28 January 2014

Tea Tuesdays with Whittards tea : a little chintz

A few weeks ago I started a new illustrated blog series solely based on my love of tea, when the lovely people behind whittards tea contacted me to illustrate some of there selection of tea and pretty cups I thought this was the perfect opportunity to doodle some pretty tea cups and recommend some good tea. So without further a due, here is my first installment of whittards tea and fine china.

As I said in my last Tea post, I only drink Decaf tea due to awful caffeine induced migraines so when I discovered they create a decaf version I fell in love. I am a PG tips girl, so branching out with tea fills we with way more excitement then it probably should. The Decaffeinated tea from Whittards is delightful, i have my tea with 2 sugars and a splash of milk, it had a good strong taste to it and being able to drink it out of the blue Chintz cup and saucer set made the whole experience of drinking the tea feel very special. The tea cup itself looks really dainty, it is but it is really well made and very sturdy, being clumsy fool I am prone to the occasional heart breaking moment of breaking my favorite mug, so I will do my best to be careful with the fine bone china gem.

The Blue Chintz reminds me of my mum antique fine bone china tea cups, it's a lot more dainty then my thick anthropologie mugs, its the perfect tea cup to have at a tea party...anyone fancy inviting me to one?

After a long and tiring day at work one of my little pleasures is sitting down doing a few doodles and drinking a good old brew, the Decaffeinated blend was so warming and comforting during this horrible weather. If like me you can't consume too much caffeine I highly recommend the Whittards Decaffeinated Breakfast tea, also the packaging is so pretty, and matches the Blue Chintz cup.... that's the artist in me that loves to co-ordinate colours. Thanks Whittards until next week I would love to know if you've tried any whittards tea or if you have a favorite tea cup or mug?

*illustrations by Ella Masters copywrite please do not use with out permission *gifted/sponsored post

staying creative : Working through creative block

For this staying creative I haven't written crazy amounts like last week, I thought I would keep it simple. This happens to the best of us, nothing wrong with a creative block and its natural in the life of a creative, our brains sometimes run out of ideas or we over think things that we do that can lead to a creative block.

That can be plenty of way around this and plenty of ways to cope with a short or a long creative block. I thought I would break it into sections.

A change of scene

Sometimes the same scenery and the same four walls can become stagnant and really not help with inspiration. So try and get out and see something new, something that would stimulate your mind. Draw in a different spot, take a walk, go sit in little cafe to finish off some of your work. A new environment will benefit you greatly.

Prettifying your space

Occasionally when I am working in my little studio space in my room, the space can get on my nerves either distracting me or boring me. So I mix it up, try and find some inspiring pictures things that cheer you up and make you smile. Images that keep your brain going. Also it can be a great time away from what ever you are working on.

Read a good book

When I am lacking in creative juices and I am overly stressing about what I am working on. I like to take myself off and read a book. A lot of the time the books I read are to do with art, history or a good soppy novel. I find that I feel like I am still doing something creative so I don't overly stress. I shared last week some books that inspire me.

Don't stress or force creative process

This is one of the major stumbles when it comes to getting over creative block. I am prone to this, Don't stress, your ideas and creative process will come back to you. Some creative blocks last a lot longer then others and I think sometimes they are for a reason. You may need to switch you are brain off for a while and there is nothing wrong with that.

Watch a good film.

This is pretty similar to step 3 (read a good book) a good film can take your mind away to other places. Which is always good.

Go back to basics.

If like me you draw, get out your sketchbook and just doodle, don't put any constraints on yourself. If its blogging step away from blogs! the more you look at other peoples it can stress you out, go out and find what inspires you.

Cook!

Food is fuel, for the mind and soul take some time away from your desk and your work to cook. Cook something nice that you could maybe share or just devour yourself, I absolutely love baking, its one of my favorite things to do and always happily takes my mind off the stress of not creating.

Get out!

Socializing can help temporarily (and creative block is temporary) take your mind off creative stress. Even if it is only for an hour, a good break with people that make you smile, could be just what you need.

Take a full break.

Sometimes creatives burn out and need a break from creative work, whilst away you could work on something new and different (this may lead to something new) it might be good to use another part of your brain. I've done this before, I stopped drawing and blogging properly for 3 months, it was just what I needed, i got figgity but it was nice not having to stress out about reaching deadlines and just do my 9-5 job.

Remember work on the things you can do and don't worry about the things you can't, make a list of things that you feel that you can work on start small when getting back into working and then build on that. Don't stress to much and fret seeing all these other creatives making fun and exciting work, we all have creative blocks, just don't let it take over everything you do.

You can read last weeks staying creative post here.

doodle

My first full week back at work after Christmas, was a lot more intense then I thought getting back into the swing of things is always a little bit harder. I have been busy working on a few exciting commissions and finishing off some old illustrations like the one above of Jemima Kirke*, I haven't drawn realistically in such a long time I really do enjoy it.

Tomorrow I will be hanging out with some lovely business babes which I am super excited about, talking of business I have sent off for new notebooks to be made under my new business name...this will be revealed soon. I do love multitasking haha!

Have you been working on any thing exciting? Also tomorrow is the second installment of "staying creative" here was last weeks "staying creative" where I find my inspiration. Tomorrows post will be about working through creative blocks, I hope you can join me.

*Illustration by Ella Masters please do not copy or distribute without permission.

Haim Gig

I was invited by Seatwave to blog Haim's recent gig in London at the Forum, if you haven't heard of Haim they hail from Los Angeles California and are possibly the coolest girl band out there. I invited along with me one of my favorite ladies Jaymie. As we had both spoken in the past about how amazing it would be to see them live and then when I found out all the tickets were sold I was devastated. So I jumped at the chance to see them and they didn't disappoint.

There were 2 support acts Saint Raymond and Childhood. Childhood reminded me and jaymie of Scott Pilgrim, and we enjoyed every moment of it! Saint Raymond (who i had briefly heard of) were amazing, really got the crowd hyped up and the mood was great. We got a good place to stand and watch all the bands which makes a change as normally when I go to gigs I'm too small to see anything and wedge between sweaty teenagers, that was ok when I was a teenager alas i am no longer!

I was pretty excited about seeing the lovely ladies perform, I loved the facial expressions of Este Haim pulled through out the entire gig you hello! haha so badass! The girls played a really strong set, and we all sang along to days are gone and other songs. The lights were pretty fab, but it made it hard to snap some good pictures with my awful iphone. I haven't been to a proper gig in a while and this might have been one of my favorite gigs of all time?

There is nothing I love more then ending a gig with a crazy amount of ticker tape flying through the air! We really enjoyed every second, from the WKD that made us feel young again to the very touchey feel couple I was wedged next to!

Cornish Adventure part 2

Back in June me and mum went on a Cornish Adventure, you can see part 1 over at Adventures to Cornwall I wanted to share with one of my favorite parts of the trip, eating Cake at The Kitchenside in Looe. I had never really had Red Velvet cake before, I had made some whilst at uni that wasn't really red velvet as I was pretty much missing a lot of ingredients, so I was a bit of a piggy and devour the whole slice along with a gallon of tea.

The Kitchenside is a quaint little tea shop selling lovely hand-made cakes and refreshments. I think that day I had, had a million pasties and a massive portion of fish and chips and I still found space to fit the lovely cake it, maybe it was all the Cornish sea air?

Tea

What can I say, its the fuel that keeps me going, even though nowdays I drink Decaf as normally tea affects my head too much resulting in splitting headaches, I know guys that's not proper tea, its hot and wet and makes me happy so there! I seem to doodle teacups, other people doodle stars or wiggles mine are often teacups. This *tea cup Illustration is taken from an Anthropologie Mug (Ayaka Mug)I have and its one of my favorite possessions. Alas I am back to the 9-5 job tomorrow (7.30-3 I should say) it will be lacking in tea, but I will be getting back to my routine for a while, even though I lost weight over Christmas I am feeling podgy.

So to people who have gone back to work, working hard or who haven't had a break over Christmas I hope you have the time for a good cuppa.

*Illustration by Ella Masters copywrite please do not use or take with out permission

staying creative : where i find my inspiration | how do i log it?

Without warning I spring on you a new series about staying Creative. It will be a mix of blogging art and general creativity. Inspiration can come in many different forms and at any time. Its harnessing those ideas, images and thoughts you have to create some amazing potentially life changing work.

I find my inspiration via many different forms, and its very different for everyone. I thought I would share with you the places I find inspiration and where I store it.

Sketchbooks and Note writing

Believe it or not the best way I log/record things that inspires me, is keeping notes and writing all my ideas down. Even though I am severely dyslexic doesn't hinder me in anyway I can easily read my writing and my spelling mistakes, its quite good means no one can steal my ideas if they get their hands on it! Along with my writing I keep little doodles down the side, Notebooks and sketchbooks are vital for me remember all the thoughts, I carry them with me probably everywhere I go and I often keep them by my bed, you never know when a thought, image might pop in your head. You can see some of my other sketchbook work here, quote sketch, and illustrated days in my sketchbook. Sketchbooks can be places to store drawings you have been inspired by. I always find other peoples sketchbooks inspiring, I have always loved reading The street sketcbook series.

I am a list writer, brainstormer and target maker, so to keep my inspiration fresh I add constant lists to my notebooks, I work back through my list and most of the time its a rambling word that triggers an idea or a new collection. Say its creating a new valentines collection, then work back, what triggers in your head when you think of Valentines, "hearts" "colours" "love" keep making your list, and from these key words you can create something, but remember to look back at your inspiration board or scrapbook "who inspires me?" "what colours inspire me?" you can use these elements to create a rounded collection.

I don't think I have ever created a fully rounded collection, inspiration and thoughts change and move, so your next collection will be different with different influences and likes. That is the art of staying inspired and being creative your tastes and work are allowed to change. You are only as good as your last work, your last blog post...its a constant cycle of wanting to make yourself and work better. You can keep the same likes, same artists and same places you like to visit, you may see something different every time.

Places

One of my favorite places to find inspiration is often on days out, especially when I wander around London or visit the sea side. Another great place when I need inspiration are the wonderful Art Galleries, that you can find dotted about London. I often spend hours staring at the art work and drawing in my little sketchbooks. Its such a calming place, to surround your self with such talented artists and art work can spark new ideas. I spent five hours wandering around the turner in the light of Claude Exhibition, when we were only allowed 30 minute slots, a man working there noticed how much I adored the work that he kindly let me stay longer, Turner is one of my favorite artists, I always feel truly humbled by his work and the kindness of the man that worked in the gallery, gave me enough time to turn the jealousy of not being as good as Turner into a spark of "I could try" and inspiration seeped through every vein at the moment. So I took that inspiration and used the colours turner painted with and created a more subtle pallet for some of my paintings. I truly love walking the streets of Oxford and taking in all the architecture and walking the busy streets being surrounded by people.

Reading

Its not only images or the typical visual things I find inspiring, I love to read, I read as much as I can and I try to read everything and anything I can get my hands on. Reading is Knowledge and Knowledge is power. Nothing like having someone elses words spark beautiful, vivid images in your head. I am currently reading Harry Potter for the first time, and I love it, I avoided them when growing up because my dyslexia made me fearful of failing, but I powered through. I learned to highlight, underline and mark each sentence, paragraph and page I deem as important. Do this, it will always help you, I have also read a couple of books at least 4 times to take it all in.

Don't limit yourself E.V.E.R

Inspiration is limitless and the ways to process it are also limitless (google, artists sketchbooks I dare you!) I think that's the key to staying inspired is... you. You create your own boundaries and limitations. Don't force inspiration, don't force creating work from something that doesn't make your eyes light up and your heart beat a little faster. Don't limit yourself, I personally love Graffiti, you wouldn't really think it, if you looked at my work, you let all the things you see influence you. I'm not really a fan of of some surrealist work but I can find goodness and inspiration in the work, like Frida Khalo her work is one of my biggest influences and has been since I was a teenager so don't ever dismiss something without actually knowing what you are dismissing.

Can films be just as inspiring?

The answer to this question is...Yes! I once watched the film Frida, and I was inspired for days and days. It attacked all senses and thats what inspiring films can do. Another series I love to watch when I feel lacking in inspiration is Desperate Romantics ( not in anyway historically accurate) I love the costumes, images and it lifts my spirits. i watch it with a sketchbook in hand and William Morris character is the best, i have no doubt he was just as eccentric. . Stick a good documentary on, I watched an amazing one with Jack Vettriano on bbc Iplayer recently about what do artists do everyday?....insightful and inspiring.

Harnessing online resources

Online is a great creative resource for inspiration, but sometimes I can find it overwhelming (I will be blogging about this more in depth another time) that's my personal thought. So knowing exactly what you are looking for can be a benefit, using key words is a good way to do this. I love going on Design*Sponge and using the search option on the blog.

The internet is a wonderful hub of knowledge that you can harness and keep. I personally use Pinterest (my Pinterest is available at ella masters) and Tumblr ( ella masters on Tumblr) to keep inspiring pictures at hand when I am lacking in new ideas. It can be easily organized into sections that are simple and effortlessly accessible.

Whats also great is the never ending amount of blogs that are out there, I personally struggle to remember where I put everything so I have been known to print off my favorite images and collect them in scrapbooks so I can have them physically. One of my absolute favorites has to be without a doubt Miss Moss, a wonderful mix of fashion, art and Graphics. It is a great resource for seeing new work.

Blog..inspire?

Your blog can be a great place to store your inspiration. In February 2011 there were 156 million blogs in existence, now if that isn't a never ending resource I don't know what is? An online resource that is updated daily? If I could do back to when I was 16 doing my Art GCSE, I would truly of been in my element, Use it!

You can use your blog as an inspiration for others, a place to collect your thoughts and what inspires you. You can create virtual mood boards to share with your readers, I love Emma Dime's real life mood boards the colours and textures are amazing. You could always use the space above your desk, near your bed to create your own mood board. i use to do this when I had my studio when I was at Falmouth University.

Remember before Pinterest existed?

I think I can just about remember?! haha Back when Pinterest didn't exist, I used to collect up old cuttings and create scrapbooks, I have blogged in the past about this, here in 2011. I also shared a little bit about how I stay creative using a scrapbook. I have had scrapbooks since I was a little kid, I would collect up images from Newspapers and magazines that I thought were pretty, its one of my favorite was to collect up images and ideas I like.

Always look at the world with glittering eyes!

I try my best to look at the world with a creative eye, even if I am in a super bad mood, I still try my best to look at everything and take everything in, "ooh that would make a good painting" " say that again that would make a good quote poster" like I said before inspiration can come from anywhere so keep your eyes open.

But i'm not an artist?

If you aren't an artist, designer or illustrator this can feed into any area of your life be it cooking, dressing or working, staying creative in any aspect of your life is important.

MY RESOURCES

Reading:

Street sketchbook | The fault in our stars | Turner Brief Lives | Just being Audrey | My Heart Wanders | the perks of being a wallflower | Submarine | Rookie Yearbook 1+2 | WonderWalls | Kinfolk | Lizzie Siddal :Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite super model | Principles of Uncertainty

Sketchbooks | notebooks I use :

Moleskin sketchbook | fabriano sketchook | Moleskin Notebook | Diary | Paperchase Scrapbook |

Films | Documentaries | Videos :

Frida | A picture of Britain | Desperate Romantics shortened into 8 minutes | whats eating Gilbert Grape? | Amelie | Submarine | Oliver Jeffers Offset video | Maira Kalman Video | Amy Tan where does creativity hide? |

Website

Design*Sponge | Kinfolk | Miss moss | Tumblr | Pinterest | Rachel Kahoo blog | and a crazy amount of blogs

Next weeks topic in the series of staying creative is "Working through a creative block" I hope you find something that sparks a thought. Enjoy!

I have been eying up interior blogs ( pinning frenzy over on my pinterest) recently and I wanted to compile a series of items I love and would want in my new pad. I recently have become a tad obsessed with simple clean furniture with accents of colour. Nothing like being obsessed with furniture and not being able to afford all of it. I am totally getting ready to nest.

I think each one of these would be seen as being useful and not too self-indulgent, my mug collection is pretty epic right now so that Lief mountain mug might be just a little indulgent but who can blame me look at those colours!

Are there any items for your house you are pinning over?

Blog sale part 1

I am currently creating a rather large blog sale, of clothes Jewellery and shoes readying myself for my move, I have just snapped 239 pieces and thats not even half, so I will be spreading the blog sale across a few days. I have a few household bits and pieces that I won't be able to move with me, so each piece that you buy all the money is going to a worthy cause of me being able to live out one of my dreams to be able to have my own space. Hopefully the first section of the sale will be available later with leather jackets from Topshop, Newlook shoes and Zatchel bags. Hopefully there will be something that will catch your eye.

So here is the first installment, Rings and bracelets. Each item is sold as seen, payment is via Paypal only. Its first come first serve basis, please leave a comment below of what you want and your contact details eg email so I can then email you with my paypal address, payment first and then items will be sent p&p for the uk is £3.10 and worldwide £5.80 this is to cover shipping, postage and labor.