Thursday 30 June 2022

Free July Clip Art Illustration, and New Strawberry Card Sheets


Digital Watercolour illustraiton of golden July Lettering, with a strawberry on top, and surrounded by daisies and grass. Free to download and use.
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


Photo of a Card featuring a drawing of ripe strawberries, and a mouse who has just stolen one of them.
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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Friday 24 June 2022

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

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..." 
Watch this space in black hand-lettering on a white background.
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...

Hand-lettered "Watch this Space" in white writing on a black cushion or pillow.
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,

Photo of a cat on a watch this space pet blanket, with white hand-lettering on a black background.
Click or tap here for more info...


 and a dog...

Photo of a ,"Watch this Space," pet bandana on a cute cross-breed 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.

Friday 17 June 2022

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?

Lavender fields in digital watercolour by Clare Walker
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...

Close-up photo of a bumble bee in lavender flowers

And there were roses, too...


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

Photo of cottage garden style planting (lavender, roses and honeysuckle) in Vauxhall park
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 showing lavender beds
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 :-).


Friday 10 June 2022

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 of a Poppy and Bee, by Jim Fernbank
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...
Exotic poppy sketch in digital pen, by Clare Walker


progressed into this...


Ruffly Crimson Poppy 1, By Clare Walker


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

"Ruffly Poppy and Bee," by Clare Walker, Bounding Squirrel




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.

Thursday 2 June 2022

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

Picture of forget-me-not thinking of you greeting card design, in watercolour with digital silver glitter

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:



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