Christmas shopping round-up: where I spent my money this year

Hello everyone, just a quick post today before all the Christmas celebrations begin!

It's been about five months since we upped sticks from the big smoke of London to settle back in leafy Leicester, and so far we are finding that the change in both location and pace is suiting us very well.  We have our own place which we have now been in for over three months, and while I still have a long list of things I want to do to make it truly 'ours' it is feeling more and more like home these days.  It's been a delight to catch up with friends and family that we didn't get to see as often as we would have liked when we lived in the big city, and while we dearly miss our friends in London we aren't feeling nostalgic about the noise, traffic or crowds!  Chris is getting on really well with his course at University, and I'm finding it much easier to focus on my illustration career without the stress of trying to juggle it with a part-time job.  Moving home has disrupted my productivity somewhat (since there is just SO much stuff to do!) but since we are now just about settled, I'm hopeful that I can produce a lot more work in 2013 to share with you.

When I began looking for Christmas presents at the beginning of this month, I had no idea what goods the local shops might offer.  I was a teenager when I last lived here, and I remember at that time feeling pretty underwhelmed by the shopping in Leicester - the locally owned shops seemed despondent, down-at-heel, struggling after years of being out-competed (on price, though perhaps not on service) by the big-brand stores; while the large chains themselves offered the same soulless, cloned merchandise that you can find on any anonymous UK high street.  Would I still find things as I remembered them, or had the situation changed?

Doubtless, things have been tough the last couple of years for retailers, and as in many other city centres across the country Leicester has more abandoned, empty shop-fronts than anyone would ideally like to see.  However, I am pleased to report that there are also clusters of little independent shops that are fighting back: offering the people of Leicester excellent quality in terms of goods, service, and even value for money.  Here is my gift-hunting hit list for Christmas 2012, cherry-picking the shops where I found my presents this year.  I hope you'll find it useful, either for next year's gifts or if you'll be joining the crowds in a mad dash for presents today and tomorrow!

Frog and Mouse Picture Company

Frog and Mouse offer original artworks, and a large selection of high quality prints.  They seem to get new work in fairly regularly, so if you don't see something you like the first time you visit I'd say it's worth visiting again later.  Obviously, there are some pieces that cost in the hundreds of pounds, but I was pleasantly surprised by the large selection of very reasonably priced prints, many under £100 and others under £50.

019 Sweater Shop

I came here looking for great quality, British-produced knitted goods, and I was not disappointed!  As the name would suggest, they specialise in sweaters but also sell hats, scarves and other items.  Their kid's range is really cute, too.  Just recently they have had 100% wool jumpers and leg warmers in stock, which make great gifts for people who like their clothes to be made with lovely, natural materials.

Just... the Fair Trade Shop

Just... the Fair Trade Shop stocks a wide range of beautiful items: home wares, toys, clothes, jewellery, food, confectionary, even eco-friendly cleaning supplies!  Sadly I found their clothing a little too expensive for my Christmas present budget this year, but lots of the other items were priced very reasonably and are of excellent quality.  My highlights this year include their pairs of patterned socks made from bamboo fibres, as well as lovely hand-sewn Christmas decorations embellished with sequins and beads.

2Clear by Set

Set and 2clear by Set specialise in unusually designed gifts and products.  There are lots of beautiful items, and I was especially impressed by the prices - I picked up some stocking fillers here, some of which only cost between £1.50 and £3 each.  And happily, low prices doesn't mean low quality in this case!  Very handy if you're shopping on a budget.

Dominoes Toys

 Nope, we're not talking pizza!  This is (I am informed) the largest independent toy store in the Midlands, with a huge selection spread over several floors.  They also offer model-making kits as well as arts and crafts supplies.  I came in hunting for a gift for my young nephew: not being a parent myself (and without much experience of toddlers) I had no idea of what might be suitable, but fortunately the helpful staff pointed me in the right direction.

Mosaic

In the summer I read a feature about Mosaic in the Leicester Mercury, and so when December rolled round I decided that it was high time for me to go check them out.  I've found a number of great gifts in this store, and the option to choose your own beads to create a personalised present has a lot of appeal.  If you aren't crafty yourself, you can pay to have one of the staff make the jewellery for you, and you can even bring in items for repair (a service I might make use of in the future!)

Sheehan's Musical Instruments

Sheehan's of Leicester

Sheehan's is a real Leicester establishment, and has been in the city for years.  I don't often have a reason to visit (since I'm not musically talented myself) but the staff are great: friendly, helpful and (since many of them are musicians themselves) very knowledgable about the instruments they offer.


So now that my Christmas shopping is complete, I can put my feet up and relax over the festive period!  Hope you've enjoyed this Christmas round-up of shops, I might make it a feature every year so if you think that's a good idea (or not!) do please let me know in the comments below.  I really appreciate your feedback.

Thanks for reading, see you again next time!

Emma xxx

Inspiring India

Hello folks!

Autumn is well and truly here, isn't it?  Time to get those warm socks on and snuggle up cosily with a mug of something warm and comforting.  I love this time of year, though I've been looking back to summer a little this week as I've been finishing up my piece for the Inspiring India bloggers challenge, which is a project organised by Cox and Kings, the world's longest established travel company who specialise in escorted tours and luxury holidays.  Perhaps if you're missing the sunshine you'll enjoy the picture I've been working on too (though all I'm showing for now are little clips, so as not to spoil the surprise).  The piece will debut at the event this Wednesday evening (10th October, 6.30pm - 10pm at the Royal Geographical Society in London) so I shall reveal the whole piece on here sometime after that.  Incidentally, if you want to attend the event there are still some tickets available - just click here to purchase or to find out more about the program for the evening.

Hope you enjoy these little teasers, I would play a another game of 'guess the birdie' with my readers but I think this one is far too easy!  Though very appropriate given the subject matter, I think.  I hope you agree.

That's all for now, thank you everyone for reading!

Summer dreams and Inspiring India

Hello folks!  How are you all?

It's been over a month now since my fiance Chris and I moved away from London, and at last things are beginning to fall into place.  We just got the keys to our new home (a beautiful little Victorian terraced house on the south-eastern edge of Leicester) and are currently organising getting our affects and some furniture in there.  I can't wait to get settled in!  It will take a while before it feels truly ours, but once it's looking presentable I shall certainly share some pictures with you on here.  Both our sets of parents have been fantastic, rallying round offering support, advice, and furniture.  We're already sorted for a sofa, bed and mattress, and my folks have gifted us my great-grandmother's walnut sideboard so we should be very well set up!

Just a week ago we were having a BBQ at a friends house, sipping wine in the afternoon sunshine... just look at it now!  So grey and cold outside - it seems that summer is finally over.  I've been wistfully looking over these photos today, which were taken in June, on my birthday.  Me and Chris decided to celebrate by having ourselves a day out at Hampton Court Palace, and it was so roasting outside that we were relieved to escape inside the cool stone buildings to view the rooms and galleries.  The gardens soon tempted us back out again though; I was very impressed by the abundant, colourful blooms (and besides, there's nothing as wonderful as a rose garden in June!)

The white greyhound of Richmond

The Chapel Court Gardens

Eating ice-cream in the sun

The rose garden

Roses

Snap dragons and lavender

That day was so perfect, if I had a time-machine I would revisit it!

I had planned on taking it easy work-wise during my move, but as we all know time stands still for no man... and I'm not one to pass up a good opportunity!  As ever, I've been busy doing illustrations for Making Magazine (you can see all the projects so far on my facebook page) and I have also agreed to take part in an art challenge for creative bloggers called Inspiring India.  The project has been organised by travel company Cox & Kings, who specialise in providing luxury holidays and group holidays.  They challenge the bloggers that they have invited to create pieces of art inspired by the exotic destination of India, which will then be displayed in an exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 10th October this year.  I've been doodling some ideas and am looking forward to getting stuck into the illustration properly - wish me luck!

Thank you for reading, hope to see you next time!

Emma xxx

P.S. If you would like to come along to the Inspiring India exhibition, you can purchase tickets for the event here.  It's only £15.00 and includes a lecture by India expert Sir Mark Tully, an exhibition of Indian artefacts and of course, some amazing artwork!  Hope to see you there!

My illustrations for The Picture Show - full reveal!

I expect a lot of you might have already seen these on my facebook, but I thought it worth sharing the finished pictures on here for the sake of continuity and thoroughness ;D

Nightjar, pencil and watercolour illustration

Cuckoo, pencil and watercolour illustration

Swallow, pencil and watercolour illustration

The last several weeks have been extremely hectic: what with preparations for The Picture Show, invigilating the show itself (always good to have an exhibitor present to big-up the work!), juggling more deadlines for Making Magazine and a move to a different city thrown in for good measure.  The last couple of months have been a physical, mental and emotional challenge, so I'm very relieved that it's all over for now.  The move is not yet fully complete - at the moment we're staying at my folks' home in leafy Leicestershire, with a view to finding a pad of our own close to Leicester city centre later, so that my Other Half can be within walking distance to the university when he starts his course there this October.  We'll get onto flat hunting soon, but for now it's enough just to know that the most difficult part has been overcome and that things will be easier from now on.  This is a time for restoration, relaxation and renewal - until we regain the energy required to start the next adventure!  Please wish us luck, and I wish happy times for all of you reading in return.

Best wishes,

Emma xxx

P.S. As a side note, I thought I'd mention that the Nightjar seemed to be the piece that was best received at the exhibition, a fact that surprised me in the most pleasant way.  I wondered if people would find the colours too drab or gloomy, but they really seemed to like the woodland setting and especially the fungi, moss and lichens.  I guess it has a slightly magical feeling to it (it did to me at least, but then you can never second-guess the sensibilities of your audience) and it made me excited to think about pieces that might have a similar feel or theme.  I'm considering doing a series of insects or invertebrates in the future - and I think this kind of setting would lend itself well to that subject.

Colour teasers for The Picture Show!

Hello, hello everyone!  Well the show inches ever closer - it's now less than two weeks away!  There's still a few things to straighten out, but on the whole we're well on track for a fabulous exhibition.  Hope you can join us for all the celebrations, we're going to need to let off steam after all that hard work.

You've seen the two finished pieces in pencil thus far, but how about in colour?  Well here's a little snippet of each of them...

You can see there's a bird theme going on here, but which ones?  I'd love to hear your guesses, though I couldn't possibly confirm any speculation until the show is open ;D

Anyway, I should get back down to work.  Please wish me luck!

Until next time,

Emma xxx