Peru - Part 2 . . . the graphics!

bit of a delay in getting this second round of images to you, apologies. but it's all because of good, exciting things! you can keep up to date with all the latest news as it happens on my facebook and twitter pages. 

but now let's go back to Peru. apart from the gorgeous textiles that adorned every table top, every bed, every neck, one other thing really stood out - and that was their use of graphics for their elections.  everywhere. 

walls were painted with the name and logo of those they supported, and it was like this in most towns. they even painted parts of the mountain! i've never seen such enthusiasm for elections. turns out they get fined if they don't vote. sounds like a good system to me. i asked what happens when the elections over - do they paint over it until the next round? but no, it all stays there, just the same. some of the locals hate it, i guess i would too if i could understand it and it wasn't just hold lettering!

and it wasn't just elections they were painting about - general signage was just painted on whatever surface they had...menus, company names, directions...

ah, i just love it. all of it! need to do some kind of text range methinks...

Peru - part 1 . . . the textiles!

i'm ba-aaack!!! i've been off travelling about Peru for 3 weeks but i'm back on London soil now...and fully inspired!! it was an amazing 3 weeks and i will be sharing lots of photos with you in the next couple of weeks.

Peru is an amazing place and the trip i took was probably one of the most cultural holidays i have ever had. i went with my flatmate, Rebekka, and we ventured from capital city Lima through sand dunes, the 'poor mans Galapagos', the Nazca Lines, a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, stayed with two families to experience traditional Peruvian life, and of course completed a 3 day hike to get to the jaw dropping Machu Picchu. 

but even through all that i can't forgot my true passion - the textiles. hand woven and hand stitched textiles were everywhere, in the form of scarfs, shawls, blankets, rugs...even trainers!! So much to choose from and some absolutely beautiful designs.

the main wool was alpaca or llama (and OMGoodness they are the cutest things!) and it was oh-so soft. baby alpaca is the softest but by far the most expensive. 

we were lucky enough to visit the Woman's Weaving Project in a small village called Ccaccaccollo. we were shown how they naturally dye the wool using plants, and how they hand weave their garments.

needless to say i bought a lot! but i resisted far more!! i am now the proud owner of my Mamas scarf, a rug, a set of llama hat and gloves, a small purse. and of course a llama magnet to add to my selection.

lots of lovely newness!

i'm finally ready to share my new ranges with you! up until now i have just been sharing some sneaky peaks into what i've been working on but now...here it is... 

Mel Smith Designs' take on the wonderful Moroccan life!

you may have guessed i was working on something along these lines from all of my recent pinning! i visited Marrakech in 2010  and it was amazing! an absolutely amazing if not bonkers place and i (as you can imagine) got quite snap happy with the camera! i would highly recommend a visit to anyone and would love to go back one day.

an obvious starting point for the project was looking at the tiles and architectural mosaics ('zellige') and i had a LOT of photos to work from! i read up a little on the history of zellige and it get a wee bit complex when you get into stars with 96 points! i'm not quite that skilled to tackle a pattern of such complexity...not yet anyway!

you may recall the 2 Moroccan prints i did for last seasons collection. blue and orange with an off white. i decided to keep these prints and have a play around with the palette so they could fit in with my new look . and i'm so glad i did...look how they came out:  

as mentioned in the blog last week i have been working on illustrations as well as good old repeats. i have a thing about 'scenes' (again you may have seen my pinterest boards already) and wanted to pursue this route. much like with my christmas card range. 

i couldn't resist a camel.

so what made me choose Morocco as a theme? well, it's not just Morocco, this is all part of a much bigger project, an ongoing collection that will be added to each and every year. i am documenting all of my travels and sharing my experiences through pattern and illustration. Morocco seemed like an good place to begin as i had already created those couple of Moroccan prints last season and it is on trend. 

you might also be wondering where i got my palette from. well, this is also part of my documenting - i am choosing palettes that link to either a place or event in that location. for Marrakech i absolutely loved the YSL Gardens. so peaceful yet full of colour and life. plus they were a nice little escape from the mental souks!

so where to next?

well, there will be a post on my facebook and twitter pages on Monday explaining the next stages and i need you to be involved. i hope you can join me there :)

attack of the Creative Block monster

it's been a tricky couple of months in 'create-amazing-things-land' for Mel Smith Designs. as you may have seen on my latest monthly round up posts i haven't been anywhere near as productive as i was at the start of the year. and this is because of one thing. i've been suffering from the dreaded Creative Block monster.

he's a meany.

he steals all ideas / visions / general ability to do ANYTHING, and you're left with...not all that much actually. on my big plan schedule for this year i was dedicating May through August for designing my new collection(s), starting with woodland. well he scuppered that plan well and good! it was the last week of June and i had 1/2 a design. HALF. crap.

i felt like i had a solid idea and could see what i wanted. but nowt happened. as continued for about 6 weeks.  moodboard - done, doodles - yeah a few, thumbnail ideas - check, i even did the individual characters...but no actual FULL COMPLETE STUFF!!

i'm not sure what made the Creative Block monster strike. i guess i wasn't totally secure in the 'woodland' theme so switching projects also as a wise move i think. 'woodland' is something i'd still like to pursue but as another designer said to me, it's been done a lot and i'd have to do something crazily different to stand out. i haven't done many characters before (apart form my recently completed Christmas 2014 card range) so that all made me a bit nervous. but i can build on this separately and go back to it once i feel confident enough. 

there are tonnes of advice pages on how to battle creative block, they all pretty much say the same - step away, go for a walk, try a different technique...but i think for me booking a 3 week trip to Peru this September may have helped somewhat! i did 3 designs in 4 days!

i ditched the woodland idea and went straight to what was going to be my 'supporting' range, a smaller collection based on my travel adventures. you've already seen some of my line drawings of the beautiful houses in Amsterdam. well, here's them all designed up. this is just a small part of my full illustration, don't want to spoil to great unveiling :p

and so i continue this weekend, concentrating on other traditional dutch pieces.

so for now i shall stick with the travel bug and continue our tour merrily around the memories from the wonderful places i have been fortunate enough to visit so far...where shall we venture next i wonder...

May - round up!

gosh. nearly half way through the year. how'd that happen? May just fleeeeeeew by for me, it was so, so busy but for lots of good reasons...

- i took place in 2 markets. Soho Flea Market and Wimbledon Affordable Art & Design Fair. i hadn't done a fair since Xmas 2013 so i was half nervous half excited. but the first went excellently, and the second one? well, i'm there right now so i ca let you know later! i was so lucky with the weather for Soho and i'm so grateful!! rain would have made things a wee bit more complicated. a nightmare actually. anyway, there will be more detail on the markets coming soon...

- i finalised new designs for my Muckboots project. very exciting to see this moving along and can't wait to see samples! 

* i went to Rome! it was a joint Christmas and birthday present for my mum and we had a lovely (if not exhausting!) 3 days running / hobbling around all the sites and eating ice cream. 

* i completed '100 happy days'. a challenge to see if you can be happy for 100 consecutive days. photos were posted to twitter each day (unless i forgot. which happened far too regularly for my liking) and the big finale was rather fantastic - the Colloseum! 

* another successful month in We Make London  at Camden, which has now undergone a make over. pop over to have a look! 

* menus were completed for my friends wedding in July. these sit nicely next to the Save The Date and invites already produced. obviously i can't ruin the surprise for the guests by showing you lot!

* drawings have been started for my new 2015 collection and i am so eager to get started on the actual designs...so roll on June! i'd show you a sneak peek but i want to work them up a bit more...make sure i get the wow factor!

when in Rome . . .

earlier this week i had 3 days in the beautiful city of Rome. 3 exhausting yet amazing days! it was a late christmas/birthday treat for my mum who was absolutely shattered by the end of it with me dragging her round everywhere! i think we're both pretty much recovered now though...here's some the holiday snaps...

typical tourist! colloseum, vatican, st peters, trevi fountain, spanish steps, old town...did it all!!

i have a thing about doorways as you can see.

and of course i was on the look out for pattern. not much of my style obviously but i did find these beauties

sitting upon a hilltop . . .

spring seems to be taking it's sweet time to arrive so i've found myself constantly thinking about my next holiday (i have 3 days in Rome with my mum in a couple of weeks yay!). but then i think this is not enough...i want more! more sunshine, more sea, more warmth...so my new life plan?

buy a holiday home. in Italy. by the sea.

done.

this is where i'm currently thinking. nice huh? it's the little village of Manarola, on the Cinque Terre coast. there's a waling trail in the hills and the brightly coloured houses are just delightful.

but there's no sand. i'd quite like a bit of sand. so how about Vernazza?

it's pebbles not sand. bummer. but seriously look how pretty?! i think i could live without sand. i can travel to another resort right? so not a problem. but this i want/need. same difference. how can anyone say that Positano (below) isn't beautiful?

so what have i discovered from this marvellous day dream? well, i like sunshine, water (preferably in sea format), warmth, a good hill for a hike, coloured houses, nice chilled lifestyle (i am perfectly capable of adding my own stress, don't need others input), and being able to gaze across beautiful sunsets.

i blame Jamie Oliver for this - he was cooking on the beach with freshly caught fish and that set me off. so a totally unrelated pattern post today but we all need a day dream and this is mine right now :)

2013 - how did it go then ?

i usually do a monthly round up but as we're about to move into 2014 i thought it would be good to look back on the past year. it really has been amazing and so much has happened, i can't begin to thank you all enough for your support - you're all AMAZING!! i learnt so much this year and the business has grown...still a long way to go but every little step is a step closer to getting to do this full time...oh, the dream!

so here are my highlights of the year...

JANUARY

...i visited Top Drawer and although i was sure i would now apply to the show i decided to postpone from my original plan of September 2013 to January 2014. there was A LOT of research going on for printers and manufacturers of my products - starting with cushions...

FEBRUARY

...a wee family trip to Edinburgh (for my mum's 50th) and my first wedding invite project was completed with the invites being sent out. i finalised my cushion designs...

MARCH

...another wee trip to Edinburgh (this time for a hen do), and then i finalised my lampshade designs...

APRIL

...i took a little trip to Amsterdam to see the tulips. there were no tulips. oh well, great city anyways! my fabric samples came back from the printers final order was placed for my cushions and lampshades, and it was my best friends wedding...

MAY

...my fabric was printed and sent to my chosen manufacturers, and so work started on my notebook collection...

JUNE 

...my new logo came into play, simple but effective. i completed the Ultimate Guide To Repeats e-course by Michelle Fifis. my designs were released as iPad and Kindle cases with Keka, and i finalised my notebook designs...

JULY

...the month it was confirmed that i would indeed be taking part in Top Drawer January 2014! it was a month of finalising designs for my tea towel collection - the last time i actually designed this year - after this it's all marketing and promo work!...
















AUGUST

...photoshoot time!  i reached 200 likes on facebook, and my kickstarter notebook project was successfully funded. i finalised my tea towels designs and sent them off for printing just before setting off on my travels to vietnam and laos for 3 weeks...

SEPTEMBER

...i returned from my fantastic holiday to find my finished tea towels waiting for me - how nice! - and once again i was very happy with the quality from my printers again.  i had a very exciting meeting which has led to a fantastic project - still secret for the time being but watch this space!...

OCTOBER

...i set up my products in the Carnaby Streets Things British store and was also invited to sell on brand new online store Le Crib, meanwhile i was still very busy working on my marketing for Top Drawer...



NOVEMBER

...i completed Monica Lee's e-course Smart Creative Women...


DECEMBER

...my new website was launched which i am very pleased with - the shop will soon be opened! i sent out invites to the show and i reached 600 followers on twitter. i planned my Top Drawer stand with Liz from Elle Jane Designs so we are all ready to go for the real thing, and i was featured in the Moyo Christmas Gift Guide...

and then i had a wonderful relaxing holiday at home with my feet up for a little festive break :) it wasn't all feet up up though - i had to complete my press packs for the show and get my business cards sorted and printing for printing before it's too late...never a dull moment!

i'd like to thank everyone for their support this year - friends & family for listening to me constantly talking about 'the big plan', and for everyone who has followed, and liked and retweeted...you're all awesome and i couldn't do it without you...i hope you'll all still be with me next year to see 'the big plan' through and share all my new projects with...here's to an even more successful 2014!!

bonjour monpazier!

i have just returned from a lovely weeks break to the south of france. i visited a beautifully quaint little town called monpazier. the trip was a celebration of my friends upcoming wedding and we stayed in a lovely converted barn. the town was gorgeous as was the weather (at leas 35 degrees each day). the area itself is very green, lots of fields and vineyards but not so many flowers. i snapped what i could though but i think most of them are weeds!

the town was absolutely beautiful - a lovely, quaint little village. we had just missed the medieval festival that weekend but they still had some decorations up. i got a bit carried away taking snaps of the buildings and alleyways - there were lots of cute doors, shutters and they had a bit of a thing for net curtains as well (but of course this is juts more pattern for me so i didn't mind!)

and we were lucky enough to be there for market day - so many colours and gorgeous foods, flowers, bags, soaps... i bought an amazing air plant (no need for soil), and a gorgeous turquoise ceramic dish. no idea where i'm going to put it but it was too good to leave behind!