Lots of Goings on in Yorkshire.....

Things around Bridlington is changing and bicycles keep popping up around the town. We are very excited that as part of the Tour de Yorkshire, Bridlington is its starting point with the even more fantastic Bradley Wiggins cycling on our doorstep. It makes me feel very proud and excited to be from Yorkshire and Bridlington!

We are also excited to share with you The Victoria Mill's very own cycling club! They call themselves the Victoria Vikings. Obviously because they think they are Vikings :). The group has started to grow and meet regularly for rides along the Yorkshire coast and countryside.

Open for both male and female and abilities, the Victoria Vikings are hoping to grow. With what better way to start your Sunday with a cycle and a coffee from The Brew Mill. :)

Check out the Victoria Vikings Facebook Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/victoriavikingsbridlington

Find out more about the Tour de Yorkshire here:

http://letour.yorkshire.com

So that's what have to look forward in May, what about April! Another exciting event is taking place in The Victoria Mill in association with The Priory, The Little Organic Bakery and The Brew Mill present Professor Elemental's Tea Party Extravaganza! Bringing you something British and eccentric! I can't wait! Especially excited for the food yum!

The Victoria Mill hopes this is the start of many interesting events in the future. Feel very privileged to be involved. Click on the link to find out what we have been listening to in preparation for the Professors visit :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iRTB-FTMdk

So what else have I been up to! I am eagerly waiting for it to get warmer so I can get outside in my studio! I have ventured out to produce a little personalised birdie cushion which is something I shall be advertising soon to do hopefully. It was certainly chilly outside washing my screens. Dylan didn't want to join me :)

Do you think they are a good idea? Going to have a little more practice with my screen with the letters on. 

With it soon to be April lets hope for some warmer weather, lots of drawing, printing and flowers blooming! 

For the Love of....

Last bank holiday Sunday I was in Whitby at the gorgeous Brunswick centre at the For the Love of Vintage and Handmade Fair. I have never had a stall in Whitby before but I'm glad I did as I had my lovely friend Lucy keep me company. It was also great to meet lots of people visiting the historic seaside town for the summer holidays. 

I had to make sure I stayed firmly at my stall as I always get the urge to seek out something lovely to buy. There was such a fab selection of vintage finds to buy. Especially clothes!

It was my first "For the Love of..." fair but isn't my last I will be joining them again at Christmas in York in November! Watch this space for more info!

For the Love of... Vintage & Handmade Fair!

I am very excited to be at Whitby this bank holiday weekend with the For the Love of Vintage & Handmade Fair. My first fair gearing up for Christmas. I am very excited!

Doors open at 10.30am! I will be there with many of my favourite designs and hope to meet some lovely new people from along the Yorkshire coast and beyond :)

I hope to see some of you there!

Run of Dye 2014!

Last weekend I took part in the Run or Dye event at Castle Howard in Yorkshire. All geared up in my running gear all I needed was my white Run or Dye T-shirt. I was ready and began the 5K race very clean.....

We then slowly began to get more and more colourful. I did the event with my two close friends Lydia ad Jade. At each 1KM we got showered by people ready and waiting to throw coloured dye at you. It was so exciting to see everyone smiling and too exciting to find out which colour would be next.

I don't know how my phone survived the event, I was worried but it did, and we got some fantastic photographs of the event! Being a girl, pink was the favourite colour to get thrown :)

After the run everyone gathered around the stage with music and more dye being thrown in celebration. It was fantastic and such a fab experience. I have never ran any type of race before and it was such an enjoyable experience with two of my close friends, and what better way to make you happy than have loads of colour thrown at you! All ages ran from big to small.

Here is one of the dye stops. Now you may be worried what this is doing to the environment. The dye is an eco friendly plant based powder! So no need to worry. You may only need to worry about your clothes. :)

Many were in neon tutu's and other fancy dress. What caught everyones eyes was this couple dressed as the bride and groom. Her dress did begun the journey white but by the end was a lovely rainbow of colour. I think it is such a fab idea. More so for the bride than the groom.

The grounds were fantastic. I have been to Castle Howard before the visit the house and gardens. The poor people visiting on the day must of been slightly worried they would end up covered in colour themselves. Here is a little picture of me jumping with excitement. 

It was great to see so many people running for what ever reasons they have, whether it was personal, charity or just for fun. It didn't matter whether you was a keen runner, it was about enjoying the experience and enjoying the colour. I have such a laugh.

March Travels Up North!

This month I took myself up north to have a lovely catch up with close friends, we explored many beautiful sights of the North of England so I have a few pictures from my trips out to show you.

Heading as far North as we could we got to see the magnificent Bamburgh Castle. Originally we only was travelling as far as Seahouses but once I caught a glimpse of the Castle I really wanted to get up close for a look. I couldn't believe how huge it is!

It is simply beautiful to see a landmark that has been around for hundreds of years!

We also went to Alnwick, another beautiful town in Northumberland. It has many tourist attractions to see, one being the Alnwick Tree House. We also came across some gorgeous shops in which I ended up nearly buying something in each one!

I will be posting some more about my trip soon....

Mother's Day Giveaway!

Hello, I love to treat you with a giveaway so thought I would do one in time for Mother's Day! 

It is so easy to win! Just follow these three easy steps!  

1) Like my FB Page www.facebook.com/laurenchericedesign

2) Like the Picture on FB 

3) Comment #MammaMia! 

I have chosen a squirrel theme for this giveaway, I think he is rather cute ;)

The winning package includes a screen printed tote bag, a squirrel greetings card and a lovely sewing squirrel kit!

Please feel free to share the giveaway with others and let them know!

Get involved to win! Thanks! 

Blog: www.Laurenchericedesigns.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/Laurenchericedesign

Twitter: @LaurenCherice

Instagram: /Laurencherice 

The North Sea Dip!

Well we did it! On Sunday we did our North Sea Dip. It is fair to say the weather didn't behave itself! Soon as we got to the beach the rain and wind appeared like a storm, never-the-less positive as we all were, we was ready to go for our dip! All dressed in our finest Onesies and Pj's and anything else to help us from the cold. 

This is us getting ready for a picture for the local newspaper. I think this was colder than the sea itself.

I did quite enjoy the dip, laughing and screaming as we ran in. It was actually harder to get out than get in as all our Pj's were full of water. I am glad I had shoes on and didn't go for bare foot as they didn't take as long to warm up.

Here is a couple of action shots of me running out of the sea! 

I would just again like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported us and donated. My page is still open for a few more days. I will post back when we know the total of what we have raised for the Alzheimer's Society.

http://www.gofundme.com/647umc

Big Thanks! 

Lauren x

2013! What a busy year!

I thought I would share with you some bits and bobs from 2013. It seems to have flown by and looking at some of my blog posts from the year I didn't realise how busy and how much I've actually done. 

The year started with me doing some new drawings/designs and working on my studio. Reaching Easter I managed to have myself three retail jobs. Mad I know, working six days a week and managing Lauren Cherice Designs I gave up one of the jobs in August. Then to my delight I was asked to join the CCAD team in September and help out around their new print rooms for the Autumn term. It was so good being back.

In the News:

November brought me an exciting surprise! My very first feature in a magazine! Living North! This has certainly been a huge highlight for this year along with the fair itself.

I have also been in my local paper this year, you will have seen me post about taking part in the Priory 900 celebration and drawing my mouse for the children of Bridlington to name. It has been great being involved with my local community, especially as this is where I am now based.

Also this year my friend Lydia also started up her own business, we have both supported each other with our work and again the free press did a little feature on us :)

I have also been very lucky to have been featured on some lovely blogs :)

http://mycasita.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/sunday-spotlight-lauren-cherice-designs/

http://livingnorthfair.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/an-eye-for-design/

http://www.clothierjones.com/latest/feature-lauren-cherice-designs/

http://beckabonce.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/wednesdays-spotlight-lauren-cherice.html

http://thedecorcafe.com/2013/12/christmas-preparation/

Fairs:

Another one of my biggest achievements for this year has been the Living North Fair at York. I had only done small fairs over the summer but thought I would take a risk to get Lauren Cherice Designs more well know and hope others like my designs. I thoroughly enjoyed the Living North Fair, it went as well as I hoped and I loved meeting other stall holders and discussing life, design and business. It was also great to meet people in Yorkshire who follow my work. I would again like to say a big thanks to everyone who popped along, and to the Living North team for a FAB event! 

I have also done other fairs in Bridlington Old Town, Sewerby Hall, The Merchant Hall in York, Hornsea, NFU Mutual in York.

Like I said before I was also back at CCAD, it was great to be around such a busy and creative environment. If I could live in those print rooms I think I would, though they are quite spooky at Halloween. It was great to be back to use the facilities, I spent many of my evenings printing my new designs ready for my fairs. One product/design is my Robin Tea towels. I didn't expect these to be as popular as they were. It was a nice surprise. Mr Robin was a new design for 2013, and I think many took a shine to him :)

Stockists:

I am also delighted to welcome new stockists to the work of Lauren Cherice Designs, the first being the gorgeous The Old Grammar School Gallery in Otley. Dylan has even been by my side to check out the stockists too.  (He thinks he's my boss).

My work can also be found up north at the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton, where you can find a selection of my hand printed tote bags and little squirrel sewing kits. Also at Studio 61 Gallery at Leashaw Holloway in Derbyshire, here you can find a selection of greetings cards and cushions. 

I also continue to have my work locally at Behind the Times and the Alex May Gallery in Bridlington.

This year I also opened my online Etsy Shop! I was a little nervous but pleased I have had a few sales. It is still open and more items are due to be added very soon.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LaurenChericeDesigns

2013 also brought me one of my proudest moments... meeting Prince Charles and Camilla. The Prince and Duchess visited Bridlington in the Summer to celebrate the town's Priory Church turning 900. As I had been involved with the celebration I was over the moon to be asked to the service! It is one afternoon I will never forget! 

Finally, although I am sure I have probably forgotten something... Brid Bay Knitters turned 1! This is very exciting, and not long in April 2014 we will be turning 2! I have been naughty and neglected my knitting for printing whilst doing my fairs but I am excited to get back to it in the new year!

I hope you all have a fab new year and 2014 brings you as much happiness, memories and love as 2013.

Thank you to everyone for their on going support with me and my work. It means a lot to me.

Lots of Love, Lauren :)

Giveaway Over on Beckabonce!

Beckabonce have featured me and my work on their blog a few times, I have now teamed up with them to giveaway some of my products to some of her lucky readers! Just in time for Christmas!

All you need to do is -

• Head over the the Beckabonce facebook page and give her a like. https://www.facebook.com/beckabonce
• Head over to Lauren Cherice facebook page and give me a like. www.facebook.com/laurenchericedesign
• And leave a comment either her Blog Here: 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckabonce or twitter @Becka_Bonce on what you love about owls (one of my favourite creatures).

Deadline is Thursday 19th December and the winner will be announced on Friday 20th December.

Another Busy Week!

It has certainly been another busy weekend in Bridlington. This weekend brought hundreds of vespa lovers to the seaside town to celebrate the annual Scooter Rally. I was also delighted to find out my cushions which were in Behind the Times in Bridlington have also found themselves some new homes. So this afternoon.. I got printing some more cushions to restock :)

The Love Birds are still a strong favourite. 

With October also coming to a quick end I thought my Christmas Card designs better make an appearance. Here is a sneak peak of a couple of them. I am very excited for their arrival but also slightly nervous. I shall let you know when they do. I have also been busy getting my little squirrel kits ready! So they are also in production :)

Also this week, Bridlington received a visit from its annual travelling fun fair. I have been every year since I was a child when I can. I love the atmosphere, music and lights. I had a couple of goes on some prize winning games. I didn't win anything but it was very fun! It was also fab to bump into some familiar faces! 

I hope your all having a great week so far!

www.facebook.com/laurenchericedesign 

Back up North to CCAD! Yay!

This week I am delighted to share with you I have been back up north to Cleveland College of Art, yay! I do recognise a few familiar faces around the college which is nice. The college itself just seems to be getting better and better! This week we have been finishing off decorating the before very quiet corridor near the exposure room. We now have the 'doodle board', 'meet the team', 'textiles trip's and 'what's going on this week' boards! All filled with a selection of colourful photo frames and now getting decorated by peoples fun photo's :) 

This week we have also decorated the walls with some banners discussing the courses available in the textiles department. I had a little shock to see my face on one of them. It seemed like only yesterday I was having that photo taken, but if you know me personally.. the length of my hair will tell you it was three years ago! 

I am also so excited about their new print room facilities. They are amazing! I will share some pictures with you soon. In the meantime, here are the screens I've just exposed and have been playing with last weekend! Exciting! 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Well, time seems to be moving extremely fast, it won't be long and it will be the Living North Fair in York. I was thinking about festive products and thought I would have a little fun with some of my favourite drawings. Here is Mr Owl in his little santa hat, I have given Mr Duck one too and I just couldn't stop laughing. He also suited it!

I also had a go at drawing something traditionally Christmas- some Holly. I may add this to some of my designs or I might create a repeat design with it. I can't quite decide :) Then we have my little Robin which you have seen before. He has also tried a Santa hat on but he wasn't keen on it. I do wonder ... how many of you reading this post have started your Christmas shopping?

I have also started/finished this butterfly drawing. I suddenly got the drawing bug and fancied using some colour for a change. I didn't want you all thinking I could only draw with one media. It was fun using colour for a change and I am really please with their outcome! Not quite sure though what I'm going to create with them yet.

All Imagery Copyright to Lauren Cherice Designs 13.