vickyriley

come on over ........

2012-01-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

I've started a new blog especially for the new shop, so please come on over and take a peek. We are busy plodding on with getting ready to open for easter and the countdown really is on now, but hopefully we will get there.

The new site is @ http://rileyatno3.blogspot.com

( but I will still be updating this blog with all my future design projects, so still keep looking)

Busy bees.....

2012-01-05T05:02:00.000-08:00

OOOppps it's been a while we've been such busy bees over the past month, the time has flown by and so much has happened. I am now an engaged lady wooo hooooo! Me and Jon are going to be tying the knot next summer and I just can't wait to be a Mrs. I have turned into a total bridezilla and have a huge wedding folder with lots of cut out and drawing of all my favourite looks, I'm so excited. We've choosen a location that is quite special to both of us, it's very rustic but hopefully everyone will think its as beautiful as we do.

The other thing that is keeping me busy is shop prep, as we are hoping for a spring opening it is all hands to deck. I have a new blog & facebook page especially for the shop, which I will be revealing in the next few days, as well as an advert for contacts for handmade goods that I can stock.

Last but not at all least, is a sneak peak of the swim girls 2012 card range. The last lot of swimmers went down well so here is a pretty new look.

cat cards now available

2011-11-23T08:24:00.001-08:00

I've just finished uploading my cat cards into my etsy shop
www.vickyriley.etsy.com

my two little naughty cats have been sleeping all day, what a life!

New Christmas Cards on Etsy

2011-11-22T12:41:00.001-08:00

I've uploaded my new cards today......

Shop Conversion!!!!!!!!!

2011-11-22T08:18:00.001-08:00

so....I have a new addiction to ebay! So far this week I've won 2 bookcases and a table, and lost 3 chairs and a 2 tiered table. All are looking very worn and tatty and I now have the roughest hands from sanding them down, but they are going to hopefully look great when I'm finished. The reason for this mad impulse of furniture buying is to do with the shop space Jon and I are hoping to open at Easter (fingers crossed all is in place by then). Yay...I'm so excited! I'm hoping to be selling a range of pretty gifts and handmade goodies, and I'm hoping to keep a diary of the progress on here. The pictures below are shots I took yesterday and which I can contrast with the finished look. There is currently a sink on the back wall which we will be putting up on ebay soon, as the room was used as a pottery room ( I will put up links to the sale if anyone is interested in it). We've got to make some big decisions on wall colours and weather or not to keep the tiles, but its great fun coming up with design ideas. Any input would be fabulous.

The Nutcracker

2011-11-15T06:26:00.001-08:00

40 Days till Christmas !!!

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-11-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it will be only 6 weeks till Christmas eve this weekend. I can't tell you how excited the child inside of me still gets when it comes to day before Christmas, for me Christmas Eve is one of the most magical days of the year. Last year after preparing the food, Jon and I took a walk to the mere as it was looking so pretty as the snow was still heavy on the ground. The water was frozen solid, as show in the first picture, and people had upon lay on it to make snow angels! The poor geese and ducks were'nt having much fun though as they were all huddled together.

Christmas card peek

2011-11-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

Very strange things have been happening today, I had hoped to get lots of cards and invites printed, but my printer has been acting up. Everything I have printed had a faded picture of another design I had done in the background, that shouldn't of been there. After lots of fiddling I've managed to get it to work, so here is a peek of the designs which are suppose to look like christmas ornaments. The light wasn't very good, so hoping to have some improved images soon.

giddy up!

2011-11-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

Lion & Tigers

2011-11-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Lion invite

2011-11-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

fingers crossed....I'm hoping to have these new invites printed up and available to buy from my

shops by tomorow.

another invite

2011-11-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

My sketch book seems to becoming full of childrens illustration more than anything else at the moment, and it all seems to be in relation to invite ideas. This is this mornings new design.

prim and proper

2011-10-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but all my ladies tend to look v. prim & proper. I've just been out and bought a magasine full of Christmas treats and recipes, I really fancy making some paper chains at some point soon.

?

2011-10-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is this mornings effort. Mmmmmmm I'm not sure. Past few illustrations don't seem to be working out brilliantly, think I'm going to have to try a bit harder. The cats are very cute today, they are constantly wanting attention and trying to help with my work. Albert is curled up on my lap, he's just like a little hotwater bottle.

Christmas Wrap

2011-10-27T02:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the festive season is getting so much closer, and I have begun to notice lots of shops displaying pretty window displays. My favourite has to be The White Company, I love the hanging wreaths and candle sticks, if I had a pot of money I would definately be buying all my gifts from there.

Thinking about Christmas has reminded me that a while ago I went for an interview where I was asked to come along with some Christmas ideas. I came up with these two prints which I thought would be ideal for wrapping paper.

letter for daisy

2011-10-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

A while ago I made a Christmas print with a letter to santa with a pretty stamp on it. Ever since I've been thinking about making a print out of illustrated stamps and this afternoon, I've had a bit of a play about.

Albert

2011-10-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

B is For Bag

2011-10-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

Today I've uploaded my first new bag onto etsy, lots more to come x

The Twins

2011-10-24T02:13:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Jon and I adopted two little charaters from the shropshire cats home -

Blodwin & Albert.

They are brother and sister and are both very loving and have great individual personalities, and spend there time either sleeping, eating or chasing each other around the house. Albert has only got one eye, as he had to have one removed, it really suits him in a way, and it doesn't seem to bother him. Blodwin favourite thing in the world is food, she cries and cries until her food bowel is full, and tries all sort of tricks to get to her food packets before Albert.

Todays work

2011-10-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

A little of what I've been working on today. Bbbbrrrrrrrrr its cold today, I don't think I'm ready for the winter x

Penrhyn Castle

2011-10-19T00:58:00.000-07:00

Last week Jon and I visited Penrhyn Castle, which is very striking property close to the Snowdonian hills and the Menai straits . The place gives you the feeling that you are within a mystical medival world, althoungh it is Victorian built, from the wealth of the local mines. The interior is very grand and its elaborate detail is similar to that of a cathedral, with large domed rooms with intricate stonework, lit by beautiful windows, and a peaceful atmosphere. It definatly was a lovely day out.

kitty's

2011-10-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've just finished drawing up these little feline illustrations today. They've turned out quite differently to my original sketches but I'm still a little pleased with them. I've been working on a range of floral prints as well, which I'm really happy about, but can't quite decide what to do with.

Animal invitations

2011-10-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Home sweet Home

2011-10-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

Jon and I have just moved a stones throw from the lovely mere at Ellesmere. Its such a beautiful place, and its so nice to hear the geese flying over in the evening. I've just bought myself a new camera so I'm hoping to get out and take lots of photographs of the area. Now I'm back on line I'm going to try and make more of an effort into keeping upto date with posting on my blog, especially as I've been working on some new things which I want to get into my etsy shop asap.

Circus goodies!

2011-08-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Birthday Cheers!

2011-08-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't drawn any of my Ladies for a while, so I thought it was time to create some new characters. This is the first one....she's very lucky she has two outfits! I'm going to pop her on some birthday cards, along with a couple of others I have drawn up.

R is for Riley

2011-08-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

Hopefully very soon the Riley label will be moving to new premises! I'm so excited, Yay! More details to come shortly. This will mean lots of new decorating ideas. I'm hoping to soon start blogging a new weekly 'how to make' feature, including lots of informative creative projects. One of my latest little projects has been to make this.

I've still got the -I-L-E-Y to go

Sail Away

2011-08-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

Floral Lettering

2011-07-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a top secret project at the moment that i can't reveal until next week just incase things fall through. Its killing me not to be able to tell ! But one of the things I've been doing has inspired me to create some floral lettering for the labels for my notebooks.

At the Circus!

2011-07-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Todays drawings are of the circus collection. We have the ring master, the lion, and the muscleman!

a BIG thank you !

2011-07-12T05:35:00.000-07:00

I would just like to say a big thank you to my lovely boyfriend who gave me the best birthday! we had a lovely time camping in Snowdonia and exploring north wales. We stayed at the brilliant llyn Gwynant campsite which is located by a gorgeous big lake and we were surrounded by mountains and hills. I'd really recomend it to other keen campers, especially because you are allowed campfires, which is brilliant on a lovely starry evening.

Fantastic Mr Fox

2011-07-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

Todays illustration is of Mr. Fox and I am dedicating it to my lovely sister and her partner who are at the airport right now just about to set off to start a new life in Australia for a year. Jared is a very talented animator and I'm wishing him all the best in his new job x

Pirates Ahoy!

2011-06-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

Today's new preview is of my Pirate drawings.

Favourite pirate joke
Q. Why are pirates called pirates?
A. Because they ArrrrrrrGH!!!!!!!!

Ding Ding! here comes the bus!

2011-06-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

I have been working on lots of new drawings recently, which has kept me nice and busy. I'm going to post some over the next couple of days on here, and some of which I will be making into childrens cards. Todays feature is the birthday bus, and also a train conductor I designed to stop the Zoo train so the lion could hop on bus.

(Please do not copy my images, I have put these on here to share with your eyes only)

Farewell CoCo

2011-06-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been on my blog for a while. Quite a few of my post's have featured the adorable and very naughty Coco. Unfortunatly she is no longer with us, which is very upsetting but I feel very blessed to have spent her little life with her. Cats are amazing creatures, so independant but loving at the same time. Coco's little antics will never be forgotten and I have so many cute and courageous stories that I could tell about her. At first I was unsure that I would ever want to have a kitten again after such hearbreak, but they are such a joy, life feels a little empty without a little furry buddy.

Watch out Birdies!

2011-05-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

Coco is loving the outdoors!! Her favourite trick is to run at full spead up the trunk of the apple tree and see how high she can get, whilst Jon and I watch worryingly from the bottom. Of course she is very proud of herself. I'm a bit fretful about the local bird population as evertime I see her she is practising her bottom wobbling, tail flicking cat pounce, although bees seem to be her favourite entertainment. I really love the bees and I'm thinking of basing a future project on the little chaps.

Mmmmmm Sweets!

2011-03-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

I love love love all of the sweet illustrations and all of the old fashioned sweet shops that are around at the moment. I've decided today at having a go at illustrating some sweet treats, it has'nt quite turned out as good as I was hoping, and think I might come back to it again at some point, but here goes.

Were going to the Zoo!

2011-03-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

I have lots of new drawings that I need to get scanned into my computer and coloured in. But one I'm quite pleased with is a picture I did for the tigerprint competition with a train full of Zoo animals!

I was so pleased to see myself mentioned last week on Print&Pattern, I had to look twice to make sure it was my name! Thanks so much for all the nice messages I've recieved, its really motivating.

Update on Coco

2011-03-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

Poor little coco has just had to go to have an operation and jabs, and she's looking so comical. I shouldn't laugh at her, but they've put a funnel around her neck to stop her from licking her wounds. Its caused her to loose all balance and she just waddles around a bit like a duck nodding her head. But it all means soon she's going to be able to go out and play with all of the other cats that live around the area ( and there are lots!).

The owl and the pussy cat

2011-03-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

Todays new illustration

2011-03-01T03:47:00.000-08:00

Today is about the circus! Roaring lions and performing seals!

The chanllenge!

2011-02-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Today I have uploaded lots of new images that I have been working on recently. I'm setting myself the challenge of creating 2+ illustrations a week for the next few months, and I'm going to be showcasing them on this site. Fingers crossed its going to produce a few nice images!

Coco and friends

2011-02-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

Coco is such a character and I can't help but looking at her and imagining her in little cat clothes, when she pulls such cute kitten like poses. So I've decided to create a range of characters called coco and friends. Its still in the early stages but these are the first.

gypsy caravan

2011-02-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

Ice cream van

2011-02-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

2011-02-28T06:06:00.000-08:00

More new prints

2011-02-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

A new adventure

2011-02-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

I'm looking at producing a new range of prints which I will feature on cards, wrap as well as bags purses and more wash bags.

Coco and the Christmas tree

2010-11-29T04:35:00.001-08:00

This weekend Coco has been upto a lot of mischief! She is so naughty, but we love her so much. Yesterday we bought a Christmas Tree for Jons house and whilst Jon got a fabulous roaring fire on the go I attempted to decorate the tree. Coco thought this was hilarious and every attempt of mine to put up the baubles was thwarted as she clampered up and over the branches like a monkey. The poor little kitten did'nt look as happy later on though, when she fell into the bath whilst being very nosy, and just gave out little meows as she had to be towel dried to help fluff her fur up again.

New Dorothy Card

2010-11-16T04:24:00.001-08:00

I've just uploaded a card that I was working on yesterday. Hope you like it.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

2010-11-16T04:20:00.000-08:00

I know its still a while off, but I'm starting to get excited by Christmas. I have to leave my gift buying until last minute as I'm so rubbish at letting people know what I've bought for them and spoiling the surprise.

Dorothy and the boat dress

2010-11-15T06:35:00.001-08:00

She's now on a card

You can now buy . . . . .

2010-11-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

my cards online....

If you would like to pay in British Pounds please visit

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/vickyriley

http://www.folksy.com/shops/vickyriley

Or if you would like to pay in USA Dollars please visit

http://www.vickyriley.etsy.com

Monkeying around

2010-11-15T05:49:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time at 'Go Ape' on Saturday. It was the second time I've had a go and it felt great to take part. A lot of the time I just didn't look before I had to leap from the tree platforms to go hurtling towards the ground on the zip wire, I think I landed backwards every time and left with a sore bottom! But it is such fun and i'd recomend it to everyone!
http://www.goape.co.uk/

New Dorothy Picture

2010-11-10T05:54:00.000-08:00

I've just finished a new Dorothy picture, which is going to be featured on a Birthday card

A wonderful weekend

2010-11-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I spent the day selling at a lovely craft fair that was held in a beautiful Church in Great Budworth. I managed to sell lots of purses and makeup bags and met lots of really nice cutomers and recieved so many nice comments about my work. Great Budworth is such a pretty village and is full of such quaint little old buildings and happy freindly locals. I really do hope they hold another fair!

New Dorothy and the Bunting

2010-10-27T08:12:00.001-07:00

All cards are now available at www.notonthehighstreet.com/vickyriley

Wightwick Manor & Mosely Old Hall

2010-10-25T02:12:00.000-07:00

We have just had an action packed weekend which included visiting 2 national trust properties on Saturday, both of which were very intersting. Wightwick Manor is full of beautiful William Morris textiles and exciting arts and craft decoration, and pre raphelite-art work, the interiors are stunnigly beautiful. Whilst Mosely old hall was full of exciting history and its apperance from outside was very disceptive,connections to a hidden king and lots more intrique added lots to ones imagination.

2010-10-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Cards

2010-10-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

I've just tried making my new illustrations into a range of cards . . . .

The Fabulous Coco

2010-10-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

A Vintage look

2010-10-13T03:37:00.000-07:00

I've decided to give the girls a vintage look for my new smaller makeup bags and have changed the colours slightly. What do you think?

Cat News-Kitty likes Chinese

2010-10-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

After visiting Jon's cute little nephew James in hospital, Jon and I decided to treat ourselves to a Chinese for convenience. But the smell was too irresistable to one tiny little fluff ball. Coco tried everything to get up onto the table to eat with us and tried lots of S.A.S style missions to invade the food plates. She is so adorable and is the most affectionate kitten I've ever seen.

Coco

2010-10-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

It started off with me asking for a cat, then a conversation with a friend of Jon's and finally with a little fluff ball being delivered by a generous donor. Thats the short version of how little coco came to live with Jon, although before hand she was going to be wombat. But when she arrived she was so regal and feminine that she needed a cute name. I think she's going to provide lots of great stories.

Folksy - Come Buy Here!

2010-10-12T03:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I have listed my first item on Folksy, so roll up . . roll up! come and buy your beautiful new handmade goodies from here www.folksy.com/shops/vickyriley

Rain Rain Go Away . . . . . .

2010-10-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my constant singing, but there seems to be a lot of rain about at the moment, boo! but to cheer everyone up here's a picture of my watering can bag.

The Great British Bake Off

2010-09-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

I love love love this programe, you cannot watch it without wishing to go and get out the baking tins and to get experimenting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=The%20Great%20British%20Bake%20Off

2010-09-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Well....the photographs are'nt the best, but here is a little sneek peak at some of the new
cosmetic bag range.

Coming soon . . . . . . . .

2010-09-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping that by the middle of October, that I am going to have a new range of cosmetic bags available to purchase within my shops. Large in size they will be Ideal to take away on holidays, to keep all of your pampering goodies safely stored, or as a perfect gift for a girl friend, or use it as an oversized makeup bag, for the girl who likes to carry everything around with her.

Powis Castle Gardens

2010-09-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

After eating a hearty breakfast consisting of a very flaky danish pastry and extra thick chocolate milkshake, Jon and I decended on the beautiful Powis castle, on a quite miserable Sunday brunch time. But although it might have been a little dull the gardens to the castle were incredibly breathtaking, and working our way through the delightful scenery, we might have even mistaken ourselves to be within a lovely italian villa.

(hopefully some great pictures coming soon)

2010-09-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Another applique bag . . . I made this one up this morning, whilst outside the heavens opened and there came a huge downpour of rain. Ilove sitting at my window sewing, watching the world go by, although it is very distracting.

Hold me, clutch me!

2010-09-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a strong felt love affair with Navy recently, and I couldn't wait to use some bias binding that I've had in the colour, on some clutch designs I've been making up. I've adapted some older more formal clutch designs into some new pieces that I think would work well day or night, especially with a nautical look.

Carry me away!

2010-09-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

. . . since a child I've had a fascination with taking cuttings from papers and magasine tears and and arranging them in a pretty composition. Now years later I've added my former passion to that of my love for making bags, and hey presto the result is a new range of applique ladies on fabric totes. Today I've been working on this bag . . . . .

Ladies who leisure

2010-09-09T03:25:00.001-07:00