new things!

One of the new products at the top of my list was aprons. Last year I frequently would hear 'I love your tea towels but do you do aprons?' so back in January I finally found a company that does sell in bulk quality cotton drill aprons with thick woven ties.

Here are some photos from the design process- I like to mock up in pencil then work in black ink before scanning and taking into illustrator to vectorize.

Here are the design complete with the colours that I felt would work best with them.

The designs are:

• Herbs to sew and grow - zingy green
• We're cooking up a rainbow today! - mustard yellow
• It's time to make, it's time to create - pebble grey
• Delicious treats and eats - candy pink
• Whistle while you work- bright blue

And here the aprons are finally printed and photographed.

The process from beginning to end has taken probably a bit longer than I would have liked but I'm glad I spent time creating a product that I'm happy to add to the Mellybee range. I've also got five new designs which I've already transferred to tea towels and I think would work pretty nicely on totebags too!



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Tyto signage and window artwork

Here are photos of the signage and window artwork I recently completed for the new premises of Falmouth based shop Tyto boutique. Work was hand drawn straight onto the window using Posca chalk pens  and for the wooden signage panel I painted with black acrylic paint. It was certainly a fun and creative job to do even if a little scary at times when I was up on the ladder platform- I had to remember not to step back!  Be sure to visit the shop if you're in the area- it's number 30 on the High Street in Falmouth.

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Offset57-new shop & stockist

I'm delighted to share news on a new independent shop that launched recently in the Granite City of Aberdeen. They hold creative events and workshops alongside running a busy craft gallery and store at the Academy Shopping Centre in Aberdeen. Recent talks have been given by well known illustrators such as Ben Newman and coming up on the 12th March they will have the Felt Mistress aka Louise Evans and Jonathan Edwards sharing their industry experience and knowledge.

Ben Newman sharing his wisdom

Workshop in progress!

Offset57 aims to make it easy to buy affordable work and support design and creativity in Aberdeen. Their range includes Prints, Illustration, Zines, Textiles, Jewellery, Ceramics, Greetings Cards, Stickers, Badges, Bags, Papercraft; the list is endless.  They stock work from established collectives and designers, to up and coming individuals and groups. Excitingly I've also got my work stocked there as a 'guest illustrator'! 

My 'You make me Happy' Cards

Screenprinted tees by Wild Wolves

Gemma Correll's pugtastic tape

Katie Rhodes aka Fred & Elsie's animal cards

You can follow Offset online too if you're not living in bonnie North East Scotland. Their website is www.offset57.weebly.com, twitter @offset57 and Facebook page www.facebook.com/Offset57. Happy browsing!

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