Friday Favourites 19th-25th September 2015

This week I have spent an undisclosed amount of time working my blog (clue, it was a lot). I am trying to get back into the blogging game properly with multiple posts a week on a variety of topics and not limit myself to just illustration work. I started scheduling tweets and Instagram posts, I made a blog planner and worked out what I'm posting from now until January and I decided upon some weekly and monthly segments that are going to be popping up frequently.

Kicking it off is the first of my new weekly segment- Best Of The Week. This is a round up of my week and my favourite things about it - with photos to boot.

1. My gal pals.

Last Saturday I trekked down to Llanelli for lunch and a singsong with some of my most hilarious chums. These three beauties were my group when I was 19 and studying for my Diploma in Art and Design Foundation studies and we were only together for a year. None of us knew each other before we started and even thought we eventually all went into different disciplines (except me and Zoe who stayed loyal and stayed together in Illustration) we had the best year ever. How we passed is beyond me but our year mainly consisted of McDonalds, Dominoes, playing hide and seek, eating, taking 2 hour lunch breaks, eating, shopping, eating and Beyonce. And eating. We also went to London twice, Oxford and Venice together so we crammed a lot into one little year before all hopping off to different ends of Wales to study for our degrees.

I hadn't seen this crazy lot for a year when we met up in Llanelli last week and it was a testament to our friendship that I came home with a painful jaw from laughing so much. We may only have been together a year and we may not have seen each other for ages but it was like I'd seen them every day that week, cruising on up to Nantgarw for a cheeky McDonalds. It reaffirmed my suspicion that these people were 'My People', you know, those ones that you never see but know you'll be pals with forever. They just get me. Hopefully it won't be another year till we get together again.

Also April and Saeed have websites so you should probably go check them out here and here.

**On a side note we walked out of a Frankie and Bennys because they didn't have any chips so there's that.

2. Christmas at my Etsy shop.

It might be a bit early in the year to be thinking of Christmas but in the world of design and illustration it is NEVER too early. This week I have been working hard on my festive designs for this year and they are all up on my shop ready and waiting for orders! I have cards, thank you notes, present lists and children's products and if you keep checking in regularly there will be new things popping up all the time.

Find my Etsy shop here and treat yourself or someone you love to something festive or simply get organised early and tick cards off your to do list!

I've also been promoting my new work on my Twitter and Instagram all week!

3. Rugby World Cup.

Lets get this across first and foremost; I am not a big watcher of sport. I support Man United because it's a sin not to in my household and I like the athletics if Bolt is running and that is pretty much the extent of my viewing. Until. About two years ago I started being taken to Wales rugby union matches and I have suddenly become a MASSIVE rugby fan. Like ridiculous. I know terminology, I can actually hold a conversation about it, I know players and their form and who to rate and who not to and I have been looking forward to the world cup for months. I don't have tickets for any of the matches (boo, so expensive) and I am avoiding Cardiff like the plague but I have been watching the matches on t' telly and getting way too enthusiastic.

Vale Cider features in this photo, find them here.

4. Beyonce.

I found this quote whilst I was briefly nosing through Pinterest and after belting out some Bey in the car on the weekend in Llanelli it was a no brainer pin.I was struggling on Wednesday with motivation and getting my act together and tackle my ever mounting to do list and this quote was just all the sassy girl emojis. All hail Queen Bee.

You can follow me on Pinterest here, it's not related to my business at all so don't judge my sense of humour or my fashion sense. Or my penchant for soppy quotes.

5. Surprise Post.

I have been sourcing new products for my Etsy ready for Christmas gift buying and one idea I was really set on was pocket mirrors. I needed to order samples to make sure the finish and quality was what I wanted and I ordered these two samples from Camaloon. I decided the best way to test the products was to get someone to review them so I designed personal mirrors and packaging for my two best gals from uni Tania Clarke and Stacey Ward.

I kept my plan completely secret and this week both girls came home to find a little bundle of Gwennan Rees Illustration work through the letterbox. I designed the 58mm pocket mirrors for each of the girls and then made the packaging myself with a matching theme. I was super happy with the outcome and luckily the ladies were happy with the post!

Find both Tania and Stace online here and here.

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Friday Favourites 19th-25th September 2015