New products!

It is with great excitement that I announce some new products available from Fay's Studio!

I have been asked countless times if my designs are available as prints and I have always wanted my designs on clothing.

From today you can now buy my designs on t-shirts, hooded tops, ipod/iphone cases and skins, laptop/ipad skins, art prints, framed prints and stretched canvases. The prices are very reasonable too with so many colours, styles and size options to choose from.

It will be great to see my designs walking around. If you do treat yourself or someone else, please send in a photo of you in your new tee, holding your phone, or hanging a canvas or print (mail@faysstudio.com) and I will feature you on the blog!

Here are just a handful of the products that are available now.

'Knickerbocker Glory' iPhone case

'I'd Be Lost Without You' womans tee in natural

'I Walked and I Walked' framed print

'Rockstar' mens tee in grass green

'Rabbits' laptop skin

'Clocks' iPod/iPhone skin

'Vespa' mens hoodie in slate grey

'Campervan' mens tee in white

'Cat and String' iPhone case

'Drum Kit' framed print

'Hello' womans tee in Pomegranate

 

'Bloom' stretched canvas.

 Here is the link to the website again.

I've been framed!

I hope you had a lovely weekend. We had downpours on Saturday but Sunday brightened up just in time to meet an old friend for coffee in Dursley town close by (made famous by J.K Rowling).

My friend has a lovely Edwardian house and wanted to buy some of my greeting cards to frame and use as art for her home. This isn't the first time my cards have been used for art but it is the first time I have been sent a photograph of the results.

I think they lovely in their white frames on the pink chimney, and I like the way they have been staggered. When I have my own home I will no doubt be putting my work in frames everywhere.

Five of my Valentine's cards were chosen for this display, full of birds, love hearts and a bicycle made for two.

Back from the show.

We have been back a few days now, recovering from a long week at the show. I must admit I have spent the weekend mainly catching up on lost sleep from restless evenings.

Unfortunately we had the weather to contend with as well, and for many exhibitors, Sunday the first day of the show which is meant to be the busiest of the week, was rather quiet. The British media didn't help matters either by telling people to stay away, even though all roads and railways were clear in Birmingham. The airport was struggling however so we did miss some of our overseas buyers altogether. We even had comments during the show that visitors found the layout confusing and therefore hard to find our aisle.

We arrived on Saturday just after 10am...

This is the blank canvas that greeted us, so with coffee in hand after an early start we began applying some flock wallpaper to the shell scheme that I had selected and planned at home.

It wasn't long before the display started to take shape...

I was amazed at how many more designs I now have, and it didn't take long to fill up the 3 x 1 metre stand.

 

I used ribbon and some tiny pegs to hang my new foiled cards from the top of the stand, and the table-top spinner had a selection of cards from different ranges.

 

We decided during the build-up that we are going to paint and put up shelves next year as we need to start making the task a lot simpler. We also think a little bit of colour in the background will look really nice, so now I just have to select which paint to use.

I had some repeat custom and met some new buyers at the show. I am especially excited by some new prospects for distribution in Australia, so I will keep you informed if that all goes ahead.

We were lucky to exhibit by some friends in the greetings industry, the lovely Anna from Rosanna Rossi, Helen from A Farmer's Daughter, Stuart from Splimple and Cath Ward. It really helps to have such friendly neighbours at the show to share stories and laughter with. They were even kind enough to point buyers in our direction if the customer was looking for something specific. Thank you to everyone for being so lovely.

Thanks for visiting us, we will see you there again next year. Hopefully a bigger stand too, and a seat for Mum!

Off To The Fair!

Whether tomorrow brings wind, rain, fog or snow, we will be making our way to Spring Fair International at the NEC in Birmingham.

A clip from my all time favourite animated film - No doubt our trip to the fair will be easier than this one with no wolves and talking inanimate objects, but plenty of tea!

Have a safe journey, and we will see you at the show!
(Hall 4 stand 4GG67)

Yummy ice creams!

Vogue magazine has just dropped through my front door, and it is full of the lovely fashion trends I mentioned in my last blog post.

It's a little too cold today to be talking about ice creams, but I just had to share with you these wonderful ad campaigns from Louis Vuitton and Mulberry as I love the styling and the colour palette in these photographs.

Sitting next to my own greetings cards the palette is so similar. I love the ice cream theme running through each one and especially the Twister themed dress by Mulberry. The pastel shades are so feminine and the props are so much fun. It must have been great to invent the set for these photo shoots, the tiniest details have been thought of, there's even a whippy cone shaped hair style!

If you would like to get your hands on any of my ice cream themed cards, then head over to the website here.

I can't wait for the summer and all the yummy ice cream!

Inspiring Spring.

For many years I have been a huge fan of runway fashion trends, and as an illustrator my work often closely relates to the trends seen on the catwalk.

I am really inspired by the Spring trends this year, and I have utilised these colour and pattern inspirations in my own greeting cards. Floral patterns are often a running theme on the catwalk (always much more sophisticated than the fabric used for granny's curtains) and the pastel hues used by many fashion designers at the moment are gorgeous. 

I have put some photos from the highlights of the catwalk alongside my own designs. You can definitely see a subconscious inspiration in my designs.

Pastel palette from Matthew Williamson.

Ditsy florals from Nina Ricci.

Use of pattern from Jil Sander.

Baroque flourishes from Thakoon.

Delicate floral patterns from Prada.

Hiding on my desktop.

It is often the case that I have a sudden splurge of ideas for a range of greetings cards. I put the ink drawings in random files on the computer, then get so busy that I almost forget about them.

Today on my desktop I found a rather interesting looking folder which contained six Birthday card designs I had started but hadn't finished. With a bit of spare time today I have been able to finish these designs and have them mocked up ready for showing at Spring Fair.

Lots of girly fun!

 

My style seems to alter all the time, which is great when aiming to design cards for different ages. I think you'll agree that these are definitely for the young, that teenage bracket that is hard to cater for, but which I find the most fun in terms of exploring with different themes and adding lots of splashes of bright colour. I had such a lot of fun with this sweet colour palette!

This set of six designs are 14.5cm square. They are printed onto high quality FSC matt board and come wrapped in a biodegradable bag with a pink envelope. Blank inside. They are available in packs of six to trade customers and singles will be up on the website soon.

Preparing for Spring Fair.

If you follow my blog regularly, it will come as no surprise to you that I have been busy preparing for exhibiting at Spring Fair International, one of the largest trade shows in the world. Needless to say it takes a lot of time to prepare and actually since July last year (since the Harrogate Home & Gift Show) I have not stopped thinking about Spring Fair.

I have a few new products to show you that I will be launching at the show. I have 60 brand new designs in total, so the stand will be crammed full with new and exciting products.

Firstly are a selection from the new 'Ditsy Hearts' range. Each design measuring 10.5 x 14.8 cm is printed onto a high quality FSC matt board, and come wrapped in a biodegradable bag with a matching lavender envelope. Blank inside. Available in packs of 6 to trade customers and singularly for £2.30 from the website. There are 10 designs in total in this range to choose from.

'I Love You Dearly'

'So Foxy'

'Always Bee Together'

I do love making lovey-dovey cards the most but I also have hatched some brand new designs for Easter. The same product materials, dimensions and prices apply, but these come wrapped with a sunny yellow envelope. There are six designs so far in this range.

'Toadstool'

'Easter Wishes'

'Roosting'

Thinking ahead for Mother's Day, I have also begun a special new card range to wish Mum's a very happy day. These four cards measure 14.5cm square, are printed onto a high quality FSC matt board and come wrapped in a biodegradable bag with a pearlescent white envelope. The cards are blank inside.

'Cake stand'

'Cat Amongst The Birds'

'Happy Mother's Day'

'With Love On Mother's Day'

As you can see I have been a very busy bee. I also have lots of Christmas cards (see earlier blog) launching at the show, and of course my very special new age range cards delicately foiled and now available from the website and my new fun and girly foiled Birthday card range 'Sweet Treats' also available to buy now!

I hope you like these new designs, and fingers crossed they go down well at the show. The display is ready to go, catalogues and leaflets packed, order forms printed. Mum (my savvy helper) and I will make our way to Birmingham to set-up on Saturday morning. We are really looking forward to the show opening!(Sunday 5th Feb) See you there, stand 4GG67.