Troll Magic ♥

hello darlings, I'm here to tell you about a very exciting project I worked on recently.

In October - November 2015 I collaborated with Pin Club: a UK based monthly subscription service offering limited edition enamel pins, featuring original artwork by various artists and illustrators.

I exclusively designed a super-dee-duper rainbow haired troll pin for the November subscription, limited to 200 pins and sold to customers all over the world.

and HERE IT IS!!!

Isn't it utterly glorious! This is the first time I've ever designed an enamel pin so I had NO idea how the illustration might work out, but they pins turned out perfect! Seriously the detail is amazing, and the colours are so bright.

The troll pin was the largest one produced by Pin Club to date, measuring 39mm and using 10 individual colours, manufactured using soft enamel and black nickel on an iron base including a rubber clutch back.

I'm also happy to say that almost 90% of the pins were sold out within the first week of availability! Usually each month there are 100 pins available but there were 200 of my design and people LOVED it! It's been so much fun seeing people post photos of their new pins on Instagram and leaving lovely comments about how much they like the cute troll design.

Look, I even made a funky troll pattern using the illustration I drew! I'm so pleased I took the time to message Pin Club and talk about the possibility of a collaboration after spotting their profile on Instagram. They were super enthusiastic about my work and after giving me a week to come up with something I ended up drawing the troll overnight, I was so excited at the thought of seeing one of my illustrations as an actual enamel pin people could wear!

The enamel pin game is something I've wanted to get into for a while, but pins aren't cheap to manufacture and there's always a risk that your design might not turn out the way you'd hoped. This was a great opportunity to get paid for a design while not having to worry about manufacturing or packaging costs. It was sort of like my print-on-demand deals with Society6 and RedBubble, I supply the artwork while they manufacture and ship the goods.

To be honest I think I was most excited about getting my free pins in the post! I was sent 5 of the troll pins including one ultra special and rare one with a tiny red gem on its tummy! These were limited to three pieces only so I feel super honoured to have one, plus red is my favourite colour so it was a double win!

Unfortunately for all of you lovely people, the troll pins have now SOLD OUT completely! But don't despair just yet because I'm giving one away in my Instagram Giveaway!

along with a heap of other neat stuff of course. But if you want to get your hands on this pin then you're going to have to follow me on Instagram + follow the rules of the giveaway to be in with a chance of winning!

the Giveaway closes TOMORROW NIGHT at midnight so you'd better get a move on!


Oh and if enamel pins aren't really your thing but you still want to express your love for trolls another way then behold... the sparkliest, cutest and most magical teeny tiny troll necklaces! 

That's right, i'm not just drawing trolls, i'm also turning them into necklaces and brooches! These tiny trolls come strung on silver plated curb chain, ready to complement your outfit in the kitschiest of ways!

But I also have slightly larger brooches and necklaces in another trio of tantalising colours. 

Why trolls you may ask?

Trolls were a big part of my childhood, I remember having dozens of them in all shapes and sizes littered about my room in little clusters of fluffy haired cuteness. I used to love brushing out their hair and dressing them up in cute outfits, then I would line them all up in a rainbow display. They're all in a box in the attic and i'd love to get some down to add to the collection of stuff (aka junk) on my desk, but I can't bring myself to go back up into the attic after I nearly fell from it last time (that's a story for another day I think!).

It's hard not to like these kitschy little trolls though isn't it, they have a kind of gormless look to them, it's very sweet and they're so friendly, then there's the magical fluffy hair! My point is that there's nothing terrifying about pudgy plastic trolls. At primary school a friend brought me a traditional Norwegian wooden troll back from her trip to Oslo and it was so sinister looking that it's been shoved away in a cupboard ever since!

My first shoplifting experience involved a troll. Now before you start calling the police I'd like to point out that I was only about fifteen-months-old at the time and safely strapped into my buggy. However this did not stop me from grabbing a pink haired troll in a white polka-dot dress off a shelf in a shop and quietly holding onto it for the rest of the day. By the time my mum eventually realised what i'd done, i'd been happily chewing on one of the trolls' feet and had slobbered all over the dress, so suffice it to say, we did not return the troll. The weirdest part of the whole thing was that the troll spoke Danish when you pressed it's tummy.

 

So yeah, I suppose you could say that I like trolls. So i'm super glad I got the opportunity to design a cute rainbow haired one to be made into neat little pins. 

And i'll shut up about it now and say goodbye!

do come back again soon...