In case we forget her name or which room we put her in to sleep??!!

Hello again,

Marla's dad recently gave me a few hours peace whilst he looked after Marla.  I love her of course but this was bliss!  I haven't had a doodle in Adobe Illustrator for months now and I really miss it.  Always on my mind, I spent my time making a door sign for Marla's room.  It's pretty and garish............or pretty garish and she may object to it when she's older but in the meantime it's going up!.  Here it is:

Laura xXx

Clever Gran

Hi,

A lovely thing about having a little bear (baby) is that it seems to inspire folks to put on their creative hats.  I wish I could say this is my work but my Mother in law sewed this gorgeous quilt for Marla:

I'm a longtime lover of the great Charley Harper and a couple of years ago I introduced her to his work- I think this may have been just an ever so slight influence for this quilt :o)

Of course I know that if I actually use it as Marla's bedding it is going to end up covered in milk, puke and snot so I have decided to have it a wall hanging in her room instead.

I hope one day Marla may hand it down to another little bear........................maybe even her own.

Laura x

Still here?

Hello to anyone still around,

I have been absent for a while now.  As explained before, things got pretty busy!  This happened:

and then I blinked and this had happened:

Her name is Marla May and she is now 9 months old, her hobbies include, taking food out of kitchen cupboards when my back is turned, playing with make-up brushes and blowing raspberries at strangers who coo over her.

Anyway, life as a Mum is very fulfilling but it doesn't leave me much time to doodle, esp as the little lady has decided she is already an adult and that she doesn't need to nap during the day like a baby!

Anyway, as a result this blog may become a little more varied in it's subject matter, including baby and house stuff and not all posts will include new illustration work- just warning you!

We also moved house recently and took on a bit of a renovation project so I might include a bit of that too.

Lets see how it goes shall we?

Lots of love,

Laura x

Big belly bird home sweet home

Hi!

I thought I would show you a 'new house' card that I designed for a couple I know who have just moved home.

It's pretty daft!, oh and my friend is pregnant in case you were wondering why one of the birds has a bit of a prominent belly- I'm not being cruel!

Laura x

Happy Mothers Day!

Hello,

Okay, I am a day late putting this one up here but this is a card I made for yesterday! 

Hope all the mothers out there had a lovely time, especially my Mum!

Laura x

Anniversary Card

Hi!

I made this card for my parents who celebrate a whooping 42 years together tomorrow!

Laura x

Back to the Future

Hello!

This is a bit of a side step from my regular posts but I thought I would show you a little project I have been working on.

In the spirit of one of my favorite blogs- Design Sponge:http://www.designsponge.com/category/before-and-after  I embarked on a little 'before and after' of my own.

We bought this old 1960's Ercol armchair for a bargain price on Ebay, complete with grey/brown chipped varnish and retirement home upholstery. My husband and I stripped off all the varnish to reveal the original beech underneath and my rather handy sister-in-law re-upholstered it in a fabric we bought from John Lewis. The retro cushion is from a second hand shop in Brighton and I think suits the period of the chair.

I think it's had a new lease of life in a 1960's style (if that makes sense!), I hope you agree:

Right, just got to finish the rest of the flat now!

Please click on the images if you would like to view them LARGER!

Laura x
PS The bird picture on the wall in the 'after' pic is by a print maker called Wayne Pate:  http://www.waynepate.com/ who is one of my heroes.

A card for anybody who loves somebody

Squirrel love!:

Please double click if you would like to see the image larger.

Laura x

New Babies!

Hello!

I currently know 5 couples all due you to have bouncing babies over the next two months so I thought it time to get my 'new baby card' thinking cap on.

I wanted to do something simple, bold and bright to make a change from all the usual pastel shades associated with babies.  Bring on the elephants!:

Laurax