Etsy shop find...a chat with Steph Says Hello!

I've got the next little chat with an etsy shop owner for you today..and this time its the turn of Steph Baxter aka Steph Says Hello, who owns the shop 'The Happy Pencil Shoppe'.

Beautiful, colourful and happy prints, cards and accessories.

So, as I usually say, grab yourself a cuppa and get to know Steph...

1. Can you tell us a bit about you and your background... 

I've always loved being creative, but never really knew quite what I wanted to do. 

I went to art school but my degree is in graphic design rather than illustration. 

If I'm honest graphic design never felt quite right for me, illustration did. 

So that's how I got here! 

What I love about creative careers is your don't have to specialise in one area. 

It's a path that you move along if that makes sense. 

My work is moving more towards hand lettering now - it's so interesting to see where your own work goes as time passes (and how it's changed)

2. What books/ magazines are currently on your coffee table?

This is really bad but really not very many! 

I regularly buy Mollie Makes Magazine which is pretty much the perfect crafty magazine. I tend to read blogs more than magazines now. 

3. Who is your design hero and what inspires you?

I am in awe of everything Tad Carpenter does, his style is spot on and works across so many platforms. I love the work of Alyssa Nassner too, her work is a lovely mix of hand lettering and design.

4. Tell us about a typical day for you…

I get up around 7, spend an age eating breakfast, getting dressed and reading blogs and start work around 9. 

The morning is usually spent packing any orders from my shop, answering emails and drinking a lot of tea. My afternoons are usually spent working on briefs and personal projects. 

I always try to get out for a walk and get some fresh air even if it's just to the post office!

5. Can you give us an insight into your creative process?

I can't work in a sketchbook (I get panicked that I'll ruin the sketchbook, its so ridiculous I know!) so all my work and ideas start on loose pieces of paper. 

Everything I do starts with a pen and paper, I think that's really important. 

Then I'll scan the work in and digitally colour it up. 

6. What album is currently in your Stereo/iPod, and what do you listen to while you work?

Literally everything by The Shins & Rilo Kiley. 

I'm either listening to them at the moment or watching something fun on Netflix while I work. 

I can't stand silence when I'm working!

7. What makes you laugh?

I've fallen in love with Portlandia on Netflix recently, it's my go to programme if I need cheering up, that and Modern Family. 

Failing that, funny cats and kittens. All the kittens ever!

8. What are your top three blogs?

Oh wow, that's a tough one! Apart from Love Print of course I'm currently loving:

The Tea Drinking English Rose (theteadrinkingenglishrose.com) 

Design Love Fest (www.designlovefest.com)

What Katie Does (www.whatkatiedoes.net)

9. Why do you like being an illustrator/designer? (in 10 words or less)

The fact my favourite hobby is now my job!

x

Thank you to Steph for taking the time to share a bit of her world with us and if you want to know more, you can follow Steph on twitter, pinterest, and click here for her blog.

(all above images are copyright of Steph Baxter)

x x x

Three lovely things...

As I write this, it is pouring with rain outside, grey, miserable and generally horrible, but in spite of that, I'm really in Spring mode when it comes to colour at the moment..loving coral shades with lovely mints and aquas..nails, lips, blushes, fashion, accessories..anything.

Probably a little premature but I suppose it is nearly March, and the sun will most definitely be on its way out soon, pleeeaaase!

My big love at the moment is with statement necklaces, and I'm on a  mission to find one. 

(any recommendations welcome)

This one (2) is bloomin' gorgeous, so I think I might be having a closer look.

1 | Gorgeous nails in gorgeous colours, and not to mention...glitter!

2 | Love everything about this...the outfit, the hair, and THE necklace (!)

3 | Beautifully simple top in Anthropologie, yum!

x x x

Maple banana pecan bread...

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a few weeks now...

For those of you who follow my instagram feed, 

you've probably seen a little cheeky pic I took on my iphone of this gloriously yummy banana bread, so, as promised, here's the post, including of course, the recipe!

In my opinion it doesn't get much better than this in terms of flavour combinations...

you seriously cant beat maple syrup (check), banana (check) and pecans (check)

Ooh and lets not forget..lovely drizzly icing, mmmmmm

Try it, believe me, you'll love it!

Ingredients and directions for one loaf

2 cups of flour

3/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup of sugar

5 tablespoons of butter

3 mashed bananas

2 eggs

3 tablespoons of maple syrup ( 2 for the loaf and 1 for the icing)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of pecans (plus extra to scatter on top)

1/3 cup of vanilla greek yoghurt

1/2 cup of icing sugar

1 teaspoon of milk

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

* Preheat the oven to gas mark 4

* Grease and line your loaf tin with baking paper and set aside

* Combine flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl and mix together

* In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar and butter

* Add in the bananas and stir to combine

* Mix in the eggs, 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup, vanilla and yoghurt

* Stir in the pecans

* Pour batter into the loaf tin and bake for 40/50 mins or until a knife inserted comes out clean

* Allow to cool

* Mix together the icing sugar, milk and the other tablespoon of maple syrup and drizzle over the loaf

* Scatter extra pecans on top if desired

*Enjoy!

(Adapted from this recipe)

(all above images taken by me for use on loveprintstudio blog)

x x x

Loveprintstudio on Facebook...

Finally...

I've now got around to creating a facebook page for this ickle blog.

Follow me here... 

I'll keep it up to date with blog posts and goings on as and when.

Sooo many options now with all this social media lark...

pinterest, twitter, bloglovin', instagram, and now facebook, pheweeee!

Follow me wherever you choose :-)

x x x

Paperchase favourites...

I had a little pop out to the shops over the weekend and spotted quite a few lovely bits and bobs in good old Paperchase, so I thought I'd share a few of my current favourites...

As you probably know from seeing past posts regarding stationery, I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to notebooks and tend to buy them just because of how beautiful they are, 

never to actually use them... don't be ridiculous! 

(for display purpouses only, ha ha!)

So, having a nosey around Paperchase for me is like being a kid in a sweet shop!

And they bring gorgeous new ranges out all the time.

Three of their new collections at the moment are 'Marine Team'...

'Anchors Ahoy'

and 'Taking Tea'

And here are a few other bits...

(all copyright belongs to Paperchase and images are from www.paperchase.co.uk)

x x x

Paper & Cloth at Indigo...

Indigo starts tomorrow in Paris, 

and Paper & Cloth will be there showing their wares for Spring/ Summer 2015!

Heres a little sneaky peaky at the eflyer/leaflet for the show...

(image above copyright of Paper & Cloth Ltd)

x x x

Happy Valentines Day...

The boy and I don't really 'do' Valentines Day as such, aside from getting cards for each other.

But I couldn't resist getting in the kitchen the other night to make some homemade versions of his favourite 'shop bought' biscuits, 

(yeah, I know, jammie dodgers...big kid right?)

I found this recipe in the very lovely Cakes: River Cottage Handbook No.8

If you don't have the book, I'd thoroughly recommend it!

Here are a few pics...

Hope you all have a lovely Valentines Day and weekend!

(all photos above taken by me for use on loveprintstudio blog)

x x x

Valentine picks...

Well I'm sure you've all seen lots of valentine related images recently whilst perusing t'interweb, 

I certainly have! And there have been some beauties.

So, I thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you all...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

x x x

Three lovely things...of the pink variety!

It's the week of all that lovey dovey mushy stuff 

and I've got a few posts lined up this week with that in mind, 

so first up is a little gathering of three lovely things, 

all with a very nice pink related theme...

1 | Loving the beautiful artwork of 'My Lovely Thing'

2 | Dark chocolate cake donuts with blood orange glaze..

not much else to say really, mmmmmmm...

3 | How nice is her hair colour?? 

Beaaauutiful

Such a lovely soft shade of pink

If only I thought I could suit this...

x x x

Colour crush...

Well, I've had enough of the rain and stormy weather here in the midlands so I'm going head on into spring with this colour crush post today...

Hope it brightens your day if its dismal and grey where you are too.

Seriously, enough already!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

(clockwise from top left)

x x x

Inspired by...Eye Poetry

I discovered the amazing work of Irene Suchocki a while ago, and more recently thought, 

'Why have I not blogged about this yet?' 

Shocking...

So, anyway, here I am now doing just that.

Irene is the fine art photographer behind Eye Poetry, and I have to say she is able to create the most beautiful dreamlike quality images I have ever seen, just gorgeous!

They've got such a magically nostalgic feel to them...

She has many different collections for sale in her shop including photographs of Paris, New York, Italy and Amsterdam and also nature and landscape images, of which her White Wild Horses is one of my favourites...

You can click here to go straight to the Eye Poetry etsy shop and here for the website.

(All of the above image are from the Eye Poetry etsy shop and all copyright belongs to Irene Suchocki)

x x x

Hello February...

Well here we are already...February!
Can you believe it?

January has flown by and I'm pretty sure it hasn't actually stopped raining all month.
So please, now we're in a new month, stop raining and bring us some sunshiny days!

Thanks!

(image above copyright of louise/loveprintstudio blog)

x x x

Instagram snaps...January 2014

Well, January really has gone in the blink of an eye, and looking back at my instagram snaps this month, not really filled with a great deal of excitement.

I always think January's a bit of a 'meh' kinda month to be honest, probably along with a lot of you.

But heres what I've been up to...

Happily organising away; make up, crafty bits, my ever expanding scarf collection, etc... 

The start of a new year always makes me feel like having a bit of an all round tidy and sort, so thats exactly what I did.

I've promised myself this year I will definitely read more. 

The aim being at least one book a month but hopefully more. 

And I made my first move nearer to kindle territory by downloading my first ebook for the ipad, 

the new Bridget Jones 'Mad about the Boy'. 

I didn't mind reading it on the ipad but I do like the feel of a good book and the flick of the pages, 

so I'm not converted just yet, but we'll see.

Next on the reading list (of the paperback variety) 'The Husbands Secret'.

I only started this last week but so far..very good indeed.

So, currently on track; 1.5 books read for the first month of 2014.
(Yay me!)

I also managed to get hold of one of the canvases from the Lilipinso collection I worked on at Paper and Cloth, soo nice to see it in real life.

Ooh and the cheeky little dinosaur demolishing the big city framed print was a belated Christmas present for my friends little boy, hope he likes it.

Hope you all had a good January.

x x x

Etsy shop find...a chat with Anna Wiscombe

I've got a lovely etsy shop find for you today, 
and it's a chat with Anna Wiscombe who creates the most beautiful wooden products...

I'm totally in love with sooo many of her beautifully crafted birds, in particular her Mother and Baby sets.

But she also makes stunning necklaces using yummy colour palettes.

So, as I usually say, grab a cuppa, and maybe a cheeky biscuit and get to know Anna better.

Here we go..

1. Tell us a bit about you and your background...

I studied Fine Art at University.  

It was a course of self-directed study for the full 3 years which gave me a great grounding in working independently and following my own ideas.  

I didn't realise it at the time but it has helped me enormously now that I run my own business!

Although I studied Fine Art it was obvious that I was always more interested in craft, so when I left Uni I struggled a bit with what to do next.  

I worked part time as a PA for a few years but was always making things in my spare time, developing them into little businesses and selling at markets!  

When I started to work with wood though, something just clicked, and as my current ranges developed I knew that it might be time to take the plunge and go full time!  

I did that at the end of 2012 and haven't looked back!

                                              2. Tell us about a typical day for you…

I work much better in the day than evening so (most days!) I try to get up early and get going!  I work from my own studio which I have to travel to get to so that's quite helpful in feeling that I'm 'going to work' too.

I normally have orders that I'm working on and a rough plan of what I need to do each day so I start off by cutting out all of the pieces that I need and then gradually working through each stage of the process in making my products.

Lots of cups of coffee are drunk and a good bit of Radio 2 is normally on the go while I sand and saw the day away too!

3. What books/ magazines are currently on your coffee table?

Sadly not so much at the moment!  

I've got an old issue of Crafts Magazine with a lovely article about a boat which has been built out of lots of different wooden items, all donated by the public and Country Living!

4. How did you learn your craft?

My woodworking skills are all self-taught but I do have a very crafty Dad who I'm sure has influenced me along the way and still helps out with all my questions about drills and machinery!

5. What inspires you and who are your design heroes?

I take inspiration from tonnes of different things but more often than not it comes from nature and family.  I love looking at birds, plants and trees for new ideas for shapes and styles but also love looking back at 1950's design for it's wonderful use of colour and playful images.

Donna Wilson is definitely a design hero of mine.  

I think she's got such a great, original style and is always doing something new and interesting.  

I think she's a real inspiration for people starting out in the craft world too - to show that you can have a very successful business making the things that you love!  

That's pretty cool!

6. Complete the following sentence...

'My happy place is.........'

.... at home in Dorset in my parents garden!  

I love it!  

It's in the middle of the countryside and is so beautiful and peaceful that it's an endless source of inspiration for me.  

There's always lots of birds around for me to take ideas from for shapes and colours and so many lovely plants and flowers too.

7. What makes you laugh?

Definitely my sister!  

Especially if we're watching some of our favourite cheesy American films from the 80's!

8. I adore your Mother & Bay and Wagtail brooches…

What is your favourite item currently for sale in your etsy shop?

I think it's still the mother and baby or family wall bird sets.  

They were one of the first products I made and I still love making them now.  

They're made of oak so as it's such a textured wood, each piece always has a different feel and when I add the eye detail and little carved markings, they really do have a character of their own!

9. What are your top three favourite blogs you read/follow?

I like Trend Bible for keeping up with trends and colours they're forcasting for the coming years.

I also love the work of American designer, Leah Duncan so like to check her blog to see what she's been up to!

Print and Pattern was one of the first blogs I started to look at many years ago too so that's one I still go back to to see what new things are happening in the world of surface design.

http://www.trendbible.com/blog/

http://freshlychopped.blogspot.co.uk/

http://printpattern.blogspot.co.uk/

Thank you so much to Anna for sharing a bit of her world with us!

You can find and follow Anna on facebook, twitter, pinterest, on her website, and of course, her etsy shop.

(all images above were taken from Anna's etsy shop and all copyright belongs to Anna Wiscombe)

x x x