Merry Christmas!

To my friends, family, customers, suppliers, blog and twitter followers, and facebook fans, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Thank you for all of your support over the past 12 months, which I can safely say has been such a rollercoaster. I have had so many wonderful opportunities this year and it has been great to share it all with you.

Who knows what 2013 will have in store, I just hope for a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead.

Fay's Studio is taking a well-earned break over Christmas and the New Year, but will be back in January with a huge to-do list.

See you again soon everyone!
x Fay

The QVC Experience

So, it has taken me a little while to getting round to writing this post, it's the busiest time of year, so blogging has gone by the way side. However, I have to report back on my day at QVC and how it all went. If you saw me on any of the four shows you will have seen that I was nervous going out live, but I had warmed up by the third and fourth hour.

I was on the train to London at 7.30am on Monday 19th all ready in my dress, no make-up, that had to wait, but it gave me plenty of time to prepare for the day ahead. It's always nice when you get to these huge companies to find that actually the staff are all really lovely and the green room was a good place to go back to and relax as I had to wait a few hours sometimes between shows.

It was remarkable to see behind the scenes of the show, fascinating to watch the cameras at work, the overhead cameras that run round above and the speediness of the crew who dress the set for each product on sale.

You'll have to forgive my photos, unfortunately I couldn't take any behind the scenes, but this gives you an idea of how the products looked on the show and me and Kelly promoting our collaborative designs. It still felt surreal to be discussing my illustrations transformed onto fabric products, but it has really opened new doors for me and I have so many plans for licensing in the future.

Our crown inspired throw, finished with my design in stitches.

The crown inspired cushion an ideal gift for Christmas.

The first time on air, showing off the throw to the viewers.

The products go live online to buyers.

I was so glad to have Kelly's support on the day.

It wasn't all scary, I did have fun with the presenters and Kelly.

If you weren't aware, all of the design time and work involved, we did for free in aid of the Prince's Trust. It has been a great experience, a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have to thank everyone involved from all the staff at the Trust to the mentors and all the staff at QVC that gave their time and energy for the campaign. You can still go online and purchase these for yourself or someone else, they are perfect for Christmas and do look amazing over the bed. The throw is definitely a must have for the cold snap!

Welcome in the spring!

I am hoping this post will cheer up those who have suffered from the terrible weather recently. I am looking to spring with hopes for plenty of sunshine, chocolate eggs and gorgeous flowers.

Today I have a few new card collections to share with you, so that you can order in time for the Spring. By now you'll be so busy with Christmas in store but when you have breather do take a look and plan ahead for the sunnier seasons to come.

Firstly, Mother's Day is on Sunday 10th March 2013.

 Following shortly after is Easter Sunday on 31st March.

I have also developed a new range of general male and female Birthday cards which are perfect for a wide audience. The illustrations are based on more unusual past times and Birthday treats.

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about the ranges and for details of the online catalogue and full price lists call me on 07817 412086 or email  mail@faysstudio.com

Fay x

'Tomorrow' Product Launch at QVC

From the day I heard I had been selected by Kelly Hoppen to work with her for the Prince's Trust Tomorrow campaign it has been a whirlwind. You will see from past blog posts all of the great opportunities being involved in the campaign has brought, from being photographed by Rankin, meeting Kelly Hoppen MBE at her design studio and beginning the mentoring and design process. Appearing in the Sunday Times Style Magazine, Grazia, Hello! and the Metro, being interviewed by MSN Style and meeting the team at QVC with whom we are launching our interior products.

Kelly and I being photographed by Rankin.

The whole process has been amazing, there have been so many highlights. I have always been surprised by what the Prince's Trust have in-store next. The campaign has been a huge success, the mentoring and the products achieved from each couple paired for the Tomorrow campaign has been amazing, and there is still more to come!

The 'Tomorrow' campaign launched in the Sunday Times Style Magazine

I am delighted with the amount that Kelly and I are hoping to raise for the Trust through our appearance on QVC next Monday! You can look out for us at midday, 3pm, 6pm and 10pm, four slots throughout the day where I will be with Kelly showing what we have designed. I cannot wait! I feel much more at ease after my guest audition at QVC and the live show is going to be fantastic.

Audition day at QVC

I don't want it all to come to an end. It has been so inspiring working with such an amazing designer and businesswomen. Kelly has all the design and business nous I hope to continue learning by. Day to day our end products are very different, but our collaboration has been a huge success and I am so proud of the final products. It has certainly cemented the fact that I would like to license more of my designs onto other products, and being mentored by Kelly has shown me that applying my designs to fabric is different to the approach I take for my greeting cards.
 
Thanks also to 'Greetings Today' and 'Progressive Greetings' magazine who have featured the story!

So don't forget, we are live on QVC Monday November 19th at 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 10pm launching the throw and cushion we have created. They are the perfect gifts for Christmas or just for yourself, and it's a guilt-free purchase as the proceeds go back to the Prince's Trust.

I will be following up Monday's show with lots more news and photographs and some other announcements too, so keep an eye out for those!

x Fay

New range - Sweet Tooth

As you know there is a bit of a romantic in me, and I love designing cards for sweethearts. My new range 'Sweet Tooth' is a collection of 24 charming colourful characters and sweet and some not so sweet captions that cover the many different ups and downs we go through with our loved ones from 'I can't smile without you' to 'I'm so angry right now'.

With my love for character design and anything Kawaii (Japanese- meaning cute, pretty and charming) this range developed very quickly. My usual pile of thumbnail sketches grew and grew in the Studio, and I knew this range was going to be hand-finished with wobbly eyes to make them even sweeter.

The whole collection is printed onto a beautiful textured board which adds a further tactile nature to the cards, and come individually wrapped in my bespoke biodegradable bags, this time with a gorgeous green envelope. They measure 10.5 x 14.8cm and are priced at £2.40.

I hope you'll love my loveable characters and find many reasons to send them!

KW04 - Cutie Pie

KW08 - Hoppy

KW12 - Mushy

KW16 - Pearfect

KW20 - Splendid Gent

KW24 - Cheeky

KW03 - Bee Mine

KW07 - Hairy Back

KW11 - Let's Huggle

KW15 - Oh No!

KW19 - Spoon Me!

KW23 - Sweet

KW02 - Can't Smile

KW06 - Fun Guy

KW10 - Lava

KW14 - Obzest

KW18 - Soft Centred

KW22 - Squeeze Me

KW01 - Bad Apple

KW05 - Enamelled

KW09 - I'm Sorry

KW13 - Nuts About You

KW17 - Angry

KW21 - Squashed Tomato

Trade enquiries are very welcome, please get in touch for more information at mail@faysstudio.com

Fay  x

ICONS

Behind the scenes at Fay's Studio, I've been having a lot of fun (which is allowed) creating a range of 10 new cards. I saw a gap in the market for this type of card, with our love of popstars and fame, and with a strong lean towards humour cards at the moment (as we are all a bit down in the dumps) I have designed the 'Icons' range. Ten famous faces, as you've never seen them before. I've even hand finished the characters with googley-eyes for an extra bit of fun! It takes some time to stick the eyes on by hand, but it's worth it. Well, I've enjoyed shaking them anyway.

In case you were wondering "can I send the card as a standard UK letter" yes you can! Normal stamps apply even with the extra thickness. They are tried and tested. Please also note that these cards are not suitable for children under 3 years of age, due to small parts.

For display purposes the range has been photographed on a coloured background with their coordinating yellow envelopes. I hope you love the twist on these famous characters.

LADY GAGA

FREDDIE MERCURY

KATY PERRY

JUSTIN BIEBER

RIHANNA

MADONNA

DAVID BOWIE

AMY WINEHOUSE

ELVIS PRESLEY

 

MICHAEL JACKSON

These are available to trade now, and they will be added to the website very soon! If you would like further information, please get in touch at mail@faysstudio.com.

Fay x