artists Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Wednesday Wishlist – Artist Spotlight

April 13, 2016 by Bel

For this wishlist I wanted to do something a little different and actually showcase some artists that I really admire. All of these people are artists I’ve found either through going to a convention or on Instagram. All their shops are on Etsy. As I couldn’t find a way to add text to the Polyvore sets, I screen-grabbed and added the words myself. However if you are interested in any of the specific art I pictured, you can find the Polyvore image below and this has the direct links included.

I first found SoCuteCompany at a convention in Lincoln last year. I bought a Beauty and the Beast print but sorely regretted not buying The Little Mermaid one too. Majority of Ellen’s art (at least in her store) isn’t Disney related but it’s all incredibly cute. I’m hoping she’ll be heading to “Geeks” Lincoln this year so I can maybe grab some more of her art.

Artist Abe is someone I discovered through Instagram and though I haven’t actually purchased anything as yet, I do have several of his items favourited. Abraham’s style is quite different from what I would usually go for but I think it works well, especially with the Harley Quinn pieces I have my eyes on. I love the cross-over pieces too and the slight silliness to his drawings.

Meagan from Dashes of Color is one of the most lovely sellers I have met on Etsy. I originally discovered her when her Instagram page liked a picture on my Closet Geek Instagram and I was nosy enough to go looking at her page. The first art I bought from her was a Peter Pan and Wendy custom piece for Amy‘s Christmas present, which she was kindly sent along with a Rapunzel pic. I later asked her to paint a custom Briar Rose and Belle painting which I now have on my dining room wall. She is happy to do any custom pieces, her prices are so reasonable and she’s lovely to boot. What more could you ask for?

Silvia from SillyLunastorta is again a lovely person to deal with. Originally I discovered her art at MCM Birmingham Comic Con, when I bought a Luna (Harry Potter) bookmark for my daughter Megan. I don’t know if I ever would have remembered to look up her Etsy if it wasn’t for the sad fact that Megan’s bookmark actually got torn at school. Luckily Silvia had signed the bookmark art clearly and I was able to google her. Though the original bookmark was no longer for sale, there was another Luna that I purchased in replacement. However Silvia did actually offer to specially print the old style for me, in order to replace it. Majority of her work that I like is bookmarks but she has lots of other stuff too. I wish she did more prints and postcards as I’d definitely add a few to my collection.

Elisa owns a store called aasilee and her work is truly beautiful. She is another person who I discovered through Instagram and everytime she posts a picture I go and check out her store again. I really would love one of her custom pieces but sadly I can’t really afford it at the moment. However her prints are really reasonable and I have my eye on a few. (I actually made my first purchase after writing this post, so I’m pretty excited about that!). Majority of the store is Disney themed and this is just perfect as far as I’m concerned.

Last but not least is Amanda who owns Hungry Designs. I discovered her store through Instagram and have been dying to order for a while. Amanda has been preparing for Supernova for a few weeks and her Instagram has been such a tease for all the new items she would be stocking. However I patiently waited till this week for them all to be listed (after the convention) and made my first ever order on Monday. Again a lot of the Hungry Designs art is Disney themed but there is Harry Potter, Labyrinth, Harley Quinn and other great fandoms. The thing I love the most about Amanda’s work is that its not just prints and postcards you can get, but also badges and earrings. She has a 35% discount code (SUPANOVAAPRIL) on at the moment so it would be a great time to give her a visit!

There are a few other artists that I own pieces from, but they either didn’t have anything in their store that I currently wanted, or their store was closed. I would recommend also checking out KavonIllustration, Siodoodles, rowansm and LoveAshleyDesigns.

Artist Spotlight by diaryjourneys

T-shirt Tuesday

January 27, 2015 by Bel

So a week has passed from the time I announced my new feature – T-shirt Tuesday. I have two to share with you today, both the one I’ve been wearing today and also the one I started on as my “project” t-shirt.

First up, is the t-shirt I’m wearing today. I have loads and loads of t-shirts by this artist – Karen Hallion. In fact, she’s pretty much my favourite artist. I’ve actually made it my quest to own all her Disney/Who t-shirts and I’m not far off doing so! This particular design is called “Part of Every World” and is available to buy in a variety of places including TeeFury, RedBubble and Society 6.

Unlike majority of my t-shirt (they’re black), this one is a nice blue colour. It was available in other colours but since its set under the sea, I liked the idea of keeping it blue. Anyway – this is my t-shirt of the day!

Next up, you might remember the t-shirt I decided to take as my first project t-shirt, this time last week.

To be absolutely honest with you, I couldn’t remember where I ordered this from, what the design was called or who the artist was before making this post. However I’ve taken the last fifteen minutes or so to root through my emails and figure it out. The artist is CleverAvian (Kate I think) and they use various platforms such as RedBubble, TeePublic and DeviantArt. This particular design is called “The Last Petal” and it features Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), along with the Beast and a rose.

I started off by cutting off the sleeves, roughly in a shape I wanted. Sadly I cut a little bit too much off the second side and had to level it on the original side. I had a feeling back then that I’d cut too much but I ploughed on as I wanted to finish anyway. Next I cut a skirt out of t-shirt material and stitched the top and bottom together. I sewed all the edges to neaten and then cut the neckline lower as one of my issues with the t-shirt was its high neckline.

As you can see from the middle picture, my bra shows due to cutting the armhole too big. I can luckily cover this by wearing a vest tee underneath, a cardigan on the top, or I could even sew an extra panel on each side for a permanent solution. Otherwise though, for a first attempt, I’m pretty pleased with it! Will I wear it? I guess we’ll have to wait and see but…

I’m wearing it now!!

Keep an eye out for my next T-shirt Tuesday to see what I’m wearing and what I’m working on!

T-shirt Tuesdays

January 20, 2015 by Bel

Today I had a sort out of my drawers. I didn’t really go to plan…

Back in June of 2013, I posted all about my t-shirt addiction and anyone who has been following my blog for some time, will know that I have been buying t-shirts on and off for years. That said, I’ve noticed over the last year, I haven’t been buying as many as I used to. I don’t know if that’s because they don’t appeal any more, if it was perhaps a fad, or maybe partly connected to body image in the increased weight. Whatever the reason, I also know I haven’t been wearing the t-shirts as much either but the new pages from the bestdamnpolos.com helped me get the t-shirts and wear them more. That was partly because of wearing work uniform every day, but largely because of the extra weight I’ve been carrying and not feeling as comfortable in the tight tees. As such, I decided that this morning I would sort out my two whole drawers full of t-shirts – try and separate out some to sell, some to throw, some to up-cycle perhaps.

I started to take all my t-shirts out of the drawer, making a pile to go back in and supposedly a pile to go. I went through every t-shirt I owned, without wanting to get rid of a single one. It was while I was doing this, that I realised what a huge geek I was and that even my lesser fandoms were so loved that I didn’t want to get rid of them. As such, I decided I would make the feature “T-shirt Tuesdays”. The basic idea would be to feature one t-shirt a week, to showcase all the awesome tees I have.

I set about going through the pile again – this time more ruthlessly. I manage to add about ten tops to the “to go” pile, but this was largely because I didn’t like the fit and style, rather than not liking the design. It was at this point that I decided, perhaps I would up-cycle them instead. After posting something to Facebook and having a few people comment, I decided that dresses were my preferred option of where to go with it. After doing a bit of googling, I found various ways to go about it and today I made a start.

So… while some weeks “T-shirt Tuesdays” will just feature the t-shirt I’m wearing, other weeks it will showcase my “project” t-shirt. This week I’m bringing you the “Beauty and the Beast” tee that I’m going to attempt my first dress with. This is what it looks like now and I’ll let you know how it turns out!