Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone, I hope you can spend it with the ones you love. I'll be settling down soon with my other half and enjoying our dinner of homemade fried rice with pork and peppers in black bean sauce. I'm sure we will follow that with a glass or 2 of wine as we get cosy in front of the wood burner. It has been icey cold here today, even in the house, and Storm Dennis is blowing a hoolie out there!

I've been away from my blog for a couple of years now, but thought it was time I maybe came back to it. I'm looking at it and thinking about some changes, but we'll see how things go.

My new website and online shop has been up and running now and so far I'm happy with it. I'm still on Etsy as Deborah Dey and Ainjewelz Printables, but I much prefer my own website. I've always loved to share so I added a freebie page to my website, where every now and the I have been popping on a freebie.

Todays FREEBIE is a Colour Me Heart Mandala in honour of Valentines Day. If you would like this free printable just click here and the download page will open in a new browser window.

I always love to see how creative you get with my freebies, you can share your coloured image in the comments or if sharing on social media feel free to use the hashtags #DeborahDeyDesigns and #ddeydesigns. I look forward to seeing the colours you use :)

Kraft Paper Downloads and Digital Washi Tape

Something new from me is Digital Washi Tape and this set uses the same designs as my new Kraft paper and Tags downloads. I love how the white designs pop on the natural looking soft texture of the Kraft background

These are all available in my shop .

There will be more Digital Washi Tape coming soon.

If you use any of my downloads in your craft projects, please share what you have created with me and I will share your images on my blog for all to see :)

Black Friday and Sales in my Shops on Etsy

Time flies by so fast and as usual it has been ages since my last blog.... I just don't have enough hours in my days to do everything :)

This week I've been creating a few quick digital illustrations while having my breakfast to post on Instagram. I seem to be able to post regularly on Instagram and Facebook because it's just an image and comment, so much quicker than a full blog post, but I am going to attempt yet again to post more regularly on my blog.

I also post discount codes and if any of my shops have sales on Instagram and Facebook, so if you like what I create please follow me.... instagram - @ddeydesigns and Facebook.com/DeborahDeyDesigns

It's getting to be that time of year again and Christmas is getting ever closer and I can't believe it's Black Friday again already! Having said that I'll post below all Sales and discount codes that are currently running in my shops, so pop over and take a peek, you never know you might just discover  what you've been looking for, without even knowing you were looking for it lol

Deborah Dey Designs on Etsy 

Ainjewelz -Download Shop

Deborah Dey on Redbubble

Deborah Dey Designs on Zippi

That's all for now as I need to get back to what I love doing....being creative.... I'm busy creating some new downloads and I'll be back to tell you all about them when they are finished :)

New Grandson and Name Doodle

It's been a while since I last blogged but I've just been so busy with this and that...... I also started to type this post in December and it is now February!!!!....I'm such a bad blogger lol..........

One of the most exciting and amazing things to happen in the last wee while has been the birth of my new grandson Tommy, who arrived in time to celebrate Christmas with his family.

Tommys arrival meant it was time for me to go visit all my family for a few days and meet my new grandson, who is just so adorable. I had lots of granny hugs with all my grandchildren, love them all to bits.

I was so disorganised this year for Christmas that I did most of my shopping while on my visit so I could leave all their Christmas pressies ready for them to open on Christmas Day. I also finished off a name doodle that I had started for Tommy, I had to wait for him to be born so I could fill in his name, date of birth and time.  Tommys doodle features Humpty Dumpty, I totally enjoy doing these doodles, I find that I lose myself in them and it's quiet relaxing........I will be doing more of them :)

My doodles come alive when I get my watercolours out and start to add some colour.

To complete the doodle I framed it in a white square box frame.

Before I created Tommys Humpty Dumpty doodle I created an Owl and a Pussy Cat doodle, I have put it somewhere safe and can't find it. When I discover where this safe place is I will post a pic of that doodle too. i have plans to create more of these nursery rhyme doodles.

Wht Nursery Rhyme should I do next?

Challenging myself

After the struggle I've had to concentrate over the last couple of weeks, this morning while having breakfast I challenged myself to go back to an old design and re-work/change/update it and add something new to it. I scrolled through my files and picked a design at random.

The design file that I opened was Over The Hills and Far Away, this was created for Visual Communications class when I was at college away back in 2012/13. I remember the tutor had 2 bags with words in and we were to choose a word from each bag, my words were Rural and Texture. The texture was created with corrugated card which I already had a scanned file of on my pendrive, it reminded me of ploughed fields. This was, as far as I can remember a quick in class design that I created in Photoshop.

This morning the psd file was opened in Photoshop, there was no pressure on me to create anything in particular or for anyone apart from myself. I was just playing and getting those creative juices flowing again. I used all the elements that were already in the design, I changed colours and layout. then added an extra background layer, rotated it, changed colour and blending mode to give more interest to the top of the design. This done it reminded me of a sunset, so I added some sunrays. This is now the 2016 version of Over The Hills and Far Away.  I love this new version.

Which version do you prefer?

I might go back to a few of my other designs and re-do them, I feel the creative juices starting to flow again.

Over at Illustration Friday this weeks challenge is STRIPES......there's stripes in this design so I think I'll submit it :)

Struggling to concentrate...

Over the last few weeks I just haven't been able to concentrate on anything creative. I have a sketchbook full of ideas and several projects started but have just not been able to focus on completing anything!!! It's so annoying!

I also need to update my website and make it responsive as most folk are accessing the internet on their mobiles now. I read somewhere that Google is not going to list websites unless they are responsive.
What is a responsive website? I hear you ask. Well I need to create my website so that it "responds to" or resizes itself depending on the type of device it is being viewed through, ie. pc, tablet or mobile phone. I still also want to add a shopping cart to my website too, but one thing at a time as I need to have a clear totally focused head to do this lol

One thing I have managed to create over the last few weeks was a hand drawn watercolour name doodle for my great niece. Even this took weeks to do though as I kept leaving it and going back to it, but I finally finished it and gave it to my nephew and his wife. I was so pleased they loved all the wee images that I had incorporated within it that have meaning to them.

Winter is creeping up on us now and every day more and more geese are arriving at the Loch of Skene. No chance of a long lie here as Mother Natures alarm call gets me up every morning as the geese leave the Loch for the day and then return in the evening when it's time to cook dinner. I love watching them.



I had a few days away visiting family, which I totally enjoyed but now I'm home I miss everyone so much. Looking forward to my next visit though because grandchild no. 9 is due on 23rd December.

Now I better try and get some work done, hopefully stay focused on one thing and complete something :)

If I Had Wings....

.....is the title of the digital project I was working on for NEOS 2016. I created the wings in Adobe Illustrator and manipulated a photo for the background in Adobe Photoshop. I wanted this printed on an A1 floating acrylic and when it arrived from the printers I wasn't disappointed. Acrylic is not the easiest material to photograph and this photo really does not do it justice. The acrylic keeps the vibrancy of the colours and gives the whole image a depth.

If I had Wings greeting cards are available from my online shop along with quite a few other new creations. Pop over to my shop for a wee peek.

 I also created some big pencils that are in my garden

NEOS 2016 is over now and I had some lovely people visit my studio and met a few local artists too. Will I do it again next year? I'm not sure at the moment, but I did enjoy it.

Here's a short video of the cabin all tidy and organised for #NEOS2016



If you would like to pop into the cabin to see what I do, just get in touch so we can arrange a suitable time. It's always nice having visitors and a warm welcome awaits you.

its been a while......

..... since my last post but as always I've been busy busy busy.
This is a picture rich post!

The wee garden makeover is just about complete now, so we can enjoy it when the sun shines.

From an overgrown part of garden that we never used, the pampas grass (which I hate) was all removed

The large leylandi trees were thinned, to let the light in for other plants and the birch tree.

We built a log cabin

It's handy having the use of a tractor and trailer to collect 5 tonnes of gravel from the quarry

We laid gravel in front of the cabin

and around the greenhouse and herb border

 and also on the path to the bottom of the garden. What a difference this has made and it is a joy to sit here, when the weather allows. We even managed a bbq one day :) all our hard work has paid off!

I had my first bloom on my Passion Flower, this is planted in a large pot at the moment as I was unsure where to plant it. I think when the temperature drops I will put it in the greenhouse and hopefully it will survive till next spring, when I should have decided where it wil be planted in the garden.

 I collected my Neos 2016 directories which I have to distribute to help promote the event. The days are passing far too quickly now and the event will be upon me soon. I still have quite a bit to do to be ready to open my studio, which will be in the log cabin, but everything is coming together nicely so far. If you're in the North East of Scotland, Aberdeenshire between 10th - 18th September and you see the yellow NEOS signs outside studios and galleries etc. pop in and see all the lovely artwork and creations that local artists and makers will have on show. the directories are FREE and can be picked up from Tourist Info offices, libraries, shops, galleries, Dr's, vets, just keep your eyes peeled for them :) Fin me on page 33 of the directory, I'm number 60.

 I listed my OOAK Handmade Purple Rain Book in my Etsy shop this week as it is time for me to part with it. It's strange how something I create I just want to hold on to them for a while and other things I can let go straight away. Pop over to my Etsy shop to see more pics.

and finally...... A while ago I started to create a digital collage of my grandad and thanks to my mum for posting me a photo I was needing, it is now complete. Grandad Bertie will be hanging in the cabin throughout NEOS 2016 along with a lot of my other work.

I also created this graphic as my OH keeps saying "build a cabin and they will come" whenever he is talking about NEOS 2016. I will be using this graphic on my promotional material for the event.

I'm off to sit in the cabin to work on a project for NEOS 2016, hopefully get it completed this weekend and sent off to the printers.....................but I'll tell you more about this another time.

CRAFTfest & Swallows

CRAFTfest is now officially open and will be open from 10th - 12th June pop over and view all the virtual stalls, you can find me in the Artwork section.

There's so many clever creative people selling their lovely creations this weekend so it is well worth popping over for a wee browse, you never know you might discover that little something that you just really need to have in your life :) or that special gift for someone close to you. There's far too many virtual stalls to list here, but there is everything from jewellery, wood crafts, artwork, greeting cards, crochet & knitting, bathroom & soaps, weddings, bags, craft supplies and so much more. Get yourself settled down with a cuppa or glass of wine (depending on time of day lol) and take a look.

I hope all my fellow CRAFTfesters have a fun and rewarding weekend :)

My digital art has taken a bit of a back seat for a while due to some technical issues but everything is sorted now so watch this space for a new digital creation coming soon. While the sun has been shining I, with much help from my OH, have been working on the big garden makeover and my new creative space. I will post more about that with pics when it is all finished though.

I found an old piece of wood in the barn and was totally inspired to get my paints out and create a wee mixed media artwork (aprox 23" x 5 3/4"). This was a painting that appeared intuitively and naturally, there was no plan apart from I wanted a swallow in it, as there are so many flying around the croft and nesting in the outbuildings

Well I ended up with 3 and then I had to think of a title. 

This is when I discovered that the swallow is a very symbolic wee bird.......It is said that if a sailor drowns the swallows will carry their soul to heaven. the swallow also represents love, care and affection towards family and friends, showing the loyalty of the person always returning to them. The bird also represents freedom and hope.

So I've called it Arise My Soul

Here's a wee video of one of the many pairs of swallows nesting in our outbuildings, it won't be long now till we have lots of young flying around too

Hope to see you all at CRAFTfest and enjoy your weekend :)

NEOS, Hares & #artvartist

As I said in an earlier post I've signed up to do NEOS (North East Open Studios) in September and I'm already thinking why oh why did I let my OH talk me into this! OH is being very encouraging and supportive and has started to prepare the garden where we are going to build a summerhouse/cabin that will be my studio for the event. He has made a start on thinning the trees a little and removing all the pampas grass (which I hate) from the garden at the front of the croft. We have decided to put it in this part of the garden because we will be able to see the beautiful view of the hills and the Loch. We've also made a start on making a few changes to the garden and we will be getting some plants and shrubs. I'm getting quite excited about the garden makeover as we never really use this garden, but hopefully once the summerhouse/cabin is built we will use the garden more when we have time to relax, we might even manage a few BBQ's on summer evenings.

 

As I've been busy with the garden and the house  not much creativity has been happening. I have found time however to paint a few dreamcatchers this week and have been experimenting with a few digital ideas. Hoping to get more creative work done this week and have some new prints in my shop in time for CRAFTfest on 10th-12th June.

I have always loved hares and have admired Carole Ann Halls paintings for a while now and at last got around to buying one. My colourful Fighting Hares is now framed and hung near my computer desk so I can see it while I work. You can find Carole on Facebook at Carol Loves Art and she also has a shop on Etsy Carole Loves Art

My Fighting Hares are hung underneath another hare painting which my OH bought a few years ago. This is a totally different style of painting but I've always loved this one too. This one was painted by Elinor Grieve, whose wildlife paintings are quite amazing. You can find Elinor on Facebook at Elis Art and she also has a website  Art by Elinor. Both artists Facebook pages/Etsy shop/website are well worth a visit.

 

Over on Instagram there was this thing going on called #artvartist so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon :) I discovered some amazing art and design creations and I'm now following a few more artists and designer. It was also great to receive lots of  'Likes' on my work and have some more new followers. 

Did you post a pic for #artvartist?

Mum's Garden, Dreamcatcher & Anti-Fracking

I've had a week off as my mum came to stay for a few days and then I drove her home and stayed with her so I could catch up with my kids and grandkids. My mum chose the best week to come for a visit as we had blue skies and beautiful sunshine and we even managed to have 2 BBQ's. I enjoyed relaxing for a few days as I am always busy doing one thing or another. I also loved catching up with my kids and grandkids and we had lots of laughs and hugs. My mums garden is looking good so I got my camera out and took a few photos.

 The old oak tree in my mums garden is starting to open its leaves. I used to love climbing this tree when I was a kid, but don't think I could manage now.

I love the rough texture of the bark on the oak tree and I think I will be using this texture somewhere in one of my digital designs.

It was my daughters birthday last month and she had asked me to paint her a Dreamcatcher as a present. She told me colours that she would like and that she wanted it to be subtle, light and faded, definitely not bright colours. So I got to work and then I framed her painting and gave it to her while I was down visiting. She loved it and was surprised at how big it was, but it still fits in the spot where she is going to hang it. It is A3 but by the time it is mounted and framed it is bigger.

Those that know me know I am dead against Fracking. Since having to do research for a college project on Anti-Fracking a few years ago the more I found out the more I knew that Fracking is not a good idea. So many disasters, pollution, health risks to humans and animals, far too many chemicals used and left in the ground, so much fresh water mixed with chemicals and sand in the process of fracking that then has to be stored and transported to "safe places" to be cleaned, but they can't remove everything! mans greed is destroying our planet!
OK RANT OVER :)
This morning I went back to one of my concept ideas for my project, which wasn't used and developed it more. Here is my final poster design. If any Anti-Fracking Groups would like to use this poster, they are more than welcome to, just contact me and I will send you a hi res jpeg file. I will even change the hashtag at the bottom of the poster or add your website or Facebook page URL for you Free of Charge :)

That's all for now folks!

NEOS, Zippi & Prince

Where has the last 11 days gone? They have just flown by!

I failed in my challenge to create a vector image every day for 30 days.....life and technical issues just got in the way :( ...............but I'll give this another try sometime in the future.

Well the big news for this week is I've stepped out of my comfort zone and signed up to do NEOS (North East Open Studios) for 9 days in September. Along with other creatives in the North East of Scotland I will open the doors of my studio to the public and exhibit my work, and hopefully sell and take orders and commissions. I have never done anything like this before so I'm excited yet very apprehensive about it. In the weeks leading up to this event my OH knows his life is going to be hell with me stressing about having everything ready, but he's the one who kept encouraging me to do it so it's his own fault! Oh well you only live once and if I didn't do it this year I would never do it. More about NEOS in the weeks leading up to the event.

I have also been busy researching print on demand companies and now have a portfolio on zippi.co.uk, where my designs can be printed on a variety of items. I like zippi as it is located in the UK.

I ordered myself a mug, a cushion and a bag to see for myself the quality of the prints and products. I am impressed with the results and the speed of delivery. Pop over to my portfolio and see what you could purchase, more designs will be getting added over the coming weeks.

I also have a shop on Redbubble but have still to add my designs, which I will be doing this week so will tell you more about that later.

I was stunned by the sad news that Prince had died this week, another creative genius taken from us too soon. My favourite song was Purple Rain and when I was at college one of my projects was to create an art book about one thing, my one thing was Purple Rain. You can see the book and it's box and read more about it in my portfolio on Behance. 

Here's images of two of the pages, but displayed as posters.

RIP Prince :'(

On a brighter note, the swallows have started to return, just 3 at the moment but more will be arriving soon. Summer is on its way!