Jill's drawings

Jill loves to draw. She started off doing little tiny circles and she's now drawing all sorts of creatures. We find these creatures amusing we laugh whenever she shows us what she's done and she laughs too and so we all end up laughing and she draws more!

~ Fish

~ Uncle

And, she's even started blogging! :P http://bonkerscreatures.blogspot.com/

A place to call my own

We've been in our new house for around six months now. It's nice and it suits most of our needs. I miss our old house, but the lack of garden space meant that Jill and our dog Daisy were trapped indoors most of the time. It's nice for them now that we have a nice garden - they play in it, hide under the weeping willow, run around, fight with each other because both of them want the ball and Jill and I enjoy having our little lunch picnic's together in the garden (once we've gotten rid of Daisy's poo! :P). So, the little creatures are happy and I sit around looking at how I can make the rooms feel cosier and all sorts of ideas pop into my head and I like that. However, the one BIG thing that is missing is somewhere for me to print. I'm not up for using the dining room or the guest bedroom as I've been there, done that and Oh! What a lot of mess! So, I thought long and hard and decided that I would get myself a garden shed!

This is George Bernard Shaw and his shed. It was his writing hut and was hidden away at the bottom of his garden. It seems it could be rotated to catch the sunlight or just to change the view!

Here are pictures of a few sheds that are inspiring me and urging me to take the plunge...

A shed covered in creepers! Definitely what I want for my shed. But I'd like mine to be covered in hops instead of ivy and I probably wouldn't be walking to it in my bath robe. This shed is actually the owners bathroom. Read more about it here.

A contemporary shed. From Painted Pavilions.

A 1920's backyard water tower, now a home office. More about it here.

A cosy looking shed, surrounded by greenery. Available from GBC Buildings for Leisure.


I love the colour of this shed. Available from Painted Pavilions.

Now, if only there was a lake nearby. Gorgeous setting! From Painted Pavilions.

I'd love this to be mine! Also from Painted Pavilions.

However, realistically, I think THIS shed is probably the one I will be calling mine soon. It's within my price range and I love the pent roof. I can also opt to have it painted, and I think I will be drawing inspiration from the many beautiful sheds I've seen into making mine a place I can call my own. My little hide away! This shed is available from GBC.

Mum

This Saturday is my mum's birthday. I really can't remember the last time I spent her birthday with her. I moved away more than six years ago - not just to a different city, but to a different country twelve thousand miles away, so trying to get birthday's and holiday's to coincide has been tricky. Our family never makes a fuss over birthday's though. We prefer to hide away in a corner somewhere, hoping that everyone has simply forgotten about it. I think my mum lost her desire to to celebrate her birthday after my dad died nine years ago. But things are much better these days. There are other people in her life who make her happy and one little person whom she loves deeply and who loves her back just as much. Jill has definitely made my mum a much happier person. Never a day goes by where Jill doesn't mention mum (Nan-nan as she calls her) and I don't suppose a day goes by when mum doesn't think about Jill.

My mum means a lot to me too. She inspires me in more ways than she probably realises. She's a strong and brave person and someone I admire deeply. I don't always tell her I love her or that I appreciate all that she does for me. In the past, we didn't exactly have a great relationship, but I'm glad we're close now. She might still find me temperamental and grumpy and annoying at times and I might think she's oversensitive, but I'm so glad I have her. Where will I be without you mum? Definitely not where I am today. And even if where I am is twelve thousand miles away from you, you're always close by. Happy Birthday. x0x0x0x0x

Photo © neilalderney123 http://www.flickr.com/people/neilsingapore/


I've been pretty quiet and haven't been blogging at all - mainly due to being pregnant and being sick most of the time. I'm feeling much better these days and I'm hoping to get to work again. Probably not in full force and I probably won't be opening my Etsy shop anytime just yet, but I hope to be thinking of new designs and new ideas. Summer in England is so amazing. It inspires me so much. I love the blue sky and the trees with their fresh green leaves and dotted around on the ground, the beautiful array of flowers in all sorts of pretty colours. We have some orange poppies growing in our garden. Very pretty.

Jill and I were in Singapore the past 3 weeks and we had a great time. My mum and my brother made all the effort to make sure we weren't bored, so we went out almost every day. I was quite exhausted after the whole holiday! Also, everytime I think about what I want to really really really do with my life, I think about a shop. I love the picture above of a row of old shop houses in Singapore. How amazing it would be if I could have a little shop - selling not just my prints, but other people's works too. But, I don't think I live in the right city for such a shop to exist. There are lots of empty shops around, but I don't think Leicester is the right place for a creative shop at the moment. But we have hope!


The building on the left which once used to be THE place for independent shops is supposed to be undergoing a revamp! It's a grade II listed building and dates back to 1889! Now, that would be amazing!

For now though, for me, I'm going to try and do as much sketching and doodling and printing before my new baby arrives. And once she is here, she'll just have to sit in her bouncy chair or start printing too! Never too young to start! :)

Shop on Vacation

Hey everyone!

Just a quick post to let you know that my Etsy shop is on vacation mode. I'm not feeling 100% and the last thing I want is to produce work without giving 100%. So, for awhile, my shop will remain closed. My plan is to wait till this morning sickness passes, then, I'm seriously considering going home to Singapore for a little holiday and also to inspire myself, pick up some nice fabrics, ideas, materials, etc. My only concern is for my little doggy. I'm not sure I have the heart to leave her, but hopefully, my husband will be kind enough to help look after her whilst we're away. When I reopen my shop, in the summer, I'll be having a little giveaway, so, do come back. I'll keep blogging and sharing what goes on in my life and what new things I've been up to. Also, to those of you still interested in telling me about you and what you do, so I can post it on here, email me the details. Thanks everyone! :) ~kiran

Hello everyone. What a hectic couple of weeks it's been for me. My new cushion is doing very well and I've had a few orders for it. I'm always nervous about selling my work. I hope that people will like it as much in the flesh as they do in the photos. It's always tricky with handmade too. Where do you draw the line when it comes to something that looks handmade and something that looks professional? I'm always being told when I print something that it doesn't have to look perfect. Sometimes, with block printing, there can be slight imperfections. These imperfections can give character to the cushion or bag. And I like that. It doesn't mean that I accept something that is smudged or just looks bad. Also, here I am on the Poppytalk blog!

So, I have a confession. I have not got round to printing most of my orders yet. A day after I listed my new cushion on Etsy, I realised something was wrong with me. I'd been feeling ill for a few days with what felt like a nasty tummy bug. After 3 days, it didn't go away and I joked with my husband Ben that maybe I was pregnant, seeing that it was quite similar to how I felt when I was pregnant with our daughter Jill. He laughed. We have been so exhausted eversince having Jill two and a half years ago and also with trying to have lives of our own, you wouldn't believe we had time for any jiggy stuff. So, we bought a test kit and it came out positive. After me shedding a few tears (well, lots of tears really) and feeling like it could not come at a worse timing than this (we're moving house in 2 weeks and I have just found myself a cool studio space!), we decided, it's probably a really good thing, even though I am feeling totally rubbish and sick at the moment.

So, to all those who have placed orders, please do not panic! I am working on it. ALL orders will be sent out on Monday/Tuesday the latest. My mum is on an aeroplane, on her way to me as we speak. I really need help with turning the press. I can't risk it.... I'm not going to stop printing though. It's what I love to do. It keeps me sane. It makes me happy when I have nice customers.

Here's a pic of my little one and I, last summer.

Hello everyone. I suddenly realised that I have new followers. Before when I looked, there was probably 5 of you and now, there are over 20! Wow! Thank you everyone! To some people, that's not much of an archievement. But to me, that's just brilliant! So, how about each of you, tell me something about you, what you do, what you blog about, your websites etc. If you'd like, I could even come up with a list of questions. I had an interview with the lovely Khristian who has an amazing blog called Parapluies et Soleil . I throughly enjoyed it! So how about something like that? Except, you don't have to be a designer or an artist. Just you. Comment with a 'Yes!!' if you like this idea.

Also.... after awhile, after struglling with planning this design, I finally have a new 2 colour lino cut, printed on a natural unbleached linen cushion cover. I should have it up on my Etsy page soon.

I've printed 2 of my designs in black. I like the results. I'd like to know what you think....

Look what I've got!


This is Jesse's cushion. I was really really happy when it arrived in the post only 4 days after Jesse posted it! I love the colour and I really really admire her printing skill. If you'd like to have a lovely block printed cushion like mine, then visit her Etsy shop!

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've updated. It seems, to keep people interested in your blog, one should blog 3 - 4 times a week... (or something like that..) I have to say, that's quite a few days! What does one talk about so often? Tara Gentile, the editor of Scoutie Girl blog has written an ebook called 52 weeks of blogging "52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion is for crafters, artists, and designers who have been blogging for a bit but aren’t getting the results they’d like and often feel a bit lost with the process." It's definitely on my to read list!

On another note, Inkling Prints has been nominated in the Favourite Handmade Textiles category of the Poppytalk annual awards.


I was SO surprised!!! I mean, to be honest, I haven't really been promoting myself. I'm still waiting for my husband to sort my website out (which he is doing, bless him) and the house move or should I say lack of house move is making me feel really nervous. I'm also in search of a studio space. I'm going to look at something on Thursday, so fingers crossed!

Back to The Poppies , I've probably got no chance of winning. But, if you'd like to vote for me, that would be amazing!!! Being picked and being on that list, though, just makes me feel so happy!

Have a good week everyone!