Fiona Meakin Designs - Draw With Fi

At Fi&Me , we'd eventually love to get our own fabric printed, so I have been working on some rough ideas. This one is my 'wallpaper' fairies (provisional name). Images copyright Fiona Meakin 2011

Literally LOL! A couple of Tuesdays ago, I had the pleasure of travelling back in time! Impressive ha? I got to spend a whole hour with my good friend and room-mate, Laura Mugridge on her tour of ‘Running On Air.’ For the past 5 months, Laura (or Lol as I know her) who is a comedian and storyteller, has toured the UK with her one woman show written in collaboration with husband Tom. I am so proud of them both for their dedication to what they do and their commitment to their chosen art forms. And through another lovely coincidence the show was produced by another very good friend of mine, the very talented, Rick Watts, theatre producer. We met at sixth form college back in 1997! Laura and I both studied Drama at Hull University and as two girls from the North West we were deemed compatible and paired up to share our huge room in Cranbrook Ave. The huge room was in some ways an illusion as somehow 10 students were crammed into our reasonably sized house in windy East Yo...

Here is a work in progress of one of my 'summer inspired' illustrations. I don't even have a dog but they seem to be recurring themes in my work at the moment! I would like to have a rescued grey hound at some point and the character I'm creating currently has a grey hound called Tilly. This summery lady is wearing my interpretations of fashions, that I spotted in magazines on holiday. She's also wearing my lilac Birkenstock's so there's a little bit of me in this drawing! Perhaps she's me really?...I'm too scared of heights and would never walk that close to the edge of a cliff even if the view is worth it! For more images visit my Cargo page portfolio http://www.fiandme.co.uk/

 Do you remember the felt I blogged about a couple of weeks ago? Well, here is a small selection of items I have created for our stall at The Handmade Market, Stockport. My owls are usually popular, so as well as my normally squidgy ones, I have decided to introduce a bit more functionality to them by making some into bag charms/keyrings. To create the bag charms I have used vintage fabric. There are so many sumptuous colours on the high street and in the fashion world currently which I have tried to use in my new designs. I am loving mustard and teal (these colours can be spotted on the cheeky monkey birthday cards at the top!) We will be at The Handmade Market in our first official outing as Fi&Me on Sunday. We have been busy re-branding over the summer in preparation for our website launch before the year is out. Credit must be given to Lucy for all the hard work she has put in with the web design and technical bits! It's been hard work, especially sinc...

I'm hoping to get to the cafe this week to photograph my prints in situe but for now here's a little glimpse of my 'Autumn Mother and Child' print. www.cargocollective.com/fionameakinillustrations

 Grandma Agnes (she's 97! And amazing!)  Sign writing by photographer and artist Simon Dewar  A little bit of Japan Mr Plant Pot! After a very inspiring summer I have finally got round to uploading my pictures of my little jaunt around my Mum and Dad's garden when I was visiting my Grandma. It's such an inspiring and creative place to be with lots of hidden treasures and beautiful flowers. Check out our Fi&Me blog to see Lucy under the arbour...aren't we lucky to have such a lovely garden as a backdrop for our creative makes and fashion shoots?! I'm hoping to use the pictures I have taken of flowers to influence some new illustration ideas that I have so check back soon for those. Click here for: My portfolio

There's a bit of monkey madness going on at the Love Love Drawing blog today isn't there?! I decided last night that my blog needed updating, especially if I am going to go freelance soon. Hopefully this will attract more people to the websites in time for the Fi&Me launch which is imminent! Business cards ordered, logo designed, stamp on it's way...thank you Lu! I like my new banner but I'm just trialing it for a bit...as I don't want to focus souly on monkeys (even though I love making and drawing them!) I have been working on developing my mini sock monkeys (or Minkeys) over summer and I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. I actually gave the pink striped one to my sister for her birthday and she called her Penny!

Hmmm, stuck on that last crossword clue again?!

I am working this evening (I'm clocking off soon!) and have been updating my portfolio site to coincide with Oasis cafe. To see some new images visit my Cargo page xxx

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is 'Boundaries' I have drawn the physical and structural boundaries that keep us safe...a home. I like how the top house looks like it is thinking, or day dreaming and the bottom house has a swine-like nose/chimney! All images copyright Fiona Meakin 2011

Above: Charlotte Jester, 2011 I had an exciting day yesterday! Many many thanks to my sister Jen who made it possible for me to drop off some work whilst she looked after my little girl! Thanks Jenny - you're a star!! Over the next few months I will be exhibiting 5 framed prints in the Oasis Cafe at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport. On my way there yesterday afternoon, I slipped on a grid outside A&E! (which could have come in useful but luckily wasn't needed!) With my jeans slightly torn and my ego slightly bruised, I finally managed to get to the cafe and handed in my illustrations and cards. They will be up soon and available to buy! Over the last few months in preparation for the Fi&Me launch myself and my business partner (and sister Lu) have been reading books/blogs on starting a business. One tip from the wonderfully inspirational girls who run Red Velvet is to celebrate successes by treating yourself, so I went and bought a gorgeous winter...

Mysterious Mr. Fox! www.fiandme.co.uk All images copyright Fiona Meakin 2011

This one's for Lu - check out her recent post on our Fi&Me blog... All images copyright Fiona Meakin 2011. www.fiandme.co.uk

Scrumptious new felt colours for Autumn! See what I turn them into soon!! www.fiandme.co.uk