HOW TO QUICKLY PRESS FLOWERS USING A MICROWAVE

Hi all! I wanted to show you how you can quickly press some beautiful flowers to use in any way, in this tutorial I'll be showing you the process in pictures, there's also a quick video below if you wanted to check that out. Firstly you need to collect your flowers, get a range of colours, shapes and sizes, so you can experiment and start to understand the process and what flowers you're the most pleased with. Once you're happy with the collection of flowers you can begin to arrange them to be pressed, Cut a small square of paper to go underneath your kitchen towel and start arranging, be conscious about the placing and open petals making sure they're flat and straight. 

Place another piece of kitchen roll over your flowers, then another piece of paper over that, you can then pop them into the the microwave with a microwavable weight ( I use a dish or a few flat plates) on top to being the pressing process. If small petals such as daises and little stems then 1/2 minutes should be enough, however you can check and continue heating if they're still a little soft. When completed the petals should be brittle and straight with no bend, the colours should also be slightly darker, If you want to press using traditional methods then the colours will be even deeper than these.

Here are a few examples of petals that i've pressed, as you can see the colours are a lot darker than the above images of when i first collected them. I loved the Yellow Gerbera (I think that's the correct flower, if not then please correct me! ) That particular flower took a lot of heating due to the centre and the petals being very long. I'd say buttercups and rose petals worked the best for me. 

 I really hope you love my video i've also uploaded, I've also created an illustration with flowers and pressed petals which you can see in my new blog post and video! I'd love to know if you like the new videos that i'm making and if you find them useful, etc!
Thanks again for reading x 

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK BACK TO SEE HOW MY

NEXT TUTORIAL WHERE I SHOW HOW YOU CAN USE

THESE PETALS IN FASHION ILLUSTRATIONS.

Free Phone Case?

 I'm so excited to announce my first series of YouTube tutorials on how to illustrate, sew, design and print etc! My first video I made recently showing around my workspace and the little things around that inspire me. It got such a great response, My desk isn't to everyone's liking as it's a little minimalistic, and yes it does take an enormous amount of effort to keep it that tidy if you're as messy and forgetful as me.  So here is the first video. I really hope you enjoy it I'm currently working on a new tutorial, featuring flowers, petals and a few found objects, it's really to show how you can create interesting artwork without feeling like you need to invest in a lot of expensive equipment.





 In so many illustrations I seem to be drawn to flowers, they seem to link in perfectly with my designs.
 I'm also looking for bloggers to interact and collaborate with, I'd love to give away one of my newest pastel phone cases in exchange for a review or feature on a blog/video/instagram post. So if you're interested and think that our styles and viewers are interested in the same things then please, drop me an email at natalielines90@gmail.comnatalielines90@gmail.com or leave me a comment here, obviously i'll only be able to give a few away so please don't be upset if i can't choose you!

Thanks again.

New Items added to the shop!

Hey Everyone!

 Thank-you for the new followers, I hope that I'm creating interesting posts to keep you reading, I wanted to tell you all about what i've been up to lately, there's a lot going on which i'm really excited about, I'm trying to build up a lot of my physical work, printing onto fabrics to make cushions and other things. I've built up more stock for my iphone cases 4/5 which are £10 each and can be purchased off my brand new website shop.natalielines.co.uk

 It's so exciting to start selling these again, as I print them myself I had a lot of learning to do in terms of working out how to get the best print, choosing the best colours, tweaking certain settings, and of course printing them onto the case. As always there are a few teething problems but I'm so proud to say that I think I've ironed them all out now and they're the best quality they can be, I've also had interest in some shops stocking them! (if you're someone who's interesting in stocking the cases then please email me)

I've also been building up more cushions, finally getting the nature set printed, in a stunning slate grey too, it's limited stock as I want to see how they sell! and my absolute favourite are my new sunglasses cases, I have them in the kitty print, feathers and some more brighter and bolder fabrics. I'm always losing my favourite sunglasses so now I've got something to put them in (although I'm a little spoilt for choice) I also have them as little bags which can be used for change, jewellery, etc. I was going to make a few tote bags however I think the market it saturated with them unfortunately. 

Debenhams and Gather.ly illustration

Well hello! It's been such a lovely springy day, fresh, bright and complete with some april showers! I've been working on a slightly secretive project. Organised by the amazing gather.ly I, along with a group of artists were given a line to interpret by Debenhams, and to create a piece from the quote. We were allowed to be so lose with the brief and really do what we wanted with it, i loved that aspect and decided to do a feminine flowery illustration.
Gather.ly works within the creative industries making sure no-one misses out on amazing opportunities to work with great brands, they're a new company but it's obvious they're going to make a big impact in the art world, and for great reason, i'm so glad they approached me and gave me this opportunity, so if you et a chance, check them out.

I'm not a fine artist, I played around a little with concept in college, but it's not something that is the driving force for my work, it sounds little vain to say but visuals are obviously very important for me. Chris Turner, a film-maker from London came to film and interview me about the piece and I explained the techniques and processes I go through to get to the final illustration, Now, I'm absolutely terrified to hear what I've said, i'm not the most eloquent of speakers and i'm not used to interviews/camera in my face, so I'll apologise now for the nonsense i've most likely have spoken. Having said that Chris's work is really great and i'm looking forward to seeing the film he's made about all of the artists. There will be an exhibition in London (Shoreditch) on the 14th May  at The Allpress Espresso  Roastery 58 Redchurch St, Shoreditch, Greater London showing everyone's final pieces, it's going to be relaxed and really informal,  I haven't exhibited a piece in so long, So that's exciting. It's open to everyone, so pop along and check out The Art Of Interpretation 
 

I get distracted easily......

You may know I use a lot of pink, I adore the colour, however I really wanted to get away from it and use some different tones, Black and white adds such class to an image which I really like within this, The model has more of a mature look so I didn't want to undermine it with pinks and pastel colours. The ink splashes were created traditionally, i then scanned them in and edited them in photoshop, along with the illustration. I really hope you like the final piece and seeing around my workspace. 

Want to know who else is exhibiting, well. We have Jean Jullien, Charlotte Posner,  Edward Carvalho Monaghan and Eleanor Rose

Kate Moss for Topshop. Vogue Cover

Hello! An Illustration update, if you're a new follower, you may have only seen some of my outfit updates which I really enjoy doing, but my day job is freelance Illustration. I've currently been working on Illustrating the gorgeous Kate Moss on the cover of Vogue wearing her Topshop collection. I've incorporated a few traditional techniques as real textures can make a big difference. There are also a few watercolour splashes as well as making the "Vogue" from glitter (i'm a bit obsessed) I love how it's not entirely neat and sparkles spill over into the illustration, As you can see it was originally gold, I started by drawing the logo out on an A3 sheet and filling the glitter in the spaces, some of it was super tricky, I refined areas in photoshop and changed around the colours until I was happy with a silvery blue tint to compliment the salmon backdrop.

It's been an absolute joy to draw this, it's really been a learning curve and my skills have definitely improved, I always aim to make my newest piece the best it can be, it doesn't always work that way but taking the time to be patient really has paid off. I've attached some early screen caps and ideas I went through to get to the final image.  I'm glad it's all done now and I can move on to current commissions, I'm hoping this illustration will show the glossy magazines what I can produce for them and hopefully complete some drawings to be featured in the future.

 I hope you like this illustration and let me know your thoughts and if you're also in love with the new collection!

 Nat x 

Clothes I like, and clothes I want to sell/swap

I'm sorry if you hate recycled photos, but i've been looking through ASOS and H&M this weekend and I love the simple garments they've both got going on. I'm looking to get those stunning flared trousers which are for petites.... and wear them with the wrap around black blouse (top left) hopefully it won't look too flowy and drown me. 

I also love the little asos look to the right. Simple dresses are lovely and footwear can really enhance a simple little dress, unfortunately the patent shoes in that photo are sold out but the H&M strappy sandals look like they could do the job well. I've always loved the look of delicate little socks with shoes but it can be hit and miss, but i suppose you learn from your mistakes. 

 I've also been looking at Vinder, it's an online platform to sell or swap your garments. I've reluctantly uploaded a few of my items which i really love, but just don't suit me, anyone else guilty of having things you hate but can't find the courage to get rid of? maybe it's just me.... Have a look at what I have to offer, i'll be uploading more soon. If you have any of the items i've listed above (or similar) then email me and we can talk about a swap?!

Link to my VINDER or EMAIL

Kraft Wedding Matchbooks

Happy Monday! 

 I'm proud to show off my new Matchbooks, I've been doing these for a while now and they're really picked up in popularity, especially for Weddings, They make excellent favours for guests, and they're not too expensive either. They come staples with little envelopes to put a gift in for your friends. A popular choice is flower seeds, such as forget me nots, or poppy seeds. As you can see form the picture one client has gone for the flowers seeds and another has chosen a little mint to go inside. They're both chosen their own wording to make it personal and used one of my designs to make it stand out a bit more. I've just introduced the Kraft range! They're so  lovely and vintage, It's best to stick with darker hues on these as when printed things colours will appear darker due to the colour of the kraft. I really is endless what you can use these for and the wording you can have to change it up, if you have any questions or want something a bit different then you can email me. 

You can purchase them on my website here! 
from £30 for 50 Matchbooks