Sophie The Cat and cuddles

Here is Sophie the cat, Nora's purrrfect pal who is always there for cuddles and a chat. Sophie has become the inspiration for some plushies i have been working on, i have a photo of my progress but you will have to wait a little while yet until the finished piece is posted . I have to say i am really excited by my venture into the world of plushies, its a real challenge to translate my illustrations into fabric, hopefully you will be seeing alot more creations...

  I am still absolutely loving drawing and have included some new Nora watercolour sketches, as you can see i have made her glasses bigger and she has a lovely new addition Sophie the cat.

 Nora will probably be needing some super size sunglasses with summer due!

Do you have a favourite toy from childhood? or pet and would like to see made into a plushies? leave a comment and the best one will be made into a super cute and soft Plushie.

Hello I have been Tagged

I have been tagged by Sarah @http://loves2crochet.blogspot.com so that you can learn a little more about me, so here goes.

Three names I go by:Heidi, Hides, H  but call me Heidi as i have always loved my name

Three places I’ve lived: Nottingham, Barrow Upon Soar in Leicestershire, Ascot

Three places I’ve worked: Paperweight ( a lovely gift shop ) Curtain and textile shop which i hated. My Own studio " Nora"

Three things I love to watch:  People having fun on the beach in the sunshine, My cats cuddling, My husband Laughing 

Three places I’ve been and loved: Paris so much inspiration and chicness, Hegistbury Head a place near me which has these amazing Beach huts on a thin strip of the peninsula, London, i love the place and the shops 

Three people who email me regularly: My friend Stacey :0D, My brother in Australia,  and my mum

Three things I love to eat: Ooo i love sushi, my all time fav is spag bol and i unfortunately i like crisps

Three things I’m looking forward to:  Continuing my progression in my creativity, Launching "Nora" my range of handmade Nora dolls, and plushies, cards,prints, original watercolours and lots more...and to make a living from this.

The three people I’m tagging in this meme: @trickyTanya  @bella_lovebird @daria_h

Nora Bunny

Nora has been busy making Felt Nora Bunny Brooches for her pals

As you can see Jean wears her bunny badge with pride, she was so excited to receive a brown parcel tired with string, inside wrapped in tissue paper was a cute Felt Nora Bunny Brooch. All of Jean's friends wanted one.

Here is a picture of Andi wearing her's

Nora and Nora Bunny Brooches 

Lolli even wore her Nora Bunny Brooch to bed

                             Nora hopes these will be popular in her hopefully soon to be on-line shop

Dolly and Natasha watercolour cards

 Here are the latest in my one off watercolour character cards. Dolly above and Natasha below. They come in these cameo's so they can be framed after being used as a card. With so many cards out there i wanted to create something that you would hopefully want to keep.

Nora Doll Brooches

Here we have a Nora Doll Face Brooch made from felt and embroidery thread.

I think she has an old fashioned/traditional look and this is what i am aiming for.

Handmade, and unique!

So this is again a first attempt at making anything like this and i am really enjoying making  and exploring ways to show Nora. I will be making some of Nora's friends in dolls and brooches too !

Nora Doll

Here we have Nora. I had been wanting to turn my illustration's into dolls and plushie characters for ages, But i can't sew, so for months i have been researching patterns and even making a doll from a kit just so i could get familiar with all the process's involved.

Nora was made entirely from my own pattern.I used Felt and embroidery thread and stuffing, that all.

I found it complicated trying to translate the drawing into fabric and i feel i may need to make a few more until i get her how i want.

But for a first try i don't think i did too bad. She is really cute and cuddly.

 The idea behind making her is to eventually get her made and selling along with other Nora character and handmade products. What do you think of Nora Doll, would you give a home to her?
Does she translate from drawing to doll?

Blooming Nora

Nora and Grace

Grace finds its hilarious that Nora has been shoved into a frilly pink and very girlie dress.

This is a little glimpse into a scene from  the upcoming Nora comic strip

Below i have been working on some simple Nora drawings for a greeting card range

     Raining Love Hearts

Reach For The Stars

Nora in The Spring Time

I really need to get my on-line shop up and running, but i keep putting lots of things in-front of actually achieving this. I have lots of products that i know Nora would love to feature on, Greeting cards being one of them. Would you like to see more of Nora on Greeting cards?

Living By The Sea

I love living by the Sea, and thought i would share a view of where i live. i always get such inspiration from such beautiful surroundings.

I took these pictures this morning along the coastline.People where out walking there dogs, kite surfing and enjoying the spring sunshine. The House above is a dream home, its garden the beach and sea....would love someday to have such a place.

Granny Loveheart

Granny Loveheart is a new character for my commissioned work.Am not sure her fishnets look as they should am debating if they are looking like spotty or mouldy legs?! but am pleased with how the Granny actually come across..

Love Under The Stars

"Love Under The Stars" This is one of my first illustrations for my collection heading off to Australia. The brief includes love cards with a cheeky edge.

I have started to use a smooth cartridge paper instead of watercolour paper as i really need the vibrancy and smoothness as i am using pen as well as pencil/watercolour and ink

The commission is giving me a few sleepless nights but it's exciting too.!