Dreaming of a White Christmas

As much as I would love a sparkling, snowy, white Christmas…we’re unlikely to get one here in the South of England, so I thought I’d share this icy illustration from an Antarctic project a couple of years back instead! Just one last post for 2021 to wish you as lovely a festive break as possible! I hope you get some cosy and restorative time in, whatever your plans. I’ll be back in the New Year with some new projects and will look forward to catching up with you then. In the meantime, I raise my glass of port to you! All the best, Alice 🙂 x

Magic Portals, New in the Owlstation Store!

I’m very excited to announce that my new range of products are now available on the Owlstation Store…and to reveal that they are in fact Magic Portals! Giving you the power to open a door to a distant land and all from the comfort of your own home…

My new selection of animated magnets and greetings cards work with augmented reality, so when viewed through your smartphone, they will come to life in your hands! They feature two designs; an enchanted, fairytale castle and a cosy, forest cabin, perfect for the nature lovers and fantasy fans in your life.

After such a strange and challenging year of lockdowns, I really liked the idea that even if you’re stuck indoors, you’d be able to find a momentary escape into a magical world. Inspired by my love of Ghibli films (hello Laputa!) fantasy epics like Game of Thrones and also exploring in the countryside, I wanted the animations to be soothing. Billowing candy-floss clouds, soaring dragons, cosy fires and secret owls.

I was a bit behind getting the new range ready for Christmas (I think the emotions and weirdness of the year definitely played their part!) so it really means a lot to me to finally be able to share this with you and add these goodies to the Store – my own little secret hideaway and safe space to create the art that I want to make! I hope you enjoy them too!

For my full range of prints and illustrated goods visit the Owlstation Etsy Store.

Massive thanks to @alekadzie for his amazing product photography and filming skills!

Christmas Owl Post, tips for making sure it arrives in time!

Despite my good intentions, most years my Christmas shopping always turns into a bit of last minute rush to get those last few presents sorted before the big day. And often my plan to order something unique and special from an Etsy shop is foiled, when I realise I’ve left it far too late for the order to be processed and delivered…

This year however, I’m going to try and get it right! And as I’ve recently had to do a fair bit of research into postal cut off dates for my own Owlstation Store, I thought it might be handy to share a couple of things I’ve learned with you…

Firstly, if your sending cards or ordering presents and want them to arrive in time for Xmas – it’s worth checking your local postal service website for details of their latest recommended postage dates. I’m in the UK and use Royal Mail who have some handy info here. If you’re sending or ordering packages internationally, make sure you find the latest postage dates for the country your sending to or ordering from.

Secondly, If you’re ordering a gift from an online store, be sure to check their ‘processing time’. That is how long they say it will take them to prepare and package up your order. For example for a handcrafted item, the seller may need 2, 3, 5 or even more days to create or customise your gift. You’ll need to mentally add this time (sometimes the site does it for you!) to the given delivery dates to get a clear idea of how long your gift will take to arrive…and make sure it’s before Christmas!

Thirdly, remember that the festive period is a very busy one for sending and receiving post and it can take much longer to arrive than it does for the rest of the year…

But at the end of the day, it’s only Christmas!

If you miss postal deadlines and end up scrambling around in Flying Tiger on the 24th of December it doesn’t really matter (and I may well see you there!). It can be a stressful, tiring time of year and keeping calm and looking after yourself is more important than a big pile of presents. Good luck and happy hunting!

If you’d like to order a present or card from the Owlstation Store and need help with any Xmas queries, feel free to pop me a message. For the UK I advise ordering before the 10th of December. For International orders, please do get in touch as Xmas delivery recommendations vary from country to country.