Personalised Letter From Santa

I'm very excited and happy to reveal an illustration I recently produced for Megan Claire. I've been a big fan of her cards and prints for some time and was thrilled when she commissioned me to illustrate Santa Claus himself to be sent out as Personalised Santa Letters! I had so much fun putting this piece together, challenging myself and working with unfamiliar subject matter (that tree was certainly out of my comfort zone but the feeling when I completed it, to a standard I felt proud of, was amazing). I even had Mr Nicolini posing for me for this special piece!

And below is how you will receive your personalised letter from Santa! Megan has designed the piece beautifully and I know children will absolutely love it. I can only imagine how exciting it must be for them! (I know I'd have adored it as a child!) If you'd like to purchase this piece, head over to the Megan Claire website.

Hello!

Hello all! Sorry I've been a little quiet on the blogging front - I've just returned from a weeks holiday in Cornwall. I'll come back to that in a moment!

I'll be blogging about some new work soon, I'm really excited to share it with you! I received the commission through my agent a few weeks ago. It will be published (a little clue for you!) soon and then I can share it with you. I wasn't sure how having an agent would work out, but so far, so very good! It's given me such a confidence boost in my work too. I'm feeling very positive and looking forward to a new working week! (Although that isn't stopping me wishing i was still on holiday!) I've also got a new personal commission to share soon too.

So back to the holiday! We stayed at a really beautiful and friendly campsite close to the beautiful fishing village of Mevagissey (in mid Cornwall). I used to come here with my family as a child and couldn't wait to come back and show Mat too. We had a great time. The weather was a little disappointing with rain and wind, however most days were cloudy but calm and we did manage to go swimming in the outdoor pool most days and even got sun burnt one day! So, we were lucky compared to the constant rain recently! While we were in Cornwall, we visited other areas too, including Lands End (got to once, i guess) and St Ives. St Ives is truly beautiful and one we'll definitely be going back to soon! Most of our holiday was spend eating cream teas, ice creams and fish shop chips! Lots of reading, relaxing and playing cards as well, the perfect week away just the two of us. It was actually our fist proper holiday just with us. Before we've gone with friends or just for weekends away. This was wonderful! And on the way back we visited my Grandad in Devon who Mat had never met. It was the perfect end the to the week.

On Saturday, it was our six year anniversary!! It was partly this reason that we decided to go away last week, the perfect build up and celebration to our anniversary. We had so much wonderful quality time and I find that with work, we don't get to really talk properly at home, so all this time with just us, all day was amazing. I love him so much and a little more each day. And, if all goes to plan, we will be married this time in two years! Exciting :) I got a Megan Claire sentiments card to give to Mat. I love it! Means nothing to others, but the world to us! Thank you Megan, he loved it!

I'll be back soon with my new work! Have a lovely week and enjoy this beautiful warm weather!

Megan Claire

I really do love twitter. It's helped me grow in confidence, brought in illustration jobs, given me encouragement when I have felt unsure about myself and given me such great company. They say the people you know on twitter are the people you want to and should know in 'real life' and I absolutely believe this. So many people I consider friends and I love it. 

One person I came to know through twitter was Megan Claire. Not only is she funny, supportive and lovely, she is also very talented and I'm proud to know her. She's only been working for herself for six months, as a greetings card company, but it's astonishing to see what she has achieved in this time.

Her dedication, determination and passion make her a very inspiring person to communicate with. In fact, she inspires me daily. She makes me strive for more and i feel more determined than ever to succeed and make a career out of illustration, the thing I love so much. Drawing means a lot to me and I want to do this for the rest of my life - learning, experimenting and pushing myself along the way. I'm more excited for the future now than ever before, with a little fear keeping my feet on the ground. Thank you Megan, I'm so pleased to have 'met' you.

Now to show you some of the greetings cards. They sell distinctive, contemporary and personalised cards, made to the highest quality and from recycled stock. I have purchased a couple myself and they are just as bright and beautiful as shown. I love the wide range of styles she produces and here are just a few of my favourites. You can see at the bottom that she also offers personalised prints. So go and buy, you will not be disappointed!

Just before I leave, I want to tell you about my giveaway! Fritha, of Tigerlilly Quinn (of which I am a sponsor), is hosting a giveaway for me. To celebrate the opening of my shop, I am offering the winner either a print or 40% a custom commission!! I hope this sounds exciting! If so, please pop over and enter the competition. Any tweets about it would be greatly appreciated also :) (some examples of the things you could possibly win below)