Keeping it festive in the heat....

Phew - it's a scorcher, hey?! Seems wrong to be doing all of these festive bits right now, but hey, that's the life of a freelance designer!! (one that does cards and such like anyway!!) Here's some snapshots from my screen today...now to have a go at a little baby art; I've not dabbled in that area for quite some time, and feel it's time for a change! NEXT!!

And to finish the week off....

Here's a little snippet of what I've been working on this week.....

- oh, how I love to think of Christmas and snow in the middle of summer!! ;D

Have a great weekend everyone x x x

Cookie over candy art!

I have to say I LOVE creating new gingerbread designs - the bright colours and the fun element all add to it....here's a little sneaky peek at a house I finished just the other day...nom, nom, nom!!

Latest samples from Europe...

It's not often that I get to see my work in print as most of it is overseas, however it was a nice surprise to  receive these samples just the other week, ready for the European market - these were sold to a company called Tailor-Made Studios right back in 2012...it's great to see that they will finally be out on the shelves this Christmas.....now....can anybody translate for me I wonder?!??? ;)

Christmas is coming....

And as usual I've been working on lots of new things for the festive season ahead of another US selling trip. Here are a couple of snippets from a character set I've been busy on....

Santa's got his skis on and has rocked up at the Antarctic!

 And this family of snowmen are having a fun-filled sledging trip!

I really enjoyed creating these guys....let's hope they find a nice new home ;)

I feel a break coming on...

....a break from Christmas, that is! As I've said before, sometimes it can get a little much working on Christmas all year round - especially when the mercury reaches the 20s and the sun is shining brightly! Time for some cheery everyday designs methinks....these latest Christmas ones have taken farrrr tooooo looooooong; a sure sign it's time for a change!

Finito!

Not to give toooo much away still, but here are the finished designs I let you have a peek at on Friday....

....now on to another two!

Christmas in the summer sun...?!??

Hmmmmm...it's a toughy, but being a designer of all things festive it tends to happen quite a lot, and boy is it a struggle sometimes! (especially when Wimbledon's on too!!) 

Though I guess this is how it feels to be Australian?!? The mini-heatwave seems to have subsided today, so it's onwards and upwards from here...take a little look at some recent work - the starting point for a new set.....

A work in progress...

Oops - I've not been around much lately, have I? It's been a frustrating ol' week...designs taking much longer than expected...boooooo! I thought I'd give my earlier snowman a few new friends, so I've been creating a wrap design involving many snow buddies; trouble is - they're taking TOO LONG!! Here's a little look at my current progress anyway...

- these are just a few of the little guys; as you can see they need a bit more texture and detail adding to them yet! Must finish  them today though, so I can enjoy my weekend guilt-free..... Right - back to it!!

Have a great weekend everyone!! :)

Hot off the European press...

Got a little surprise when I arrived at the studio today; it's not often we get to see samples of the finished product once we sell a design, but it's so lovely when we do. :) Here's a card that'll be making it's way onto the European shelves over the next festive season....the design was purchased by one of our new customers; TMS International

- they've even printed a little image on the inside!

Repeats, repeats...

....they're driving me BONKERS this week; do you ever find yourself endlessly moving elements around the page in the hope that they might finally repeat?! It seems to be taking me forever....here's part of a current work in progress...

I have to rework a couple more wraps in addition to this before I can start on the cards I'm hoping to display at Spring Fair; fingers crossed they don't take too much longer to crack...the time is sure ticking!! :-O

First deadline drawing nearer.....

It's only a couple of days until my agent takes off to the US again for another selling spree fingers and toes crossed for the selling bit!! so it's busy, busy, busy, trying to get all the last little bits done before he leaves. Here's a peek at another recent addition to my collection...he's very jolly! :)

Spotted in the US....

- these were taken by my agent on his last visit to the US; it's always a lovely feeling to see the finished product finally out there in the shops....look out for them if you can! :) The stocking was sold to Papermagic, whilst the snowman was purchased by Hobby Lobby.

Light at the end of the tunnel...

Boy, am I glad to have finished these two....I think the cold weather has slowed me up or something; they seemed to have taken for-ev-errrrrrr....pleased with how they turned out though; here's a little taster:

- as you can see - my snowman's a lot more polished since he last appeared on Wednesday! :)

AND.......the snow has finally stopped; BIG BIG YAY!! let's hope it stays that way...

Oh no....more snow!!! :(

Oh dear, oh dear.......it looks like we finally got caught out by the dreaded arctic grip that's taken hold of the UK at the moment; it snowed and snowed and snowed here in the Midlands yesterday, and now we're swamped :(

 I do hope it stops for us all soon, but as I type and glance out of the window it's back again.....come back sun...pleeeease!!!! In fact, better still; let's have some rain to wash it all away! It's times like this that I'm really thankful to be working from home.....this little design is a current 'work in progress', but it somehow got graffiti'd on along the way :) 

Take care all of you if you have to venture out x

Brrrrrrrrr....

It's sure looking like there's snow on the cards for the end of the week....nooooooooo! :(

- Quite fitting then that I've been working on this happy little fellow for the past couple of days!

Feeling colder

Ooooh, it's chilly today; you can certainly tell Autumn's on it's way....and then, of course, after Autumn comes Winter....booooo! :(

- Here's a jolly snowman who can't wait for Winter to arrive.

Christmas in the sun?!

Oooh, it's been beautiful weather over here in the UK for well over a week now (BIG YAY!), so it seems a little wrong to be working on Christmas designs! But, needs must, and with Surtex fast approaching, it's a necessity....now I know how the folks down under feel! :) Here's a peek at a new snowman design for my latest festive set......

Still snowy..........

.......and brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-zing! It's got that bad that I've even had to resort to drinking more than my usual 2 cups of tea a day (!) Which, for those who know me, is pretty darn amazing... :)

So today, I wish I was a polar bear....that way, I might appreciate it a little more! :)

Snow, snow and more snow

Well, I'm sure if you're in the UK you will have woken up to the sight of a real-life Winter Wonderland today; there's quite a covering here, with more (unfortunately) expected later tonight. Hope you're all safe and warm, wherever you are....

The last heavy snowfall for us was back in February last year....here's a little family that turned up in my garden:

....I wonder if they'll decide to come back for a return visit?