100!!

Wow, this will be my 100th post on here! What a great way to start 2016 off! I have taken to calling this year the Big Bang year as I plan to create lots of fireworks!

I'm not quite back to work just yet, insomnia/rough night mixed with a very stressful thing to do today has left me feeling like I should actually keep things nice, steady and chill today so instead of throwing myself in to things... I'm spending the morning plotting what's going to happen this year! Or more to the point this month and this week.
I'm actually feeling fairly excited about it... Even the self employment paperwork :P

The big thing this month is finally getting my etsy shop up and running. I've been trying to get this to happen for so long now that it's become one of those annoying challenges. It feels like I keep hitting a mental block with it all but now it's all or nothing.
The worst/best thing right now is how many ideas I have buzzing around my mind, designs, products, projects you name it!
I have one idea that's quite huge, it was extremely intimidating and I was unsure whether I should put so much in to what I guess could be classed as a gamble but after talking to my OH about it he motivated me to just go for it. Hearing someone say you should do it can make all the difference to how you feel so now I really do have a huge project happening.
I have absolutely no idea how long it's going to take me either! But I will be keeping quiet until it actually starts happening or I'll burn out all of my motivation talking about it.

I'm also hoping to attend some art fairs this year if I'm lucky. It seems fairly tough to get in to some places and you have to impress before being accepted so that could be interesting.

There's also the joint project with my OH featuring our fur babies... It will now be a kind of tribute as our ratty people have sadly now passed on but we will never forget our mischiefs and so the mischief book/zine will be born! Basically a fun little book about pet rats and the mischief they cause!

I will also still be taking pet commissions! I'm hoping to expand on this over the course of this year as I really enjoyed working on the commissions I got during 2015. It's always fun drawing people's pets and I love working with the ink and watercolour medium I use.

I must also get organised this year, one of the biggest lessons I learnt in 2015 was how unorganised I am and how much stress that can cause when it comes to work. Commissions were always fine and any work for other people was done on time but when it came to the festive season I left it too late and ended up spending a lot of November and December stressed beyond belief.
So 2016 will also be the year where I don't leave things until the last mintute... Maybe ;)

So it's going to be a big year! Also expect my Redbubble to be updated more often this year, another outlet I need to keep organised. It's slightly daunting to see everything I've plotted but at the same time it's wonderfully invigorating. It's always good to have things planned out so perfectly that you know exactly what needs to be done and when. Being self employed/freelance can make that side of things difficult as you never really know what's coming next so actually having this is like having stable ground to walk on for the first time in months.

So hello 2016! The year of big things and sparkles! Adventures and fun! Of taking chances and being spontaneous! I tend to think way too much about things and plan them out perfectly and sure that does work but sometimes it can also be a disaster when it doesn't go how you plan and you have to wing it. I don't want to over think things this year. It's going to be a very big adventure indeed!

I wish you all a fantastic 2016 and hope the first Monday of the year isn't too horrific.

Little Roan Rat

Little Roan Rat

It's always interesting to see which of my designs prove popular at various moments throughout the year. I've only been selling through Redbubble since April this year! (Gosh it feels like it's been much longer!) but in that time I've seen some of my designs catch the hearts of some people. 

It has mostly revolved around Mama Bear and Foxy Naps but this little guy has managed to wriggle his way in.

I love my rats, whether it's the pets I've owned or the doodles I create, the little fuzzers will always have a special place in my heart even though I am unfortunately highly allergic now. So when somebody likes any of my rat designs it fills me with a different kind of joy than my other designs.

Lately Little Roan Rat, pictured above or as he was better known as 'Rufus' has become popular and seeing that little sales email saying another one of these guys has been loved and is off to a new home fills me with so much happiness!

What people may not know is that all of my rat designs are based on my own or my partners rats. Between us we've owned a good many who we adored. 

I've spent the last ten years sharing my life with these gorgeous creatures, there were ups and downs and many veterinary lessons but I don't regret a moment.

So I thought I would take the time to feature the little guy who inspired the ratty doodles and the rat featured above. I'd like to introduce Rufus.

Rufus was a rather chubby, extremely lazy, food loving Husky/Roan rat who loved his cuddles with mummy... that would be me. 

He was originally my partners rat and lived with him throughout his baby rathood until my partner had to move to a place that unfortunately didn't allow pets. So Rufus and his brother Ghost came to live with me. Amusingly whilst he lived with my partner he hated me. If I held him he'd desperately scrabble to get away from me and was always desperate to get back to his cage or at least my partner.

So when he suddenly became a big softy and became besotted with me I can honestly say I was shocked... but loved every moment. I'm not going to lie, sure I felt a bit bad at kind of stealing my partners pet but... having rat cuddles made the bad feelings disappear.

He was our special boy who bumbled around his cage, perching and wobbling on precarious platforms, eating his way through any fruit, veg or chocolate he could get his paws on, leaving little puddles and snuggling up on our laps. He was also an impressive boggler...

To anyone who doesn't know rats, Boggling is basically... rats bouncing their eyeballs when they get super happy... It sounds horrible but it's actually quite adorable.

Unfortunately we lost Rufus a couple of weeks ago and it's still fairly painful. People think rats are just a pet in a cage in the room, something that eats, pees and needs cleaning. In reality rats are much more like a cat or dog. They are extremely interactive and love attention and in the case of males they just want cuddles and food.

I still find myself going to where his cage was to get him out for cuddles, I didn't realise just how much I loved that rat and how much of an impact he had on my life. My mental state hasn't adjusted just yet.

But I don't want to be morbid and grim. He was a wonderful rat and brought lots of joy and happiness along with much laughter to most people who met him.

So now when I see people liking the Rufus doodle I smile knowing that even now he's still making people smile.

It's also lovely to see how many rat fans are out there. I can't stress more over what amazing creatures they truly are.

I've also found myself wanting to draw more rat designs and maybe focus on them early next year... alongside every other project I have going on! So maybe the rats will take over in January. There's also a ratty project that's ongoing with my partner that is going to be happening soon! Once I get my head in gear and out of birds!

Gosh it's been a crazy December.

Redbubble!

Tis the season!

If you're interested in buying any of my desgins from redbubble then now is the time! Christmas is obviously around the corner for many of us and there are those gifts to get or even the odd Christmas card for that special someone.

I have festive designs...

Badger Kisses

Designs for bird lovers...

The Birds Are Still Singing

Designs for the ratty fans out there like myself...

                                      

Ratty People

The Mama Bear fans...

                                       

Mama Bear

And many many more on my Redbubble shop and the best thing is right now you can get 20% off with the code TICTOC

So if you're interested go grab some bargains at Redbubble

Ratty People!

Rats are adorable. Fancy rats or pet rats are one of the most awesome rodents you can own as a pet, they are like a mixture of cats and dogs. There's the independence of a cat but also the love and playfulness of a dog. They are fantastic little critters who I've spent my life with for the last ten years.

I am a big rat fan and even managed to turn my partner into a rat fan too. They're addictive and just so awesome.

Unfortunately I have now developed an extreme allergy to them so have taken to drawing them instead! It's lots o fun to draw their cheeky playfulness.

Quick fact! A group of rats is called a mischief.

And boy do they live up to that name! A group of rats are the most cheeky group you can find and will run circles around anyone for fun.

I now have a few of my designs up on redbubble! If you're interested in a sticker or something of the little mischiefs go HERE

Or if you'd like to commission a personal image of your own ratty people get in touch HERE