hampton court flower show!

i had a FABULOUS day at Hampton Court Flower Show today - despite the ever-so persistent rain!

there were some incredible displays in the rose tent this year, based around fairytales, my personal favourite being the beauty and the beast, stunning:

romeo and juliet was popular with two displays - one showing the famous balcony scene, and the other the death bed scene:

the fairytale theme carried on outside with an alice in wonderland sculpture display:

they make me drool every year but i just love, love, LOVE the aliums!:

one of the more 'artsy' displays, featuring a graffitied taxi, and '3d' yellow lines: 

gorgeous orange hues for this display, with a lovely subtle pattern on the slate wall to compliment the wild garden look:

this very tranquil rock pool display with it's oh-so-crystal-clear waters made me want to go for a little paddle...even if it was already raining hard!

pretty pretty pretty...no other words needed!:

there was a butterfly house also...such pretty things!:

and the day out was made even more fantastic because i spent with my lovely mum!

from the Design Library today...I LOVE STATIONERY

...we have a fabulous little book to share - I LOVE STATIONERY by Charlotte Rivers.

split into 8 chapters it covers all manners of techniques - hand drawn illustration, screen printing, letterpress, block printing, digital illustration, calligraphy, papercutting, and collage/3D/sewn.

Made By Julene and Sakura Snow from the papercutting chapter

Sara Balcombe from the collage / 3D / sewn chapter

Plurabelle Calligraphy

Merry Day

Darling Clementine

beautiful imagery of greetings cards, gift-wrap, address cards, calendars, business cards...

Kristin Carlson and Jo Clark Design

there are also insights from top designers and some inside know-how.

Brie Harrison

a must have and only £11.89 on amazon...another bargain!

*********************************************************************************

Sunday Showcase - Jolene Heckman

hello, hello, hello! happy july and welcome to week 4 of the Sunday Showcase, nice to have you :)

this week we are celebrating new and fresh talent in the form of Jolene Heckman...

gorgeous summery design from 'in the garden' collection

for her whole life Jolene has had a love for colour, pattern and design.  as a young child she was constantly creating and now with 2 little girls of her own she find their energy and creative spirit has become the foundation of her inspiration.

'colour outside the lines' collection

as a creative marketing professional Jolene always surrounded herself with design.  she worked for many years as a dynamic marketer in the world of product design, but now, after years of traveling the world to seek out new trends and create innovative product, she finds herself seeking out her true passions...

"I am so happy that I am able to follow my dream…a dream of print, pattern 

and all things beautiful"

'summer sorbet' collection

the Art and Business of Surface Design course has allowed her to embark on a new adventure.  she is inspired by everything that now surrounds her, and her designs always begin with her passion for color and love for creativity

QUICK LINKS:
B: http://joleneheckman.blogspot.co.uk/

from the Design Library today...THE PRINTED SQUARE

so i'll be the first to admit that i've got a bit of a soft spot for books...i shouldn't be allowed into book shops really, especially when there's pretty design books to be ogled over! i always find it rather frustrating when you look online but can't actually SEE the book so i thought i would start sharing with you some of my favourite purchases from my ever expanding bookshelf...

first up is my latest purchase - THE PRINTED SQUARE, a gorgeous book full of silk scarves and handkerchief designs. there was recently an exhibition on at the Fashion & Textile Museum showcasing a small collection of silk scarf designs...

organised by colours this book features over 200 hand-drawn, painted and printed designs...anything from geometric to organic, retro to folksy...just page after page of fantastic prints!

4 designs from the 'brown' chapter

i adore the quotes for each new chapter, so cute!! ...

"mauve? mauve is just pink trying to be purple" - winston churchill

there were so many gorgeous designs i had a tough time picking just a few... this book is so inspirational, there really is something for everyone.  and to make it even MORE appealing you can buy it here on amazon for under £10...bargain!

Sunday Showcase - Sian Elin

This week on Sunday Showcase we have the very talented Sian Elin...


Sian Elin is a fun, enthusiastic, and creative surface pattern designer and illustrator, who has spent a lifetime seeing the world through pattern and colour; and how shape and form interact. 

yum!

She worked as a book designer for 6 years but then decided to leave and do what she truly loved - surface pattern design!  She loves to hand draw everything and then colour digitally.  

She likes to draw patterns from everything she sees around her; cities, signs, and buildings; 

I love these 2 designs from her 'Places' collection...London and New York - fab!

...to hand-drawing typography; 

...and to creating more abstract patterns:

Sian's style is quirky, fun, and stylish!

2 designs based on this years 2 huge British events - the Jubilee and the Olympics

Even some old bottle and jars look fab in her unique illustrative style!

Sian has recently launched her own card range which can be found in her Folksy shop which is shipping all over the globe!  Enjoy!

QUICK LINKS:


WEB:       www.sianelin.com
BLOG:     www.plumpyplum.wordpress.com/
FB:           www.facebook.com/sianelindesigns
FOLKSY: http://folksy.com/shops/sianelin

Pretty things are happening!

so i've been spending most of my weekend - oh ok, ALL of my weekend! - making lots of goodies to put on my new Etsy and Folksy shops!  notebooks, giftcards, magnets, buttons...all will soon be available for purchase!

i'm excited about releasing my new Paisleyscope range - i've had lots of great feedback and it seems to suit stationery products really well so i have created lots of notebooks and sets of giftcards...

matching notebooks and giftcards

also getting ready to release my Bold & Beautiful design in a range of products...

preparing the magnet and notebooks

i'll let you know when they are available...hopefully next week!

Sunday Showcase - Veronica Galbraith

Hi guys and welcome to week 2 of the Sunday Showcase! Up this week is Veronica Galbraith...


Originally from Columbia Veronica has grown up surrounded by creative minds - a family of architects, designers and painters set her well on her way to becoming a designer! Now living in Cornwall she has been in the industry for 15 years.

Veronica has a really inspirational story - she took a break from design for motherhood for a whopping 7 years.  A friend introduced her to the wonderful Print & Pattern blog, and as she says 'it all clicked, all fell into place. This is what I was supposed to be doing!' ...and she hasn't looked back since! 

Her graphics design background certainly shows.  This coupled together with her love of folksy design styles as shown in her Pinterest boards really shines through in her work.  She is currently working on building her portfolio - here are some of her latest pieces created during her time on the ABSPD course... 

Veronica's Bold Honeycomb design (above left) has been entered into the Spoonflower Geometric competition - vote here!

QUICK LINKS:


W: www.verogalbraith.co.uk
B: www.pitter-pattern.com 
F: www.facebook.com/verogalbraith
T: www.twitter.com/vero_galbraith
P: www.pinterest.com/verogalbraith
S6: www.society6.com/verogalbraith
SP: www.spoonflower.com/profiles/verogalbraith
LI: uk.linkedin.com/in/verogalbraith
www.behance.net/verogalbraith