Fiona Meakin Designs - Draw With Fi

http://www.fiandme.co.uk/ Help! This little elephant didn't invite any mice to the fancy dress party! This week's topic for Illustration Friday is aptly, SCARY!!! I thought I would mix the halloween theme with something that I find scary...MICE. They just move so quickly! I can't believe I had a hamster for 3 years when I was younger. Any kind of rodent freaks me out nowadays! I've just done a quick sketch and tidied it up in Photoshop. Enjoy x Visit my CARGO page for my portfolio

Just back from a good day at The Handmade Market, Stockport Indoor Market. We had a stall there and it was lovely to meet and chat to loads of new people. This event is growing in popularity, so if you're thinking about starting up your own craft stall I would recommend getting in touch with the organisers. Visit their facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/TheHandmadeMarketStockport Above is a look at my new winter makes. I will be selling my reindeers cards and toys during the run up to christmas!

We can finally reveal our new logo and with our website launch imminent it's a very exciting time here at Fi & Me! Check out our logo and new business cards below, and for more info and a list of upcoming craft fairs that we will be attending visit our official blog on the Fi & Me site. For images of our last craft stall click here x If you have any enquiries or questions please feel free to email us at hello@fiandme.co.uk

Clarabelle and the Trick or Treaters Here she is! Clarabelle Teagreen (my new character!) This week's topic for Illustration Friday is 'scattered.' I opened my sketchbook this afternoon unsure of what to draw so I started with Clarabelle's face (an upside down teardrop shape). I added her headscarf and ears and suddenly a picture came into my head of a bowl of sweets being dropped. With Halloween just around the corner I thought 'yep, that'll do.' Thought I'd try a bit of a storyline this week so my drawings are sequential, and I have limited my colour pallete as a bit of a personal challenge. Check out Illustration Friday for more responses to this weeks topic xx All images by Fiona Meakin, copyright 2011

Penny Monkey (Monkey Tour 2011)  New Show designs Copyright FM 2011 I LOVE SHOES! Here are a couple of NEW pictures...a little look at my new shoe drawings (above). I am developing these into cards and accessories to compliment both mine and Lucy's styles for Fi & Me and experiment with making some illustrations more fashion inspired. I LOVE MONKEYS! The little monkey is Penny from Lucy's leg of this years Monkey Tour! Check out what Lucy has written about it on the Fi & Me blog I LOVE CRAFT BLOG UK! You can now find my craft blog under the Art & Photography section. CRAFT BLOG UK  is a directory that gives you access to fantastic craft and design blogs, if you are looking for a specific gift or specialism you can find it there. You can also find blogging tips and many blogs covering how-to's on many subjects such as card making, scrap booking, photography etc. Craft Blog's author is Hilary Pullen and you can find out more about her her

    New cards and stuffed owls New card range available soon at Fi & Me! I have developed a cute range of animals wearing scarves too! More images to follow soon...

In celebration of National Stationery Week, I am re-posting a blog post from a little while back, on the importance of traditional means of communication. In case you didn't know, it is currently the national event is on until the 3rd of May. Why not send a letter, card or postcard using traditional 'snail mail' instead of a text or tweet? CARDS AND COMMUNICATION Here is a sneak peek at one of my latest card designs available at the Fi&Me shop Last Saturday morning a postcard addressed to my 2 year daughter fluttered onto our door mat. It was from her Aunty and Uncle (or Aunty and Ankle as she calls them!) How exciting! Although not addressed to me, this card was right up my street – the star of the postcard being a teddy bear in various locations around Cornwall (check out my Monkey Tour blog post). This image whisked me back to my childhood, remembering that Lucy always used to like sending these kinds of postcards to her school friends. During her

Here is the new Twinings tea advert for 2011. I had to put it up on my blog because the animation is beautiful, I love the softened colours and the drama of the sea! The animation itself is produced by Psyop LA animation house, and the sound track is by Charlene Soraia - Where You Will Go. Don't you just love a nice cup of tea?!  

Here's my latest picture. I have been revisiting old sketch books and found some figurative pictures I had done on my foundation course at Stockport College (2005/2006). I absolutely loved the course, the tutors John and Gill Patterson and technician Karl were so supportive of all of us, and really helped students to consider their options and what was best for them in terms of applying to Universities. Without John's guidance in particular, I don't think I would have had the confidence to apply for the MA course at Wimbledon...anyway, I digress! My point was that I thought I would return to looking at more realistic figures and this lady has appeared on the page. Apart from the bear ears, she's a little bit Downton Abbey (series 1) don't you think? She's also a more realistic version of a character I am creating called Clarabelle, who is drawn in my children's illustration style.

Could this be the grumpiest monkey ever?! I designed and made him last year but just found this picture again. Grumpy things make me chuckle. I think I'm going to make some more, and have recently been to a crochet workshop so I am going to make little monkey scalves for the winter too! Feel free to email me at fionameakin@hotmail.com if you would like one. This is quite random, and not linked to monkeys but I have had an idea for an 'Illustrated Jam' project ...I made some jam for the first time ever last week with damsons which our neighbour grows. Damson is particularly high in pectin so it wasn't hard to succeed because i didn't need to measure out any to add, it's simply water, sugar and fruit. Mint. N.B. don't put mint in! The previous night I had watched Jules Holland with Emeli Sande performing Heaven. If you haven't heard it, it's beautiful...especially the acoustic version. Whilst making the jam I was singing it...I felt a