Back to the classroom! Module 4 of ABSPD.

I have been a bit quiet on here lately because I have been undertaking Module 4 of the Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design- Building Your Professional Portfolio. This is a brand new course and I just had to sign up for it straight away. Over the last year my development as a designer has gone hand in hand with taking each of the ABSPD modules. When I heard that Module 4 was being introduced I could not resist! I know this is such a cliche, but I really have been on a complete journey of discovery and I don't want to stop. This time last year I was unwell, off work and struggling to make sense of my life. Today I write this post excited, enthused and completely immersed in the world of Surface Pattern, full of anticipation as to what could lay ahead.

Module 4 has certainly been keeping me busy! It is really heavy with fantastic content.The course has been divided up into sections that logically follow the process of making your portfolio professional and industry ready.  I have spent lots of time drawing, spurred on by exercises that challenged me to broaden my subject matter. This is a design based on the letters of my name!

Also invaluable has been the wealth of "masterclasses" by people already successful in industry. They have provided me with insights and skills that will have a lasting impression on how I design, create and present my work. There have been classes with technical content as well as ones on colour, typography, repeats (the list goes on!)

Most exciting of all however are the live briefs from renowned companies. These are really forcing me to change and develop as a designer and move me out of my comfort zone. It is really thrilling to be able to work to a deadline and know that your work will be seen and that you will get feedback. The briefs have been really diverse and challenging. I can't share anything just yet but I'm really excited about what I've achieved so far.

I'm still in the middle of the course so I will keep you all updated. It's been intense so far but really enjoyable. The support has been amazing and you always feel that there is help if you need it. In my view, Rachael Taylor and her team have certainly pulled out all the stops to create a course that is enjoyable, professional, innovative and inspiring.

Fox Frenzy!

Recently I have been paying attention to my Etsy store and adding some new shrink plastic jewellery. I have fallen in love with this process and it gives me such a thrill seeing my drawings turned into jewellery. I have talked about this before but I thought I would revisit it.

Shrink plastic is a fantastic process! I start every piece by drawing first with my fine-liners markers. Here is my little owl illustration which I thought would be ideal for jewellery.

When I am happy I scan the image into my computer and then it is printed onto an A4 sheet of special plastic. Next I cut it out before placing into an oven. The plastic is then baked at a very high temperature for only two minutes. During this process the design shrinks to approximately 40% of its size. Once removed from the oven it hardens quickly as it cools. The piece can then be finished, hand coloured and then varnished or sealed. The shrink plastic that I use has a slightly textured surface which I like as it is quite tactile.



When I have a few pieces ready I start to turn them into jewellery. I have made lots of brooches, rings and necklaces but this week decided to try out earrings and key rings. I used my foxy illustrations as these have proved very popular. I now have lots of foxy items but quite frankly (I feel) you can never have enough fox themed pieces! Anyway here is a peek at what they turned out like.

...and my owl drawing? I turned him into a brooch!

Feel free to visit my Etsy store or leave a comment below!

Paperlove 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.
  
Hi there and welcome to Slumbermonkey Designs (alias Lindsay Buck).  Hopefully you have just arrived from  Giova Brusa to see more papery goodness...
 
 I LOVE PAPER! There;  I have made my declaration and said out loud what I have thought and felt about this wonderful thing ever since I was a small child. I always had paper with me; as a sketchbook, in scraps or sheets and even as unwound lolly sticks that provided a perfect small square of white loveliness to draw on. As I got older I used paper in lots of different ways, always trying out new ideas and techniques. One of my most recent passions is cyanotype printing and now that the weather is getting a bit sunnier and the days longer I am feeling the lure again!

What is Cyanotype?

Cyanotype (sometimes called blue print)  is a photographic process discovered in 1842 by the English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel. However it was Anna Atkins (regarded as the first female photographer) who really brought the process to life. She documented plants by placing specimens on specially coated paper and exposing them to the sun, thus creating incredibly detailed images like the one below.

My Work

Inspired after reading about Anna Atkins I decided to investigate how easy it was to try for myself. I actually found that all you need are the two chemicals ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide (which I bought from an online craft store) paper and bright sunlight! For my prints I decided to use some found graph paper. It had quite an old fashioned feel to it, slightly yellowed but with a clear and interesting structure. I experimented with lots of different things and these are some of the results.

For the top one I created a very ordered feel by using some of my collection of buttons in a grid system. The bottom one is based upon a photograph of a gate that I took. I made a negative by printing onto acetate in black and white and exposed it to the sun in the same way.

Some of the smaller pieces I used to make cards and hand embellished aspects of my prints. As you can see I have used recycled card. I love the slightly rough texture and unfinished feel of this type of card and paper.

What do you think of my cyanotypes? I would welcome any comments and if you are interested in my work do get in touch (links to the right!)

Thank you for stopping by to look and I hope you will hop on to the next on the list for more paper appreciation via Beka Buckley.




Majo Bautista /  Tona Bell/ Louise Best / Cathy Bluteau / Jennifer Bomgardner / Giova Brusa / Lindsay Buck / Beka Buckley / Joanna Caskie / Jonathan Chapman (Mr Yen) / Halle Cisco / Sarah Clare / Cathryn Clarge / Dawn Clarkson / Rhiannon Connelly / Jenny D'Fuego / Molly Dhiman / Ian Dudley / Ayisatu Emore / Akmal Farid / Monika Forsberg / Claire Fritz-Domeney / Louise Gale / Chrissy Gaskell / Julie Hamilton / Emma Hawman / Rachel Hazell / Holly Helgeson / Claudine Hellmuth / Kim Henkel / Sarah Hoffman / Joanne Hus / Paula Joerling / Beth Kempton / Julie Kirk / Eos Koch / Katie LaClair / Kristy Lankford / Michelle Manolov / Doreen Marts / Rosie Martinez-Dekker / Tori Mears / Maria Mederios / Lise Meijer / Debbie Miller / MaryJane Mitchell / Suzy Naidoo / Grace Noel / Hannah Nunn / Camilla Olsson / Jo Packham / Rachelle Panagarry / Monette Pangan / Melanie Paul / Nicole Piar / Jen Pitta / Liz Plummer / Julie Reed / Michelle Reynolds / Lisa Rivas / Angee Robertson / Natalie Ryan / Aisling Ryan / Elisabet Sapena / Kyrrha Sevco / Jamie Sprague / Elizabeth Steele / Terri Stephens / Juniper Stokes / Mary Tanana / Maike Thoma / Linda Tieu / Gabrielle Treanor / Tammy Tutterow / Deborah Velasquez / Jordan Vinograd Kim / Cat Whipple / Brooke Witt / Katie Wood / Amelia Woodbridge

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".

)

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!