*MERRY CHRISTMAS!*

..and Happy New Year!!


Hello!


Yes that's right, Christmas (and the North Pole's supply of winter snow!) has crept up on us and nipped us up the bum bum! I've closed up shops for the festive season, just too many presents to wrap, mulled cider to drink and sweeties to eat! 


But never fear! I will be re-opening my Etsy and BRAND NEW Folksy shops in the new year with lots of new prints, paintings and toys AND I'll be having sales and offers to celebrate, so keep your peepers peeled!! I'm also hoping to get stuck into a few wee craft fairs, but I'll post more on that when I get more info. So while I'm being a busy beaver, I can still be contacted by email - moonkooki@hotmail.com - so if you have any queries, want a custom toy or painting, or just want to say hello, give me a shout! 


So until all that - have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a really brilliant NEW YEAR! 

Panda Hugs to all, 
moon <3 xxxxxx

Christmas *kooki* Up and Running!

Hello!


I have *finally* listed my Christmas items online on both my Etsy shop, and my brand spanking new Folksy shop, which is ideal for my UK customers who don't want to, or are put off by Etsy's US Dollars only policy.

The Etsy shop is here - 
http://moonkooki.etsy.com - for my festive fancies, click on the 'Christmas Kooki' link!


The Folksy shop is here - 
http://www.folksy.com/shops/xmaskooki


I hope to have a lot more to list very soon!

In other news, I had my craft fair at Mossley Farm and Craft Fair on Saturday. It was a good day and although I managed to sell a few bits and pieces, the best part was seeing some familiar faces, bagging a custom order (maybe two!) AND being offered another craft fair on Saturday 13th November in Carrickfergus! More info on that will be up here soon!


I might not have a lot of internet access over the next week or so (apart from my shops and email, of course!) as me and the kooki family are moving house *stress stress, excite excite!*, but I'll get a little update posted when I'm back on and settled in!


In the mean time, please do check out my new shop and my festive items, and pass the links on to your pals! 


Panda hugs, 
moon <3

christmas *kooki*

Hello!

As well as my Christmas tree decorations, I'm also selling some nifty little Christmas cards this festive season! There are four designs (featuring the characters from my festive foodles!), are A6 size and printed on recycled card. They come as separate cards (£1.50), packs of four (£5) and packs of eight (£10), obviously with envelopes!

I'm just waiting on them arriving from the printers - there's been a delay as the recycled card took a wrong turn - and as soon as I get them, they'll be on sale on my Etsy shop AND a new folksy shop for my UK customers who prefer to deal in good ol' British Pounds! I'll hopefully have a few stalls at craft fairs over the next few months too, so watch this space! Speaking of which..

My next craft fair stall is going to be on Saturday 30th October at Mossley Farm and Craft Market. This is a brand new market that just started last month and runs on the last Saturday of each month (with a Christmas date still to be announced). You'll find lots of delish fresh food and local crafty things! It's in Mossley Orange Hall and runs from 10am-1pm. I'll be there with some Christmas goodies, my usual foodles, paintings and prints, and maybe a wee Halloween panda print or two! As usual I'll be helped by my lovely boyfriend who may be supplying some nice halloween cookies too! Yum Yums!

Ooh and just before I go, a wee reminder that I do accept custom orders. If you see a foodle you like but it's gone, just give me a shout and I'll make you another either the same, or with colours, patterns etc that suit you. The same goes for paintings, prints and doodles. I'm happy to add names or text to any of my illustrations and if there's something completely different you want me to do, please don't hesitate in getting touch and we'll see what we can come up with! :o3 

Panda hugs, 

moon <3

*moonkooki* Christmas!

Hello!


Ok, I know it's early, but let's face it Christmas seems to arrive earlier and earlier every year. This year I've decided to get my hands and fingers busy (ooh-er!) by making some delightful little Christmas tree decorations! We have a cute little robin, a pretty vacant looking penguin and a big cuddly polar bear. I've just finished the first ones, so I'm gonna get stuck in and start the mass production! When I have a good lot done, I'll start listing them on my Etsy store. I'm also aiming to get a Folksy shop opened too as I'm finding it a bit weird showing my UK art to my UK customers in.. dollars! So watch this space!

Panda Hugs, 


moon <3

Chillifest!

Hello!


On Thursday, I was told that I could have a stall selling my artsy wares at Chillifest in Belfast at Custom House Square on Saturday (today!) because someone had pulled out at the last minute. As short notice as it was, I'd never done an art stall before, so jumped at the opportunity.


Chillifest is an annual event in the City centre celebrating American food and music, cold, frosty beers and local folk who have nice things to sell, make and do. There's lots of interesting folk all with different talents and oddities, a real mix of people with a great atmosphere.

As it was such short notice, I had to get properly stuck in to sorting all my stuff out. This included arranging a ma-hoosive print job (thanks to my good friend Shorty!), and a LOT of cutting out, folding, packing, painting, drawing and writing. Doing all this whilst looking after an 11month old who has a ridiculously inquisitive nature and enough energy to put a Duracell bunny to shame is not easy! But, with the help of my lovely boyfriend, and plenty of energy drinks, I managed to stay up most of the night to get it all done and ready to go. After another quick trip to the printers this morning, we headed off to set up shop.

My friend Caitlin was setting up her stall beside mine. She goes under the name Catface Designs and makes everything from prints and paintings to furniture and clothes, all featuring bizarre and twisted characters and cool, quirky  designs (do a wee search, her stuff's very good!). We had a good corner spot, kind of in the middle of everything, so with the help of our friends Hollie and Jamie and of course the ever helpful Mark, we finally got everything up and running.


Having never had a stall before, I had no idea what to expect in terms of interest or sales. And after about half an hour and one sale of a pack of note cards, I didn't have much time to find out because because a hot, gloriously sunny day turned into a horrific, dark, thundery day in a matter of minutes, so we had to pack up and run for cover! Good old Belfast. I have friends from South Wales who have never seen anywhere with weather like here before. One minute sunny and warm, the next dark and wet, then back to sunny again. I'd never noticed really or thought it was strange until they pointed this out, but sure enough within ten minutes of the skies opening, the sun was out again and the rain was drying up!


We set back up and this time the place was really starting to fill up. I found myself chatting away to people about my work, art in general and how the day was going, and happily I was selling my stuff pretty consistently throughout the day. I found a lot of people taking business cards and asking about custom work etc, so hopefully it will generate more work and customers in the future.


The day went better than I'd expected because I'd heard that art stalls can be very hit or miss so I didn't have high hopes for fear it'd all go wrong! I've almost sold out of foodles (my felt toys), and I shifted a lot of paintings, cards and prints, and on top of that I had great conversation with some really lovely people so what more could I have wanted? Really pleased! :)


I love the fact that when you set up and display work in an open, public environment and when you sell face to face, it's a lot more personal and adds another dimension to what I do. When you sell on the internet, it's obviously a great feeling, and you do usually get feedback and the occasional brief email or message from the customer, but to actually have the chance to speak to people face to face, hear about what they like (or don't like!) and explain my work to them is a really unique thing that you don't really get from emails or messages. It also gave me the opportunity to give customers custom items, for example note card packs with cards of their choice, single cards rather than packs, impromptu two-for-the-price-of-one offers etc. It's definitely a nice way to sell and exhibit your work. For anyone who hasn't sold at a craft fair, festival or market, I can't recommend it enough. Even if it's a particularly bad day with a low turn out or no sales, at least it gives you an idea of what people like, how to display work, what might work better for you etc. I can't wait for my next one (whatever it may be!), I have a lot more planned now!

Panda Hugs,


moon <3

Treasury Fun!

Hello! 

On Etsy, there's an excellent feature where buyers, sellers and artsy lovers can create lists of their favourite items on the site and have them displayed in groups together, usually with matching themes. I've still not got round to making a treasury *for shame*, but I have been featured in quite a few. I aim to start making them soon and displaying them here to show some of my favourite items on sale on the site. 

In the meantime, here are a few treasuries I've been featured in lately.

'Another Night on The Forums' by papercherries

This is a little random treasury. My 'Forgetting It All' ACEO is featured here. My two favourites in this treasury are 'Drunk Kitty Finds Love' and 'Lonely-Boy-Blue' 

'Fancy A Quick Pint' by CardsAndCraft

This boozy treasury also features my 'Forgetting It All' image, but as a print. My favourites here are the 'Hand-Cut 'I Love You More Than Beer' Card' and 'Felt DiDi Doll - Squiffy The Beer Monster' 

'oh I do like to be beside the sea' by cherryblossomtattoo

This gorgeous treasury features my 'Octopus' print. I love this treasury with it seaside, nautical theme. My favourites here are 'Little Mermaid' and 'Queenscliff Pelican' dry point etching.

'The Cat's Meow' by TawniRenee

I think this is a fantastic little treasury! It features my 'Shifty Cat' foodle, and I love all these items! My favourites have to be 'little blue kitten' and 'Purr-fectly Pretty - Black Kitty Snap Clips'

'pandariffic' by PillowParlour

My 'Cheeky Panda' ACEO is featured in this amazing panda treasury. As pandas are my favourite animals, I naturally love this treasury! As hard as it is to pick a few favourites, the ones that really stand out for me are 'Panda - Deluxe Pillow', 'Panda Flight, The second Voyage' necklace and 'Yellow Panda Dancers' print. Love them all though! :)

So there you have it, some beautiful little treasuries! As I've said, I hope to get creating some soon. So keep your eyes peeled! :)

Panda Hugs,

moon <3

Blog Virgin. Blirgin.

Hello! 

As the title, and somewhat sparse page suggests, this is my first blog post. I aim to use this blog to babble about my artsy stuff, my influences and new finds as well as a few other random bits and pieces. I know it all looks a bit plain and boring now, but fingers crossed in time it will liven up and become a lovely little home for me and my oddball world! 

So a little introduction then. My artsy name is moonkooki, but my real name is Sarah, or Saz. I'm 25 (how'd that happen?!), from Belfast and live with my lovely boyfriend and our gorgeous baby daughter. Apart from art, I love music of all most genres, swimming, trashy daytime tv, 'Frasier', 'Friends', cider, rosé, whiskey, tattoos, pandas, dogs and hair dye. My favourite bands are Blur, Frank Turner and NOFX, my favourite films are 'Big Fish', 'The Jungle Book' and 'True Romance' and my favourite books are 'Watership Down' by Richard Adams, 'Junk' by Melvin Burgess and anything by Roddy Doyle. I bite my nails, hate odd numbers and I think that David Attenborough and Damon Albarn should join forces, overthrow the government and run the country. 

As for the artsy stuff, I really love illustration in all it's many forms! From simple squiggles to masterpiece paintings. As long as it's got character, I'm pretty much guaranteed to love it. I scribble, doodle, paint and sew to create my little weirdo characters and worlds. I prefer to draw in pen rather than pencil (always black, preferably Pilot 0.4), I love acrylic and watercolour and I create some artwork and posters digitally. My favourite artists are Kurt Halsey, Tara McPherson, Edward Gorey and Tim Burton (to name but a few!), but I love finding more and more amazing artists and crafty types through Etsy, blogs and elsewhere in the world of the internet, so I'll also be using this blog to highlight some of my favourites!

So there you have it. My first post. I'll no doubt be back from a babble soon!

Panda Hugs,

moon <3