When life gets in the way…

Etsy store update

So despite my optimism in the last post and my best efforts to get things finished, my store launch ended up being postponed.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to double my hours for my part-time job while we’ve been short staffed the last few months, and it’s really eaten into my time and energy 😥

On the plus side:

I’ve managed to use what little time I do have to come up with some cute sticker designs and make sure that I have all the correct packaging and tax codes (the boring stuff).

I’ve inevitability had to let go of some of the expectations I had for my shop, but ultimately these tough decisions should help me to create more content that I can truly be proud of in the future.

So the new plan is…

Now that I have a better understanding of myself and how much art I can turn out realistically under the current work situation, my new proposed date for opening my shop will be Friday 8th October.

This will of course be dependent of whether I can finish the tasks on my to do list, but right now that is just printing, product photography and promo images for social media.

Closing thoughts

To anyone who is thinking of selling their art, my advice is to make sure you do plenty of research first, try to have a realistic idea of what you can achieve, and don’t give up!

With any luck, I should be posting an official opening date announcement within the next week so watch this space! ❤

Hello bees!

Happy world bee day!

I spent the whole of yesterday making these little cuties to sell for mental health awareness day!

All bee charms are currently for sale at Cardzone Epping for £5 each! All proceeds will be going to mental health charities, such as Mind. Mental health awareness is a cause that I am very passionate about so if you are in the area this weekend then please drop by and check out the charms or consider donating!

Well it’s been a while…

Wow, it’s been a crazy couple of years hasn’t it? I’ve been neglecting this website for a while, but let’s change that!

What’s been happening?

Well after officially graduating with a BA in illustration & animation at the end of 2019, like many people, the 2020 covid pandemic somewhat threw me for a loop! Many of my life and career plans have been delayed for the forseeable future and I’ve been spending a lot of time soul searching to try and work out what on earth I am going to do now!

Thankfully, I managed to use my suddenly ample freetime to really concentrate on my newfound love of sculpting and polymer clay. I took a few classes on realistic sculpting from the talented Juliana Lepine on youtube, and consumed a lot of inspirational media which really helped me to work out what I want my brand to look like going forward.

At the beginning of 2021, I worked on reviving my instagram account and, since joining an amazing community of artists through Twitch, my following has been steadily growing. I’ve been putting my own twist on “draw this in your styles” by working in clay, and I’ve recently set myself the challenge of sculpting 25 Pokemon charms for the franchise’s 25th anniversary.

How was the degree show?

The degree show was really great! My Liz puppet got a lot of attention, and while there is a lot I would love to change on my final project, I’m proud of all I achieved.

You can watch the final animation here.

I would love to do more projects with Liz in the future as the reception towards her character has been really positive. I think she would work well in a comic or a children’s book format and that’s certainly on the cards for a later date.

So what’s next?

Well, I’m excited to announce that I have taken the steps towards opening an Etsy shop, which is set to open on June 21st this year! I’m going to be selling polymer charms, art prints and stickers to start off with, but I’m hoping to move towards selling character sculpture commissions a little further down the line!

I’ve decided to put the animation career on hold for the time being, in order to focus my attention on the Etsy business. I’m hoping to build a better model-making portfolio on the side though, so that I can jump straight back into job hunting once I’ve relocated to Bristol later this year (pandemic permitting).

If you would like to help support me, I now have a Ko-fi set up as a tip jar, or simply follow me on social media to see what I’m working on, and to get all the latest updates as they happen!

follow me!

Race to the finish line

With less than a week left until I hand in my final animation, it’s going to be an intense, caffeine filled few days!

Here’s a little sneak peak from behind the scenes:

Ready to go

Puppet: complete ✅

Set: complete ✅

Props: complete ✅

Sound: complete ✅

Time to start filming!

The deadline for my thesis film is the 9th May 2019. I’m using a combination of stop-motion and paper animation and I’m giving myself two weeks to animate it! It’s going to be tight, but I am determined to make it work!