Rosy Lady

My first blog feature

I am so excited to find that my blog has had it's first feature!!!  Thank you so much tigerprint!!!

To add to the excitement, I have got the rest of the afternoon off with Hubby and tomorrow I have a whole day devoted to designing.  The weekend I will be off to the Festival of Quilts.  I was hoping to go by train but there are a few train strikes so, I'm not risking getting stranded in Birmingham.  Instead, I'm going to drive up.  I've driven around Birmingham before and got really lost so, tomorrow I will also go hunting for a tom tom.  

My mind is really in design mode now.  When I design, I find that I mentally go back to those childlike moments where I just 'play' and see where my imagination takes me.  Sometimes, I start with a good idea of what I want it to look like, sometimes it is all sketched out and sometimes I just have a colour palette that calls me to combine the colours without too much thought.  For me, it is all about finding the inner-child.  

This photo was taken on one of our holidays to the Cape and I love the children playing in the water, whenever I see this, I am reminded how carefree children are, and that is how I feel when I am designing.

Heirloom textiles

I returned to work (my day job) on Thursday after I had two weeks off with the flu.  Although it is great to feel better, it means that I now have to use evenings and weekends again for my designing time.  I am currently working on my first fabric line to put forward to companies out there but as I can't show you any of those designs, I thought I would show you some photos of vintage textile patterns.  I took these when we were in the Cape, South-Africa, in February this year.  We stayed in an old house on the side of a mountain, amongst the vineyards and just outside Stellenbosch.  The house was packed with antiques and family heirlooms.  I could not resist the opportunity to take photos of some of the vintage textiles that was in the house.

I like the colors in this one:

I love this potholder: 

I've always loved vintage hand embroidered pieces so, I thought that I would include these too:

There are still loads but I think these will do.  Looking at pieces like these, it always makes me wonder about the people who made it.  Maybe a young bride sewed those pot holders to use in her kitchen?  Maybe it was lovingly made by a creative grandmother?  Handmade pieces are so special and become heirlooms and handed down from generation to generation.  How special to think that the sewing/quilting/embroidering that we do today, may be loved by generations to come?

I hope you have enjoyed this nostalgic journey with me?  Next weekend I am off to Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts.  I should have plenty of photos from that to share with you.  I am also hoping that someone there will sell me a rotary cutter so that I can crack on with that free pattern which I promised in my last post.

Hope you've had a great weekend!

xx

UK Handmade

I wanted to let you know about a social networking website for artists, designers, makers and crafters in the UK, which is well worth a visit.  I have been on UKhandmade for a while now and have met lots of people with similar interests and it is a great place to find out about art and craft fairs or markets or to link up with people either in your area or all over the country.

I have also started a group on the site for anybody who love and use textiles so, whether you sew, collect fabric, design textiles, quilt, do patchwork etc. I would love for you to join my group.  The group is called Textile Tinkerers and can be found under the group section in the left sidebar of the UKhandmade site.

So, go on over and take a look...

You spin me right round, baby right round, like a record baby, right round.

I'm up bright and early today, eager to (finally) start my textile design portfolio.  I have done various designs up to now but none specifically in the context of a fabric line and that is what I want to do now.  I am just bursting with ideas that seem to be all I can think about.  I once heard someone say that a woman's thoughts were like a washing machine, always going round-and-round, thinking about different things, like the different items in the washing machine, all at the same time.  When we went to Keukenhof in the Netherlands earlier this year, there was this beautiful statue that symbolizes my thought patterns so well today...

Each little ring representing a different thought on designs, patterns, colours, sewing, big dreams and the excitement about all the people who have been viewing my blog within the last few days.  It is so nice to have you here, I hope that you will keep coming back to share in my journey and feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to meet you all!  

I also have some ideas for a free sewing pattern.  I'm hoping to work on that when I need a break from my computer screen.  So, be sure to pop back for that.

I thought the words from the song by this group as seen in one of my favourite films, was quite appropriate for this post.

Have a good weekend everyone!

xx

Children's puzzle design

I have really enjoyed my participation in the Blogging for Bliss party.  Thank you so much for all the kind comments and welcome to all the new readers to my blog.  It is so thrilling to see how many people from all over the world have visited my blog over the last couple of days!

I have completed my entry for the next tigerprint competition and thought I'd share it with you.  The brief is to design a puzzle for the age group of 3-6 years old.  The theme could be the environment, counting or numbers. Although I have shown the puzzle pieces on the illustration submitted to tigerprint, I've decided not to show it on the one I post here so that you can see the design a bit better.  I have also decided to post the illustration with a higher dpi than the one submitted as it looks a big clearer.

I used the theme of the environment for this puzzle but I did not want it to be a preachy 'do this and don't do that' kind of message.  I therefore decided to add a positive message instead that could instill a sense of ownership that would bring a sense of responsibility for the environment.  

I chose to convey this message through an illustration of the classic story of Goldilocks and the three bears, not just for the hint of nostalgia but also to reach the child on their level through the familiarity of the story.  I have combined digital design elements with elements that look hand drawn/painted, again as a way to make the design accessible to the child.  

Lastly, I aimed to keep the design light, fun, whimsical and colourful with lots of interesting shapes of various sizes to stimulate the imagination and illustrate some of the beauty of nature.

I am really enjoying the participation in these competitions but now I want to start work on my textile design portfolio.

Blogging for bliss

I have felt inspired to participate in the online Blogging for bliss celebrations as hosted by artsymama.  

I originally started my blog as an online journal of the steps that I was taking towards becoming the full time designer that I want to be, that I dream about, every second of every day.  My blog is still quite new, like a small blossom at the beginning of Spring...

There is the nervous excitement of what this new season is going to bring.  That is how I see this, as a new season in my life.  I believe that dreams can come true, that I can make this career change but that a big part of it is also about 'saying it out loud' and then taking the steps to see that through and to make it happen.  My blog has been the tool that has given me my voice in this world to say what I want, to be accountable, and to see it through.  

Like blossoms in the wind, I am saying it, I want to be a textile designer.  Only time will tell where the wind will blow these blossoms of hopes and dreams...

In the meantime, I am taking baby steps, designing, drawing, photographing, reading, painting, researching and doing.  I celebrate every achievement and I remain focussed.  

Thank you for the opportunity to share my dreams with you.

xx

One sunny day

I'm still off sick with the flu but have been enjoying the time on my own. And, on a day like today when the sun is shinning through my studio window and my Begonia is blossoming her little heart out, 

I really feel like I can 'hang in there'.

Of course, it is all made even easier when Hubby comes home with a surprise bouquet of roses 

to make me feel better AND a copy of one of my favourite South-African magazines, Idees, arrive in the post.  A birthday subscription from my Mum.

I hope that no matter what is going on for you today, that you get to feel some love too.

xx

Christmas in July

Well, I was contemplating about whether to blog about the car accident that I was in on Friday when someone drove into the back of my car or, that I am at home with the flu, just moping around, watching the clock until Hubby can come home BUT THEN I GOT THIS EMAIL!!!  

I recently forced myself to get out of my comfort zone and to enter my first design competition with Tigerprint (they supply cards and wrapping paper to Marks & Spencer).  Well, there were so many gorgeous entries that I did not think my designs would get noticed.

I didn't win but I am a runner up.  To me, that was the bit of validation that I needed to say, 'yes, you're ok and there is a place in this competitive market for your creativity.'  Thank you so much for the opportunity Tigerprint!

If you want to see all the entries, the winning entry and runners up, take a look at tigerprint

My little runner up was this design:

The judges commented: A refreshing and exciting colour palette has been utilised well in this design. The formatting and layering of the tree icon creates depth and an interesting and intriguing design. The subtle snow detail creates a more delicate and beautiful element. Overall a really versatile design that answers the brief well.

That has made my day, although I did not win, I still feel like Christmas had come early.  Hope your day also ends with a pleasant surprise.  

I thought I would tell you a little bit about where I live.  I live in Southend-on-Sea, which is a coastal town in the county of Essex, England.  Across the English Channel from us, you have Europe.  The town is also on the Thames Estuary, which runs all the way from here to London.  We used to live in a flat with lovely views over the Estuary, but since we've sold up and moved to our rented house, we are a bit more inland although still within easy reach of the seafront.  Enough with the geography lesson, I'll show you a few of my favourite photos

The Thames Estuary has tides, sometimes you would see water one minute and when you look again in half an hour, it's all gone and vise versa.  The changing scenery can sometimes be breathtaking.

We also get some beautiful sunsets here...

And I just love the look of a row of beach huts...

On a sunny day, with the water in, there is nothing better than to watch the various boats bobbing on the water while you have some Rossi ice cream, a local Italian ice cream, which is synonym with Southend.

Southend also has some amazing, award winning parks where the abundance of flowers and colours never seize to inspire me.

Festival of quilts

After two weeks of training relating to my day job which involved being away from Hubby and home and staying in a hotel room, all on my own, I am thrilled to be back home.  Man, I can't wait for the day when I can be the full time designer that I want to be.  The training was a good opportunity to sit and let my mind wander to more interesting things like some of the gazillion textile design ideas that's just waiting to come out.  

Am I allowed to say that it is scary but exciting at the same time?  I am a bit of a perfectionist and can be quite hard on myself and I think being my worst critic sometimes stop me from making a start in the first place.  But, I hate the idea of not seeing my dreams through to reality and I am determined to take the necessary steps to get there.  So, this weekend, I have to start to get my portfolio together to submit to some of the companies that I would love to design for.  The other thing on my to-do list is to sort out my studio.  We've moved into this house about 3 or 4 months ago but it has been so hectic with our travels and changing my job that I've just not had the time or energy to get to it.

I am also super excited about the other step that I have taken.  I have booked my tickets to attend the Quilt Festival in Birmingham in August where I will also be attending the evening with Amy Butler!  I had a look on the internet last night thinking that all the tickets would be sold out by now but, still managed to get it.  Although I am slightly nervous at the thought of going alone, I am also feeling that I am taking steps towards my goal.

To remind myself where I have come from, I thought I would share a table cloth that I designed and hand painted a few years ago.  

And then slightly more of a close up.