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

A confession and a drawing...

Well I think it's high time I 'fessed up to the reason why I've been a little bit absent of late and only managing one blog post a month. Ohhh you'll like it.....it's a good 'un!...

For those of you who just missed my tweet on the tweetiful twitterverse this week, I have been busy growing a baby in my tummy! And then trying desperately to do my best at keeping it a secret from almost everyone until the first trimester was up. I'm a terrible liar...probably the worst you will ever meet. Which is why I don't EVER bother doing it. Tense times! But I'm four months now, and would have shared this news with you regardless to my needing to or not, because it's nice to tell you things :)

So my secret is out. I've been very lucky with morning sickness , but wee baby has zapped me of all my energy, particularly when the evenings roll around. And that's after a hard day...sitting at my desk! So, I'm feeling a bit perkier now, still tired but not sick which makes me happy! I'm still very much working on commissions and have a handful to upload which I will do over the coming weeks. Yes I WILL! (I'm shouting that to myself, not you...don't be afraid!).

So anyways, here is my most recent...





















This has been my favourite house to draw so far, without a doubt. Do you like it? I hope you do.

Also, as I said I would, I have housed some of my screenprint embroideries in new gleaming white deep set frames. I've been having a minor internal drama about if I should keep the temple print for my very own walls, because I reeeeally like it. So it's been almost making it onto Etsy for a few weeks now, and I am running out of excuses not to list it! Have you ever really wanted to keep a piece of work you made? And what did you do in the end...keep it or sell it?

I'm off outside now...and hoping I don't get slapped in the face by a wayward leaf again! (Blustery Winds!).

Happy Monday!

Kirsty x

And now for something completely different...

Everyone knows that I love a good Victorian terraced house drawing, and so far all of my commissons have been scrummy terrace houses.

As with most things, it got me thinking about what it is I love about them. Firstly, I grew up in one. A standard turn of the century long beaut' with the front door in the Living Room, a poky kitchen and that awkward third bedroom off the second. When my husband and I were looking for a house to buy last year we ended up viewing a LOT of terraces, seeings as these were for the most part on the lower end of the price scale, which suited us just fine! It was very interesting to be able to see this standard format in so many different ways. No two were the same. Whether it was a remoulded archway, a bathroom in a different place or a door where you didn't expect it, you could always see how a 100 years of little changes had made a unique difference to the feeling of each house.

Terraces, I have come to find, are outrageously charming. Steeped in history and having been 'home sweet home' to many different people and families, over a hundred years. You can almost feel the massive buzz of activity which would have filled each house in it's lifetime. And you know when older people always talk about the sense of community which existed long long long ago? Imagine 60 houses on one street...60 familes...possibly 240 or so people living on one street. Maybe even more in Victorian times when people tended to have larger families. So I think that the way terraces were designed to be tightly packed, and also on the smaller side, would have almost certainly encouraged communication between neighbours. And with these houses being typically full of younger families I doubt as a kid you'd be short of a play friend or two. And I'm sure that even now, it's that little bit easier for even the most shy of us to talk to our neighbours on a terraced street than a row full of far apart, high hedged detached houses.

If you like terraces and old photos as much as me, then you should have a little look at the beautifil collection of images by lovedaylemon, which I was directed to by the lovely ToniRica a few months ago - Click Here :) And if you live in a Victorian Terrace you can sit back and imagine the kind of people that might have been standing proudly outside what was once their home to have a photograph taken with it. I LOVE those photos. They are quite amazing!


So, now I've talked (a lot...sorry) about terraces and probably uttered the word itself, oh I don't know, about fifty times; I'm not going to show you a drawing of one! Because this time I got to draw something completely different. Which was VERY exciting and also a little bit scary (I don't mind admitting it), but overall an amazing opportunity. So without giving away too much detail it was a commission outside the UK of a 170 year old farmhouse which sits proudly on 3.5 acres of land and scattered with five ponds and a barn (of course!) I literally gasped when I saw the photos of the house. It's so completely beautiful. Lots of lovely lines, wonderful details, pattern and plenty of plants to draw. And although the house itself was stunningly cohesive as a whole, it was certainly not dull or un-interesting to look at. Because although each element looked like it was meant to be there, each section was fundamentally very different. For example the conservatory. It's an addition but it's the perfect shape to offset the squareness of some of the other elements of the house.

It took me a very long time, over a handful of weekends and it was a very euphoric feeling to finish and get to see it finished. And off I sent it in the post to it's lovely new owner. I'm going to really enjoy thinking about it hanging up in that beautiful home.

I can't finish this post without a nod to the fact that I haven't been posting weekly for the last few months but trust me...I have a very good reason for it! I'll tell you soon. In the meantime I have two more house commissions to be getting on with and a very interesting map of Norwich...

Love to hear your commens as always! Hope you are all happy, healthy and enjoying the Summer x