special offer ooooohhh

Hi guys, just to let you know that I have gone all business-like and will be doing a SPECIAL FREE GIFT with my next order! Aren't you spoilt!



Here is the wonderous prize which you will receive: a t-shirt for a beautiful lady, in delectable lemon yellow, with a cool hippo/donkey motif handpainted by ME. That's right, no one else in the world has one like this. It's OOAK (as they say on Etsy).

The t-shirt is secondhand, clean and in good condition. It's painted with Dylon fabric paint and sealed so the image should stay put. It's pretty bold and bright, I really like it. Oh and it's cotton jersey, in ladies' size 14. Here, have a close-up of the hippo donkey fellow. Int he a beaut!



So! If you want this fantabulous and unique garment, be quick smart and order a monster from me NOW! The first order I get will get the t-shirt free with their monster, what a postal treat that will be! Skates on, then.

Fresh Prints

Hey hey. I have been printing. You may have already seen these if you follow me on Twitter, but here they are again with some more writing around them.

I had an urge to do some lino prints a while ago, I love them. I'm really drawn to things which have been made by hand, using some laborious process or other, and lino printing gives such a vibrant, clear result, it's perfect for making posters. A good printed poster is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. I guess screen printing might be a better method but I don't know too much about it to be honest. I will endeavour to find out because it's actually super. I mean, look at this one. Yeesh.

What better than to print some Helen Makes posters? Bear in mind I haven't done this since I was at sixth form college and I made a cut of a zebra so I would only have to use one colour.

This is Effort Number One.



Here I only HAD one colour, following a hasty impulse trip to Fred Aldous. You may note that I left my website off, that was an accident. It was supposed to be on the monster's shirt, but I started cutting it and then realised I had done the lettering the right way round, which is to say the WRONG way round. Total rookie mistake. I used my trusty rubber stamp to put the URL on afterwards.

This one is roughly A5 size so it has a bit more detail in it, particularly in the hair area. I really like this.

Numero Deux: voila!



This is in French because I decided to make flyers to send to Nic in France. I don't know what she's done with them. They're about A6 sized. I got another colour in between-whiles and even managed to get it to line up! Yeeoooww. I don't know if my French is correct either, can anyone actually tell me? I think it is. I hope so, I don't want to be Helen Makes Mistakes.

This is the English version, a bit different but also the same.



The lines are thicker, it looks bulkier and somehow simpler than the French one. I don't know which I like better. I will keep at it but I think these are pretty good for a self-taught novice.

Finally: this isn't all lino cut, but I LOVE it. I love Bob Ross. Ugh, I want to print EVERYTHING now.

Well there we go.

Inky pinky pen and inky

I can smell a dirty stinky. Oh wait! Sorry, I thought I was 6 then.

So my branding, as it were, is still pretty shoddy. For some reason I have generally eschewed getting business cards and flyers printed (easy! Fairly cheap also!) in favour of making them myself (hours of work!) My first ever business cards looked like this:



That's the rubber stamp I made by carving into an eraser (and my fingers). I was really pleased with that. The back had a sticker on it with my email address and this blog and stuff, printed off-kilter on Calps' printer because I had no idea how to make things fit in a template.

So when Jim made my website he used the lettering from my stamp in the logo, but NOT ONLY THAT, he invented an entire font just for me, out of the 8 letters in 'helen makes'. How unbelievably cool is that, I was so made up. So all the lettering on the website is based on the original stampy scruffy thing I made.

Also Jim made me this logo, the smiley monster/ball of wool guy, and I'm abandoning the toadstool effort that means nothing. I currently have no promotional materials with my website URL on, only this flyer with the blog address:



So guess what I am doing!



That's right, I am STAMPING! Making myself some business cards the old fashioned way. I love it.

Here's Step 1:



And here's Step 100000000 because I didn't stop to take photos of the in between stages.



I also made a stamp with the URL on, to go on the other side. That looks like PINK INK! And I said, will that ever come off? I don't think! (The Cat In The Hat Comes Back, sorry) It used to be red, but I've had it for about seven years and it's not any more.



So what do you think of this. As usual I am uncertain. I am also terribly sorry about the post I did the other day, yikes. I hate to boast and I felt like I was. I suppose I should get into the boasting in a big way, but I am not ready yet! Bob's video's good though int it!

I am also going to draw some kind of flyer thing to use as well, I'm not sure how this is going to end up but I'm sure I will show you. My head is full of a cold and also full of job applications, ideas for knitting, bits of old rubbish, etc. I will leave it here for now. Lots of love xx

Me and my dawg. I mean monster.

Aw reet. Hey, you know what? Since Christmas I've been a total loser and lost the ability to do ANY work whatsoever. I am trying to get back into the swing of things, but not doing a terribly good job.

Tell you what I have done though. I made a monster version of ME.

A ha haha!



I just came round to Valpuri's to persuade her to take some photos of me with the monster for We Are Your Friends, and am now struggling to operate a Mac while she washes some pots. S'all go.

Here I am messing about in the front yard.







How lovely! I forgot to put any make up on this morning and I could also do with a fringe trim, I think. But I like them I do.

Partly because I am so badly organised at the moment, and partly because I have started to go insane, I am going on hiatus from the knitting for a little while. I really want to get my knitted drawing finished soon, it glares at me all the time from the bottom of a plastic box in my room. Also I have started to feel an overwhelming urge to get back to basics, to do some actual drawing, with pencils and pens and shit, which I have been neglecting of late. I will continue to update this blog with whatever nonsense comes into my head, like usual, but I want to do some fun stuff for no reason, let some ideas surface, and calm the hell down.

And apart from all that, I really like the word 'hiatus'. I'll let you know how it goes! Ooh how delightful.

Look at me!

Me again, I just HAVE to tell you guys about the thing I was supposed to tell you about before. I just can't hold it in any longer. A couple of weeks ago I did a photo shoot with my friend and amazing photographer Nic Chapman, to get some promotional shots done. The idea was that I am completely consumed by knitting, I wear only knitted stuff, I eat, sleep and LIVE knitting. Anyway, it was loads of fun and here are some of the best photos!


In Nic's garden, having dragged half the living room outside.


China Town.


This one was the most fun I think. We went to the Manchester Transport Museum in Cheetham Hill, and the guys there were so helpful and lovely. I am on a SELNEC 7001 bus from 1972, which is going to Leigh. Yeah, bus fans! You should totally go there anyway, it's ace. Even if you are not that into buses.


I'm in China Town again here. In these photos I'm wearing the jumper Valpuri made, a hat, legwarmers and gloves that I made, Nic's tights, a pair of socks that used to be mine and my sister's Christmas stockings, and Nic's slipper boot-things. A great look, I'm sure you'll agree. I enjoyed traipsing through the centre of town wearing that outfit, on a Saturday afternoon. I was very warm.

So what do you think? I am really pleased with how they came out. They're bright and colourful, and a little bit absurd, which is how I see my work. Nic is currently building her own blog, which I will link to when it's finished so you can all follow her, too! Oh, and check this out: she is looking for more guinea pigs to photograph. Right, I have to go now! Exciting times ahead.

Beer and wabbits

Ey up cockers. How's things? I have VERY NEARLY finished the huge commission that I have been doing for what seems like forever, but what is actually about four weeks. I am very excited about finishing it, it's been super fun making all these different people, and they are all so interesting and quirky. But I will be relieved to have got it done. I'm looking forward to posting photos of them after Christmas! You guys are gonna shit!

Anyway, I made a monster a few weeks ago which I'm going to show you now. You guys are gonna shit! Not really. It was for a lady at work, and I owe her a fiver, and I keep forgetting. It's her son. Here he is on the pavement outside my office:



I don't actually know what his name is, oops. But apparently he loves Red Stripe.



Gulp, gulp. Here he is having a good old swig.



Mint. Okay, that is it for now. Oh! No it isn't. I have new flyers, thanks to Nic. They are this.



Yay Garth! I need to cut them and then I will do precisely nothing with them. Hurrah! I have taken my Etsy address off because I don't have an Etsy shop any more, I decided to close it. I am too scatty and disorganised, and I sold one thing on Etsy ever, and I didn't work out the price right, and I got annoyed and closed my shop in a huff. I may re-open it when I get my life in order, which I predict will be on the 12th of Never. In the meantime you can still email me with requests and any other nonsense you would like to send me! Right, I have to go to bed now! Night!

my face etc

Ey up. This weekend I have been busy doing things like dyeing hairs, going for walks, scrounging pints, and plastering stickers all over my head.

These are some photos me and Nic did yesterday. I dyed my hair on Saturday, which was an adventure. I wanted it to be really bright, largely so that I would look a bit like a monster. I made all the labels individually with a rubber stamp that I made ages ago by carving into an eraser with a Stanley knife. Here 'tis:



Anyway then I stood in Nic's garden and did some good muggin'. I won't show you all of the pictures, because a lot of them are hideous and terrifying. Also, she took about fifty. But these are some of the ones I liked.





Oh yeah, I also had some sexy fake eyelashes from the pound shop that matched my hair and I thought, yeah!





Then I had the fun task of getting all the stickers off my head which was good, I no longer need a moustache wax, and I don't need to pull all the skin off my face which I was also going to do. Fun times!

Oh yes, I have no idea about proper photo editing which is why I always just whack the saturation up to a million and then maul about with contrast and stuff for ages. I just like bright colours.

Righto, it's time for tea now I reckons. Til next time, folks.

What larks!

Well, the crafty market yesterday was a lot of fun and a big success! I sold a few bits and bobs, which is obviously super cool, but I was also mega boosted by all the lovely comments and great feedback that people gave me throughout the day. It makes me happy to know that someone likes what I make. Sometimes when I spend a lot of time making and don't talk to anyone for ages, I get a bit paranoid about it, so it was nice to hear. Thanks guys!

This is what my stall looked like at the start of the day.



It changed quite frequently as I sold things and moved stuff around, used my lunchbox as a pedestal, added more things that I'd forgotten about, etc. But I didn't take photos of that.

My work appears to be quite popular with youngsters, which is cool. I am naturally drawn to brightly coloured things too. Okay, so you know the monsters mostly have big, open mouths? Something I noticed was that kids and grownups alike are compelled to stick their finger in there. It happened so many times! I wonder why? They must just be so inviting.


AaagUMMM

Whenever there was a flurry of activity, I took some covert photos, here we go look.





Mmm!

Well, at the risk of sounding like a right pleb, thanks so much everyone for coming to visit me yesterday, you made me smile and I like you! So now I am going to whack the rest of my stuff on Etsy, and Folksy too I reckons. I have to start asking shops and places to stock my stuff, too. Aargh, this scares me more than I can ever tell you. I don't know why. Yikes. Well, I will try not to have a breakdown about it and report back. Bye!

happy and tired and crafting

Hey chaps. As I have mentioned ten million times, I am selling my wares at the Chorlton Arts Festival craft fair on Saturday. I have pretty much finished sorting all my stuff out, few bits and bobs left. Here are some things you may not have seen.










Come visit me.

I also made some flyers and got Nic to print them for me, and they look pretty cool. However, can you spot the not-very-glaring error here?



Yes, the URL is wrong. It should be shop/helenmakes, not shopS. What a wanny. I might have to be super professional and go through the stack with a marker and remove all the superfluous Ss. Aargh. A tiny but significant mistake.

What else. I am super happy this week following a marvellous weekend at ATP. It blew on my mind. I am actually finding it quite hard to get on with things properly. Also, as soon as we got back we went straight back out to see the Bundles, which was pretty much the most exciting thing ever. I am still really tired from all the excitement. I think I am going to make Jeffrey and Kimya monsters and send them to them.

Anyway, best be off, crafty crafty. Come on Saturday, it'd be ace to see all y'all, you might even get a fist bump.

See ya!

Etsy-tastic

Hey guys and gals, I have just listed a few items on Etsy, and also managed to get it to link from here! Woo hoo, I am a wizard. Have a gander if you feel like it. At the moment I am listing some old stuff, but in a few days there will be more. MORE! Keep checking for new monsters and other wonderful items. I will of course constantly tell you about it to make sure you are aware that I HAVE SOME SHIT ON ETSY. Okay then.