Merry Christmas

Santa Champers

Merry Christmas everyone 

xxx

Belvedere Vodka

My sister got a promotion last week (well done Sal) and to celebrate this, she got a present in the form of Belvedere Vodka. If you haven’t tasted this vodka before then your missing out and I’m not even a vodka lady. 

But anyway, I just want to share the lovely form of the bottle itself, its just gorgeous. With its long neck similar to a vino bottle but elongated and more elegant. With frosted glass and its white creeping tree pattern this spirit has it all, no wonder this Polish sensation costs around thirty English pounds. 

The thought and attention to detail of this design is splendid, even the clear glass on the front of the bottle so that you can look through to the  vodka to the illustration on the inside of the bottle is clever and rousing the consideration to round off the design is beautiful.

let it snow let it snow let it snoowww

Got a bit snow happy the other day, oh and I put my christmas tree up in November :)

Creative Boom

Check me out, I am now in the Creative Boom Directory for the North West.

I just love their website, its so informative about the creative industry - ranging from graphic design to film production to jewelry design.

"About Us

Welcome to Creative Boom, an online magazine and network community that aims to celebrate, inspire and support the creative industries throughout the UK and the rest of the world.

Launched on the 24th July 2009, the site is run on a completely voluntary basis, covering everything from music, design, photography and fashion to film, PR, marketing, media and animation.

The magazine includes 12 main regions - also known as 'Hubs' - as well as a national UK home page, to bring you creative industry news, features and events no matter where you're based.

Our entire ethos for Creative Boom is to offer free support and help freelancers and businesses both large and small to be inspired, raise their profiles, attract new business and effectively cause a creative industry boom across the UK.

So if you're keen to collaborate, network, get noticed, attract business, learn new things, be inspired or find out what's happening in your creative field, Creative Boom is an organic e-zine that has been designed especially for you and will continue to adapt and improve to suit your needs. Thanks for stopping by!"

Beards - aint they just lavvvely

I dont remember where I found this but by god it is good, just puts a smile on my cold cold face in these frosty times Brrrrrr-illiant 

Pink Pigeon

Just look at this gorgeous bottle design!

I’m a fan of Rum, any rum for that matter, but this really floats my boat.

The Pink Pigeon Rum is new on the market and has an attractive design to boot.

Bit of copy from their website:

‘Some of the world’s finest sugar cane is grown on the
 Medine Estate in Mauritius. 
It is from this natural source that we make our rare,
 golden rum.

Uniquely, we add hand-picked vanilla from orchids
 that grow in the rainforest canopy of nearby Madagascar. 
Combined with the exotic, tropical flavours of spice 
and nutmeg, this makes our rum as exquisite and rare
 as the Pink Pigeon itself.

The Pink Pigeon can be enjoyed on its own, over ice,
 or as part of a distinctive cocktail …”

The bottle itself is matt black with a white logo design stretching the length of the bottle, with a classic bold font and thick simple traditional ‘emblem’ design. It really stands out within the crowd of competing Rum bottle designs.

illustration Xmas ideas

here are some christmasy Russian doll illustrations, ideas for xmas cards and wrapping paper etc..  just playing with colours and outlines at the mo.

175 years of Kendals

Today I came across a gorgeous Kendals plastic bag. If you don’t know what Kendals is, it’s a department store in Manchester, probably the oldest one. This year it marks their 175^th Birthday.

1796 was the year John Watts a Didsbury Farmer opened the family business on the corner of Deansgate in the centre of Manchester. And in aid of this celebration, there have been giveaways, live music, competitions and complimentary gifts as well as Russell hobbs collaborating with Coronation Street to celebrate 50 years of the famous street.

This is not what I wanted to blog about though; I want to share their gorgeous plastic bag they have produced for this occasion.

It’s a collage design of iconic buildings of Manchester, not to mention Coronation Street, the Hacienda classic yellow and black stripes, LS Lowry’s illustrious people and Manchester United and City scarves.

With Kendals the prominent figure of the design to show how far Manchester has come since Kendals was built.

The design is simple in colour and in design but it is so striking and edifying. The type itself is laid out like old Victorian typographical posters, which is fitting for the age of Kendals itself. 

I cannot find out who designed this bag, which I’m gutted about because I do love this design, it reminds me of my collage design style which I adopted for my Manchester guide project.The design mixes vintage with modern but makes it work and flow.

David Fullarton

I was looking for some inspiration the other day and I came across the work of David Fullarton. His journal style illustrations are hilarious and really well executed in a doodle style but still convey his feelings amazingly.  He uses a Moleskine notebook to create his art, doing doodles, sketches and typography to document this odd thoughts and feelings. Sort of like a map of his day to day life.

“I was never a big fan of Moleskine notebooks. They always seemed so damn precious and overpriced with their pretentious history printed inside and that fancy-dan knicker elastic to keep your place. But someone gave me one for nothing a couple of years ago, and since it was free I used it. A lot. And I have to admit I ended up liking it. Almost enough to actually pay for the next one”

My new business cards have come!!

ooooo I don't half love MOO.com
When I first started making business cards last year I always wanted a selection of different business cards. But that wasn't possible until recently, now you can choose up to 50 different designs for one pack of business cards. Brilliant. Now I just wish my phone had a better mega pixel.

Illustration book ideas

I am in the process of creating a book of illustrations, right now I am just in the ideas stage, making numerous illustrations a day, using the computer and hand drawn methods and seeing what will work and what style to focus on. 

New Monopoly

New Monopoly

Round Monopoly?!? Debit cards? Music?!  What’s going on!

Hasbro the creators of the classic game are celebrating their 75^th anniversary of the game by unveiling the new one. "Monopoly: Revolution Edition" is slick and round instead of square, with debit cards and an ATM instead of paper money and a banker, clear plastic representations of the classic tokens: the boot, the car, the dog and the iron have gone L

And music like Beyonce's "Crazy in Love with be played after certain actions.

Plus when you pass go you don’t get £200, but £2,000,000 to account for all the inflation and the change in real estate prices since 1935 when Monopoly was first released.

I don’t know whether I like this or not, for the new age teens I guess its great but people still use real money not just debit cards these days so I don’t know why such a big change, I like the round board, its cleaner and sleek but is the technology is a bit over the top?

the social network

I don’t really blog about films iv seen but I just have to blog about ‘The Social Network’ I went to see it last night and I was soo impressed, it was enlightening, fascinating and had humour to it. 

I am a BIG fan of Facebook and have never really thought of how it became or the story behind it. I don’t know whether some of it was fabricated or not but I’m guessing the main story line is true. I actually cant believe it was created by a Harvard student, in my student days all I thought about is the next deadline and when’s the next cheap student night, not codes and ‘traffic’. All I can say is Thanks Mark Zuckerberg.

If you’ve not seen it I recommend it highly, it kept me engrossed the whole time, and the way the story is conveyed is brilliant and well thought out. Plus Justin was unexpectedly a great actor.

ooo Fun Fact: facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is Red/Green colourblind and blue is the strongest colour he can see.

Watch the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53OUHupfqws

Recreate

An object is no longer being used for its original purpose in life! That purpose has expired and I have recreated a beautiful 'something else'

Katie Thompson

Oh my Days I want this Sooooo Much!! 
Interior / Furniture Designer Katie Thompson has made this. It is from her Recycled furniture collection called Recreate. the range of products shows antiques in a new light, unconventional but beautiful. She marries suitcases with chairs, cola crates with tables, cushions with buckets, typewriters with lamps! I want the whole website! genius 

Tattoo work

These are a few of my illustrations iv been working on as tattoos.

"Sailor girls R Us"

Sandrine Estrade Boulet Illustrations

Sandrine Estrade Boulet Illustrations

Wandering around the worlds of blogs (looking for a dress I saw on a celebrity) I came across some darling illustrations and thought I would just have to share them. They are the work of Sandrine Estrade Boulet a French artist; she is inspired by the simple everyday items, the environment that is setting of her life. Her work is ironic and playful, she uses sarcasm and emotions to create her work. I love these illustrations, they are just lively and quirky.

http://www.sandrine-estrade-boulet.com/sandrine_boulet/Home_Sandrine_Estrade_Boulet.html