Wednesday 21 December 2011

Oh So Tasty

What do you have for your Christmas breakfast? - Nai
Christmas breakfast
Naomi Designs

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Market Monday!

This weeks market monday find was by my boyfriend Tom! He found this pretty awesome bird to go on our Christmas tree!

We've decided to rescue all of the unwanted bird decorations that are left on the shelves in bargain stores and put them on our tree! Part of me wants to keep them out all year! - Nic

Monday 19 December 2011

Market Monday

This weekend has been so hectic, getting presents, making presents and wrapping presents, I have also been looking to buy some lovely jewellery for presents. I found these lovely necklaces by Amanda Taylor. I met her at the Made in Bristol pop up shop. You can check out her website here and you can buy her jewellery here  - Nai
Amanda Taylor
Pouss Jewellery Design







Friday 16 December 2011

Fresh Friday!

As you know I did some photos for a Christmas party a couple of weeks ago so I just wanted to show you my favourite shot!

The acrobats were really amazing and so fun to shoot as they create such interesting shapes!

Have a great weekend! - Nic

Fresh Friday

Today I have been finishing off my commission for Total Guitar magazine, and not really doing a lot else, apart from mundane paperwork and organising of my books. I then got to thinking about next year and getting organised for that, I really need to get a calender. The trouble is I am very fussy about calenders I can never find one's I really love.  I have seen some lovely designs on the Oh Joy blog, they are really simple but very effective.

2012 calender from the Indigo Bunting shop seen on Oh Joy!

So I decided to have a go at making my own illustrated calender,  I have written out all the months, days and numbers and scanned them into photoshop, I have then added some artwork of mine and I will add different images for each month. I can now either print out and scribble on it or edit it each day in photoshop. I will try and do one each month, let me know what you think and maybe have ago at making your own - Nai

January 2012
Naomi Designs














Thursday 15 December 2011

Crafty Fox!

My Christmas Cards are nearly ready!! I have all the photographs finished I now just need to do the remaining artwork and then print print print!!!

Here are a couple of my designs!

Copyright Nicola Ladd Photography

Copyright Nicola Ladd Photography

Copyright Nicola Ladd Photography

I'm hoping to finish all of the printing etc by this weekend so I can start handing them out this weekend and next week!

IN OTHER NEWS.....

I finally have my degree certificate and I am officially a professional photographer!!! - Nic


Crafty Fox

I was thinking of making an advent calender this year, of course as always I am too late, oh well there is always next year!  So this is a quick illustration of my 12 days till Christmas (even though it's less than that now!)

I have also seen some lovely craft ideas one of my favourite's is from 100 layer cake site, it's so simple but effective - Nai
From 100 layer cake find more details here

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Oh So Inspired!

Today I have been inspired (yet again) by a Masterchef episode! They featured a restaurant called El Celler De Can Roca and the food looked incredible!

Photograph found here.

I would really love the opportunity to photograph their food as it is just beautiful!

Photograph found here.

Both of these photographs are amazing and I can't wait to make a start on my own! - Nic

Oh so Inspired

My inspiration today is an illustrator called Martha Ford,  I met her at the pop up shop for Drawn in Bristol, she really made me laugh she is a lovely warm person with a quirky sense of humour.  Her work is also very humorous and imaginative - I love it.  She really puts a lot of thought into what she does and it really shows.

Below are some of her beautiful illustrations, let me know what you think, you can view more of her work here - Nai
Martha Ford

Martha Ford

Martha Ford

Martha Ford

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Oh So Tasty!

I was hoping I would have made a start on some proper food photography by tonight so that I could share it but I ended up spending most of my weekend photographing things for my Christmas cards and taking photographs of my amazing niece and nephew! (Christmas Card examples will be posted Thursday so keep those eyes peeled!)

So instead I decided to post about my favourite food to bake... scones!















































They are so easy to make and they're great savoury or sweet (although I'm not a fan of the cheese scone I must admit!). I like mine with jam and a big lump of clotted cream!

And here's that big question that has always sparked debate... how do you pronounce scone?! - Nic

Oh so tasty

Food that makes me feel Christmassy
Naomi Designs

Monday 12 December 2011

Market Monday!

 Naomi and I have been planning our business and so far we feel our blog's doing really well. We've finally got ourselves onto Twitter and Facebook so the next steps are opening an online shop, and then next year have a small exhibition to show off our blog and the work that we've been doing. 

 Through looking at various blogs we've come across a great online marketplace for creatives called Etsy. It's a fab site and the commission they earn on your work is minimal, so perfect for us to start off with until we are big enough to have our own website (and eventually real life shop!).

 So my post is a little twist on Market Monday and I'm going to share a few of my favourite items!


A cool mixed media vintage look print of Paris...
Find it here!























































A cute yoda dog costume that I would DEFINITELY BUY if I had a dog!
Find here!



































Some gorgeous simple gold necklaces that I would love for Christmas (hint hint to someone I know!)...


 This is just a small handful of things I've spotted but there are loads of cool items to buy! Check it out here and maybe set up your own little online market 'stall'!

 We'll let you know when we've opened ours! - Nic

Market Monday

Here we are again, it's getting scarily close to Christmas agggh!

I love Christmas markets they really get you in the mood for Christmas. Most of all though I love Christmas food shopping at markets, you really can get something extra special and tasty either for yourself or a lovey gift. I just get so excited everything always looks so delicious and is beautifully packaged. The St Nicks market is a particularly good one, I will be popping along on Wednesday to get some little treats!

A little tip; never go hungry to a food market cause you will end up spending a fortune! - Nai
Christmas Treats
a quick little illustration
Naomi Designs

Friday 9 December 2011

Fresh Friday!

Today I've been thinking about where I want to go with my freelance career.  Every time anyone asks me what I want to do I tend to say I don't know! So I had a think about what excites me and I've decided.... food!




























I love to bake and read cookery books and watch cooking programs, and two of my favourite celebrities (not including Prof. Brian Cox of course) are chefs (Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver in case you were wondering!).

Now I can't cook to save my life although I think I'm a pretty mean baker! So how else can I get into the food industry using my skills and talents.... (this is when the revelation kicks in)... Food Photography!

I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it before but I'm going to do some experimenting and if I really enjoy it then I can start on a portfolio. Who knows I could end up working with Hugh or Jamie on their next cookbooks (well a girl can dream!). Luckily Tom (the boyfriend) is a great cook and this could be an excellent excuse to buy lots of fancy cutlery and bowls and such! Exciting times ahead I hope!

Oops I too seem to have written lots! Happy weekend! - Nic

Fresh Friday

Fresh Friday is about posting things Nikki and I have been working on through the week. We would like do some joint projects mixing photography and Illustration where we hope to create some fun and inspiring pieces so watch this space! (hopefully we will find time soon)

As Nic mentioned in her last post we have been getting ourselves out there by creating twitter and facebook accounts, luckily for me she is good at all that stuff I just don't have a clue, so thanks to Nic you can check us out on the above links.

Talking of promotion this week I have been trying to promote Naomi Designs. I find this marketing business really difficult (I'd much rather sit and draw all day, but theirs not much point if there is no one to see it apart from me!) I have decided I need to send out some mail shots to various agencies, magazines, newspapers and card companies. I found the Writers and Artists yearbook 2012 incredibly useful, not only does it have fantastic advice on how to get started and be a successful freelancer, but it also has an up to date listing of agencies, magazines, newspapers, and card company contacts with all the details you need to send work out to.

My friend told me about  MailChimp which is an on line company offering email marketing and list managers. It's FREE to set up an account. You can choose from a number of templates to set up a mailshot that works for you. You can then input all your contact details and MailChimp will help organise your lists so you can then send out your mailshot. It looks very professional and is an instant way for people to view your work without having to download email attachments.

This is what I created (It takes time but you have to persevere) All I need to do now is input my lists and get them sent out! - Nai
Mailshot by mailchimp - Naomi Designs
The quality isn't fantastic as I had to print it and then scan it, as I couldn't download it from my email in the correct format, probably a good thing! It looks fantastic on email though.

P.S sorry for waffling, but I hope someone will find this useful!

Thursday 8 December 2011

Crafty Fox!

Hmmm I've not been very crafty this week but I really should get a move on as Christmas is creeping its way around the corner!

Myself and Naomi have been slightly productive though and have finally got ourselves on Facebook and Twitter! Click on the links above and 'like' and 'follow' us please!

Back to Crafty Fox! Although I haven't done much this week I have been really inspired by this website.

Photograph from Craftivore.com
How much do I want to make that chicken?!

It's such a great site for the beginner and the tutorials are definitely worth paying for because it makes knitting seem like a piece of cake! - Nic

Crafty Fox

Camper Vans are Ace
Campers are ace
Naomi Designs

I love camper vans my fiance and I are really hoping to buy one after our wedding, we were torn at one point; wedding or camper van!  It was a difficult decision and I'm sure if you asked my fiance he'd still be torn, but it's too late now the venue is booked! Tee Hee


One of my resolutions for next year is to actually start creating some crafty items, the trouble is I find 3D difficult you need a lot of patience which is something I do not have, that's why I love drawing so much you can create something so immediately!
I was looking on 100 layer cake which I seem to be doing a lot lately, they have amazing home crafted weddings,  I'm hoping to use some of the ideas for our wedding. These are just a few examples of things I would like to make and how I want to arrange my flowers I have some amazing bridesmaids who will hopefully be able to help me with all this!
Image from 100 Layer Cake blog

I love the colours and simplicity of the flower arranging!
Image from 100 Layer Cake blog

I love the jars ( I have everyone collecting jars so I can try and recreate this.)
Image from 100 Layer Cake blog

The vintage vases are great and the way they have done the seating plan is beautiful - Nai

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Oh So Inspired!

Last week I went to see Naomi at the Colston Hall as she was exhibiting in an exhibition called Resolution. The artists were given the title 'resolution' and the task of creating a piece of art in an oval shape.



























There was some great work there and I really liked one of the solar system (as we all know I'm a huge nerd!) but Naomi's was of course my favourite!















































If you're in town head to the Glass Room in the Colston Hall to check out the exhibition! - Nic


Oh So...Inspired

Last Friday I spent the day in the Drawn in Bristol pop up shop, I met a lovely illustrator called Hannah Broadway. She is a real sweetheart I instantly warmed to her she is a lovely, friendly and happy person who happens to create fantastic imaginative illustrations. She seems to be able to take  very everyday and ordinary things and turn them into wonderful and vibrant image's. You can view her work here
Hannah Broadway
Hannah Broadway
Hannah Broadway

 I met another fantastic Illustrator at the pop up shop she is called Martha Ford, look out for her  work next week - Nai

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Oh So Tasty!

I've been thinking lately about trying my hand at jam making! I really love baking and being able to make jam seems like a good addition to my baking skills! 

Photograph found here.





















I'm not really sure where to start so I think I might buy this preserves book to help me out.

Oooh I do like jam I'm excited to try making it! - Nic

Market.. err Tuesday!

Late again! Sorry I wasn't able to post last night, I spent all night on the photographs for the John Lewis Party as I had a very tight deadline. The photos should be on my website by the weekend so I'll post a sneak preview!

I haven't been to a market or even shopping this weekend (apart from for our Christmas Tree which most definitely wasn't under £3!) as I've had another busy one but next weekend I'm hoping to go here...

Photograph from Oh Happy Day


























I really hope there are some cool things to buy like in this market in Texas, US! -Nic

Oh So tasty

 With Christmas fast approaching I'm starting to think about food and mainly puddings, we made this incredible trifle last year from a recipe I found on the Waitrose website for recipe see here
Chocolate trifle with boozy cherries
Naomi Designs
Image from the Waitrose website

This is what it should look like - not that ours did! It did however taste incredible and is a great alternative to traditional trifle which i'm not so keen on! - Nai

Monday 5 December 2011

Market Monday







It's Market Monday again it comes around so fast. As with most weeks I have failed in my quest for finding things in shops and markets for less than £3, mainly due to spending most of Sunday slobbing around the house with my fiance feeling a bit sorry for myself after a few bevvies on Saturday night listening to DJ Derek at the Thunderbolt.  It was amazing.

Anyhow back to markets, there were a lot going on at the weekend in various places and I believe there are a few more interesting little stalls popping up for christmas see the made in Bristol pop up site here for more details.

Wooden necklaces by Sally Haysom
My Bear Hands
I did however come across some lovely little gifts in the Drawn in Bristol shop which has finished now I bought a few gifts for my friend,  a necklace by Illustrator Sally Haysome I love the quirky little designs printed onto a wooden pendant. You can order through her Bearhands website
Alice Sheilds
I also came across these lovely little broaches by illustrator Alice Shields

Enjoy - Nai







Sunday 4 December 2011

It's nearly Christmas!!!

Yay the decorations are finally up!



























The tree took much deliberation and two-ing and fro-ing but we finally decided to get the bigger more expensive one and convinced ourselves it would be a saving in the long run as we wouldn't buy another one!





























































































It's a massive 7ft 6"!!!




























We also had some spare lights so decorated our window!

Here are some other Christmassy touches we made to our flat...






























See you Monday and Seasons Greetings! - Nic