Adventure Time Treasury!

Most of you who follow me on instagram will probably notice I've become a little Adventure Time obsessed lately. I've even been painting some Adventure Time Russian Dolls.

I decided to have a look on Etsy for some Adventure Time themed goodies, some of them were too good not to share! So here they are:

1. aestheticase / 2. hatpire / 3. PK Paper Kitty / 4. Cute Crafts Etc / 5. timehot / 6. littlepopos / 7. Polite Yet Parculiar / 8. ketchupize / 9. Futurist Art

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Sponsor PonyChops in June!

Since last month I've changed my adverts a little. You now get a way bigger advert at no extra cost!

Don't already have an ad button? I can make you one free of charge with any ad purchase. Email me at ponychopsshop@gmail.com

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The PonyChops website is now live!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was working on a PonyChops website. Well it's finally up and running! Here it is:

WWW.PONYCHOPS.CO.UK

It's a pretty basic job, I'd love to spend a bit more time learning new html skills to jazz it up some more but I think I'll do that over time. I have a new blog design commission that I'm eager to get my teeth into. So I'm sure I'll learn some more html while playing around with that.

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An Interview with SD Photography!

I want to introduce you a duo of photographers who's work I have admired for a long time, SD Photography. They have such a unique style of photography. It's full of charm, personality, and has a candid and personal feel.

You can check out more of SD Photography's work on their Website / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest & Blog

Howdy, we're Sarah and Darren! It takes no stretch of the imagination to understand why we are called SD Photography - it was just easier that way :D We are alternative photographers from Scotland, but work all over the UK and abroad, snapping weddings mostly (with some lifestyle stuff on the side, done during our 'spare time'!).
The majority of our time is spent frantically working away as we are self confessed workaholics, although, we do like to dabble in the odd pastime or two! Photography nuts, movie geeks, music freaks, vintage floozies, great big foodies and massive animal lovers with a cup of tea or five thrown in the mix and a cherry on top......that's us.

When did you get started?
We started the business up in the Summer of 2011 (after several years of doing it as a very enjoyable and serious hobby) and haven't looked back since!

Who/what inspires you and why? (this can be other photographers, artists, business people, family members, anyone or anything!)
Awesome/new locations, natural light, colours, food, travelling, people.......lots of stuff really! Also, learning something new in our field - recently we've been tinkering around with some random bits and bobs to get some cool effects in photos - very fun!

What makes your photography different?
We hate tradition and sheer cheesiness, so try and make our photos as fun and relaxed as possible, for everyone involved. Composition plays a big part in our shooting and we do like to be slightly edgy in our approach of positioning etc. Our editing style leans towards a more filmy sort of look, as we love old vintage photographs, so have incorporated this into a more modern/contemporary way of doing things!

What has been your most memorable photo shoot to date and why? (include a picture if you like, must be over 800 pixels wide)
It's a toss up between two fashion shoots we've done in the past year; one in an abandoned fever hospital in Fife, Scotland, and the other in a disused ice factory in Berlin - both were majorly cool, creepy and hella interesting all rolled into one. People that know us are aware we have a weird obsession for abandoned buildings/locations, so these were just amazing to do. We also have loads up our sleeve in the next year (just need to fit it all inbetween weddings we're doing in the UK and abroad...and there's a lot!)

Which areas of photography would you like to explore more in the future?
We would love to have more time to explore the world of film photography. Recently we made a few film camera purchases from random car boot sales, so now is the task of hunting for expired film (to make the effect a little cooler!) and we'll take our new learning curve from there :)

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And the winner is...

I can now reveal the lucky winner of my Big Vegan Giveaway. It's Sarah from Bring More Yarn! Congratulations Sarah! Your vegan goodies will be in the post next week!
You should all go check out Sarah's blog too, it's pretty awesome.

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PonyChops in a music video!

A few months ago I had a custom order for a set of daschund brogues. It turns out the girl who ordered them is in the band Aaron & Jane & they short a video recently where she wore her PonyChops shoes!

You can see the video below, the shoes appear at 2.44

In other news, I will be announcing my Big Vegan Giveaway winner tomorrow!

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Desk of the Day 21/05/13 - Little Baby Liberty

There's still a ton of shading work left to do (especially on the bottom half). And I'm not sure whether to give Little Baby Liberty some nipples, to me it just seems wrong to give a cartoon baby nipples haha. I also spent ages trying to think up ideas of how to have the baby holding a torch without it looking dangerous. So I added a smiley face the the flames to make it look more like a rattle.

This is a logo idea for the New York parenting blog - Parents and the City which is run by my friend Diana. I'm so excited to work with Diana on this project because she's such a creative person and is always great to bounce ideas off. She's also a very skilled writer, so it's going to be great to try and match a blog and logo design to her fun and witty writing style.

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Indulgent Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake

Chocolate fudge cake has always been a big favorite of mine. So of course, as soon as I turned vegan my main priority was to find out how to make it the vegan way! This recipe is a mix up of a few chocolate fudge cake recipes I've tried (yes, I have tried that many, maybe I have a problem). This cake is always a winner among my none vegan friends and family too.

The sponge is pretty much the same as my Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Cake.

Sponge Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unbleached cane caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
1/2 cup coconut milk

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup vegan butter/marge
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp soy/almond milk

raspberries to decorate  (optional)

Sponge Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Grease two 8 inch cake tins.

2. Sift all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix in all of the wet ingredients until it is all completely mixed.

3. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25-35 mins (25 for fan ovens). To tell if the cake is done put a sharp object into the middle of the cake, if it comes out dry the cake is done.

4. Allow to cool before frosting.

For the frosting & decorating:

1. Mix the butter and vanilla extract.

2. Gradually add the icing sugar and cocoa powder while mixing. Add a little milk if the consistency is too dry.

3. Sandwich some icing between the two sponges and ice all around the outside. Add extra raspberries to decorate.

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Desk of the day 18/5/13

I love seeing other artists and crafter's work in progress shots, and I'm always posting mine on instagram, but sometimes I wish I could take more time to take proper photos of what I'm working on. So, inspired by Cart Before the Horse who take the most wonderful work in progress photos, I've decided to start posting some better quality photos of the things I'm currently working on.

This isn't technically desk of the day, because it's yesterdays desk. I've been working on these Adventure time dolls for a while now, today they're finally ready for me to add the details and varnish them!

As you can see, the matryoshka photo shoot soon turned into a Tofu photo shoot. He's such an attention seeker!

All of the characters here are copyright of © Cartoon Network (except for Tofu, he is a real life cat!). This is just my own fan art & I am not associated with Adventure Time or Cartoon Network in any way.

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My list of Vegan bloggers - Part 1

Seeing as it's the week of my Veganniversary, I'm pretty much taking over the blog with vegan posts (sorry to all my none vegan readers, normal posts will commence really soon!).

Since becoming Vegan I've met so many supportive people in the blogging community. So I wanted to pay their kindness back by introducing you all to their blogs! Here are a few blogs I think you should all check out:

My Mod Style - Jessie was the very first vegan blogger I got in contact with. She's so supportive and helpful! I love reading her blog because she spreads a crap ton of positivity. One of my fav features on her blog is The Vegan Project where Jessie is helping her friend Dan discover the pros of a vegan lifestyle.

Vegan in a Pretty Dress - Michelle started being vegan in February, she uses her blog to document her journey into veganism, and also share some really yummy recipes. Michelle is such a sweet person, she's a major animal lover and is even training to become a vet!

Adrian Loves Owls - I have a major blogging crush on this lady! She has the most awesome style, and the cutest dogs, and on top of that she's also vegan! I love seeing Adrian's dog posts, it's clear how much she adores her doggy family members.

Nerd Burger - Cazz is the queen of rad hair and comics! She thrifts really cool toys and looks like a superhero, she's also recently become vegan!

Say It Ain't So - Rae and her hubby have recently made the transition from vegetarian to vegan, and I love seeing the yummy stuff they get to try when they're on the road. Rae also has the most adorable pugs Phyllis and Priscilla.

Dreams Are Necessary - I want to give Claire a big mention too! She is so creative and shares her awesome felt creations on her blog along with a load of cat finds. Her post about going mostly raw is really interesting and has made me want to explore raw food some more.


If you're a vegan blogger let me know and send me a link to your blog! I'll be adding to this list as I find more wonderful vegan blogs. 

Don't forget to enter my Big Vegan Giveaway.

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Vegan Business Cards

I can't remember how I came accross these vegan business cards, if it was one of you lovely lot please let me know and I'll give you credit.

I think they're a funny, yet functional idea. I'm so fed up of having to explain veganism to each and every person who asks me. Maybe someone could come up with a giant business card that explains why I'm a vegan so I don't have to explain myself to everyone? Or maybe I should just get it tattooed on my forehead?

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Phoebe & Rei

Do you remember a few months ago I painted some Justin Bieber sneakers and Persian Cat Sneakers? I painted them for the Canadian Much Music host Phoebe Dykstra.

Phoebe is a super cool lady, she has rad fashion sense and she's such a sweet person. Plus she has an adorable persian kitty named Rei. I just had to do an illustration of them both!

This was my first time illustrating tattoos in one of my digital portraits, and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Here's the portrait of Phoebe & Rei, If you'd like your own portrait doing check out my custom listing on Etsy.

And here's a couple of photos of Phoebe & Rei. Look at Rei next to PonyChops sneakers!

You can find Phoebe on Twitter, Instagram & Tumblr. And Rei even has her own Instagram now!

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My 1 year Veganniversary Giveaway!

This weekend it's officially been a whole year since I became vegan! The first year has been a whole lot easier than I thought it would be, I seem to have discovered so many more delicious foods than I would have ever tried before. It's also forced me to cook from scratch much more often (especially cakes, as I can't just pop out and buy vegan baked goods where I live). I find myself craving cheese way less than I thought I would (I was pretty much a cheese addict before becoming vegan).

I feel like I've met so many awesome people through becoming vegan, especially vegan bloggers! The vegan blogging community is so supportive and helpful. I'll be sharing some love for a few of my fav vegan bloggers during the week to say a big thank you!

Because my readers have been super duper lovely to me, I figured this would be a great time to give something back to you all. So I'm giving away a 2 month large Ad spot, along with a few of my fav vegan friendly goodies.

Here's what's in my pack of Vegan goodies:

•  2 Barry M Nail polishes in Lilac & White nail effects (my fav colours!)
• A re-useable Bobble Bottle. I love the idea of wasting as little plastic as possible, so I think the Bobble Bottle is a great idea.
• Good Stuff Summer Peaches sweets - these are yumtastic!
• 3 Mini Moo Free Hunny Comb chocolate bars
• Forks over Knives - The cookbook. This is by far one of the best & healthiest vegan recipe books, it's great for none vegans too.

This giveaway will end on the 22nd May. Everyone is welcome to enter, you just have to be following me via Bloglovin!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The Dainty Squid and her Kitty shoes!

I've been meaning to post these photos for almost a year now, I'm so forgetful! Some of you may remember, last year I painted a pair of shoes for Kaylah from The Dainty Squid.

I'm a big fan of Kaylah's blog, so it was an honor for my shoes to be featured on it. I based the shoes on her lovely cats. It was one of my first sets of cat orders, I seriously can't get enough of painting cats on shoes!

These photos were taken by Kaylah for one of her outfit posts, you can see the full post here. I think we'll all agree that she absolutely rocks this look, I can't imagine anyone more suited to kawaii kitty brogues than Kaylah.

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Work in Progress & an Instagram catch up

It feels like it's been forever since I did a proper catch up post with pictures. Here's what I've been working on lately, and a couple of pictures of Tofu thrown in for good measure! He's such a little hansy man.

1-4. Some work in progress on my latest projects. So excited to share the shoes with you! They're one of my fav themes yet.

5&6. Tofu enjoyed playing Hobbit Monopoly, his favorite thing to do was to sit in the middle of the board and knock over everything. And a picture of him being a silly cat as usual.

7. Miss Chopstitch sent me a photo of the Russian Dolls I painted for her on her shelf <3

8. I finally made room for the awesome Jeff Soto toy that Ash got me for my birthday. I love having it in my studio, it's inspiring me so much right now.

9&10. Playing around with some designs for the blog & patterns.

11&12. Oh gosh, I'm so so in love with my new Lazy Oaf socks. Especially when combined with my Vegan docs!

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Pink on the Cheek

A couple of weeks ago Lauren from Pink on the Cheek asked me to do a digital illustration to go with her new blog design (above is the banner she used the illustration in).

Lauren wanted something pretty simple, a blonde lady with rosy cheeks and no background. I usually tend to keep my illustrations busy and bright, so it was really nice to get back to basics and work on a simple illustration. It gave me space to really think about the skin tone and hair colour.

I couldn't decide between a more yellowish blonde or an ash blonde tone, so I let Lauren choose. She ended up choosing the more yellowish tone which works really nicely with the pink font.

If you'd like your own digital illustration, check out my custom illustration listing in my shop or email me at ponychopsshop @ gmail.com

Here are both the ash blonde and the yellow blonde finished illustrations:

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A bit of a spruce up

You may notice I've been a little more absent from the blog recently. It's because I've been busy sprucing everything up! Since the blog got a make over my Etsy shop, Facebook and Twitter got a little jealous and wanted some new designs too!

Here's the Twitter and Etsy make overs, they're just quick make overs but I'm pretty happy with them for now.

I also added a few shoe custom listings to the Etsy shop, so people can find out prices, styles and sizes much easier. I added a digital illustration listing and a custom Russian Doll listing. I also reduced some of my SALE items.

Don't forget if you're ordering any of the none sale items from my shop, you can use the code PCBLOG15 to get 15% off your order. I love my blog followers! So I think it's about time you got your own discount code!

I'm currently working on a new website and some business cards, I'm hoping the website will be up and running by Wednesday.

This weekend it's my year anniversary of becoming Vegan!  I have a pretty exciting giveaway to share with you to celebrate it, I can't wait to show you all.

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The New Design is here!!

Phew, it's done! I finally installed the big ass new blog design! There's tons more room for my wonderful sponsors, and loads more room for me to post pictures too. Yay!

This blog design has been a learning experience for sure! I was originally going to pay someone to do it for me. But the thrifter and the creative in me won out and I decided to have a go at doing my own. The fun part has been drawing out my new buttons/logos and picking out the colours! I hand drew the new shoe logo and edited it in illustrator/photoshop. The hard part has been getting to grips with the html/css side of things. I feel like I've learned a whole lot this past two weeks! And I'm so excited to get started on building my own website and making over my Etsy/Facebook/Twitter pages.

My Etsy shop will reopen on Friday with a whole new look too! But for now I'm going to watch some Dexter and let my brain recover from all of the learning and thinking it's had to do.

Please have a look around! I've changed my About me, Sponsor & Contact me pages too :)

A big thank you to all my sponsors for being so patient with me changing button sizes!

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