Thursday 30 July 2009

Thursday 30 July 2009
Ok, first things first - PLEASE vote for my blog in the 'Babes In Blogland' blog competition!

http://somethingiwantedtotellyou.blogspot.com/2009/07/babes-in-blogland-top-ten-contest.html

I am looking really sad and 'Billy No Mates' esque at the moment - come on! Please don't let me languish like this! I know I am still very new to this blogging malarkey and my inexperience probably does really show. I mean, to be honest - the other blogs in the ring are absolutely fab - so please go and have a look at them too ( and vote for them too, if you like), but PLEASE - give me a vote - I'm not proud, I'll take all the sympathy votes there are out there!GO ONI'll be your best friend! ( I always used to say that when I was small ...)

:)

xxxxxxxxxxxx
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20% Discount Weekend!!!!




Yay! Twenty percent off everything in the shop ALL WEEKEND (sat 9.00-5.30 and sun 11.00-5.00)
Also 20% discount in Davids Bookshop and Tim's Art Supplies too.
Phew! Life doesn't get better than this, kids! :)

Thursday 23 July 2009

An Interview With A Bright Young Talent (and a Gorgeous Gift Shop Girl)

Thursday 23 July 2009
Presenting to you, an interview with Natalie, our Gorgeous Gift Shop Girl. She is the genius responsible for all of our amazing design work here at Rose and Dylan, and we are very very lucky because she also works here part time! Our team really are so ridiculously over qualified for this work - I am a very lucky Gift Shop Owner (and I know it) - having such a talented bunch around me!



K(Me); What is your full name?

N (Nat); Natalie Dunne - no middle name - my sister has one, but me and my brother don't - don't know why...

K;How old are you?

N; Twenty Four

K; What do you do for a living?

N; I work here at Rose and Dylan (http://www.roseanddylan.co.uk/) and I also illustrate for a card company, Trinity Publishing, at the moment. (http://www.trinitypublishing.co.uk/page2.htm)

K; Tell me more about the illustrations...

N; They're called 'Earl Grey', this first range - and it is based on tea parties! Cakes... and tea cups...bunting...lots of muted colours - pinks, greens.... it's pretty!

K; Why did you choose tea parties?

N; Because we needed something summery, something very English. I brainstormed with Steff and Justine (the owners of Trinity Publishing) - and we came up with that! That is going to be the first range - the next one is going to be a collage, with buttons, and maybe more floral, I think. But still cakes - cakes are popular on cards at the moment. They seem to be a big seller. I don't know why - apparently it used to be shoes and handbags - now it is cakes, butterflies and dragonflies. And pets - cats and dogs are always good...

K; What did you like drawing the best?

N; Erm.... *stops and thinks* That's tricky... 'Cos its the image as a whole really, isn't it? Hmmm... 'Beach Hut' is probably the best one - I like the finished result the best.

K; Which took the longest?

N; Oh... I don't know... probably the 'sympathy' or 'thinking of you' card... just because it is a hard subject - you don't want it to be overly depressing, because of the subject matter anyway, you don't want it to be a sad image - well, I wouldn't, anyway, if I was sending it to someone. I wanted to brighten it up but not be - you know, you know what I mean! It's a tricky one. So yes, I suppose that took the longest - just trying to come up with the idea of what to draw...

K; Did the creative process sort of 'flow'?

N; Yes, most of the time it did. I would find that I would do three or four at a time, and then I would have to stop and think about the next ones. There are a few garden ones, some interior ones, a few cakey and teacups and others which are more floral.. so they come in stages really.

K; Was it all freehand drawing, or did you use your Mac? I know you love your Mac...

N; Freehand drawing. Then I would scan it in to colour it. It makes it bolder and flatter, rather than pencil colouring, which I don't think would have the same impact. It would have been too twee for the subject matter. Watercolours would have looked hideous, if I had done them!

K; So, had you done anything similar before?

N; In sketch books, but I'd never done anything with them before. People tend to prefer to use vector images, because of formatting. You can blow it up really big or have it teeny weeny and you don't have to worry about it going all pixellated. That's the only reason - cos an illustration is just for a particular thing, isn't it? So if someone need to draw it for something then thats the size you do it. Whereas if its going to be for logos and stuff you don't really want it to be hand drawn, because you can't really change the size very well.

K; Which do you prefer, drawing on the Mac or by hand?

N; A bit of both, I think. It's a completely different look for each. It's easier to draw by hand! But you get a different effect. It's a cleaner image if you do it on the Mac, so it takes a bit longer. You can get some good effects with layering and stuff which you can't do by hand.

K; Did you imagine yourself doing this whilst you were training at college?

N; Yes, I think I did. I got bored with graphic design... I just wanted to draw... rather than do magazine page layouts and all of that sort of thing. Thats not my thing really... I'm happier doing this...

K; So what are your plans for the future then?

N; Who knows??? The future is bright at the moment. I'm carrying on with different ranges for Steff and Justine, so hopefully I'll just get my name out there!




You can get in touch with Natalie through us here at http://www.roseanddylan.co.uk/, or you can email her directly at purple_shoe@hotmail.com






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Ok, first things first - PLEASE vote for my blog in the 'Babes In Blogland' blog competition!

http://somethingiwantedtotellyou.blogspot.com/2009/07/babes-in-blogland-top-ten-contest.html

I am looking really sad and 'Billy No Mates' esque at the moment - come on! Please don't let me languish like this! I know I am still very new to this blogging malarkey and my inexperience probably does really show. I mean, to be honest - the other blogs in the ring are absolutely fab - so please go and have a look at them too ( and vote for them too, if you like), but PLEASE - give me a vote - I'm not proud, I'll take all the sympathy votes there are out there!


GO ON


I'll be your best friend! ( I always used to say that when I was small ...) :)

xxxxxxx

Monday 13 July 2009

I'm not going grey YET

Monday 13 July 2009



Just read a post on the Mamapop blog talking about Jim Carrey's impending 'Grandfather status'.







http://www.mamapop.com/mamapop/2009/07/jim-carrey-to-be-a-grandpa.htmlis




Strange though it may seem, of course it is completely possible and actually not even half as odd as it first appears - Jim Carrey is 47 - his daughter (by the way - congratulations to you, sweetie) is 21, making Jim 26 when he had her - not too young. Definitely a man. Probably not really a grown up (I'm basing that assumption on the fact that most of the 26 year old men I have known have been generally about as emotionally mature as my 10 year old son is now! I'm not expecting much more progress from him, truth be told...)


Anyway, I digress... My point is it that it set me to thinking...


I had E when I was 23. Ad was 28. She is now 11 - I am 34. He is 39. If she decides to do what I did and have a baby at 23 too, I will be only 46 when I become a grandmother, and Ad will be 49.


SHIT!


At 23, 34 seemed a long way away - now that I am 34, 46 seems just around the corner. I know its obvious, time goes more quickly as you grow older. But am I alone in the way I grow sillier and sillier, the older I get? Surely not...


postscript I have told E that she is absolutely not to do what I did and have a child at 23 - not that I regret my decision - au contraire - it is the best thing I ever did. Of course I have my beautiful gorgeous daughter to show for my good sense! I am young enough to have not forgotten (completely) what it feels like to be in the throes of adolescence, and thus we enjoy quite a close mother-daughter relationship. I am in the enviable position of being able to have a good clear run at a career for myself, now that she is a bit older and doesn't need me to be at home with her as much as I was when she was small - no child rearing break looming ahead for me. I still have (nearly) enough energy to devote both my home and work life, as I wish - and sometimes I even have a bit of a social life too! But no - E is not to have children at such a young age, as I have clearly informed her that I WILL NOT be old enough to be a grandmother at 46! That is final.



Of course, E is still only 11 so when I announced this to her she looked at me blankly for a minute, sighed and told me "Duhh Mum.... I'm never having kids anyway. That's gross! Like pooing a basketball... yuk!"


Silly me.



Wednesday 1 July 2009

I shouldn't really be writing this right now...

Wednesday 1 July 2009
Yep, that's right. I shouldn't really be writing this right now. Right now I should be cramming my head full of facts, figures and arguments that I can present to an appeal board this afternoon, whilst persuading them that my daughter should be allowed into the school she wants to go to.

Hmmm... it's the day of reckoning.. school appeal day. I don't mind telling you I am absolutely bloody petrified! I have never 'presented' anything before - I have no idea how to use powerpoint. I have never spoken publicly before, never debated, never ever had anything in my life happen that will give me a single solitary shred of experience to cling to for this situation.

AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!

I'm scared.

No, stop being a Baby! You have to do this, Katrina. You ARE a grown up... you may spend most of your life in denial about it, but accept it this time. If you don't do this now you will never forgive yourself, and Edie will never forgive you.

Even if it fails (don't even say that word) at least you can sleep at night knowing you have tried. That's what parents do for their kids isn't it? Kids take you out of your comfort zone - you would try to move a mountain for your child wouldn't you? Isn't that right?

Am I going insane with nerves? Probably.

What was the point of this blog post? I was supposed to post pictures of the new Storm Bags that have just arrived at the shop, and some of the new jewellery. No, just a random bunch of waffling about how nervous I am.

I'll give you some nice pics of pretty things tomorrow. Today, I'm afraid, is not about work. Today is about Edie. Focus, use the nerves, breathe deeply and get back to the figures. Blog later.

Thank you and goodnight (well it's technically morning, but you know what I mean..)

Peace x
 
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