Matchbox Labels No 1

I've loved vintage matchbox labels ever since I discovered my Dad's album which he collected growing up in the 50's.  I caught the collecting bug and have a small and growing collection of my own which I thought I'd share.
Here's a German set which I recently bought, great colours and such fun designs.  I think the sailor is my favourite!

Green Scene

A little spot on gardening for teens which has just been published in the March issue of Family Circle magazine. I don't often get to see the actual issues that I work on as I'm in the U.K, but the art director kindly sent me a pdf.
It makes me feel like getting stuck into some gardening myself, but I'm going to wait until the weather warms up a bit!

Illustration Friday - Propagate

Here's a little doodle that I've coloured up and posted on the Illustration Friday site. It's the first time I've participated in this project but I really enjoyed working on a quick image just for fun!

Studio Collections No 1

I've been a collector for as long as I can remember and recently found the perfect letterpress type tray to display my tiniest treasures in my new home studio.  I love looking at it and thought I'd share some of the photos.

Some of the handmade wooden characters are relics from the days when I used to make 3d illustrations.

I had fun juxtaposing objects together and particularly like the way the woman on the playing card is covering her modesty in front of the sailor on the cigarette box!

I've had some of these objects since I was a child, in fact the tiny toby jug was bought from a village fete when I was about 10 years old for all of 3 pence!