Tuesday 24 December 2013

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sarah Lovell Art

Hi everyone,

Well it's been a busy year, and I have loved the start of Sarah Lovell Art. I never thought I would have my own little business, and be making things (my favourite thing to do) and then people want to buy them and stock them in their shops! It's all very exciting, and it never gets less exciting when I get a new order.

I thought I would sign off for this year with a little round up of my favourite bits from 2013, I have learned so many new things and met some wonderful other designers and makers along the way. Here goes...

My first card order from the lovely Gullivers book shop was wonderful, I remember going in there , and tentatively showing them my small collection of 9 card designs and them saying they would take 4 of each!


Tis Tac in the flowers, one of my first designs inspired by my daughter's favourite toy!

Feb this year, I won tickets to the amazing 'Design Your Career' which was held at the Dance Pavillion in Bournemouth. This was a real turning point for me, and got me soooo inspired and fired up to really get going with my business, the speakers there were just fantastic, if you are starting up your own business, I couldn't recommend it enough!


I have loved taking part in the various fairs and markets this year. I now have my own gazebo! Going to these and selling things I have made to people and receiving lots of lovely feedback, well, when your an artist and people want your art work in their homes...you can't beat it! My favourite fair that I have done has been the amazing 'Anonymous Travelling Market' , if you haven't been, then go, you will not regret it! 


I have entered a few competitions, one of which was run by the very inspiring Lilla Rogers Studio, I found out about it on Facebook, and thought I'd give it a go. There were over 1500 entries, and unfortunately I didn't get through to the 2nd round, but it did result in me having this print (below) to sell, which has been one of my most popular prints I have done! I'm sure Lilla Rogers will be giving me a call some day!!! In the mean time, I find her very inspiring, and I read her book 'I just like to Make things' which is excellent! 

A Midsummer Night Fairground Limited Edition A3 Print

Lilla Rogers book, definitely recommend it!

Next I think it was my first feature in a magazine 'Arkadia' who found me on Twitter (I have become a big fan of twitter and learned lots about the power of social networking) They featured 2 of my prints including the above 'Midsummer Night Fairground' and , below, 'I Believe in Unicorns' A3 print! It was sooo exciting to see my art work in a real magazine!


Arkadia Magazine.

There have been so many highlights this year, and these are just a few, if you would like to see more of what I do , you can look at my website here . I also do commissions, and would love to hear from you if you would like one. 

There are lots more new products in the pipeline and coming soon in 2014. Watch this space!










Saturday 23 November 2013

A Perfect Stocking Filler, Ideal for the Little Scooter or Biker in your Family this Christmas!

If some one special in your family is hoping for a new bike or scooter this Christmas, then why not make it even more special with a set of fabulous bicycle and scooter ribbons?

They will give your bike or scooter an individual, fun twist, your little one will love! What's more, their set of wheels will surely stand out from the crowd, in the park and playground.

'Pinky' Ribbons


Tropical Ribbons


'Summertime' Ribbons


'Classic' Ribbons


Limited Edition 'Fairground' Ribbons

All the ribbons are handmade and attach to handlebars with a soft colourful elastic, so they are super easy to interchange between bikes and scooters. They really do make riding more beautiful!

Available exclusively from Sarah Lovell Art CLICK HERE! 




Tuesday 24 September 2013

Brand New LIMITED EDITION A3 Prints by Sarah Lovell Art

I have been working on a couple of new designs and had them printed as limited edition (run of 50) A3 prints. They are a bit different from my other prints, but think you will still be able to see they are by Sarah Lovell Art!

The first is 'Midsummer Night Fairground' an illustration of a magical carousel that appears in the woods one magical summer night. take your pick of a ride on a beautiful pink unicorn, a leaping brown hare or proud mint green deer, all set amongst the trees lit by fire fly fairy lights. Who knows where they will take you....


I always like to think of stories to go with my drawings, and this one conjures up a million adventures in my head. 
It would be great in a child's bedroom, imagine lying back together at bedtime and thinking up stories together about the magical Midsummer Night Fairground!


The second new one is 'The Girl and The White Horse' a magical meeting of a young girl and a mystical white horse who meet in a flower meadow on top of a hill surrounded by yellow butterflies on a beautiful summer's day. Anyone who shares my love of horses and what wonderful creatures they are and what good friends they can become will identify with this drawing. I loved drawing it, and hope it will bring you happiness if you purchase a copy.


All the prints are signed and you can get yourself one right here for £12.95 (excl p & p) , a perfect gift for Christmas or birthday, and remember, if you do get one, you will be one of only 50 people in the whole wide world to own one!

I would love to hear what you think if you leave a comment below, thanks for reading! xx


Tuesday 17 September 2013

What I learnt on my trip to the Autumn Fair at the NEC

Sounds like a title for a piece of school home work, but my trip to the Autumn Fair at the NEC was really useful, and gave lots of new ideas about how to go forwards with my designs for future cards. The fair was huge, and really exciting to see so many new and inspiring designs and meet some people who have been in the industry for a while, all of whom were lovely and gave me some great tips.

I took along one of each of my cards and was armed with smaller sample packs to give to people if they wished. I felt prepared, but what I love to do is draw, and am not necessarily so good at selling, it doesn't come very naturally to me, so I was quite nervous to begin with. The show is a trade show, so people go there to sell to shops, one day I would love my own stand,but this time I just went along to see what I could find out about the card industry.

One of the main things that I learnt is that it's good to have collections of card designs that all link, I do have collections (see a couple of examples below) but I think I need to do some with more designs, more like 10 in a collection rather than 3 or 4.

Spring and Summer Flowers collection

Bike card collection

So I think I will be working on adding to these ones to make bigger collections, then I guess shops have more choice which is always a good thing!

I have also started working on a new collection of cards featuring a girl and a white horse and their adventures together, these are the first 2 (first one complete, 2nd one work in progress) so watch this space for when they are printed as cards.


  
I also learnt about licensing and getting an agent. 

Licensing is when you license your designs and get a royalty on any cards sold or a flat fee for the license for the design. 

Getting an agent would mean some one who sells your designs to shops for you, I met some lovely people who were there with their beautiful cards on display, and then agents would come and speak to them about taking on their designs. 

So I got lots of contacts and am making my way through emailing them all. 

Ideally I think I would love to have a pitch at one of these fairs some day, and see what comes of it. I know that my cards sell as they are going well in the shops they are in, I just need to keep on going with it all. I do love it, and it all fits in well with looking after my children, and hopefully it inspires them, they both seem to love drawing too .

Another good thing that came of it all, was that once I got over the nerves of chatting to the first few people about my designs, it wasn't so scary after all. I even was really enjoying by the end of the day!

If you would like to see my designs, you can do so here and if you would like any more information please leave a comment below, or email me at sarah@sarahlovellart.co.uk .

Thanks for having a read xx


Tuesday 27 August 2013

New Christmas Cards- I know it's soooo early, but you gotta keep up with the world of card design!

When I got told I would have to have Christmas card designs ready for August, when I started the whole designing greetings cards thing, I couldn't believe it, but, yes, it's true. So I here they are. I had some design ideas for a bear and cat collection, not sure where it came from, but it just popped into my head one day, and it looked good in there, so decided to put it down on paper, and am pleased with how they look. Fingers crossed all of you and some shops will like them too!

Sleeping Bear and Cat

Collecting the Christmas Tree

Bear meets Cat in the Snow

The cards are available individually or as a set...



have a look here for them on my website along side more 'Art and Other Lovely Things'!

Would love to hear what you think, if you would care to leave a comment below, thanks xx

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Hot Off the Press: UK Wildlife Colouring Book, with fun facts about each animal.

I have had a very exciting last few days, last Friday I went to Dorchester to pick up my new and very first book. It's a colouring book full of hand drawn UK wildlife, and I am really pleased with it. I never thought that when I stopped work just before having Henry, I would ever be stocking shops with my card designs, let alone launching a new book!

Here it is, it is 17cm x 24cm in size (so between A4 and A5) so very handy for taking out and about in a hand bag to keep kids entertained. It has 20 different drawings of animals native to the UK. Accompanying each picture are 3 fun facts about each animal, so you can learn all about what you are colouring, clever hey?!





On the weekend I did 2 fairs, and the books went down well, children loved colouring in the cards with some of the images on I had made up for the events, and my gazebo was a little hive of activity, it was lovely!

The animals you can colour in the book are:
Deer
Dormouse
Fox
Hare
Otter
Badger
Barn Owl
Hedgehog
Heron
Pheasant
Frog
Pike
Red Squirrel
Robin
Sticklebacks
Stoat
Mallard
New Forest Pont and Foal
Puffin
Seal

The books are a great gift and perfect for anyone who loves colouring, and who doesn't?

They are only £4.00 each, so why not get yourself a copy here.




Friday 21 June 2013

NEW: Limited Edition 'Fairground' Bike and Scooter Ribbons

I have had a ribbons kind of a week this week, so ended up with a Friday making session of these limited edition 'Fairground' ribbons. There are only 8 pairs available, so grab yourself some quick!

They are super pretty and bound to make your little one smile as s/he rides along with them flying off the handlebars. As soon as I made them, the colours just made me think of an old fashioned fairground, hence the name.

The ribbons consist of bright pink satin ribbon, violet satin ribbon, bright pink satin ribbon with white polkadots, white satin ribbon with black polkadots, sunshine yellow satin ribbon and white organza ribbon. They attach easily onto any handlebars with a soft pink elastic.

Have a look below for some pictures, video and an exclusive interview......





You can get yourself a pair and see other ribbons here

Thursday 20 June 2013

Vehicles Painting Commission

Recently I completed this commission for a little boy who loves vehicles. I came up with a sketch that his Mummy and Daddy were happy with, and then got to work, here's some photos so you can see how it went...


initial sketch


Getting started on canvas board


More vehicles


And some more


Road and river coming along


Just the sky to go


Almost there


The finishing touches

I really enjoyed painting this, it is always so nice to do a piece for a child/ baby who will hopefully have it in their room for years to come.

For more commissions, have a look here, please do get in touch if you would like one too, I'm more than happy to have a chat about ideas and I can work in a variety of media to suit your needs.

Would love to hear what you think about this one, please leave your comments below, thanks xx









Wednesday 5 June 2013

Adrenaline Junkie Animals (Extreme Sports Card Collection)

Hi, I have been working on a few designs for my extreme sports animals collection lately. I have had the idea for these for quite a while, and have finally got them down on paper.

In my former life (before 2 little ones) I did have a go at few adrenaline fuelled sports, and was known by our friends, before we got married, as Pete's 'extreme girlfriend' , a title I was quite proud of. I love a bit of adrenaline as much as the next person.

Snowboarding is completely one of my favourite things to do, it's just incredible, and you can't beat fresh powder on a sunny day. (I do not claim to be any kind of expert, but I can get down a mountain pretty well).

Surfing is something I have conquered at a very low level. I love the beach too, and the sea. I went on some travelling adventures with my lovely friend Laura, where we spent a lot of time trying very hard to stand up on a board. And I am proud to say I have managed it, but don't ask me to do any tricks.

Last but not least, I have also sky dived, which was one of the most scary and exciting things I have ever done. If you really want a proper adrenaline rush, go and jump out of a plane. I was strapped to someone who knew what they were doing though, and have not even considered a base jump, or a wing suit as my fox is wearing in my painting below.

I always remember some one saying to me, and something that is a well known moto 'Do something that scares you every day' I'm not sure if I manage it every day, but these are a few things that I have done, and that have made my life even more enjoyable, and have also now inspired these card designs. Looking forward to the day we can take my two children surfing and snowboarding (I think they have inherited a bit of thrill seeking blood by the way they throw themselves off the sofa onto the beanbag!)

Check out my designs for my extreme sports animals card collection below, soon to be printed and available from www.sarahlovellart.co.uk . But there's lots to have a look at there in the mean time.






Friday 31 May 2013

Unicorn in a Flower Meadow

I have recently finished a commission for a baby girl's bedroom. I wanted to paint something that would be very pretty and last her for longer than just her baby years.
I came up with the idea of a unicorn in a flower meadow, if you have looked at my art work or read by blog posts, you will know I have a bit of a thing for unicorns! I did a sketch and chatted with her Mummy about it. She really liked the idea, so I got to work.
The canvas is A1 and I used acrylic paint, I am getting very fond of using acrylic, it was a perfect medium for this piece as it leaves a soft satin sheen, and I thought that added nicely to the magical feel of the painting.
I took photos as I went along, so you can have a look how the painting evolved. I was really happy with how it turned out, and so were the recipients. Hopefully it'l be a picture the little girl will remember forever, I still remember the pictures I had in my room when I was little!


Initial sketch


The unicorn takes shape




Sky and the beginnings of the butterflies


Butterflies



And here's the finished piece.

I really like taking on commissions, so if you would like one, I would be really happy to hear from you, and we can discuss what ideas you have, and I can bring them to life for you

email : sarahlovell20@hotmail.com








Thursday 23 May 2013

Father's Day

Not long to go now until the 16th June (Father's Day in the UK just on case you needed reminding!) and I thought I would write a quick post to let you all know about my cards..... I have quite a few designs which would be perfect for any great Dad out there. they are all blank inside for your own special message, why don't you have a look and get yourself one in really good time for the big day, and make the card you give your Dad really special (and a little bit different) this year. Here are some pictures to inspire you.....


Campfire


Supercat


Chopper


Racer


Tourer


Melancholy Guitar Bear


Dancing Bear


Drummer Bear


Jazz Bear

Best of all, the cards are A6 and fit really perfectly in a 6 x 4 frame, so if he loves the card he can frame it and keep it on the wall forever. Also, some of the above are also available as A3 prints, so if he deserves a present too, you could treat him with a print. Go on, you know he's worth it, my husband (and amazing Daddy to our 2 children) definitely is!