Life, Loves, and Lipstick

So a few weeks back a musician friend, Sharon, asked what I'd charge to paint a pin up girl on her guitar. Ooh that sounds a fun little project I thought! It wasn't something I had any experience in whatsoever buuut I'd recently heard of Posca pens and thought they may be the way to go, cue a trip to Hobbycraft to buy a couple of sets.  I'd had a little Google for pin up guitar artwork for inspiration and was surprised to not really have much look in actually finding anything, but did come across a really cool neutral toned one by a guy who goes by the name 'Artichoked'. The neutral colouring of that was part of the inspiration,  mixed with the style of Sailor Jerry's old school tattoo artwork. We played about with different scale ideas but went for a larger image which I mocked up digitally on a photo of the guitar to plan out the pose etc.  Sharon wanted there to be a likeness to herself in the face so we worked on that too whilst also keeping a stylised l...

Hey guys, I hope you're all good! So you've already seen my previous post about the Disney ear-rings I've been making, inspired by looking for a pair on Etsy to wear on an upcoming trip to Disneyland, but I've also made myself a little Up! inspired brooch for my cardigan for the day and revamped a pair of flats to wear. My brooch was inspired by one of my favourite Disney movies, Up!  I recently bought some polymer clay from Amazon, I usually buy Fimo but there was a cheaper option by a brand called Schoone. It still had good reviews so I thought meh, may as well give it a go. My first play with it was with this brooch. It was way less firm than Fimo, softer and stickier, so I think that could be a positive or a negative depending on the project. It wasn't too bad for this one as I fortunately started the piece on some baking paper so it didn't require moving again I was able to just play the paper on a baking tray to pop in the oven.  I started with the pink l...

I was scouring the internet for jewellery for my outfit for a trip I've got booked for Disneyland, after opening a bazillion etsy tabs it lead me down a path of wonderin if I still have my Fimo clay somewhere.  Turns out I do! Cue a few days playing around with different designs for mouse ear dangle earrings. My personal favourites are the retro atomic boomerang style. For those unfamiliar with Fimo, it's a brand of polymer clay. A modelling clay that you bake in the oven to harden. The process with these was to model the Mickey heads with a set of circles, model the hanging pendant attachment, bake them, then in some cases paint some details on before finishing with a glaze and fixing the backs on. Polka Love, Tomorrowland, Abstract Pair, Razzle Dazzle, The Ears As each pair is handmade they're completely unique! So they're like wearable little mini pieces of art! I also made myself an Up! brooch last night from a different brand of clay I sourced to try it out. It...

Ahh pretty Prague! Land of super cheap public transport and vegan food! Oh and loads of pretty building obviously. This was our first trip abroad together and it was a lovely one. Unfortunately we lost a day due to a flight cancellation (wah!) buuuut we still really enjoyed Prague. There wasn't really anything not to like! I got to introduce Dan to one of my favourite artists, Alphonse Mucha and see some of his original work for the first time.  We discovered a vegan chain called Loving Hut, oh my goodness, love that hut we did 😍It was a cheap buffet style restaurant where you paid for your food based on the weight at the end. It was sooo yummy. Even though we were only in Prague a few days we went there a couple of times. The staff the second time weren't great, I'm not sure if it was a bit of a language barrier (I think I read the restaurant is Asian/Vietnamese), but the food was still great. And so many bonus points for being totally vegan. We've since discovered a ...

So over the last couple of days I've been experimenting with adding a bit of artwork to a few vintage vanity cases I own, still in keeping with the vintage aesthetic.  I may do some more work on the peach and pin up girl but here's the sort of thing I've been doing.  I like how it turns these old cases into a unique statement piece, each an individual item and a practical bit of art!  I'd love to do more of these so I'm going to keep an eye out for more bags to potentially spruce up with artwork in order to sell, but I am also going open bookings for a few limited bespoke commissions should you have a bag, a case, or purse you'd like fancying up!  Leave a comment on this post with your details and I will get in touch. Alternatively you can contact me through instagram @beckyryanart