To cheer you all up, I’m going to give away a signed limited edition screen print on that day. Heres how to enter into the prize draw:

1. RT @twoforjoyart on twitter
2. Share any Two For Joy Art facebook post on your own wall- www.facebook.com/twoforjoyart
3. Joining the Two For Joy Art mailing list on: www.twoforjoyart.com
4. Join the Two For Joy Art facebook fan page (to anyone not already in the family!)

The more options you do, the more chances you have of winning!

Best of luck!! ♥

I was so outraged by this that today I donated a stack of Two For Joy Christmas cards for them to sell and make a bit of dosh for Oxfam.

Thieves will never prosper, Good will lives on!

PS. Oxfam Dalston have a wordpress blog!

My reindeer design was chosen by Viv along with other gorgeous Christmas cards.

You can take a look here. Mine is on the left, third row down.

If you like my cards, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a nice little comment. A few words make all the difference!

If you really do love my cards you can find a wider selection here.

C is for Crab…

I’ve been doing a bit of drawing lately and thought I’d share some pictures with you.

I’ve decided to build up my collection and approach illustration agencies next year.

If I were to be taken on, I will be working as an artist 100% of the time (dream) so here’s hoping!

But I won’t be turning my back to the paper-cutting, have no fear!

So I guess thats my New Years Resolution sorted out…

I got rather busy with the face paints this evening to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

This yearly event takes place in Mexico on not one, but two days; All Saints day and All Souls day.

People gather, often in cemetaries, and stay up all night in hope of seeing their loved ones that have past.

They bring flowers and offerings for the deceased to try and coax them back.

They light candles for the people they mourn and often light extra candles for lost souls.

It was this celebration that inspired my latest screen print.

www.twoforjoyart.com

Take a peek if you will!

As some of you already know I designed two lovely t-shirts for TidyPlayer, a great new clothing label.

TidyPlayer had its debut catwalk show yesterday at Essex Fashion Week surrounded by golden girls, well groomed guys and plenty of the cast from ‘The Only Way is Essex’!

Here is my ‘Day of the Dead’ t-shirt, can you spy Frankie and Chloe from TOWIE in the background?!

My ‘Paris Mon Amore’ t-shirt

In the VIP area we enjoyed champagne and chocolates courtesy of a lovely lady with a tray laden with delicious treats!

Unfortunately we didn’t get papped once, probably because us girls were all in flats and didnt look half as glam as the Essex squad! So we took our own photo!

I’m far left with Anthony Murphy, director of TidyPlayer, behind me. His wife is in white in the middle with my fella is in the checked shirt second in from right.

The t-shirts seemed to be well received and it was great to see them live on the catwalk!

If you like my designs you can get the Paris one here

The Day of the Dead design can be found her

Filed under: Day of the Dead, Essex Fashion Week, Reem, T-shirts, TidyPlayer Tagged: Essex, fashion, T-shirts, TidyPlayer ]]> http://twoforjoyart.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/im-in-essex-girl/feed/ 1 twoforjoyart Dayofdead2 Paris2 Group Shot EFW http://twoforjoyart.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/the-artist-the-oil-spill/ http://twoforjoyart.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/the-artist-the-oil-spill/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:12:50 +0000 twoforjoyart http://twoforjoyart.wordpress.com/?p=213 ]]> Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year has just been announced and the winner is Spanish-born photographer Daniel Beltrá.

Daniel took home two awards, as Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Wildlife Photojournalist of the year, both in recognition of his documentation of the Gulf Oil Spill.

‘Still Life in Oil’

When the Gulf of Mexico oil spill happened I felt so moved to try and help the  charity heading the clean up ‘International bird rescue research centre’ (IBRRC) that I created a limited edition screen print from an original paper cut I had produced.

I donated 25% of the profits of each print sold to IBRRC.

Sadly however, not many people wanted to support my campaign and I still have quite a few prints left.

After seeing Daniel Beltrá’s photo it has re-sparked my enthusiasm for helping all wildlife affected by man made and natural disasters.

So I’m sending out my last plea for people to reach into their pockets to buy one of my prints so I can donate some much needed cash to the charity that rescued so many birds that would have otherwise died in this tragic disaster.

IBRRC continue to work tirelessly to help all wildlife in need.

My print is just £40 and would restore my heart in knowing there are still good, kind people out there, who want to help make a difference.

You can find out more about my campaign by clicking here

It was inspired by the Day of the Dead in Mexico, a yearly celebration of loved ones that have passed.

I thought you might like to see a step by step guide as to how I created it!

Step 1.  I start by drawing out my design on the reverse side.

Step 2.   The corn was so fiddly and took the most time out of the whole image.

Step 3.  I mark little crosses in the parts I will cut out. This way I don’t get confused when doing complicated designs!

Step 4.  Starting to come to life now!

Step 5.  After days and days of carefully cutting, I finished!

Step 6.  The final stage of the process was to transform this cut out into a screen print.  Its an edition of just 25 to keep them very special!

If you’d like to have my much loved screen print in your home, then thank you very much! You can get your screen print by clicking here

A commission is great if you want something completely unique. No one else will be giving that particular piece, so you’re bound to score a few brownie pionts!

Here are a selection of commissions I’ve created this year:

If you’d like a handcrafted picture for yourself or a loved one, I’m now taking Christmas commissions.

Each piece is made with a great deal of love and care and I hope you enjoy them!

Please contact me at this address: stacey@twoforjoyart.com