Some time out...

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted! I hadn't realised it's been quite so long :( Christmas time was slightly crazy as always and went by in a flash. I saw the new year in in Eden on the far south coast of NSW with some good friends and it was an amazing way to start the year. I have had a lot of beach time over the summer, lots of swimming and feel amazing for it, refreshed and energised. Now to focus that energy on getting back to work! Many of you know that Eveleigh Artisans' Market, which was my regular monthly market and where I've met so many of you, was cancelled by the management at the end of last year. Without that monthly deadline I have felt kind of without focus so far this year and am still trying to work out quite what to do and which projects to start on first. I have been drawing though and am slowly figuring it out, so I'll have some news and some new drawings to share with you soon x

Free shipping for Christmas

Hello my friends! Well, doesn't the time fly? Only seventeen days until Christmas. If you're like me and haven't even thought about all the lovely people who you'd like to send a card to this year, it's not too late. All of my Christmas cards and Christmas gift tags are available in my online shop. I also have all of my illustrations for sale as prints on art paper and canvas which are sure to bring a smile to adults and kids alike :) To make things even easier I'm offering free shipping for all orders within Australia. Just head to the Big Toast shop and enter the code 'TOASTIES' at the checkout. As always, I'm happy to send directly to your loved one and can include a hand written note. Happy Christmas!

New Christmas Cards!

Angel Orchestra

We wish you a Merry Christmas

I'm very happy to have two new illustrations to share with you. I did these recently to add to my range of Christmas cards :) For these illustrations my starting point was thinking about some of the rituals of Christmas, like decorating the tree, putting up Christmas lights in the suburbs and family dinners. "Angel Orchestra" comes from that simple idea of the decorated tree but as always I have a slight obsession with inanimate objects becoming animated, and so at night when no one is around the angel decorations start to play their instruments and have a little party. "We wish you a Merry Christmas" initially came from thinking about families. I had this image of a family standing around a piano having a sing-a-long. My family doesn't own a piano and as far as I know none of us can sing so this is not something my family actually does, but I'm sure some families must do it and have a jolly good time! This image then morphed into a dog sing-a-long because I do love doggies, and then it hit! It should show a neighbourhood dog choir going door to door singing Christmas carols! I hope you like them :)

I have just updated my online shop with all the new cards and prints, you can check it out here or from the link at the top right of the page. The Christmas cards are available as single cards and as packs along with the rest of the Christmas range shown below, which includes some of my favourite illustrations X 

A family portrait

I have another new illustration! The idea for this has been in my head for years, it's just taken a long time to get it out. It's about capturing a moment we're all familiar with, that moment just before you get a photo taken. Mum's making sure her fur is in place whilst keeping an eye on her son, who is hoping she doesn't notice he's picking his nose. Dad's trying to get the other boy to stand next to him but he just wants to climb on his lap and the little girl hates having her picture taken and is not very happy (yep, that's me). I always pictured the family in olden days dress as I've always been kind of fascinated with old black and white family portraits, they are so formal and everyone looks so serious that I often wondered about the moments before and after they were taken. This is the photo of me with my big brother that I always had in the back of my mind when thinking about this image and is the inspiration for the girl bunny :)

I'll have this illustration available as a greeting card at Eveleigh Market on Sunday and also as a canvas print and print on paper. I'll be doing a shop update over the next couple of weeks to add the new illustrations as well as Christmas cards and Christmas gift tags. I have a couple of new Christmas illustrations too so I'm looking forward to sharing those with you soon x

Sun and sandy paws

I have a new illustration! This one features my favourite bear and panda who you may recognise from an earlier illustration capturing the beginnings of their romance. It seems like forever since I added a new card to my range so I'm pretty excited with this addition and spent this morning printing and making some cards for the market on Sunday (details to the right). I'll be adding it to my online shop soon too in card, print and canvas form so stay tuned for that. I really love drawing these two, I have a feeling their adventures may continue X

The start of something...

There has been a lot of this going on this year but in the last couple of months I can feel a change and things are finally starting to work again.  Phew...

Boxing Bull and Bear

I did this illustration for my Dad for his birthday and used it on the cover of a book I made for him, which of course I forgot to take a photo of. I often make books and journals for friends and family as gifts and without fail I give it to them before I take a picture. They're always unique so it would have been nice to document them! Oh well. I've seen a couple of them return from overseas trips, full of stories and adventures, slightly battered and well loved. It makes me happy to see that :)