A piece of Cake

I have recently started using Tumblr so while I have been getting to grips with that (while it is very easy!) I have neglected this account, I am unsure whether to keep both going. For now I will use this page for things I want to go into more detail about, and Tumblr mainly for images.

As a result of my neglect there are a number of new pieces of work that I want to show you!
 I will spread them out so as not to bombard you!

First up is this little fella! A new paper toy that I designed as an alternative to a birthday card. Last year you may remember the little monkeys that I did for the same reason.

 It's super easy to make, so is ideal for any beginners wanting to get into paper toys. If you want to have a go it is available as a free download from my website www.samanthaeynon.com. Have glue, scissors, a craft knife and ruler at the ready!

Bit of origami

This lovely creation is called a Kusudama ball. It took me forever, but mainly because I kept stopping and starting, it is actually really easy to do, it's just waiting for the glue to dry that takes a while.

The tutorial I followed was on Folding Trees and is in two parts, if you want to have a go just click on the links

Part one

Part two

I was also thinking ahead to Easter for workshops and made this bunny. Again I am a bit of a beginner at origami so if you are too, this is another easy one! Click on the link to find the instructions Tutorial

I need to get some much prettier origami paper! 

Some Christmas Artwork (sorry it's late!)

Some work that I haven't had chance to post up yet.

First up is the artwork that I made for a mixtape we made for some of our friends over christmas

I know everyone is done with christmas now, but here is the artwork I came up with for a special christmas mixtape that Creative Derby (soon to change it's name)

And finally here's the card I made for my husband, all done with cut paper, I was really pleased with how it turned out.

New Year Resolutions

Ok, I know that everyone does these, so your probably fed up of reading them, but what the hell, I think it's useful to write some down to have something to aim for.


Firstly here are the ones I posted up last year


1) pass my driving test : Did this in Jan last year!
2) learn atleast one new skill: I had a go at crochet, and enjoyed it, but then put it down and probably need to start again now!
3) create more artwork and research more artwork: I definitely created more artwork, but probably need to get stronger at doing better research
4) Draw more: I started to do more, as I spent more time on the train
5) waste less time on networking sites: hmmmm not sure if I managed this one, I may have got slightly worse! But hopefully I have geared it up towards networking as an artist/ illustrator


Hmmm not to bad, so for this year


1) Do some home printing, possibly linocut
2) Do more paintings
3) Get in Ammo Magazine (maybe a bit optimistic, but you've got to have something to aim for!)

4) Create a children's book (even if it's just just for my own enjoyment!
5) Create more paper toys!

Christmas Pressies!

So I have been quite lazy recently with my blog. First I got ill (like most of the population!) then it was Christmas then it was New Year and now well it's now, so hello! 


I had a lovely christmas and felt thoroughly spoilt by my lovely husband, amongst other things he got me some gorgeous books which I have been poring over! 

Print and Pattern is a book I'd been lusting after for a while. It is compiled by the creator of the wonderful Print & Pattern blog, which if you are not already aware of it, you really should check it out. Just absolutely gorgeous. It is just page after page of patten porn!


One of my absolute favourtie creatives included was the work of Chan Lynn otherwise known as Jinjerup ( www.jinjerup.com ) so cute!

and I was very happy to see the work of Michelle Romo otherwise known as Crowded Teeth. She is such a huge inspiration, especially as she is completely self taught.

I also got  'We are paper toys!'

a book to spur me on to make more paper toys this year!


And finally he got me 'The Fundamentals of Illustration" which I'm sure will come in use, as I still have much to learn. The other two books I have read cover to cover ( as they are mostly pretty pictures!) but this one requires more attention, so I will let you know how good it is when I have read it!

 Not on the book front I got a wonderful T shirt with this on the front, you gotta love marshmallows!

Many more fantastic pressies were received, but I won't list the whole lot here, needless to say I was very lucky :) . What was the favourite present that you guys received?

Ode to a hot water bottle 1

With all this cold weather I pay homage to the humble Hot Water Bottle!

Gig Round up!

We've been to a few gigs recently and I've been too busy to post up about them all, so I just though I'd round them up now.


First of the bunch we went to was Paramore at the LG Arena in Birmingham, with support from Fun and BOB. Fun came on 10 minutes early, which was a bit of a shock, as a band starting early never happens! We were excited, as we have followed them for a while and knew of the lead singer Nate Ruess when he was in the great band The Format as well. They performed brilliantly, but as they are a little unusual (to people who think Paramore are alternative anyway) some people were a little bemused by them! As me and my husband were singing along a girl approached me to ask "sorry, but who are these?" Their name does truly reflect the band, they are a slightly camp indie/ power pop band, but their music is so joyful and infectious. They were a party of different instruments and sounds. 

Next up was BOB, not being a fan of his music, he didn't manage to change my mind I'm afraid.


Paramore were great! We saw them at Leeds and they had the misfortune of having sound issues, so we didn't get a true feel for what they were like, as you could barely hear Hayley singing. Their performance was virtually flawless, they were humble, gracious and real crowd pleasers. They did a brilliant acoustic set in the middle, that allowed the musicianship to shine. At the end they allowed a girl from the crowd to come up on stage to perform part of one of their songs, a night she will certainly never forget. 






Then on the Sunday of the same week, we went to see one of my all time favourites Jimmy Eat World at the Birmingham Academy. We managed to get on front row, so I was pretty pleased with that. Support came from Minus The Bear, who did a relaxed and confident set. They came across as being very down to earth, performing tracks mostly off their new album, Omni, which has quite an electronic feel.

This was the third time we'd seen Jimmy Eat World and by far the best. Jim Adkins came on in his trademark, black shirt, smart trousers and smart shoes, appearing to be rather insignificant if you saw him on the street, however, behind a microphone he is something else! They delivered everything I expected and more, performing a great mixture of songs from their amazing back catalogue, while promoting their new album Invented. They seemed to perform so many songs, and did an encore of 4 fantastic songs. My personal highlight was when they performed 'Goodbye Sky Harbour" which is one of my favourite songs, but I never expected to hear them perform as the album version is 16 minutes long! And I think they did nearly the full length! It was mind blowing!

After two amazing gigs we went to see 30 seconds to mars at the NIA last week. I'm afraid to say they really disappointed me. Support came from Funeral Party, who were great with their jerky indie rock, but as they were on first there was a lack of atmosphere. 
I am not a fan of Enter Shikari, for me they are just a mash up of too many musical genres. I start to get into a part of their song and then it goes off in a tangent, but having said that, I think they did quite a sterling job in warming the crowd up.


Then for the main act 30 seconds to mars (cue screaming girls!) For the other two gigs I left feeling elated (the way you should feel after a good gig), but 30stm left me feeling cold!  I think if your a huge fan of them you would still leave thinking they were amazing, but they (I mean Jared) laid on the fact they think they are a 'cult' so thickly, that anyone who just likes the music would get annoyed. He was self indulgent through-out and never sang a whole song, preferring to get the crowd to sing every other sentence.


There were several huge gaps in the set, where it went dark and not a lot seemed to happen, I presume to enhance expectation. The encore was lame consisting of 2 songs, which were so fragmented by the huge gap where they decided to take photos of the crowd to put on Jared's twitter page and got about half the crowd up on stage with them. I just wanted them to perform some music! Not impressed.