The Drawing Bug
It seems like recently I have caught the drawing bug, probably largely helped by a sudden avalanche of sales for my Penguin Valentines Cards! It really has been rather exciting over here at Penguin HQ!
I’ve found that I really do love drawing cute little animals and it seems like i’m getting better and better every time i open up photoshop! I’ve even started recording my drawing process as i think it does help to watch back when i’m not concentrating on drawing, plus i think it could be quite a nice little addition to my youtube cannel that’s been lying dormant for so long! You can watch all my time-lapses here!
I drew these seahorses as another option for valentines day, but ended up not really liking them enough to put up in my shop. I do think they’re cute but, gosh, are seahorses hard to draw! Maybe i’ll revisit them once i’ve improved a bit more.
I started to relax into my drawing a bit more and drew this adorable Hippo! This has to be one of my favourite drawings to date! He’s wearing a cute little party hat and singing ‘Hippo Birthday’, because Hippo’s are obviously amazing singers! 😉 I think my shading improved so much on this picture and I just love the hippos character!
You can buy my Hippo Birthday card here!
Ashley then gave me the idea of drawing a shiny-object-loving magpie stealing a ring for a wedding or engagement card and I thought it was a great idea! I wanted to add a little simple background to this one and love how it turned out although i think i will tweak my shading tomorrow as it isn’t as good as on my Hippo.
You can find my Magpie Thief card here!
What do you think I should draw next?
I also have some other exciting plans for my youtube so do keep an eye out for more learning, projects and other fun things!
But for now, it’s time to sew!
Claire
New Packaging
For a while now I’ve been stuck on how to package my products, usually just sending them off in some purple tissue paper and them, quite honestly, not being that exciting. I want even receiving and opening my items to be a good, memorable experience. I want not only my products to ‘Wow’ but the packaging it comes in to make the moment really special.
I think I’ve finally found a winner and have sent off my first two parcels with my new wrapping design!
When you open up your parcel now you will find a pretty little brown package wrapped with a bold, orange ribbon and finished with a Penguin Theory’ business card.
The package wont be sellotaped so that if it is a gift you can open it up to check the product is to your liking before wrapping it back up again to give away.
Alongside the package will be a special Penguin Theory Invoice. Inside will be the product you have purchased nestled amongst some bright orange tissue paper.
Unfortunately the two packages I sent off yesterday had purple tissue paper as the orange I ordered didn’t arrive until I was leaving the house for the post office! Doh!
I also have some good ideas on how to package my items at craft fairs, although i still need to find a way to make my vision a reality.
I am super pleased with my new wrapping and it’s making me even more excited to sell lots of amazing products this year! I’ve already made two sales before January even really started and have so many ideas already in progress and a commission in the works, not a bad start to the year at all.
London Print Collection Now Available!
Now available in my shop is your choice of 4 of my London 6×4 prints for only £6!
Choose from any of my london prints (priced at £3.95 separately) to create your own collection. There are lots to choose from and even more to come!
Express your love for this iconic city with your very own set to decorate your shelves. These 6×4 prints would look great in frames for any London Lover.
All are printed by a professional photo lab on archival paper. Watermarks will be removed and replaced with a small logo on or around the print.
Other sizes of all photographs as well as mounting, laminating and canvas prints are available. Please contact me for more details.
I really do love london (although living here is maybe a little too expensive). I think my favourite place to go is the natural history museum. It’s just such a beautiful building and holds so many weird and wonderful things! I also love the south bank as there’s always so much going on! And you can’t forget the many parks dotted around for nice relaxing summer days!
What’s your favourite thing to see and do in London?
First of my Photography up for sale!
I have a lot to catch up on, such as a recent trip to cornwall to shoot a skating event. I’m still editing all my photographs and will be doing a big blog post on it soon! But first an update on my photography!
Today I received the first of my prints in the post! I just ordered some small ones as a test purchase but they all came out great! Very happy with the quality and speed of delivery from DS colour labs and can’t wait to get ordering more!
There are also two more items not included in these photographs as they are part of a top secret project I am working on and should be completed in the next month or so!
I have actually put one of my photographs up for sale on Etsy already! This print was taken in Grosmont which is in the county of Monmouthshire in Wales.
I loved this photograph as soon as I took it, I find the rolling hill very relaxing and love that I can see walkers trekking up the sides and standing at the top.
It is available in my etsy shop here and can come as just the print or mounted on card or foam board.
I can’t wait to get more of my photo’s printed and up for sale! I have some prints which I am really excited about showing off!
Another Chance to Win!
I’ve been bad and haven’t quite gotten round to much sewing, but I do have another competition for you all!
Again it’s for a Penguin Theory Tote bag with your choice of lining (to be discussed with the lucky winner)
It’s easy to enter: Just tell me what your favourite penguin is! Simples!
I have a handy little thing from rafflecopter this time as well. You can enter here on my facebook page
Remember you can also buy this bag on my Etsy and 20% of every sale goes to the RSPB to help save rockhopper penguins!
Good Luck!
May There Be Penguins!
I’ve been in bed for most of the day today with a horrible migraine, but it is the first of May so I can’t stay in bed all day!
As promised, today is the kick off of my month long event : May There Be Penguins!
Expect there to be lots of fun, competitions, freebies but also money raising, and conservation awareness.
Many Penguins around the world have declining numbers, Rockhoppers are one of the species in real trouble with rapidly declining numbers leaving experts baffled, although there are many factors thought to be playing a part such as; harmful algae, fishing, human encroachment, climate change and much more.
The numbers are truly frightening – northern rockhopper penguins are disappearing from Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island at the rate of 100 a day
Source : http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/ukot/index.aspx
Over the last 10 years this represents a loss of 77,381 pairs or a rate of decline of 2.7% p.a. The recent 2010 census indicates that the population is showing signs of a recovery from the effects of the harmful algae bloom in 2002.
Source : http://www.falklandsconservation.com/wildlife/penguins/rockhopper
The problem is that studying birds in such remote places is expensive. Gadgets such as data loggers and satellite tags that can be used to track the penguins could go a long way to understanding why they are in decline, and hopefully help us to provide a solution.
I have chosen to raise money for the RSPB throughout the month of May, donating 20% of sales to their rockhopper penguin appeal.
What’s that you say? Don’t they just deal with the UK’s birds?
Actually they run very successful campaigns for our overseas territories as well, helping save penguins, albatrosses and many other birds, plants and animals outside of the UK. They even do work in Rainforests which even came as a surprise to me! They also sell bird food (which my mum buys regularly) gardening tools and much more for those who like to help from the comfort of their own home.
So why the RSPB?
The RSPB has always been a very prominent thing in my life. When we were younger both myself and my sister were members of the Wildlife Explorers and often went to events, meeting other kids and even some celebrities like Howie from The Really Wild Show and Dominic Wood! I have many memories of birdwatching at our local reserve with my sister and grandpa and was always excited to see a new species i’d never seen before.
They make sure that 90p of every £1 is used for conservation, in their words; ‘more money spent on saving nature and less on admin’. I like that, unlike some of the bigger charities, they do seem to concentrate more on the conservation rather than the advertising, but obviously they have to advertise to some extent.
I really believe that they are an excellent charity and go a long way to helping keep the worlds wildlife beautiful and rich.
I’ll be bringing out some brand new products and running lots of exciting competitions over the next month. I will have my first competition running before the end of this week (once i’ve recovered) so please check back soon!
You can also follow me on facebook and twitter for more updates.
courtesy of the RSPB
Feeling Supported
Although I’m not sure how much longer I want to work in the pub, I do really love the people there. Sure there is the odd annoying, rude customer but the friendly customers (and hilarious staff) are the ones that make it all worth while!
There are a lot of the regulars that are great to have a chat with but there is one gentleman in particular who is the jolliest man you will ever meet, he loves his ale and always exclaims ‘marvellous’ in his deep voice when you hand him his pint. He actually knows about ‘The Penguin Theory’ and follows my facebook page ‘liking’ most of my statuses on there.
He always asks how the sewing is going and has recently started telling me that ‘This is the year penguins will fly’.
I absolutely love this phrase and have now changed my blogs tag line to this because this IS the year the penguin theory will get off the ground and start flapping it’s wings! It’s just so perfectly fitting that I had to steal it (although he has stated that there’s ‘no need to steal for your blog, you have a gift’).
It’s people like this that really keep me motivated. The fact that so many seem to believe I can do it (and not just people from work, friends and family too and of course my boyfriend is a HUGE help) is really a big confidence booster. Without everyone’s support I would have probably given up by now, but the hard work is paying off and sales are being made. I am really starting to believe in myself now and, as long as I keep up the hard work, I know I can make something of myself.
So heres to you Michael! When I’m rich and the penguins are soaring, I will buy you a drink!
Table Top Sale Finds
Today my boyfriend and I decided to pop along to a little local church table top sale. I found quite a few bargains I’m proud of!
Venetian Bead Necklace
My first find. I bought this and then went back to the same stall for the rest of my things. I actually got this for £5 not any of the other prices on the label. Going to take it apart and use the beads to make some earrings and things.
Silver Heart Ring
I saw this and fell in love! Only cost me £5 as well! I love all the little hearts which go all the way around 🙂
London and Hertfordshire Charms
I thought these were cute and quirky, the exact kind of things i’m looking for to use in my jewellery making. Now just to figure out what to do with them…
Ashley also bought a Saw, hammer and a big, and well made, wooden box of nails for just £3! He wants to build things.
In other news. There is finally a new item for sale in my shop! I haven’t listed anything for ages (mainly due to a lack of internet) but now i present to you my fish and pearl necklace! 🙂
The Penguin Theory 