Final December market of the year!

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well.  I thought I'd pop back with an update as I've now done my final fair of the year.  

This weekend was the @designandcraftfair held as part of the Truman markets in East London.  It was my only entire weekend market of December.  One of the really good things about having a stall here is that it is huge so I can really spread out and bring some framed prints which I can't normally fit on a table, (although my arms are not so pleased with this 😅).  Unfortunately though, it wasn't as busy as I had hoped.  The area in general didn't seem as busy as it is usually, as it's normally very buzzy.  It was a bit of a shame but, I still made a profit and sold a lot of cards in particular so that is the upside.  Sadly footfall is often something that is totally out of a traders control, however, I got to chat to some of the fellow stall holders which is always a lovely part of trading.  

So, that's my December markets wrapped up!  It's the first time I've done a market each weekend and I would do it again.  Over the past year I have increased the amount of markets I've done and next year I definitely would like to do more.  I enjoy them, inspite of the schlepping of stuff around London (which is always a challenge), the days are really fun.  I've met lots of people doing similar things with similar struggles and wins! and that is one of the best bits, as well as people liking your created goods enough to buy which is always a joy.  

To round up my busiest market was definitely the @illustratorsfair.  Very well marketed every time, and the location is itself is busy and has a really good vibe.  The second was the @ktmakermarket and for their first one it really was a huge success, so again great marketing I think.  I really want to do more with them. Even though this last Design and Craft fair was quieter than I hoped, I would still do another.  The last one I took part in in September was much busier, and I still really enjoyed my weekend there.  

I'll just pop in that if there's anything that tickles your fancy in the photos above have a look in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt.  I have now sold out of some stock, but most of what is on display here is still available.  If you want in time for Christmas though as I post by second class, the cut off for guaranteed delivery has now passed but....maybe you want to surprise someone for New Year!

This will more than likely be my last post before Christmas so, if you are celebrating, or just having a break, I hope you thoroughly enjoy yourself 😊.  Also just to say, thanks for reading my ramblings I really appreciate it!

See you soon

Sharon x

December market time!

Hello!

So I'm back with my market/fair update.  I have now taken part in two of my December markets with just one more to go.  It's been a bit of a hectic couple of weeks hence why this is now a two for one post.  

My first market was on Saturday 2nd December and was held in a church in Kentish Town with @ktmakersmarket.  It was their first market, it was busy and felt very festive.  I had a very good day and was impressed with the turnout as it was a very cold day.

My second was the @illustratorsfair held last Saturday.  I've done this fair a few times now and this was the busiest it's been.  It seems people do really want to support small businesses which is lovely.  I can't say I got a chance to look around because I really didn't, but just from my vantage point I'm always so impressed with the variety of work on offer.  Again, I had a very good day and really enjoyed it.  Markets are always tiring as the lugging of all my wares around London is exhausting but I always think it's worth it.  This Saturday night once I'd got home and eaten, I had a nice relaxing bath to help wind down :).

So, just one more market to go and that's this weekend @designandcraftfair so if you fancy popping by then please do.  I post photos from the events over on Instagram if you want to take a look.

I hope you've had a good week! 

Back soon 

Sharon :).

Flyer winner!

Hello,

So I'm back with some exciting news.  Yesterday I was told that my flyer for the @illustratorsfair won the competition!!  I'm so shocked and dead chuffed.  There were so many beautiful flyers (check out the @illustratorsfair feed to see all the entries), I don't know how the judges ever made a decision!  It's been so lovely to read everyones comments and see the likes, I'm totally overwhelmed!  

I had a lot of fun creating this flyer.  I'll be honest I started out with a totally different design, the only similarity to this was that there was a bird on it.  I worked on it for a bit but I wasn't happy, abandoned the idea, sketched out a new one, and went for a new colour palette.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  Sometimes an idea just seems to come together and that happened with this.  I got to play a lot with texture and I loved making the border and the blue frostiness in the background.  

They are now continuing with a wildcard flyer competition that anyone can enter to also create a flyer for the event.  So if you'd like to submit a design check out their feed to see how to get involved.  

The fair itself is now just under two weeks away (how did that happen)!!?!  This weekend I've been organising my stall ready for the next few weeks of markets.  The first is this coming Saturday in Kentish Town.  It's the first market of @ktmakersmarket it's going to be held in a beautiful church.  There will be pizza on sale as well so if that doesn't make you want to come I don't know what does :D.  I will be there with all my prints, cards, illustrated mirrors, notebooks, stickers, Christmas themed goods and tree decorations..phew! 

This is their flyer for the event and below that all the markets and fairs I'll be doing.  If you are looking to buy from me, or just want to see my creations but can't make the markets, everything can be found over on my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt.

These are all the markets I'll be doing in December.  It would be lovely to see you if you are coming to any of them :).  I will post more about each one as we go through the month.

So, have a great week and I'll be back soon :).

December Markets and Fairs

Hello,

It is a very dreary rainy day Tuesday here in London.  I've already been out and got drenched so I'm happy to be back in the warm and dry.

To brighten up the day I thought I'd share a bit more about the markets/fairs I'll be doing and sharing flyers for the events.  Firstly I'll share the flyers I've made.  They're all made for Instagram so they're square in shape.

This first one I've created is for all the markets I'll be at, arranged around my shop logo for SharonFarrowArt shown in the middle.  

SharonFarrowArt

Kentish Town Makers Market

Illustrators' Fair

Design and Craft Fair

The next is a flyer specifically for the Illustrators' fair.  For every fair they do, all stall holders are invited to create a flyer for the event a #festivalofflyers.  It's a great way of showcasing the work of the illustrators' involved and it makes for a beautifully diverse gallery over on their feed.  I was thinking of crisp and frosty December days for my flyer and I'm really happy with how it's turned out.

Here's the generic flyers for two of those events :

I'm getting ready ensuring I have everything to display all the items I have.  It's not that long until the first one now.  I will be bringing all my Christmas cards, wrap and gift tags but I'll also have prints, greetings cards and small illustrated gifts.  These markets are the perfect place to find something really original to give as a gift or keep for yourself 😀 (well, why not)?  I'll be posting more over on Instagram if you'd like to follow me there to keep up to date. 

If you do come by come and say hello!

Ok, that's me done for now.  Have a great rest of the day.

Sharon

New festive shop goodies

Hello!

Once again, it has been a while since I've last posted, whoops!  Still, I have a bit to share right now so I think today is the day for more of my scribblings.  

I've been busy getting ready for......I daren't say it, because it is early, but, yes, for Christmas.  It's tricky, but as a person making and selling things for that time of year you do have to start gabbling about it early!  It's been quite exciting for me really because I've tried out a few new things this time.  Foiled cards is one. They've been something I've wanted to try for a while, and I'm really happy finally to have made some.  I've also ventured into making wrapping paper and gift tags this year.  

My original plan was to make one set of cards, the foiled ones, but once they were done I was in the swing of festive ideas (you know how it is), so I made another card featuring partridges (any excuse to draw a bird), and seasonal foliage.  I'm really happy with all the designs, I've realised it's a very green coloured Christmas in Sharon land but that's ok I think :).

They are now all live in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt

Also, if you're in London in December I will be selling in the flesh at various markets every weekend throughout that month.  I'm going to save all that information for another post though.  That means I will be back soonish with all those details.  I'm very excited about all of them.  Markets and fairs are something I started doing in the last few years and I've really been enjoying them.

So, I will leave it there for now.  I hope you're having a lovely week and I WILL be back soon!

Sharon :)

A bird fest

Hello,

It's been a while (again) since I've written a post but better late than never!

I've been busy over the past few weeks creating new work and it's been an exciting and productive time.  I came back from a short Christmas break full of energy and enthusiasm, ready to flesh out some ideas that had been brewing for a while. 

For the purpose of this post I'm going to focus on three recent images I made.  My plan was to make a small group of images with a similar subject matter and colour palette.  I don't often make sets of work so I thought this would be a good challenge for me and I'm really happy with how they turned out. 

The starting point for each image was a linocut bird.  I love the textures you can achieve with linocut whilst still achieving an all over pretty even covering of colour.  I am a basic linocutter I guess but as there's no real right or wrong way for my purposes (so I've told myself), I feel that's ok.  I wanted each bird to be surrounded by a strange plant land, and I really enjoy creating fantasy plants and landscapes that are a little strange and perhaps unsettling.  I always like to imagine living in those strange worlds and whether I'd feel entirely comfortable!  I wanted the images to be retro-mid century tinged, and I hope my chosen colour palette reflects this.  Once the linocut print was down, I worked into the landscape building it up with coloured pencil, acrylic and gouache.  I get totally absorbed in creating, working up the layers, making the textures, it's a real joy.  I've started using gouache after leaving it for a long time (lots of dried tubes that have now been re-discovered and bought back to life, not always successfully)!  I find for larger areas it scans better that watercolour for me (although that may be my bad scanning technique, who knows, if anyone has any tips I'm all ears)!  I took inspiration from sketches I made from one of my many visits to the V&A Museum in London (love it so), and of course natures delights, birds, are always a lovely subject.  The V&A has a huge amount of beautiful and sometimes strange objects and artwork.  I especially love the medieval period rooms and get lost in time when I'm there.  

Well, I think I've rabbled on for long enough.  I hope you've enjoyed this post.  I'll aim to get more regular at this, although I can't promise anything!

Enjoy your day and I'll see you soon. 

Sharon :).