A new little friend

I've been making very few new little friends for the past 6 months 'cause I have been growing this little one and making things for her instead! She's just 2 months old now and a very sweet little thing. I'll take some pictures of some of the toys and mobiles I have made for her over the next few months - babies are such time gobblers aren't they!

Just for Kids, Bilston Craft Gallery.

I'm excited to be parceling up some textile characters to send to a beautiful sounding exhibition in Wolverhampton this winter. It sounds like a lot of fun and if I can possibly make it to have a look then I'll be there. Here is a link to the site. I'm sending some Little Errols, a Squeaky Beryl and some sleeping babies. They'll also have a good selection of cards in the gift shop.

Just for Kids, Bilston Craft Gallery, Wv14 7LU

14 Nov 09 - 6 Feb 10

Discover the breadth of innovative products being lovingly handmade especially for children and babies, in this family friendly show. Be inspired to introduce craft into your everyday lives with handmade clothes and accessories, toys, crockery sets and lots of beautiful decorative pieces for the nursery walls.

Many of the pieces will be available to buy and take away before Christmas, offering the opportunity to pick up a unique gift.

Peg Doll Wedding Cake Toppers

My brother and his girlfriend were married last month and I made these peg dolls of them dressed in their wedding outfits for their wedding cake.

Doll Project Number 3 (Dolls 6, 7 and 8)

Here is the 6th doll I received; it was begun by Amy Twigger Holroyd (Keep and Share) and began as a pile of felted internal organs which have been encased, boned and embellished! I have embroidered some anatomical descriptions onto it's body.

The 7th was Amelia who was started by textile designer Bee Hayes. She has a silver jumpsuit and a reckless past! I've dressed up her outfit a little with a belt and some cuffs.

And the 8th is from textile and print designer Kirsty Reilly (now Kissell) and is Lady Vi. I've made her a lace blouse with pearl buttons and a tweed skirt.

There is just one more to go... Katys doll... and then I will get my little rabbit back home and the project will be complete. Once they've all returned to their original makers we'll be able to see them finished- I can't wait, then I can show more than just these tiny peeks at them!

Special Offer for mailing list and blog readers only!!

It's almost time for the very lovely Cockpit Arts Open Studios and I shall miss them and you a lot! As I will be in my new Devon studio and not in London anymore, I've put a selection of the textiles characters into a webshop, and have a special offer for you.

* FREE Squeaking Sleeping Baby or £15 worth of cards on all orders! *

Visit SHOP

The prices are all listed in dollars but the convert to the usual shop prices and you can pay online with Paypal or by card. If you'd prefer to send a cheque or have a special order for something that's not shown in the shop then just let me know.

You can pick any 4 of the cards from my website that are under £4.00 each or any other combination that adds up to £15 in total. See them at www.lucyjanebatchelor.co.uk

This offer is valid for 1 month, it expires on the 9th July 2009

Little Friends available on Etsy!

I am very happy to have just opened a tiny shop online at Etsy! A way for me to show them with now that I've moved from my studio at Cockpit Arts in London to my new studio in Devon. It's most especially for the Little Friends (rather than my illustrated cards) and I'll be putting new ones into the shop every month or so as I create them.

Visit SHOP

My Lovely Assistant Alice!

I have been very lucky, over the past few years to have some utterly lovely and very talented assistants who have come to the studio to help me design and make including: Ha, Mithi, Sarah, Alice, Kirsty and Fay. Thank you!!!

Alice is graduating this year and you may have met her at the Earls Court, Pulse trade show last year or at some of my Christmas shows and Open Studios. She took this beautifully styled photograph of her collection of some of my characters to use in one of her books - I am looking forward to seeing the finished book.

This is some of her gorgeous collage work - so, so pretty!

... and some Sweater Monkeys that she made after her time with me learning to make and sew little characters.

www.alicegabb.com

She is showing her work at the Bath School of Art and Design Degree Show in a few weeks time.
Private View
June 5th 6pm until 9pm,
Show
6th-10th June, 10am until 5pm

Bath School of Art and Design

Sion Hill Campus

Lansdown

Bath

BA1 5SF

Peg Dolls

Over a month since my last post... I lost my camera for a whole month, I thought I knew where it had been but couldn't find it ... it was found inside a cardboard box, Monty had knocked it in there while trying to climb in. Why do cats love cardboard boxes so much?
I am part way though making some more peg dolls. It has been a long time since I have made any because I need a tiny drill to make their arm holes (in their kebab skewer arms and through their bodies, and holes in their heads for ears too), I don't have one so I borrow one from my brother - Thank you Andrew! Better add it to the wish list....
I'll take a picture when these are complete.

I keep my acrylic paints in a biscuit tin and use the lid as my pallet, I've used the same one for years and it is THICK with paints now. I like the unexpected colour combinations that seem to work together in any small section of it.

I have a new, white notice board - oh the luxury! I have just begun to pin some things onto it and realised that the first three of them are packets of treats, bought mainly for the packaging. We drink the Clipper fairtrade tea usually anyway.... umm and yes, ok, Millionaires Shortbreads are my favorite biscuit so perhaps it wasn't just the packaging!! The oat biscuits though? That was just for the box; packaging sells! There seem to be more beautifully illustrated packets on the shelves now than before, I've never kept boxes before.

Monty is now one year old and we thought he would grow out of his kitten ways and become more independent; he has a little bit, but only about 3%. This is still his favorite place to sleep and it is rare for me to sit at the computer without him running in, jumping onto my lap and pawing at my front until I lift him in, then he is happy curled upside down in my cardigan for hours, even if he really doesn't fit into my clothes and gets quite squashed. If he wants a bit of extra cuddling then he reaches his paw up and strokes my face. He's such a nice little friend - I'm very glad he hasn't grown out of this yet.

Little Friends Stationery

Little Errol, Squeaky Beryl and friends are out and about this month, they are on the shelves in the April edition of Junior magazine in a very pretty feature by Kate Street on children's party invitations and thank yous. This is the invitations page... the one to the right and above is a glittery pink limo; Spice Girls eat your hearts out!

The 'come-to a party' invitation has spaces to fill in to give your guests all of the details they need to find your party (and a maze that they can get lost in too) There is a clock to complete with hands to show the party time and a calendar to tick off the date.

...and this month I have sent a whole lot of cards to Liberty (one of my most favouritest shops in London) for their Spring/Summer 09 collection including my baby announcement card with little Errol and Squeaky Beryl. None of the others have the Little Friends on though, so they're a bit off theme... they have lots of Fairy Badge cards, Paper Dolls Houses, Love Tokens, Tooth Fairy Envelopes, Thank You cards, Stich-a-Message cards and a whole lot more!

Little Errol Offer!

Lots of NEW colours!
Top row: violet with blue stripe, blue with green stripe, green with multi-stripe, red with blue stripe.
Bottom row: blue with pink stripe, red with blue stripe, violet with pink stripe, blue with blue stripe.

We don't usually sell through the web, but for blog readers and mailing list members....
SPECIAL OFFER PRICE £30 including p&p to the UK for deliveries
on any orders made before 31st March 2009
which is a 25% discount
for elsewhere add £3 for shipping costs.

Little Errol is made from reclaimed wool with vintage button eyes and a shiny red heart. Because he is made from vintage materials and contains small parts, he is not suitable for under 3 year olds.


All Little Friends come with very official adoption certificates, care instructions and a cut-out-and-make miniscule but perfectly balanced meal of a pile of peas and a slice of cake.

Personalise him, accessorise him and repair him when he wears thin to create a loyal, lifelong companion.

Payment by Paypal, cheque or transfer, contact me with your chosen colours, payment preference and your delivery address and I'll send him on his way. lucy@lucyjanebatchelor.co.uk

Big Chops!

A lovely, lovely email landed in my inbox last week from Florrie and Vanessa with some photographs and tales of their enormous brood and their rather troublesome antics!
Here are two Little Errols, a pair of Mini-Matchbox Monster Babies in love (cuddling-up in an innocent smoothie hat!), Mischievous Maud and who is the tan coloured fur to the right?... Big Chops!

Here is the whole family; Maud (who matches the walls beautifully!) also has Bothersome Boris to keep her company and Teeny Timmy to play with (Tiny in blue tweed at the bottom) along with Squeaky Beryl on the right with a Sleeping Baby. Lucky that Big Chops is quite skilled at crowd management; here's what Florrie says they have been up to:

"Here are the photographs of Big Chops with his family. He has married Little Errol and adopted Bothersome and the Little Twins. Greedy Greta, Little Errol's sister is quite jealous but she has Maud to look after! Greedy likes to plump herself until she is almost round which makes Little Erol upset because she is quite flat now. Big Chops has his work cut out trying to keep the peace."

"Big Chops does experience some difficulties, especially when taking Bothersome out for his walks. He had to put Bothersome on a lead because he kept running into peoples gardens and going through their letter boxes. Bothersome now uses the lead to tangle Big Chops up by running round him in circles! "

Thank you so much to F and V, it is very good to hear how they are and to hear some of the tales of chaos! x x x

Doll Project Number 3 (Doll 5)

I had the nicest few hours yesterday making a miniature cape in bluebell blue wool for Mandy's doll for the doll project. I haven't made a tiny item of clothing for a long, long time and I made a pattern to fit her which tested my brain quite a lot. Making this has made me want to make whole outfits of tiny clothes; pinafore dresses, coats... ooooh!

Thank you x x x x

How lovely it has been to find my blog stats rise and trace it back to links from some very beautiful blogs and fantastic resources. A very big THANK YOU to them all and here are a few of them (I'll gather more over the next few weeks).

Softie Central: an amazingly comprehensive blog of all
things soft and cute.

Print and Pattern: a rich collection of print and pattern!

Design Sponge: a beautiful collection of what is current
in design.

Tiger Print: stationery designers to M&S.

Jotter: delicate, retro, modern, hand printed, happy stationery.

Bientot Demain: Slow Design; and sustainable design with a
very delicate French touch.

Madame Chacha: delicious French childrens things, and
adorable photos of children.

L'atelier d'Audrey: more exquisite words and images from
France.

Oh c'choux: 'happy things for kids' from Switzerland

I'm noticing some themes here... French children's things, stationery, retro and Modern design, cute things, sustainability and design. That just about covers my work and inspiration!

X THANK YOU X THANK YOU X THANK YOU X

2009 - A New Year, A New Website, A New Home, A New Studio

It's the new year and already so much has happened; and it has been FAR TOO LONG since my last post; I got lost in Christmas shows, Christmas, Flu and... moving house and studio from my beloved studio in Cockpit Arts all the way down to Devon, tucked against the edge of Dartmoor. Most of my studio is still in boxes and there is A LOT to unpack, and I haven't even thought about sewing anything yet, but I do have the fire alight (is that the correct term and tense?) and the kitten asleep on my lap (snoring a bit).

Just before Christmas I updated my illustration and cards website with a new front page and tidied it up inside (with LOTS of help from my patient husband - he needs to be with me). I am so much happier with it now that it all ties together. The old design, other than the book gallery pages, were designed about 5 years ago; it was long due a change. Next job on the Website To Do list ; get the press pages up (which requires lots of scanning and tweaking). Does anyone ever reach the end of To Do lists? I think my life might be very dull with out them.