it's always nice to hear from the brilliant Jess Hogarth, and this week was no exception. Jess has been such an enormous help to me the past 2 years, i really can't stress that enough, so was delighted to be asked to follow on from her in a blog hop this week.
and following after me in the blog hop will my very good friend and amazing illustrator Liz Smith of Elle Jane Designs. Liz has been such a huge support to me the past couple of years - she has helped plan my stands (even helped man the stands!), provided critiques of my work, and just been there as all round go-to person when i needed help.
now enough of the soppiness and onto the hop...
now enough of the soppiness and onto the hop...
What have you been making at your desk this week?
well this week has been a bit of a mixed bag. i have mostly been concentrating on new work for Muckboots. i have a couple of briefs to complete for the new season, a good mix so really fun to work on. unfortunately i can't share these with you though, sorry!
i have also been chatting to some shops about stocking my current products - a box of christmas cards was sent off last week and i have another box of button accessories, notebooks and cards being packaged up as we speak! i really enjoy packaging up the products - i think it's that pretty final package i like to see, all the loose ends tied up and the thought of it being displayed on a shelf in beautiful independent store somewhere. love it!
most excitingly i think though was getting some of my new product samples through, i LOVE seeing my latest designs on new products, get such a buzz from it! and it's even more amazing when they get such good reception like my new moroccan mugs have. it's always great to see that and know that your designs are being well received - gives you such a boost!
Where am I currently finding my inspiration?
my travels. my new range which is about to launch is moroccan themed but something a little different to the current style that is out there. next up will be some prints based on my recent trip to peru - lots of lovely geometrics! can't wait to get cracking on that one but have lots of other exciting things to do before i can started. you can see some of the textiles in last weeks blog post, and i have some fantastic graphics yet to share with you...watch this space!
i have my little library of design books that i delve into at the start of a new project, and i use these alongside pinterest. the Print & Pattern blog is obviously an amazing source of the latest prints that are out there but i can't resist looking backwards as well - i have a real love for old 1920's-1950's prints and illustrations and now have many boards featuring vintage style designs.
How important is being creative to you and how do you blend this with your work/life/family balance?
hmmm...'blend'...not sure i'm very good at that! i'll be honest, the design part of my life has a tendency to take over. a lot! it's too big a part of me to lock away, even if it's just doing some of the admin - it's very rare that i don't do something design related each day. i have waves of busy periods where the work/life balance becomes more of a work/work balance (oops) but this calms down and i sink back into my normal routine.
it is tricky when you still work 4 days at another job (i haven't been lucky enough to quit the day job just yet!) because it's your evenings and weekends that are eaten into. but i love it, it's my passion and it will become my day job one day soon. and it does i will be able to embrace all my free evenings that i'll get back!!
