Catch up!

Ok so, here's a little update of what's been happening in my world lately.....

Autumn things

Don't you just love Autumn? You'll love it even more when you find out about the things I have in store for this season!

Autumn Sale

Grab yourself a bargain! There's an Autumn Sale in my shop now to make room for brand new stock. Get 30% off of everything when you use this code at the
checkout: AUTUMN

If you want to get in the mood for the Autumn season take a look at this little original painting. Or you could treat yourself to a handmade mountain brooch. The sale ends on 27th October 2014 so there is plenty of time to get yourself something cute and save money at the same time - yay

Autumn Giveaway
Do you want a chance to win this bundle of goodies? From tomorrow (Friday 10th October), you can by entering as many times as you want on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

I'm going to pick a winner at random this weekend so keep watching my social media channels after you have entered. Good luck!

On another note, there's some very spooky stationery launching tomorrow here on the blog. So come back to get the first look!

World Vegetarian Day

Did you know that today is World Vegetarian Day? It's also the beginning of Vegetarian Awareness Month. So, obviously it's the perfect time to take a look at my Veggie Pattern card! It's back in stock especially for October at a special price - yippeee! This is a great card to give to a veggie friend or you could keep it for yourself of course.

If you're like me and you love your veg, you might like to try out a few recipes from a couple of my favourite books. Save with Jamie and LEON Naturally Fast Food aren't entirely vegetarian books but they have some great veggie ideas and recipes.

New card designs

I have been working very hard recently on lots of new card designs for my stockists & online shop. I have really enjoyed creating them and I loved illustrating my own typography. 

Artisan bread editorial illustration

Here's an illustration I did this month for The Skinny Magazine, the article was about artisan bread. 

March in pictures

Here is a collection of pictures that I have taken during this month on Instagram. It's nice to look back at what you've done sometimes - March has been fun and I'm looking forward to April.

1. I used pastel pencils for the first time ever

2. Up-cycled a birdhouse and painted it mint green

3. Sent lots of Etsy orders out

4. Painted another birdhouse *Now has Blue tits nesting inside it!*

5. Packed up my first wholesale order to LOIS

6. Organised the studio

7. Restocked my Esty shop with new prints

8. Flowers cheered up the studio

9. I  created a new illustration print called An apple a day

L O I S

I have some very exciting news, my cards and prints are now being stocked at LOIS! A gorgeous little independent shop that sells lots of beautiful things handmade by designer-makers from the UK. LOIS opened in October 2012 and has already garnered a loyal following of people looking for unique items, lovingly created with dedication and true skill. LOIS likes colour, illustration, badges, silliness, tea towels, things that are hand printed, puns, patterns, prettiness, and much, much more. Above all, they look for a real sense of individual talent within the products they stock.

Image from LOIS blog

Here are the photos I took before I packed everything up to be sent off to LOIS, I was super pleased to see my Apple a day illustration in print for the first time too!

If you would like to stock my cards or prints in your shop get in touch! nikkimilesillustration@hotmail.co.uk

Hello

Just wanted to say hello! It's been a little quiet over here recently for good reasons - I've been super busy working on new projects & packing up orders for lots of new stockists. Updates coming soon........in the meantime you can see what I'm up to on Facebook & Twitter 

New greetings cards

Sorry it's been a bit quiet over here for a while! I have been busy getting lots of new stock together for my shop. There are quite a few new greetings cards and more coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled! 

If you haven't seen the updates already on my Facebook page, here are a few of the new items below. These ones are perfect to give to someone who has a sweet tooth

Mince pies recipe

This crumbly, fruity mince pie recipe is a Christmas classic. Serve warm with lashings of brandy butter.

Ingredients

1 large jar mincemeat (about 600g)

2 satsumas, segmented

1 apple, finely chopped

zest 1 lemon

little icing sugar, for dusting

For the pastry

375g plain flour

260g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1 large egg, plus 1 beaten egg for glazing

Method

1.Place the flour and butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency. Add the sugar and the egg, and mix together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.

2.Scoop the mincemeat into a bowl and add the satsumas, apple and zest.

3.Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick. Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays. Put 11⁄2 tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg. Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the rest of the egg, sprinkle with caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.

4.Bake mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with icing sugar. Serve.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2011

The Skinny December issue 2013

My illustration work is in both the Scottish & Northwest editions of The Skinny this month! You can get your own copy for free in 1100+ hand picked venues across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee, Manchester and Liverpool.  From music shops and independent cafes to art galleries, retailers, theatres and universities.

One of my Christmas cards were featured in the Scottish issue.

For the Northwest edition, I created an illustration to accompany an Alternative gift guide for foodies.

Fairy cakes

This easy peasy recipe is perfect for baking with children.

Ingredients

110g/4oz butter or margarine, softened at room temperature

110g/4oz caster sugar

2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

110g/4oz self-raising flour

1-2 tbsp milk

For the icing

300g/10½oz icing sugar

2-3 tbsp water

2-3 drops food colouring

hundreds and thousands, or other cake decorations

Preparation method

1.Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line 2 x 12-hole fairy cake tins with paper cases.

2.Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Technique: Creaming butter by hand 


3.Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon. Add a little milk until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency and spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are half full.
Technique: Folding 


4.Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

5.For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir in enough water to create a smooth mixture. Stir in the food colouring.

6.To ice the fairy cakes, drizzle the icing over the cakes, sprinkle with decorations and set aside until the icing hardens.

Recipe from BBC Good Food

Creatives Christmas party

I am going to a Creatives Christmas Party at the end of November hosted by Stacie Swift and Emma Block! Having a party for creative people is such a wonderful idea, as being self-employed can get a little bit lonely at times. It will be an afternoon of festive fun with goodie bags, Secret Santa, cake, mince pies, decorations and drinks to get everyone into the Christmas spirit. An excellent chance to let your hair down and meet other creative people.

The party is taking place on Saturday the 30^th November at The Harcourt Arms, 32 Harcourt Street, London, W1H  4HX . If you are interested in coming along, you can get yourself a ticket here. You can also keep up to date with news by following @emmablock and @stacie_swift  using #CreativesXmas hash tag on Twitter.

I’ve been getting some of my Christmas cards ready for the party goodie bags today. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the other little things going into the bags too!

If you like my Seasons Tweetings card and you can’t make it to the party, you can get your own here.