Free July Clip Art Illustration, and New Strawberry Card Sheets

Free "July Strawberry," Illustration. Right-click
and save here to download.

Hello there

Hoping you're well and thriving today. And as you can see above, it's time again for a "month illustration" freebie (in this case, the warmth and strawberries of July). Southern hemisphere people, I hear you, and know it isn't summer everywhere. I'm British, and it often isn't summer in July here either :-) . But seriously, if you have a different perception of months and their symbols, please let me know what they are, and I'll see if I can illustrate them for you.

Anyway, how about grabbing this freebie graphic?

So if you'd like to use the "July Strawberry," graphic above  in a project, video or newsletter, go ahead and right-click and save (or click, or tap, depending upon your device) the image above. Links back and credit are always appreciated, but never required.

And if you'd like to let me know how you use it, please do, 'cos 1) I'm curious, and 2) I might be able to feature *your* project in a future blog post.

Even more strawberry-ishness

Featuring is also what I'm doing with Marion Kimberley-Scott's lovely make of the new "Strawberry Mouse" printable card sheets (20% launch discount off in my shop for the next few days).

Strawberry Mouse Card,
made by Mario-Kimberley-Scott from a design by
Clare Walker at Craftsuprint

And on that cute and fragrant note, will leave you for this week. Thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend.

More soon.

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Watch This Space (And Something I Said I'd "Never Do"...)

Click or tap here for more info...

How've you been? 

Around these parts, it's been a strange and bitty week. With lots I'll be able to tell you about soon, I promise. But not yet, as it just isn't ready.

Which left me deciding to come clean, and admit that I was going to turn up here (pretty much empty-handed).

And then I made a hand-lettering discovery...

Now, if you've been round these parts a while, you'll already know I have/had, historically, a love/hate relationship with it. I *love* looking at it when other people do it, (and on the all-too-rare) occasions when it works out for me.

But I hate it when it doesn't...Too many memories of being told just how bad my handwriting is/was over the years.

And yet, all things must change eventually, or so it seems. Enter the wonderful online presence of Hayley Barry. Who I encountered during one of those wonderful online art workshop weeks (and am horrified to realise, I can't remember now exactly which one it was).

But no matter for now, because you can also get a taste of Hayley's a-m-a-z-i-n-g teaching style and awesome hand-lettering skills in this YouTube video lesson (in which she guest stars on the HappyEver Crafter YouTube channel) and/or at Hayley's website, Type Affiliated.

I can't remember a time when a feeling of struggling with an area gave way to one of, "I *love* doing this," as when I encountered Hayley's teaching.

So, the obvious phrase to illustrate to practice everything from that lesson was, of course, "Watch this Space..." 

The initial stage...

And then I did the thing I said I never would...

For reasons best known to myself (and which I don't understand very well) I have shied away from writing on dark backgrounds for the longest time. Something around feeling that they are depressing, not very uplifting or whimsical, I guess.

But something made me decide to invert the black and white of the original lettering. With results that I just thought I'd try out on Redbubble, for fun.

And then I ended up *loving* how it looked...

On the more usual items, like cushions and pillows...

Click or tap here for more info...

But also on products that have appeared on Redbubble since I last did many uploads there...Pet blankets and bandanas...

Which of course, give me an excuse to post for your Friday pleasure (or whatever-day-it-happens-to-be when you read this) slightly gratuitous-but-totally-cute pictures of both a cat,

Click or tap here for more info...

 and a dog...

Click or tap here to find out more...

Hope that this floats your boat as well, and here's to changing self-imposed, but senseless, rules.

Thanks so much for reading down this far, and have a lovely weekend.

More soon.
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In the Lavender Garden...

Hello there

Hope you've had a lovely week, and are coping with the heat/cold/other weather oddity (delete as applicable) in your particular part of the world. Here in London, it's seriously warm. So, where better to take you, than a lavender garden?

Click or tap here to see the full version of this design

This is a digital watercolour of mine in Krita, and it's based upon a trip we took to see the Fawcett Garden in Vauxhall.

As you can see from these photos, the garden is smaller than the mythical place in my imagination :-) (isn't that always the way?). But it is beautiful, and we got there at just the right time to see and smell, the lavender. (As ever, the Computer Man and I went together. Most of the photos are his, as he's much niftier with a camera than me).

Happy bees abounded...

And there were roses, too...

Photo by JimFernbank

As well as a general feeling of "Cottage Garden-ness"...

Photo by JimFernbank

Which is all the more amazing, when you consider that Vauxhall Park is just a stone's throw from the MI6 building in central London. 

The thing I loved best though, is that the park's lavender (which also featured in rows like these)...

Photo by JimFernbank

is harvested every year, by volunteers, with proceeds from the resulting oil being used to fund the ongoing upkeep of the lavender garden.

You can't beat a situation so full of win-win aspects for everyone, can you?

And on that note, I'll just wish you a happy weekend (or week, depending upon when you're reading this).

And thank you for reading down this far into a long post :-).

More soon.

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A Tale of Restoration and Happy Mooching...

Hello there

I'm back now from a little break away from work and oh, can totally recommend it if you're feeling a need to re-charge.

Anyway, thought would use this post as a first little catch-up on what I got up to. First off, not *everyone* in London was knee-deep in Jubilee celebrations last week. The Computer Man and I know this, because whilst we were scoffing yummy bagels at the newly re-opened Camley Street Natural Park, so were quite a few other people. 

(Massive thanks to the Computer Man for so much, but especially in this case, this lovely photo...)

Photo by Jim Fernbank

The Camley Street Natural Park is amazing, not least because it spent a century or so as a coal drop storage yard, sandwiched as it is between  King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations (both originally built in the 19th century.

Yup, you read that right. You can now even enjoy a wildlife pond, woodland, and a just-beginning-to-bloom wildflower meadow, complete with bees and beautiful flowers like the one above, within shouting distance of  the Eurostar.

According to the park's  info-signs, several centuries ago, the area was once part of the ancient forest of Middlesex. And it absolutely gives me tingles to think of even a tiny part of that being re-forested and  renewed...If this place can be restored, anywhere can.

And the next step was inevitable...

And so, of course, after all of that,  the next step was inevitable.  A memento was needed. Which of course meant drawing that flower... (Yes, that meant digitally drawing in Krita. Clearly there's a big part of me that, mysteriously, doesn't perceive drawing on the computer to be something that interrupts a break...).

 I think the flower in question was  a poppy, though it was more beautifully exotic and "ruffly" than any poppy I've ever seen before. It started like this...

progressed into this...

and may or may not finish up like this, at least for now:

I've absolutely no idea if it will turn into anything, and am kind of liking the sketch more than the colour at the moment.

And there was more...

And I discovered more-a lot more when there was actually time to browse around and do things for fun again. But as this post is getting looooong, I'll save that for another time.

Thanks for reading down this far-and have a lovely weekend.

More soon.

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Forget-Me Not Thinking of You Card, And a Sale...

Hello there. Hope all is well with you. This week's offering is short and sweet as it's Bank Holiday here. But wanted to let you know that all my printable card sheets are 20% off until midnight on Sunday June 5th 2022, BST. Click or tap here for details.

The forget-me-not design you see here is new, and also part of the sale (including a matching background, and lots of different verses and wordings to suit all the different occasions on which you or someone you know might want to send it).

Have fun with this, and more soon.

Update on June 4th 2022: This design is now also available on fabric:

Forget-Me-Not Blue and White Floral Fabric
by BoundingSquirrel

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Free June Rose Arch Illustration

Hello there, lovely people, and hope you are well, and thriving.

Can you believe that next week it will be *June* already?

Free "June Rose Arch" Illustration by Clare Walker
Tap, right-click or click here (depending upon your device)
to download.

In anticipation of this, I have June's free jpg illustration ready for you, above.  It features a rose arch, with June in a blue sky, and plenty of room all-around to add your own text too, if you wish.

It's a digital pen and wash watercolour, hand drawn and digitally painted stroke-by-stroke in the wonderful Krita app/painting program.

As ever with my freebies here, it's your to use as you wish, as long as you don't actually sell the file as-is, or claim copyright (my full angel policy is here).

Just right-click, click or tap, (depending upon your device) to download this, and enjoy. (Credit and links back, if you use it, are *always* appreciated, but never required. If you do use it, let me know where it is, if you'd like. I love to see my stuff in use "out in the wild," and can sometimes help you to promote your projects and items too).

And there's more...

If you like the arch and want more, and/or are feeling weddingy/in need of a wedding card, then this arch also has you covered, in the form of an arch-shaped printable wedding card to buy here, and optional inserts for it here.

In any event, thanks for having a read of this, and if you're reading it as it's published, happy weekend!

More soon.
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New: A Funny Birthday Card for People Who Like the Outdoors

Hello again

Am dividing the posts as promise, because this birthday card for people who like hiking, walking, the outdoors and so on, is very different from the cartoon in the last post.

Funny Birthday Greeting Card for Outdoorsy People
by CartoonsbyClare

By default, the text says, "It's OK Sue. According to the app, we're in bright sunshine, and just have a nice flat walk ahead," (even though in the picture it's pouring with rain and there are mountains and lightening in view...click or tap here if you want to look at the details).

You can change the name (or anything else in the text) as much as you like, and can also change the message inside from, "Happy Birthday!" to anything you'd like (or make it blank, if you'd rather).

Finally, the card also comes in three sizes, small (pictured here) standard and big. (All the details are here).

This is my last post for today, I promise, but I hope it gives you a laugh, and/or is useful.

More soon.
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A Funny Wedding Card (At Last)

Hello there

Hope you've had a great week.

Am just popping in quickly to say that finally, this cartoon, has made it into a wedding card (just in time for wedding season). 

Funny Wedding Card 

So, if you're looking for a funny wedding card, and/ or something a bit different to send the happy couple, this could be a great option for you. It's available ready-made (but still personalisable) from Zazzle, in 3 sizes, small, standard and large. and includes design on the inside of the card as well.

I've got a few fun spring/summer, designs to share. So rather than listing them all here in one loooong post, I'll be giving them all their moment in the sun (yup, pun intended) in a few short posts coming up.

So for now, I'll just wish you a happy weekend.

More soon.
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A Watercolour Daisy Painting, and Card Design

Click here for more info about this painting

Hello there, and hope you've been having a good week.

I don't know about you, but it's felt like a week for exploring new things (at last-hurrah!).

So I took the time to look into a new watercolour technique, by following this tutorial, by Joanne Boon Thomas.

With grateful and genuine thanks to Joanne (it's a super tutorial), I then proceeded actually to paint something completely different and the watercolour daisies you see above are the result.

Regular readers of BoundingSquirrel will know that I have form in this area: one day I will actually follow the steps outlined in a tutorial, I will, honestly ;-).

Found myself liking that which actually emerged enough to imagine it as a print, though,  and also to turn it into this printable greeting card:

Click here to see/buy the Watercolour Daisy
quick card printable sheet

Could proper, pre-2020 levels of mojo be returning? Are you feeling this too, in your neck of the woods?

We shall see, but at least there's something pretty for me to post and you to look at this fine Friday.

Hope you have a lovely weekend, and more soon.

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A Floral Art Card For Mother's Day and Beyond...

Hello there

Hope all is well with you, and that you're able to enjoy the spring/autumn/other season wherever you are in the world as you read this.

Watering Can With Purple Flowers, by Clare Walker,
Click here to buy as a downloadable card sheet.

This week's art features a piece of summer that will resonate with flower-loving gardeners everywhere, and I'm hoping that, in its various forms, it'll be useful to you whether you're celebrating Mother's Day, a birthday, or any other happy occasion you think this card would suit.

I need to shoutout to people in the USA and Australia (and maybe other countries?)  here. Am ashamed to say this is the first year that I've remembered that Mother's Day is on a different day for you than the UK (ie this coming Sunday), but I promise it won't be the last.

If you are one of those celebrating this weekend, or need a lovely birthday card quickly, there's still time to make a great card from the printable sheet here (pop the designs on some cardstock or thick paper and you'll have your card).

Or if you're looking to brighten someone's day with an ecard, you're welcome to download and share the smaller,  optimised-and-ecard version of the card below.

Tap, right-click or click to download

Either way, enjoy these flowers, and your weekend or week (depending on when you're reading this).

PS. Update on May 10th: This design is now also available as a shaped card to print out and make. Many thanks to Marion Kimberley-Scott for allowing me to use her photograph of the design when made up, and for her skills in the making of it:

Photo and make by Marion-Kimberberley Scott, from a
design sheet by Clare Walker.

More soon.

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