Happening next week!

Next week I am taking part in the Paper Love Blog Hop! On Monday I am going to share with you my love of all things paper and talk about a creative technique that I enjoy when the days get sunnier and the temperatures a little bit warmer.

What is the Paper Love Blog Hop?

The PaperLove Blog Hop is a celebration of all things paper! Follow the links to discover more bloggers who love paper and use it to inspire and delight. And if you want to explore a whole world of paper, and stretch your paper passion further with a host of creative projects, why not join the innovative new online course PaperLove (starts March 31). Led by book artist Rachel Hazell, PaperLove is a five week creative adventure for paper lovers. Find out more here http://www.paperphilia.co.uk/paperlove

So join me on Monday to celebrate the wonderfulness that is Paper!

New Collections

As we are now well into February I thought I would share with you some new designs that I have been working on. One of my goals this year is to secure more outlets for my work, whether that be with agents, licensing deals, on line outlets or galleries and shops. I have to say that things have all gone a bit quiet which is a worry but I keep marching on and endeavour to keep optimistic. To this end I have thrown myself into designing and creating collections. I have been inspired by many different things. The first collection is actually linked in to the next Spoonflower competition, "Jazz"

 "Hip to the Jazz Beat"

 

 

 

Next I created some designs inspired by natural forms with a folk-style influence. I went for strong colours and shapes using symmetrical repetition.

Lastly, inspired by my favourite colour (purple!) I created a collection using playful shapes and patterns with contrasting colours.

I am hoping that these will all get a positive response and would love your comments! Now back to designing...

Blog Hop After Glow!

I had such fun taking part in the blog hop (see previous post). A huge thanks to Mary Tanana of Groovity Designs for organising it. I had lots of lovely comments and positive feedback about my designs and continued to design using "Radiant Orchid" (Pantone's colour of the year). As I said before I love this colour and my designs have turned out to be quite the antidote to a grey January (as I type it is raining, cold and dull outside).

First of all I used it for a design that I entered into Spoonflower's weekly contest (based on the Great Barrier Reef). This is called Big Fish, Little Fish and I'm going to make it available to buy very soon

This spurred me on to design a few more prints based around this theme:

I was also inspired by some of the comments and seeing other blogs, to turn them into swimwear ideas so created some mock-ups. I think they work really well!

Finally I added some of these to my Society 6 shop. They now offer clocks and mugs and I liked how my designs look on these products.

So I have had fun basking in the afterglow of the blog hop and it has given me a dose of virtual sunshine. However I have also been making and designing other things but more of that in another post!

Tropical Fusion Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! I expect you are having fun hopping from blog to blog! Hopefully you have just arrived from Sherry London's fabulous post (Digital Repeats) or you maybe one of my regular readers. If you are unsure about all this it's a collaboration between 40 wonderful international designers inspired by Pantone's colour of the year, "Radiant Orchid" with the theme Tropical Fusion (if you want to start from the beginning click on the link to the right!)

This has been a really fun challenge. I love this colour and the designs I have come up with have really banished those January blues as they are so Summery. I have used bold shapes and colours and focused on tropical foliage, leaves and fruit.  As you can see I always start with drawing and my shapes are quite simple. I was really inspired by these leaf shapes and you can see how I developed these below.

 

My resulting collection is called "Heatwave".

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I think these designs would work really well in fashion as well as for the home. Below are some mock-ups I created using my designs. They would give a bold splash of colour to any room with the ultra-fashionable "Radiant Orchid" shining through (you are going to see that colour everywhere!)

Now I hope that you will continue to hop onto the amazing Jessica Wilde's blog (Jessica Wilde). Jessica is a freelance surface print designer based in the U.K. who draws her inspiration from her love of photography to capture florals, wildlife and textures. Enjoy!

January News

Well, January has started with a whizz so far! both in terms of designing and with "real life" (as I call it!). As I am still in the baby stages of building up my business I am having to take paid work as and when I can. So for the first two weeks of January I have been working as a TA with Year 2s at a Primary School. It has been great and it's good to earn but it means my designing is squeezed into less hours. At the same time I have been designing for a very exciting blog hop that I am taking part in between 18th and 21st January.

I am thrilled to be working alongside so many talented designers! All our designs will highlight Pantone's Colour of the Year, Radiant Orchid and based on the theme of Tropical Fusion. So lots of sunny and bright ideas to brush away a dull and grey January. The starting blog can be found at Mary Tanana's site http://groovitydesigns.com/. Mary is a wonderful designer whose work is an inspiration. From there you can then just follow the trail.

You Are My Love Bunny!

I have also managed to add some printables to my Etsy store. These are A4 digital downloads that you can print at home and frame or get printed more professionally. I have added a Valentines illustration as well!

Alongside all of this I have been designing for some "live briefs" set during Module 3 of the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design and entering competitions. Always trying to keep my options open!!!

See you at the blog hop...

Looking forward to 2104.

I'm not a great New Year person. I don't like looking backwards so I thought I would use this post to think about looking forward to 2014. I only officially started my business in late August and I am thrilled with how far I have come since then. I went through a difficult period which led me to take a life changing decision and now five months in I can honestly say that I am so much happier.

Fridge Magnet (on Etsy)

 In 2014 I want to:

• Continue with designing and getting my work out there!  I love designing and my work has changed so much. I really enjoyed the Advent Challenge (see previous post) and had some terrific feedback. I am working on some new designs which seems to be taking my work further and am preparing for a blog hop in the next couple of weeks (watch this space!)

New Design Work on my Moyo Directory

• Get an agent to take this work even further! I am going to actively start trying to fine someone who gets my design viewpoint.

• Keep making things for my Etsy and Folksy shops and try out more craft fairs! generating more and more sales.

• Seek out my own opportunities to sell in more outlets. I currently sell through a contemporary art gallery (The Minories, Colchester) and towards the end of the year have had good success with new ideas for jewellery and other items. I would now like to develop some other things to take to more outlets.

• Embrace change! In 2014 we are moving to Hampshire which will bring lots of challenges and, I hope, opportunities. I want to be confident in seeking out new ideas and not be afraid of the unknown.

I think that is quite enough for now but I am sure that I will add more as the year progresses. The exciting thing about design is that it is an ever-changing landscape!

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for looking at my blog. My first post was on the 1st August and since then I have had nearly 2000 views! Wow, I never thought that would be possible.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Advent Challenge 2013

This year I decided to take part in an Advent Challenge producing a design a day all the way up until Christmas. It was the idea of fellow designer Faye Brown who came up with the themes for each day of Advent. I had such fun with this challenge as it was something I had never done before and it took me out of my comfort zone on occasions. I would never have dreamed a few months ago it was something I was even capable of! Anyway here are my 25 designs all together for the first time!

There is also a Pinterest page that shows all the designs from the participating artists together. I am thrilled to have my work up there alongside. Would love some feedback!

Merry Christmas everyone!