{"id":45850,"title":"Welcome to Messy Swan!","description":"I\u2019m thrilled to launch this shop for quite few reasons and one of the big ones is the ability to print-on-demand onto organic and sustainable apparel with the function to send it back and recycle it. It\u2019s a brilliant idea and surely if every high street outlet did this the planet would be better looked after...","content":"

\"ttak4sdacxcesgsimzgpxarkvpwrth9rlobkqflpt0c5l16i.png.png?w=1140&v=2\"Greetings!<\/strong><\/h3>

My name is Dianna, and I\u2019m an illustration artist, a fiction author, and a sometimes actor. And I\u2019m the creator of Messy Swan. I\u2019m thrilled to launch this brand for quite a few reasons and one of the big ones is the ability to print-on-demand onto organic and sustainable apparel with the function to send it back and recycle it<\/u><\/a>. It\u2019s a brilliant idea and surely if every high street outlet did this the planet would be better looked after. We are a participating store in the <\/strong>Thread Not Dead campaign<\/u><\/strong><\/a> and will accept your Remill Credits when you send your 100% cotton clothing back for recycling.<\/strong><\/p>

Messy Swan is powered by Teemill. Teemill, who thought up the idea above, began in a back garden on the Isle of Wight in England where they still have their head office, and this is reason number two: I live in South Hampshire, just a boat ride away from the Isle, and to be able to support something so local feels good, even if and when local expands to international.<\/p>

The third reason is purely selfish: I\u2019d like to create more art and Messy Swan offers me a way to create art independent of the more \u201cfine art\u201d I create for walls and any exhibitions, although you will still see these in the shop under Fine Art Gicl\u00e9e Prints<\/u><\/a>. Messy Swan gives me a chance to illustrate in small-scale, independent of my name; explore different styles, and have fun with it, not worrying too much about \u201cmistakes\u201d (really, there is no such thing when it comes to creativity), hence the \u201cMessy\u201d of the Swan. Mistakes can be elegant and lead to elegant things, just the way the Ugly Duckling grew into a spectacular creature \u2013 guess which one. (In fact, our very logo was created on the foundations of a mistake.)<\/p>

We are launching this shop with quite a few unique designs, one of them being Crow on Pebbles<\/u><\/a>. The other is the exploration of traditional sketch art on apparel \u2013 not something overly easy to do since it\u2019s very hard to erase the white from between the layers of graphite pencil lines when you\u2019re creating the sketch the old fashioned way, on paper. But this particular \u201cdoodle\u201d looked so good on a T-shirt, we just had to publish it and roll with it, but for the moment, you will only see our pencil sketch art on light coloured tops. We don\u2019t know if this idea will take off, but with conscious practice, it will get easier to create traditional sketch art specifically for apparel.<\/p>

Below is the sketch that actually inspired the idea for this store: \u201cThat Old Fence<\/u><\/a>\u201d. However, in three weeks, the store rapidly evolved to become a home for retro-modern and fine art designs whether created from illustrations or fine art itself, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re heading. We want to celebrate everything \u201cart\u201d in a funky way.<\/p>

\"i9yfgatwzuoyp4gxvqtgaftmg89vy76bhytm6ehranrnuvp8.jpg.jpg?w=1140&v=2\"(Excuse the grainy look \u2013 I filtered it that way because of my dusty mirror: I am a messy swan, after all!)<\/p>

BUY THE T-SHIRT (MEN\u2019S \/ UNISEX)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

BUY THE T-SHIRT (WOMEN\u2019S)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

<\/p>

Important things in our shop right now<\/h3>

1) We\u2019ve set it up so you can design your very own T-shirt or other product and we\u2019ve made it easy. Start <\/strong>HERE<\/u><\/strong><\/a> and follow the instructions. It\u2019s very intuitive.<\/strong><\/p>

2) We have a super small (like, tiny) but beautiful selection of <\/strong>cards for Valentine\u2019s Day<\/u><\/strong><\/a>. Very unusual, not crude or overly sappy, and you can only get them here.<\/strong><\/p>

Like all shops, not all designs will stay in stock \u2013 we will pull the ones that sell the least and keep adding new things, so if you see something you really do like, I encourage you to get it sooner rather than later.<\/p>

I\u2019ll end this welcome blog here (it\u2019s already too long). But if you take two minutes to scroll all the way down our <\/strong>home page<\/u><\/strong><\/a>, you\u2019ll get a good sense of what we do and what we offer, and we\u2019ll be adding a new design bi-weekly focusing on quality and uniqueness over quantity. The newsletter subscription on the bottom of the home page<\/strong> is a must <\/strong>for all discounts and special offers throughout the year \u2013 they only come through that email list.<\/p>

If you are interested in my artwork as \u2018Dianna Hardy\u2019, please take a look at my art website<\/u><\/a> where you will find the latest news and a Substack subscription link.<\/p>

Thank you so much for visiting. I will thoroughly enjoy creating new designs for you. Please do spread the word!<\/p>

Love,<\/p>

Dianna xx<\/em><\/p>","urlTitle":"welcome-to-messy-swan","url":"\/blog\/welcome-to-messy-swan\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/welcome-to-messy-swan\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/messyswan.com\/blog\/welcome-to-messy-swan\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1737639772,"updatedAt":1738788458,"publishedAt":1738788457,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":380467,"name":"Messy Swan"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/wey0scfl3u1fhyy5suxcigt3sqnjrezckupznghgx3kpqo1r.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/wey0scfl3u1fhyy5suxcigt3sqnjrezckupznghgx3kpqo1r.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/wey0scfl3u1fhyy5suxcigt3sqnjrezckupznghgx3kpqo1r.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":46554,"title":"Where Reality And Magic Meet: Enchanted (and some of our Future Plans)","url":"\/blog\/where-reality-and-magic-meet-enchanted\/","urlTitle":"where-reality-and-magic-meet-enchanted","division":380467,"description":"Welcome to our new illustration, Enchanted. With a mystical feel, it was intentionally created to align with our Once Upon A Time collection and you can combine the two to emphasise your own story and magical journey. You decide what goes on in these ethereal forests...","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/t8mq0osaouic5csygzyympc8ywqjgk3tcig0q8kd1xnczrfx.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855&z=1.3&fx=0.53712567394666&fy=0.49390890602112","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/t8mq0osaouic5csygzyympc8ywqjgk3tcig0q8kd1xnczrfx.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440&z=1.3&fx=0.53712567394666&fy=0.49390890602112"},"hidden":0},{"id":47219,"title":"For The Love Of Stories \u2014 Introducing Book Quotes!","url":"\/blog\/for-the-love-of-stories\/","urlTitle":"for-the-love-of-stories","division":380467,"description":"What do being a fiction writer and an illustration artist have in common? Both are about telling stories \u2014 one with words and one with images. So I feel rather excited to combine them both and bring you a \u201cbook quotes\u201d section of this site which, in due course, will be filled with infamous and archaic literary quotes from Shakespeare to the Bront\u00eb sisters. Messy Swan will also house my own book quote merch (Dianna Hardy Book Merch) \u2014 the only official retailer to do so \u2014 starting with a popular quote from The Witching Pen...","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/nxuxcjj7qtabjq0aykzlhhx7c4cqrb40ssw9wrevmwwxiips.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855&z=1.8&fx=0.57551101402701&fy=0.72222222222222","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/nxuxcjj7qtabjq0aykzlhhx7c4cqrb40ssw9wrevmwwxiips.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440&z=1.8&fx=0.57551101402701&fy=0.72222222222222"},"hidden":0},{"id":48437,"title":"Celebrating Earth! And All That Keeps Our Foundations Strong","url":"\/blog\/celebrating-earth-and-all-that-keeps-our-foundations-strong\/","urlTitle":"celebrating-earth-and-all-that-keeps-our-foundations-strong","division":380467,"description":"Primal Instinct is feminine and raw, and both sensual and stable. Our nurturing and mothering qualities (whether we are mothers or not) are something to be honoured; our intuition guiding us and those we love all the way, and our instincts creating boundaries we trust for ourselves and our families...","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yntznqjejbsdd4ssrxvjedruepctojpez0sedpp40jywg0op.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855&z=1.5&fx=0.49090073431364&fy=0.5694483198173","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yntznqjejbsdd4ssrxvjedruepctojpez0sedpp40jywg0op.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440&z=1.5&fx=0.49090073431364&fy=0.5694483198173"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}