I'm delighted to share the work of English illustrator Alice Melvin today. Alice grew up in northeast England but today calls Edinburgh, Scotland her home - a place I long to travel to since Scotland has long fascinated me. Her work is inspired by a love of creatures both on land and in the sky along with text and pattern and everyday objects like teacups. How nice.

Alice adores paper and the process of screen printing images by hand which is still an integral part of her work -- in fact the entire production process is her "thing" and so she produces lots of her own work from start to finish. She even makes fantastic cut-out kits and sells them in her online shop. I'm guessing that Alice is trying to promote the process of making through such kits, it only makes sense that she wants to share the act of creating something by hand with her adoring fans. There is so much joy that comes from making something with your own two hands and the best thing about crafting something is that your self confidence grows the more you practice and produce. In addition to her online store, Alice also sells her work in shops like Plaisir, where I originally learned about Alice.

Aren't these bird stamps wonderful? I want to order some to stick on journals and cards.

"Her first book An A to Z Treasure Hunt was published by Tate in 2007 and was an interactive alphabet book for children. Since then she has worked with the Tate on a second children’s title, Counting Birds, and two children’s merchandise ranges. Alice continues working with a range of clients as well as developing her own products and prints. Her hand printed artists' books are held in private and public collections including: British Library, Tate, and Centre for Fine Print Research at University West of England Bristol."

I hope you have enjoyed examining Alice's portfolio with me for a moment -- you can see lots more on her gorgeous website.

(images: alice melvin)