SALE time!

Hello!

Hope you all had an excellent Christmas :) I've spent the last few days in an over indulged daze, as I'm sure may be the case for a lot of you also! I'm now busy trying to offload as many chocolates as I can to friends, family and basically anyone who comes within ten meters of my house. Oh, and also avoid the mad Post-Christmas Sales in the highstreet! I have to say I have been indulging in a spot of online retail therapy (the best kind) which has been fun as I'm becoming far too pregnant to be traipsing around the City Centre for very long these days.






In the spirit of all the crazy sales happening I'm having my very own in the DottyNoggin Etsy Shop! It's a generous one - 25% off EVERYTHING. Yes...I did just use Caps. I pretty much NEVER (there I go again) have Sales. In fact the last one I had was in Easter, and it wasn't even this good. The fact is that my prices are already as low as low can be (without me making a loss) so you really will be getting a genuine bargain.

So, all you need to do, is pick what you want and then use the code 'BOXINGDAY' at the checkout. Shipping on most items is free (apart from ceramics) so you don't even have to worry about that.

Hope you see something you'd like to treat yourself with. I'm now off to construct my own picture wall with all of the lovely prints I've collected over the last year and now have framed - lovely!! Next post, I'll share with you the commission I did for a lovely lady as a Christmas Gift to her husband and a Christmas Gift I made for my sister. Can't wait to show you!

Until then!

Kirsty x

Snowy Skies, blankets and large mugs of tea!

I have to admit to you, I'm bundled up on the sofa with a very comfy blanket, a lovely big mug of (decaf) tea while Marty is sprawled out snoozing on the other sofa. And I'm feeling very happy that I'm not trundling around the shops today laden with bags of stuff, on the last Saturday before Christmas Eve. It looks very cold outside and the sky seems full of snow. So inside is the perfect place for me to be, especially when I am feeling so very heavy!

I hope you've all enjoyed your Christmas Shopping! Have had lots of lovely orders for cards at gifts in my Etsy Shop which has been lovely. I hope they earn lots of smiley faces when they get opened and unwrapped :)

Here are some pics from the various events the 'Baked' ladies and I were at over the Christmas Period.

We had great fun at these events and lots of chatter with people. A massive thank you to anyone who spoke to us and bought our wares!

I'm still taking last minute orders in my shop, but please read the banner for last postal dates in time for Christmas. Unfortunately Royal Mail are already telling me that First Class Post won't cut it for arrival in time for Christmas, even though the last date for this on their website is the 20th December. So I am offering Special Delivery (which has been advised) at an extra cost. You can get more details about this in my shop notifications :)

There will be a whole load of new items listed on the 26th and 27th December, with a special announcement to boot which I will blog about on the day/s. So keep your peepers peeled!

Oh, and a quick baby update...as I said, I am very heavy at the moment. People tend to look at me agahst when I tell them I have two more months to go!




And I'll leave the last photo for Marty, who has just today been helping himself to baubles and quickly chomping them before anyone catches on.



Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!! Hope it's full of wonderful family, friends and FOOD! :) Take care and have an amazing time,

Kirsty x

It's that time of Year again...(ho ho ho)

Please forgive me if you are someone who doesn't like to see or hear of anything of Christmas until a few weeks before the big day. In our house, we get the decorations out as soon as is acceptable! My style of Christmas decorating is to throw everything I possibly can at the tree and my theory is 'too much is never enough'. Honestly, if you colour co-ordinate your tree and think tinsel is tacky, your eyes would most definitely burn in their sockets if you laid eyes upon my 'masterpiece'. Either that, or you'd just be mildy offended ;)

So with Christmas around the corner and everyone getting in the mood, I've been busy making, framing, printing and drawing things that I am sure will make lovely festive gifts and stocking fillers. These are all my wares for the craft and Christmas Markets which will take up a good part of the next month or so.

New Screenprint Embroideries

Some of my handpainted ceramics from my very first collection!

I'm continuously making as I sell, with hopefully a few of these being made available on Etsy so be sure you are following on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates on what's being added to the shop and more general news. I should be blogging more too, so you'll see more of me :)

Wishing you a very nice week indeed!

x

Bumper Blog Post!

Well I never, it's November already!

Hope you all had a very excellent October...it's been a while since I posted, but things have not been at all quiet at DottyNoggin HQ...

This will be a bit of a bumper blog post, so I'll start from the top!

My Etsy shop has had somewhat of a relaunch - I've added a wider range of prints and such over the last four weeks or so. You will have seen them before when showed you first, but here they are - now all available to buy...

'Wong Tai Sin Temple' © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Joyce is not Here' (black & white) © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Counter' © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Wet Market' © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Centre Street' © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Sai Ying Pun' © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Joyce is not Here' (Colour) © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Centre Street' (Colour) © Kirsty Ramsbottom

'Librairie des Jardins' © Kirsty Ramsbottom

My Zine is also finally available too!

'A Street Zine - Guernsey Road' Limited Edition of 50 © Kirsty Ramsbottom

Also you might have noticed six little Christmas Cards designs which are available now, so if you are a shopper of a more organised nature you can pick them up now! They are available individually or in sets of three, six, nice and so on...

Finally the most important Etsy thing I have to tell you about is my custom listing. As you may or may not know I've not been able to list many of these (only one in fact!) because I've had a lot of commissions outside of Etsy and therefore no time to squish any more in! But as Christmas is drawing close I've decided to list another. Many if you have contacted me about these as gifts, so I hope I can help you give someone a very lovely Christmas gift. It's very likely I'll only be able to do one or two of these, because my time is very very limited at the moment. So if you feel like you might be interested I wouldn't hang about, as the last one sold within a few hours. You can find the listing here!

And speaking of Christmas! Preparations are well and truly underway for a handful of Festive Fayres I'm very thrilled to be taking part in along with some of my 'Baked' ladies. I always find Christmas Markets so exciting - there is such a friendly warm atmosphere. And if there are mince pies and carol singers that's even better!

The events which we are confirmed to be at are:

Norwich Lanes Christmas Fayre
Upper St Giles Street
17th November 5-9m

The evening includes lots of Christmas stalls, Choirs, Street Theatre, Mulled Wine and Mince Pies! It's also the starting point for a Christmas Tree Trail, which will be great fun for all the kids. Suffice to say I'd be going to this even if I wasn't participating!


Assembly House Traditional Christmas Fair
Assembly House Norwich - Noverre Suite
10th & 11th December 10am - 4pm

Billed as the perfect place for present ideas and sensational stocking fillers! From decorations to, flowers, Christmas Cakes, Mince Pies to lots of handmade wares.


Thorpe St Andrew Christmas Event
Yarmouth Road (between The Buck and Richmond Court
27th November 4 -8pm

There's a whole lot of Christmas happening here, and I've been told by people who attended last year that it's definitely not one to miss. Everything kicks of at 4pm and the evening includes Carols, a visit from Father Christmas, Light switch on, a Nativity Play (Eeeeeh!), fireworks AND real reindeer! Radio Norwich will be there, and so will we; wrapped up in lots of knitwear, woolly hats and extra pairs of gloves!

So I very much hope to see some of you there!

Also in the news...I've been working on some new pieces, namely a spot of crockery! This is something quite different I'm trying and so far has been very well received by visitors who have spotted little bits and pieces which are currently being dried out in the house. Here's a sneaky peek which you may have already spotted on Twitter or my Facebook Page...

Untitled © Kirsty Ramsbottom

I also did a spot of writing this week, as I was very priviledged to be asked to be the 'Young Creative Council's Weekly Score interview-ee. You can see it here, if you are interested in hearing a bit about me in a more concise fashion rather than the nattery chit chat I do on my blog!


We've shifted my studio into a bigger room in our house so that when the baby arrives and I return to work I'll be able to have us both in one room, as my old studio was far too small. So my old studio is in the process of being nurserified (!?) as you can see above. We picked some Quentin Blake Alphabet Wallpaper which as you can tell, I am MORE than happy about!

That's it really! But here you go, you can have a photo too.



Excuse my silly face!

Hope to see some of you locals around very soon! Say hi if you see me and bump around!

Speak soon! x

The perfect gift!

Even if I do say so myself. This Illustration was commissioned as a wedding gift for a very close friend of hers, which I have to say is a very excellent idea. (Warning to everyone I know, don't be too shocked if you all get drawings of your house for Christmas!)

Lets have a look at it then shall we....












This was a little bit different as I was asked to also include the newlyweds beautiful dalmation in the Illustration. I was a bit nervous, but I think she turned out quite well :)

I'm starting to notice little similar details in some of the brickwork on some of the houses, which makes me think that even though these Victorian Terraces were all built quite close together in time, there are little quirks which could date them even more precisely...

My little sister moved away to University at the weekend, and I've planned on drawing our parent's house for her to have with her in her room. She not-so-discreetly hinted a few weeks ago that she would like this, so I'm hoping she will have forgotten by the time it's ready so I can surprise her with it!

Since I have less brain cells now (this is a fact...I read it in 'What to Expect' and also have proven it to be true on various occassions! ha!) I have got into lists in a big way. I have them for my day design job but have so far never let them find their way into my art life/home life. But I had to give in, admit defeat and have to say that I am far less scatty as a result which, of course, is very lovely and makes me feel much more gathered! So I have a few things in the works at the moment in addition to the above which are a big map drawing (eeeh!), new Christms Card designs and also I am now the proud owner of a porcelain pen which I am fit to burst about. My concept is to layer illustration with pattern as I do with my screenprints, just on all kind of beautiful new and vintage crockery. BUT I haven't tried it yet. If you never hear me mention it again, then you'll know it went wrong!

And very finally I have some good news, which is that an AMAZING shop in Norwich has started stocking my screenprints - very exciting! And I shall hopefully have some photos to share soon. For now...anyone in Norwich can toddle down to 'Art's Desire' on St Benedict's Street to have a look at those and some of the other lovelies they have in store. It really is one of those shops where new customers gasp as they go in...very lovely indeed.

This means for now I've taken my screenprints down from Etsy, but will fill my online shop up with more goodies soon hopefully.

Wishing you all a very happy week, and wrap up warm....it's turning cold! Brrr!

Kirsty x