IrrElephant!

A different style again.

This time I was developing my ideal tattoo. My mum will be pleased to know that I am aware my spare cash can be put to better use for the moment. This was drawn on a scrap of lined paper whilst I had a surge of creativity when visiting my family and a sketchbook was not close to hand.

I am hoping to work on the line work digitally, but I quite like the line just as it is, with no shade, but we'll see.

Inspiration for the idea came from my canvas print that I have blogged before, and obviously I'm a Crazy Elephant Lady. 

This month has been 'Even More Music Month' on BBC Radio one and have given us some spectacular covers from Bastille and The Arctic Monkeys. I am getting to go see Bastille as they are playing a gig in Edinburgh soon, and I am very much looking forward to it!

Giving a Miley Cyrus song some Charm...

Sexing up some Drake...

An Elephant parade on top of my picture frame

Creative Haul

I realised recently that it has been way too long since I've posted on here!

The reason for this is not through lack of creativity, if I am honest I have probably found another (maybe lazier) outlet for showcasing my creativity: Instagram (@elepaws.) I am going to try and make more effort to get posting more on here because my work is being lost in among selfies and lunches, and it's a nice way for myself to reflect.

So here's a few things I've been creating recently...

I drew these little portraits for my flatmate who was sadly moving out to study in Glasgow as a parting gift to remind her of the three of us.

During one of my late night scribblings I drew British style You-tuber  Helen Melon Lady for fun, I linked her to it on twitter and she kindly reposted it, which was lovely of her, this got me lots of lovely new Instagram followers and a load of 'likes.'

And this is a shoe....

More to follow...

For the love of a beautiful movie actress

Catwoman

My portrait of Julie Newmar's beautifully classic Catwoman 

(Sheldon Cooper's favorite Catwoman if I remember correctly)

Silver Wedding Invitations

I was asked to design invitations for my Mum and Dad's 25th Wedding Anniversary. They specifically told me that the wanted nothing cheesy e.g: portraits of them etched into a birch tree in a love heart.
So this is what I came up with...

I chose Items that were relevant to them, such as occupation, hobbies and likes and created a fun pattern for the front of which will be an invitation postcard.

In other purple related news: My Cupcake Illustartion for Mrs Marr's Marvelous Cupcakes had been printed onto a hoodie for an event taking place in my hometown Charity Fun Day  for a worthwhile cause in the city in which I live Maggie's - A care center for people who are suffering from cancer.

My Creative Space

I enjoy surrounding myself with lovely things!

This is above my bed. My lovely sister bought be this canvas, which I adore, there are a few elephant realated items in my room,a s I have quite the collection but this has to be one of my favorites.

As you can see by the glimpse of my cushions, I love a bright colour or two, I previously blogged about Penny's apartment from the Big Bang Theory and the great collection of items she has.

I have both of these prints from Catherine Campbell framed on my bedroom wall. They are very whimsical and fun, with that essential splash of colour.

Fiona's Portrait

Meet Fiona!

My good-friend-flatmate-blogger-extraordinaire asked me to illustrate her a little portrait for her lifestyle blog Country Girl - City Life

Head over to her blog to see it in action and check out what wonderful things she's been up to! 

In other news: Loving this song at the moment!

Haim: Don't Save Me

 

A fox

When foxes are mentioned metaphorically there are often given negative attributes, I wonder why this is as they have such beautifully coloured fur. 

My Vintage Hat

A bit of a late post, as I wore this to a friends wedding a few months ago, but I need to share this amazing find!

It is slightly out there, but teamed with a black dress and minimal extra flourishes I wore it right until the end of the night. 

I was determined to wear a hat to my good friends wedding and modern hats and fascinators on the high street were not very me or seemed far too expensive. After coming across the seller Poppycock! Vintage on Etsy, I fell in love with the range available. The price was right, there was a great range or vintage hats suitable for a wedding but the seller was based in the US. It was a risk at the time as to whether it would arrive in time for the big event, and if I would love it as much on myself as I did on the website but thankfully it all worked out well!

"Oh yes, I had it imported for the occasion"

New Girl's Jess Day- Zooey Deschanel

Call it a style crush, call it a girl crush, call it whatever you want but I love New Girl's Jess Day.

The television show New Girl is a great comedy program with hilarious charters with flaws just like you and I. You can liken the show to the likes of Friends and how I met your Mother in the sense that you enjoy the characters as if they were your best friends but New Girl to me is much more honest. The quirks of each individual character are great to watch unfold.

Image from @destronar tumblr

The relationship between Nick, who's character is a very endearing, and facial expressions reveal some interesting shapes and Jess is a great thong to watch, they are definitely going to "get it on" but I am hoping that they won't just yet as I am very much enjoying watching them dance around the matter.

The fashion that Jess brings to the show reflects her fun loving personality. I have always loved Zooey Deschanel's vintage, 50s/60s image and have recently plucked up the courage to get a full fringe which the actress is famous for. It  took a lot of getting used to but I am hoping to keep it for a while (and don't get to lazy about getting it trimmed).

Festive lino printing

This year I am having a 'Homemade Christmas,' I am going to attempt to make everything from Christmas cards and gifts to the (hopefully delicious) feast with all the trimmings on the big day! As I mentioned in a previous post I was planning many crafty projects, one of which was lino printing.

I have a great love of Christmas, and to many people's annoyance, I may get a little bit excited too soon!  When making sure that I get all of my crafts done within good time I have got into the Christmas spirit already, and as you can see below I was printing away to a winter's favorite of mine, The Holiday!

 To create lino prints you must have all the kit: The lino, cutting tools, printing paint or ink, a paint roller, barren tool (for pressing the print onto the paper), a pencil and something to print onto.I scoured Ebay and Amazon for the cheapest price kit, as a visit to Hobbycraft showed that you can spend a fortune on just the basic set. I mainly looked at Youtube videos and online tutorials to get the technique right and got stuck in. 

I very quickly came to realize that this is quite a dangerous craft as  the cutting tool can slip quite easily off of the lino and slice into the hand that is holding the lino secure. So if you are considering giving this craft a go, be very careful and possibly buy a hand protector which I have seen  being sold.

 I am now waiting for some more lino to arrive so I can create some new designs.

You can see my mistletoe inspired design on some basic packaging tags and a cheeky Christmas pud in red on a card. 

A Froggy Haloween

An early Halloween party inspired a few Kermit the Frog inspired crafts.

On Saturday night a good friend of mine held an early Halloween party for her close friends, unfortunately I was working late that night so my original costume idea to be the Cheshire Cat wouldn't have worked as it would have had to use face paints which would have made me later than than I already was. So Kermit the Frog it was, adored with the words "It's not easy being green" on the back of my top (Homemade is the only way).

Above are the mint chocolate cupcakes I made for the party, the pumpkin which now acts as a table decoration. A Woodland Nymph ,The Ice Queen and Myself the Frog.

Hello Autumn!

With Autumn brings my favorite weather, the frosty chill that makes you see your breath combined with the sun peeking through the clouds and I get the chance to select a scarf from my collection of many.

I love the introduction of the seasons veg, the jewel colours that come out in fashion and the cozy nights with a hot chocolate, bed socks and a blanket.Where I work has already introduced it's festive product lines and it is surprising the amount of people who pick up a chocolate Santa with their groceries in the early days of October! The festiveness of the chill is just irresistible.

Since everything has slowed down, I have decided to make creative plans to coincide with the seasons changing. I have a Halloween costume to create (Homemade is the only way to go) and have many crafty projects to keep me going until Christmas. I've began making soup again and hope to produce some creative recipes from may many vegi books to warm me up and the watercolors have made an appearance as you can see from my image above devoted to the season.

I have also begun a brand new project! I am now learning to play the piano. This is something I have never had the chance to do before and with my Graduate's free time I have decided to go for it, I am learning from the very beginning and realize that I might find it extremely difficult but I might just be able to play 'Jingle Bells' for Christmas!
My second lesson is tomorrow, wish me luck!

I will be sure to keep my blog updated with all of the above projects!

New Blog Banner

I decided to change the banner for my blog, which has been needing done for a long while now. Where my previous header displayed illustration work from 3 years ago combined with the words "Illustration portfolio of Lana Steel". It is now obvious that this blog has seen much more than a portfolio of my illustration work. Due to my varied college and university courses and opportunities that have come my way this blog has seen everything from fashion shows, to baking, to my worries as a creative graduate and this is how I mean to go on.

I have thought hard about what the theme of my blog should be and judging by my past posts it seems like it should be labelled a "Creative Lifestyle blog." A theme which gives much more flexibility to what i can post on here.

So I will be saying goodbye to my swallow..

And have  now updated  it with a more recent self portrait but this may change a few times yet! 

My Work Experiance at LEWIS

Lately I have just finished some work experience which I absolutely loved!

I volunteered my time twice a week for a month to sit alongside the Account Management team at the Digital Agency LEWIS. This experience gave me amazing insight into a job which I would love to be part of. Above is an image taken from their blog, where I wrote the post for them: A Graduates Dilemma,  where I explain a bit more about my time with them.  I would like to thank the people at LEWIS who were so lovely and took time out of their working day to show me the ropes, involving me with meetings and helping them out with bits and pieces.

I would recommend anyone to do something like this whatever their field. I understand that many people think that things like work experience or internship are out of their reach and like myself have to work as much as possible to earn a living. Indeed I was a bit tired, but this didn't feel like work as I was genuinely excited about going there, I learned so much and it gave me something vital for my CV. And who knows you might find a gem like LEWIS and create some great contacts!

Late Night Drawing

I annoy myself sometimes as all my creative inspiration comes to me late at night. Time goes fastest for me when I am drawing and before I know it I am into the early hours with a piece of work I find hard to put down.

Above is development of a self portrait which I started after I had finished work at 10 pm. It will probably be a few days before I carry on with this little project as I have lots happening over the weekend, will keep the blog updated with the final image.

Olympics Mania

This is my Illustration submission for Illustration Rally's current Olympics/Paralympics submission.

I chose to do a gymnast because when I was little I wanted to be a gymnast when I 'when I grew up.' I's safe to say, that I never fulfilled that particular dream, but this illustration is (obviously) what I would look like if I were an Olympic champion!

I hope you like it!

I'm sure I can still pull off a cartwheel...

Illustration in use!

I adapted one of my illustrations, (as shown in a previous post) for a friend's start up cupcake business. Delicious!!

  http://www.facebook.com/MarrCupcakes

Graduate limbo

I am currently in the stage between finishing university and becoming a graduate, and it feels weird! I don't know how well I've done, I've just started looking for full time work and I'm lost... BUT I get to plan for graduation!
I am aloud to only wear black and white which suits me fine I've had my outfit planned for a long while.I don't have lots of money at the moment, so I have been buying each element in installments.

I have become an ASOS junkie just recently and I have just ordered my shoes for graduation.

Was £75 now £30

I hope they suit!

Oh Blog how I missed thee.

Today is the day I finished University!

This year has been incredibly difficult for my creative mind, I have been bogged down with strategic management, internationalization and oh-so-delightful e-commerce, not to mention my dissertation. Although there was a light at the end of the tunnel- The final project, my business plan.

In my business plan I got to pretend that I was about to embark on a career in illustrated wedding stationary (yus).
Here is some of the creativity that overflowed into what also consisted of  finance, strategy and operational planning.