Union Jacks and Corgi Dogs

People may have read my post a few weeks ago about my London trip to see the Wizard of Oz, and how it prompted my double decker bus tote into being. With the Queens Jubilee and London 2012 on the horizon I felt the urge to make a few more themed designs to celebrate.

Regular followers will remember several occasions where I have said how much I want to get a dog, but won’t allow myself right now due to various practical reasons. Of course that doesn’t stop me gazing longingly at the adoption websites for hours on end, picking out potential matches! Recently I’ve been ogling at Corgis.

I guess my current obsession began a few weeks ago, whilst I was on my morning run and rounded a corner, coming came face to face with a huge, fluffy husky. I paused out of a kind of bemused shock – not at the husky, but at the scene behind it. A man in his mid twenties stood there and I guess he was an employee of a local dog walking company. I say this because clustered around his muddy green wellingtons were corgis. Lots of corgis. There were about 15 of them in total, each scampering along on short legs, interweaving their leads and panting heavily.  I’ve seen these corgis many times since, but never as many and never with the same walker. I wish I had had my camera with me to document the sight – but perhaps it is the kind of scene which improves and transforms into something better in the memory?

Since then I have been doodling corgis throughout my sketchbook (which I will put on this blog soon), and one of the outcomes is my Union Jack Corgi Tote bag. I love this little guy, and this bag makes the perfect shopping companion, reminding me of both the bizarre event which inspired its creation and my love of dogs. Since I uploaded it to my etsy shop earlier this week, it’s had quite a bit of attention, so I have high hopes for this little doggy in the coming months.

I recently set up a facebook page and twitter account for my etsy shop, and welcome followers and ‘like’ers! My New Years Resolution was to keep all these social networking outlets up-to-date, and its going fantastically so far, especially since I worked out how to link the accounts together!

Double Deckers and London Adventures

The other day I took an impromptu trip to London, after a wonderful friend offered me a spare ticket to see The Wizard of Oz with her at the London Palladium. London Palladium, of course, is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve entered in quite some time, and I managed to take a few snaps of the architecture before the show started, but won’t share them here because they’re so blurry! Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production was amazing, with an incredible set design and watching it from the middle of the row made it all the better. Although, I can’t help thinking I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been ogling at the rather well trained dog and mentally squealing with delight every time Toto came on stage!

Whilst spending the rest of the day in London, I became aware of quintessential icons in the city, and a British national symbol, and how in trend they’re becoming with the upcoming London 2012 Olympics. Amongst these, I mainly became fascinated by the double-decker buses; the sheer number of them, and how they became so associated with London.

On the train journey home I ended up doodling a quick design of buses, which was finished off and coloured when I got home that night. The next day I tried pressing it onto fabric, which resulted in the colourful bag below, which is now for sale in my etsy shop.

Also, I’ve finally made a facebook page for my etsy shop, Mystic Moose!