Lino and doublers

It's all official, my course has made it into the Art Centre's autumn brochure! To book call Newcastle Arts Centre on 0191 2615618 and we'll look forward to seeing you in December.

I'm busy planning and plotting what we'll do and doing plenty of visual research so I'll have loads of images laid out to inspire the class. Here's a couple to get the creative juices flowing.

Buttercups and Daisies linocut by Helen Roddie

Happiness on the underground linocut by Pedro Demetriou

The workshop will be relaxed and fun, so don't worry if you've never done a linocut before there will be plenty of help and time. It can be a simple or as complicated as you like. Once we get printing you can print on almost any surface and I will bring in some interesting papers for you to try.

As well as printing I've also been enjoying making wet felted flowers that I have then made into brooches. I was really pleased that I managed to teach myself how to make double petals too! All brooches are hand stitched and beaded and will be on sale in the Craftshop very soon. 

Some of the brooches are inspired by the ever changing sky in Scotland that we watched every day from our holiday cottage in Ardnamurchan. A couple are my take on hot house flowers in the exotic section at Kew gardens, with their layered petals and interestingly shaped petals. Others, well you'll just have to pop into the shop and read the back of the card to find what inspired them.

Currently reading: Sonic Wonderland by Trevor Cox (all about sounds and science)

What I'm up to at the minute: still working on my art journal when I get time and designing linocuts.

Busy bee and coin purses

Wow I've just realised how time has flown since my last blog! Hope I still have a few loyal followers out there :-)

I've been pretty busy at the art shop and also have a spot or two in the Craft Shop selling my brooches, cards and my new little project below coin purses. The lovely ladies in the shop have been keeping me quite busy with requests for hand made bits and bobs, so on my days at home I've been creating all sorts of lovely stuff. To see some of the things I've been making and to keep up with my studio life check out my Facebook page.

The Craft Shop is a great place for those unusual gifts for birthdays, weddings and Christmas or just because you want to treat yourself or a loved one. They stock handmade pottery, jewellery, cards, bags and have a lovely selection of cards and wrap too.

My gorgeous little coin purses are on sale £13.99 for the small (approx 10cm x 10cm) one and £15 for the larger ones (approx 15cm x 12cm). They are printed on 100% cotton, lined and with a good quality zip.

Layout idea and prep for screens.

Coin purses in progress all hand screen printed and machine stitched.

Little collection all complete and ready to deliver to the Craft Shop.

Thank you for stopping by and hopefully it won't be as long for my next post.

Reading: Girl gone by Gillian Flynn

Next project: felt card toppers and more printing.

Fancy a bit of retail therapy?

I've been busy over the last few weeks designing and making these gorgeous little chaps. All hand printed and hand embroidered. They look lovely on my shelf but would look even more gorgeous on yours.

Little bird in the lavender is a lino print and he's enjoying a spot on the lawn by the lavender bush. He's in a 10 x 10 inch black box frame and can be your's for £24 + p&p. Click here to find him perching in my  Folksy shop.

Little bird amongst the flowers is also a lino print, but he is exploring the trellis which has been screen printed in a lovely soft blue. He is perching next to lavender bird in my Folksy shop too, and his measurements are as lavender bird and he is also £24 + p&p.

If you'd like to see more of my items on Folksy just click the link in the side bar under the title of 

Retail Owl: online shops.

My Etsy shop sells mainly cushions at the moment ranging in price from £30-£65. Including this screen printed Gothic cushion, measuring approximately 40 x 40 cm and includes a pad for UK orders only.

I'm trying out both these shops at the moment, but will make sure I leave the link for each item so you can easily find them.

All the fun of the fair!

My last post was all about getting ready for Tynemouth Market and making lots of gorgeous cushions, lampshades and gifts. Well that was a weekend ago now and what fun we had! We were up early packing the car up and checking we had everything. I nearly forgot my coat as it was such a bright sunny morning, but later I was so glad I went back for it, brrr it was chilly.

With my very lovely assistant we soon got set up and all our layers on and I must say the stall looked lovely and jolly. People were certainly drawn to the bright bold colours of my Pods cushion and the Fern rug. I sold a few items and got some lovely comments on my work and people seemed impressed that it was all designed and handmade by the same person. 

The market has such a great atmosphere even on a grey, cold day and lots of the other stall holders gave encouraging comments and tips. I certainly felt welcome and often got asked if I'd be there next week.

I will be hopefully doing the Tynemouth Market once a month and will be busy making things in between.

All packed up and ready to go!

The boot is stuffed, good job the car is an estate.

Nearly set up, with rug, lampshades, cushions and gifts.

One of my bird prints, with hand embroidery. 

Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

This Saturday I will be at the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club with MC Craft Events. I'm really excited about this as the organisers asked me to come along after seeing the stall at Tynemouth! 

I'll have my cushions, lampshades and my gorgeous embroidered pictures as well as a few other things. So if you're at a loose end on Saturday, why not pop along and come and say hello.

I am also accepting commissions on my fantastic printed and embroidered pictures. So if you have a special birthday or wedding coming up, drop me an email or get in touch via my Facebook page and I would be delighted to make you a special and unique gift. 

For Ben & Caroline's wedding in April 

copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

Thank you for dropping by, see you next post :-)

Stitching, printing and making for the debut!

This week has been a little hectic in the Ballistic Owl Studio and you can barely see any work surface or floor for that matter! But it has been great fun and it's good to be stuck into a project and have a deadline. It reminds me of those mad days at CCAD when it was coming up to hand in and project work, paper,scissors and mugs were littered all over the place. 

It is all in preparation for Tynemouth market, which is a great place and always has a jolly atmosphere. On Saturday 11th May (tomorrow!!) Ballistic Owl will have it's first ever stand, selling cushions, lampshades and works of art. All, as many of you will have seen on my Facebook (Ballistic Owl) page, have been created in my home studio and the screens washed out in the bath (I do give it a good scrub afterwards).

Yesterday I did a little experiment to see if I could print a small section of repeat pattern. It's a little tricky as I don't have stops on my cobbled together print table, so it had to all be worked out by measuring and by eye. But it worked quite well, not perfect, but almost. It has mow been made up into something rather exciting and will feature on the stall tomorrow.

Gothic repeat copyright Ballistic Owl/Tracy Bidwell 2013

For those who have not made it to Tynemouth Market before, here's a little peep at what it's like. It's always busy and has a great feel to it and there's always lots to see. I just hope it will be sunny like it is in this image.

Tynemouth Market, image from Tynemouth market website.

This is a small selection of the stock I will have on the stall, I've since added to it and will even have my rug on display that I had made for the NEC last year. All I need to do now is finish labelling and pricing and pack it all ready to put in the boot. Fingers crossed I get it all done and that I'm not in bed too late as it's a fairly early start in the morning.

So if you are about tomorrow morning and fancy a trip up to the coast, do pop by the stall and say hi, it will be lovely to see you.

Collection of Ballistic Owl cushions and lampshades. Copyright Ballistic Owl/Tracy Bidwell 2013

Must go and get those labels done, see you next time :-)

Ballistic Owl on Etsy, shop now open!

After a year or so of procrastinating, I finally plucked up the courage and opened my Etsy shop in February. It stays with the owl theme and you can find it through this link www.etsy.com/shop/BallisticOwl

It has a range of items on it at the moment including tote bags and cushions. The first few items are from a collection I did for the Fashion, embroidery and stitch show and thought I would list them to kick start my shop. These are based on cells and seeds a theme I fell in love with during the final year of my degree. I intend to add more items and will also add some embroidered pieces once I've tidied the edges.

 Pods - Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

The above image is one of the newer listings, it has my Pods design digitally printed on cotton and made into a gorgeous pillow-like cushion made with my own fair hands. I had a fab week last week, printing, sewing and finishing products. I hope to do more this week too, so keep an eye on the shop as I will be adding to it.

Gothic- Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

This Gothic cushion is one of the first prints in my new collection, which explores an eclectic mix of inspiring images from my huge library of photographs, which include architectural details as well as other snaps I've taken when I've found something visually intriguing. This collection will gradually evolve as I develop the imagery and start investigating more techniques to translate it onto fabric.

So keep watching and popping by, I do love your company and comments :-)