trying to adult

we tried to be adults by going to buy a laundry basket, it resulted in this comic

Helz Illustrates

2015

July #paperhaul

Hello!

This is the July edition of #paperhaul

#paperhaul is a monthly subscription service brought to you from Crafty Creatives, each month features a selection of paper goods to get you feeling inspired! 

the boxes contain a mix of stickers, greetings cards, postcards, washi tape and other fantastic goodies, and costs just £10 per month! let's get started..

Just by opening the box the theme hits you in the face (not litereally - that octopus looks pretty friendly!) and it's definitely underwater themed, which I think is so fun! very summery, very fitting for this time of year!

This was the first thing I grabbed as soon as I opened the box and I was *REALLY* excited about the addition of badges to this months box, three adorable badges, one with simple fish shapes, one with a cute seahorse and one that says "mermaid crush" these are great, and two of them instantly found their way onto my everyday backpack!

washi tape! this time it's blue and swirly patterned, I say it all the time in every unboxing, I love washi tape, I think it's great, you get a whole load of it on the roll too, which is handy!

the two stickers this time are really simple illustrations of a puffer fish, and an octopus, adorable, what else is there to say about these guys? I'm going to cut around them and use them on my next sketchbook cover.

set of three matte notecards with white envelopes. these are really interesting to look at because the illustrations are done in black and grey which stands out against the bright blue background, these are really fun.

three gloss finish mini gift tags! these have three cute little fish on in quite muted colours, and they almost look like they're swimming from one gift tag to the next. now, my partner really likes fishing, that's his thing, so I'll be using these on his gifts in the future definitely!

three postcards, top is an illustration of octopus tentacles, there is some really lovely detail on this on, the middle one features a sea babe, possibly a mermaid, with all sorts of sea life swimming among her blue hair, the third postcard features a graphic repeat pattern of fish in block colours, simple and eyecatching.

sheet of 12 stickers, all sea creatures! these are simple little digital illustrations, but they're very eye catching and I'll get a lot of use out of these.

double sided craft papers, one side feature a pale blue background with a jellyfish print all over, the second is a beige background with a navy blue image of seahorses and ropes.

the reverse side of these feature a white background with a repeat pattern of blue decorative fish all over, and the second is the same print as the notecards from above.

the final thing in the box is a greetings card and envelope featuring a beautiful almost tattoo inspired illustration of a crab in all black, the detailing is left white.

All in all, I think this box is fantastic, the addition of the badges really made a lovely surprise, I think I would maybe like less of the craft papers, just because I have so many, and have nothing to use them for unless I use them in collages etc. The box is well put together and definitely well worth the money. You can subscribe to #paperhaul at craftycreatives.com or buy a single box from the online shop!

Helz Illustrates!

This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by/for paperhaul or Crafty Creatives, all images and opinions are my own and purchased by myself.

This Girl Can

I was recently commissioned to create a design for the Herts Girls Can campaign, I was asked to design something suitable for all ages and sporting abilities of women. 

the #thisgirlcan campaign is designed to get more women into sports. 

the client wanted a design that she could use on social media, tshirts and leaflets. I also created a matching banner which can be used for facebook and twitter. 

wedding celebration card commission

 I was commissioned to illustrate a card for a friends wedding day, both the bride and groom are both roller derby skaters, so that was something that was an integral part of the design. The dog in the card is their dog Sam, who goes on adventures with them!

I was sent lots of reference images of the couple, and also a website link to the brides dress, which was really exciting!

The illustration was created using waterproof black ink and colour was added using Dr PH Martins Indian Inks.

Helz Illustrates 2015

June #paperhaul

Hello!

This is the June edition of #paperhaul

#paperhaul is a monthly subscription service brought to you from Crafty Creatives, each month features a selection of paper goods to get you feeling inspired! 

the boxes contain a mix of stickers, greetings cards, postcards, washi tape and other awesome goodies, and costs just £10 per month!

here's my #paperhaul box - June 2015

as soon as you open the box it screams summer and pastel colours! 

as always, there is a roll of washi tape in this box, this time a pastel pink stripe design, I love washi tape, and I find it so versatile, I use it on everything from lists in my sketchbooks to jazzing up a package!

three ice cream themed mini gift tags, these have a lovely glossy finish and the designs are all bright and graphic, these are perfect for attaching to birthday gifts, especially around this time of year!

these are really something special, three mini notecards with white envelopes, they each have a lovely watercolour style image on the front, two ice creams and an ice lolly, they are all on textured watercolour style card

two rectangular glossy stickers, now honestly, these are never my favourite part of the box, but these are cute, I just dislike the rigid shape of them

three graphic postcards! 

the first postcard is printed on a slightly textured matte card stock, the colours used in this are muted and the lettering is very fashionable at the moment

the second postcard is lime green in colour, a glossy finish this time, and the illustration is all in pink, with the words "it's a summer thing", the contrast between the two colours make a very interesting image.

the third postcard is a semi-matte finish, full block colour of dark chocolate brown, with a white graphic image of an ice cream lolly to the right hand side, this one is simple but sophisticated.

double sided craft papers! the one on the left in this image is my favourite, with pastel colours featuring lots of different ice creams and desserts! the paper on the right is a bold, simple print with bright colours and a repeat design.

the reverse side of the papers are very similar, the one on the left of the image is a simple blue line illustrative print on a cream background, featuring different ice creams, desserts and sundaes. the paper on the right is a pale teal colour, featuring a very similar illustration, with all-white linework.

this is a set of gloss finish square stickers, I really wish these had been round stickers, I always prefer round shaped stickers instead of square or rectangular. 

and finally, two square cards, perfect for any occasion, this one is a bold graphic design featuring a plain blue background and an ice cream lolly

the second card, is lots of different colourful ice creams and desserts printed onto a plain background. this is the same illustration as the craft papers too.

overall, I really liked this box, I think I will use these items much more than previous months, the colour scheme is really appealing to me, and I think most of the items will be used! 

thanks for reading, come back next month for the July edition! 

this post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by/for Crafty Creatives or Paperhaul, all opinions in this post are my own

Helz Illustrates

May #paperhaul

Hello!

This is the May edition of #paperhaul

#paperhaul is a monthly subscription service brought to you from Crafty Creatives, each month features a selection of paper goods to get you feeling inspired! 

the boxes contain a mix of stickers, greetings cards, postcards, washi tape and other awesome goodies, and costs just £10 per month!

here's my second #paperhaul box - May 2015

this months box is absolutely chocked full of 60/70's inspired paper goods, bright colours and bold prints!

here's the first thing I was drawn to, washi tape! this is a lovely delicate floral print, I love using washi tape on packages and letters, this is great quality too.

A set of three simple gift tags, The design on these is really retro looking and they're so bright and colourful, these are glossy too which I think is quite unique. These are perfect to attach to any gift, any time of the year.

these are really cool, two matte sticker sheets with a disco ball sequin type print on them, gives the illusion of being shiny, I'll probably cut these up into shapes or strips

three a6 postcards, the two on the right are both vinyl themed and graphic, and the one on the left is quite hippy/boho themed and the colours are muted pastel shades.

a set of three lovely mini notecards with kraft envelopes, these are stunning - the photo is definitely not doing these justice, the colours really pop against the black background, I'll be using these to send out with my etsy orders.

sticker sheet featuring nine different vinyl designs, these have a lovely gloss finish

double sided craft papers, fantastic if you like scrap booking or have themed pages in your sketchbooks or journals, the apple print side is the most appealing to me, as I think I will get the most use out of it.

two blank greetings card, the top image shows a very retro looking card which features a girl laying on a very floral sofa using a bright red telephone, this one is a gloss finish with a white envelope the bottom image is a simple graphic image of a girl with a large afro and sunglasses printed onto brown craft card with matching envelope.

overall, I liked the vinyl prints and stickers, the washi tape is cute, but 60s/70s style prints aren't really my favourite type of design, I'm sure I will still use most of the item in this box though!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post and come back next month to see what June #paperhaul brings!

Helz Illustrates

*this post is not sponsored or affiliated with Crafty Creatives or #paperhaul in any way, all photos and opinions are my own*

#starwarsday

Happy Star Wars Day! 

here are two hand illustrated greetings cards that are currently available on my etsy shop

www.etsy.com/shop/helzillustrates

they are both under £5 each, so why not treat that star wars lover in your life?

Helz Illustrates 2015

April #paperhaul

Hello!

This post is about #paperhaul which is a monthly subscription service for creative people. #paperhaul is from Crafty Creatives, and they have three different types of subscription box.

the paperhaul box contains a mix of paper, stickers, washi tape and other goodies, it costs £10 per month.

here's my first months box - April 2015

as you can tell from the above image, this months box has a balloon theme, which I think is simply adorable! the box is packed full of amazing products!

two square cards with envelopes, perfect for any occasion, or if you forget someones birthday (as i often do!)

double sided craft papers, these are great if you use scrapbooks, or make your own cards, they can be scanned in and used digitally too, which is how I like to use them!

three gorgeous brown paper gift tags, the detail on these is stunning.

three mini notecards with brown paper envelopes, these are really nice to send to friends, especially if they aren't really a greetings card type of person

two gloss finish prints and one matte textured, I love these, they'll be going up in my studio

a sticker sheet with pastel heart balloons, you'll be seeing these on my packaging when you order something

washi tape with multi-coloured dots on, this is perfect for packaging all year round, as much as I love seasonal products, I love things I can use for any occasion too

two matte stickers, one featuring a girl, the other featuring a boy, both with moustache-clad balloons.

So, overall I think the box is fantastic, I definitely think you get your moneys worth, especially since some of the products such as the craft paper can be reused, and there is a lot of washi tape on that roll! I loved that the box was balloon themed, very fitting for the Springtime too. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my goodies from the #paperhaul box, and watch out for a post next month!

Helz Illustrates!

*this post is not sponsored or affiliated with Crafty Creatives or #paperhaul in any way, all photos and opinions are my own*