T&C Inspired: Ella Kirk

Hi crayonettes! 

Had a good week? Glad it's the weekend? We are, and we've got some lovely visual treats from our friend Ella, textile designer and illustrator, all the way in sunny Canada.  We love her intricate and quirky illustrations, she enjoy's an occasional robot and a mixtape and we love it.

Designing under the alias Milk Milk Lemonade you might've seen Ella's funky and colourful scarves adorning the rails of Topshop Oxford Street. 

Name: 

Ella Kirk

Where are you from: 

I'm from a teeny town in the countryside in Derbyshire, England but I've lived in Vancouver, Canada for the past year and a bit.

 

Tell us a little bit about your work: 

I studied 'surface pattern design' at Leeds College of Art and Design and like to create patterns and illustrations mainly for fashion textiles under the design name 'Milk Milk Lemonade'. I like to draw animals, robots, household items and insects and love to mash up unexpected item combinations to create quirky and interesting compositions. I also love to use a bit of typography wherever I can.

What’s your favourite tea:

My favourite tea is English Breakfast, or if I'm feeling fancy I'll go for a strawberry and kiwi blend.

Links:

Web: www.ellakirk.co.uk

Shop: society6.com/milkmilklemonade

T&C Inspired: Kerri-Ann Hulme

Hi loves! Hope you're all having a good week.

We invited T&C friend Kerri-Ann Hulme this week to share her wonderfully delicate and beautiful pencil drawings with us. We're adoring the little caspian seal she created for creature mag's endangered animal project and her hand drawn type 'We could be kings and queens'. Kerri-Ann shares alot of the same inspirations through fairytales and story telling as us crayons which is probably why we love her work so much :)

Name: 

Hello, my name is Kerri-Ann Hulme.

Where are you from: 

I'm from a small town called Widnes in Cheshire.

 

Tell us a little bit about your work: 

I would describe my work as whimsical, which reflects on childhood themes. I am particularly interested in children's books and hope to one day write and illustrate my own story. I love painting with acrylics on a large scale or drawing true to life portraits doing tone and shading with pencils. I'm currently just starting a few personal projects and sorting out my portfolio as it's a new year and time for brand new work. Also, I am one third of the collective Pencils, Paper, Scissors and we have just sent our first collaborative project to the printers and are expecting it back any day now. It is a circus themed colouring book and we are so excited to share it with everyone.

Who, what and/or where inspires you: 

I am inspired by many things including fairytales, magic, animals and people. The golden age illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen and Harry Clarke have been one of my main inspirations since I first decided I wanted to illustrate because I find myself getting lost in their pictures as they are so full of beautiful detail. I have recently discovered two amazing book illustrators, the work of Inga Moore (she illustrated The Secret Garden) and Jill Barklem (author and illustrator of the Brambly Hedge children's books), if you love children's books as much as me they are definitely ones to look out for.

What’s your favourite tea:

I don't like tea! :( (It always surprises us when people don't like tea)

Links:

Blog: goodnight-neverland.blogspot.com

Website: www.kerriannhulme.co.uk 

Twitter: @kerriannhulme

Collective: pencils paper scissors collective

♥

T&C Inspired: BunnyBosworth

Today's crafty goodness comes from one of my oldest friends, back in the days when we buttoned ourselves together, drew dinosaurs and bounced up and down on bouncy castles when no one was looking.  We are still creative souls at heart. 

The wonderful Miss Natalie Bosworth - designer, craft maker and lover of knitted things. 

Name: 

Natalie Bosworth

Where are you from: 

Originally from a tiny town that no-one's heard of near York, but now I live by the sea in Crosby, Liverpool.

Tell us a little bit about your work: 

I'm a stitcher, knitter and crocheter of many things and think of my creations as a vehicle for colour and pattern. The things I design; bags, jewellery, decorations, are always very simple in shape and style, with the materials and yarns doing all the work. I've been hoarding fabrics for years so when I use them I like to show them off, by pairing them with contrasting prints and colours, mixing up vintage Liberty prints, woolen tweeds and modern quilting fabrics. I've been developing embroidery and smocking designs to incoorporate in my work too, I'm really keen to emphasize the handmade aspect of my work and use some really traditional skills in a new way .It's a sort of 'pick and mix' approach, resulting in an abundance of colour and texture.

Who, what and/or where inspires you: 

I trained as a costume designer and do freelance theatre work, and I'm very inspired by costume and fashion history, I love the handmade skills in old clothes and the way you can sense the person who made it. I go through phases of loving different eras but at the moment It's all about the 20's and 30's, lots of tweed and Fairisle jumpers, country house parties and the Mitford Sisters. Living by the sea for the last year has been very inspiring too, it's nice to be able to go for a walk on the beach whenever I like and it's a great place for people watching!

(What’s your favourite tea: 

I work in a cafe that sells 32 varieties of loose leaf tea but they haven't weaned me off the Yorkshire Tea yet!

Links

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/bunnybosworths

Web: http://bunnybosworth.blogspot.com

Twitter: @BunnyBosworth

We're very much enjoying all the bunting, we can't wait to hang it from our studio one day.  

♥ 

T&C Inspired: Joanne Hawker

Hi loves! Hope you're all having a good weekend.

We have a new T&C inspired section where we'll be featuring some of our favourite illustrators, designers and general creative types and chatting to them about their beautiful work.  

Our first is the very lovely artist, Joanne Hawker who sent us some gorgeous illustrations (the owl is a personal fave of mine, she must've known we like a bird drawing). She has such a lovely delicate and organic style to her work.

Name: 

Joanne Hawker

Where are you from: 

I’m from a little village in a small corner of South Somerset.

Tell us a little bit about your work: 

My work tends to be quite varied as I still feel that I haven’t found my one true style yet so I like to experiment with lots of different techniques and ideas. Everything I do starts as a little biro doodle in my notebook and then I draw it neatly, ink it up, scan it in and render it digitally in Photoshop or illustrator or sometimes both! A lot of my work focuses around the natural world, as I tend to have many obsessions with woodland animals so expect to see a few foxes or owls in my work. I also have bit of thing for paper textures so they also play a huge part in the backgrounds of my creations.  This year I’m going to try and experiment with being a bit more minimal as its something I find difficult. Basically, I like to try and do a bit of everything when it comes to my work!

Who, what and/or where inspires you: 

As I said above the natural world plays a big part in my work, so a trip to the woods or the beach can spark off a variety of ideas. Or even the early morning cycle ride through the country lanes to work has been known to throw up a few ideas. There are a huge number of people on twitter who inspire me on a daily basis but there are too many to name so if you want to know who just read through the massive list of people I follow! :)

What’s your favourite tea: 

Tea! My favourite drink! Yum! I have to have at least 3 cups minimum of PG Tips or Clipper Tea everyday. Can’t beat it! Or as a treat I love love love Whitards fruit tea. Elderflower or Summer Fruits being my favourites.

Linked:

Website: www.joannehawker.co.uk

Blog: www.origamichicken.com

Twitter: @joannehawker

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/joannehawker

Society6: www.society6.com/joannehawker

You can buy her wonderful little calendar (pictured below) on her etsy shop, we'll be wanting to get our hands on one of those to keep our plans in order :)

x