Sew Crazy!

Since my last pair of personalised pillowcases I was lucky enough for someone else to request a pair! This time being for a birthday a lovely request for the couples name and '40' was requested for their 40th birthdays. Here is a close up of the finished cases-

Couple's pillowcases

Hopefully more will follow!

More wedding fun and sewing!

Alongside the wedding I created the table plan for I was also commissioned to create a set of personalised pillow cases for the newly-weds.  I was sent some ideas of what was wanted and took it from there combining appliqué, machine-stitch and heat transfer to create the personalised cases.

Have a look below-

Mr & Mrs pillowcases personalised with surname

Good old snap with the sewing machine :)

The pillowcases featured each of Mr. Fitchford and Mrs. Fitchford with the couples initials heat transferred on the back to provide another small personalised feature. Any orders or queries are more than welcome using my email found on my contact page :)

Wedding Creations!

Over the last few weeks I have had a few orders and requests for various little projects which has been fun and ace to get me back into creative things!

One of the first was to create a simple, classic wedding table plan for a friend that was at the amazing Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa.  Below are a few images of the table plan being created and also at the venue.

Nearly finished!

Packed and ready to go

Displayed beautifully on a mirror at Rookery Hall

Displayed beautifully on a mirror at Rookery Hall

I really enjoyed creating this and hopefully will get the opportunity to create even more! Feel free to contact me regarding any queries or requests using the email on my contact page,  enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Mother's Day!

Well isn't this new....2 posts in the space of a couple of days :) I am making more of a conscious effort to post more and get some projects on the go of my own.  Working in a school can be mentally draining feeding ideas to students but I have finally got round all of this and I am now used to it (you may think that is sad but this is why staff in schools need half term :P!)
Anyway with Mother's Day around the corner I have been having a nosey at what is out n about in the stores and online and here are some of my favourites.....one which I have already purchased :)

littlebirdydesigns on 'Not on the High Street'

Lovely handmade design from Studio Seed

Paperchase never fail!

Love this from M&S, with interactive parts

A La Mode at Clinton's

If you haven't found anything yet there is still plenty of time, otherwise check out the fab Yaz Raja who is behind 'Illustrated Fashion'.  Her drawings and designs are beautiful, and has some Mother's Day cards worth checking out!!

'Tales of the Unexpected'

Last weekend I visited the fab Unit Twelve in Stafford for the 'Tales of the Unexpected' exhibition, showcasing work that is 'hauntingly beautiful and stunningly sinister'.  Unit Twelve is a wonderful workshop and exhibition space set in a lovely rural area of Staffordshire and I was surprised at this little hidden gem tucked away in the countryside.  The workshops are run by exhibiting artists and also Jennifer Collier who runs this fab workshop space. While I was at the exhibition I managed to get some snaps of the work on show but unfortunately this exhibition has ended with a new one up and running from this week, which I will definitely make the effort to see!

Julia Jowett's beautiful wire-work combined with stitch and print

Loved this little guy and jewellery byKate Gilliland

Fabulous sculptural and mixed media work by Gillian Lee Smith

I loved the space and work on offer to see at Unit Twelve and the atmosphere was so welcoming which  was lovely on a Saturday morning!  I was lucky enough to have a nosey around the whole studio space where there was a workshop running on experimental sketchbooks and also have a look at the studio space of designers who work within Unit Twelve.  Highly recommend anyone to go see this space for future exhibitions and workshops......you will definitely be inspired!

Drawing Day!

Sorry for the delay in any posts recently! I have been so busy as i have started working in a school so it has been an interesting month! Now I have finally settled in I have decided to set my self a little project and started drawing from something a little different I am used to.....Cells! Take a look at a couple of drawings below and some little repeats I have also put them into, something simple to get me back into things! I am eventually going to continue on with this imagery and translate into some nice stitch work and push this further on as I am now inspired and motivated....Watch this space! Hope you like them!

Drawing Day

Repeat patterns using only black and white!

Trend Bible

'Trend Bible' is a fantastic site which I used tremendously throughout university....literally becoming a bible at times.  It is a site and company that pinpoint future trends for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter and produce trend books to buy.  The fab thing about it though is that they provide occasional imagery and colour palettes on their site for future trends and whilst at university any info like this you could get your hands on free was and still is amazing! Here is my have trend for S/S 2013 found on their site.....

Visit Trend Bible by following the link below-

http://www.trendbible.co.uk/blog/

Blog Lovin!

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One trick pony VS Jack of all trades

Hope everyone is having a lovely bank holiday weekend!  After having lovely cocktails last night (made by moi!) today has been very relaxed.....always good :).  But I had been meaning to read an article shared by the lovely Studio Seed on their Facebook page.  The article, originally from Johanna Basford's blog, was discussing designers, illustrators etc having a certain style or being fairly versatile.  I am always intrigued on thoughts of this as just graduating I always question should I be versatile as to appeal to a wider audience, companies etc OR should I maintain a style recognisable to me?
The article itself is beautifully written so have a read and see what your thoughts are on the matter, I personally believe go with what suits you as a designer.
There are plenty of designers and illustrators who have had successful careers either way and it all depends on you and how you work.  There are pro's and con's to both but I just think no matter which style you fit you will more than likely think the grass is greener on the other side.
Let me know your thoughts on the matter :)

http://www.johannabasford.com/blog-article/335

Whimsical Wonders

When I was at uni I created a project 'Whimsical Wonders' for stationery.  I did a post back in June 'Re-vamp' when I was updating the layout etc of my blog and popped a few images of the project in progress.  Me being the dingbat I am sometimes never posted any finished images for you....oops! So here you go......

The imagery was all hand screen printed onto watercolour paper and then hand stitched into using linen threads.  Visuals were then created using Photoshop and I was extremely happy with both the original artwork and the visuals.  I had a lot of fun with this project and I hope that comes through :)

Busy, busy!

Good morning :) Hope everyone has got good plans for the day, I am up extra early than normal as a busy day ahead!! Thought I would start the day productive and show you some designs and drawings I have been working on lately (some are bits of work from uni which I have then been changing slightly).  I am still tweaking things too so they may change in the next few days!!  Hope you like them and feel free to leave any feedback, it is much appreciated!!

Creative Nails!

I am currently loving all the new ideas going around for creating catwalk nails! When the 'magnetic' varnish came out I jumped on it after seeing it in Vogue and love all the creativity going around for nails, so inspiring for when you've got somewhere special to go! I have had a go at some different styles but not so successful at times!  Below are my current favourite styles-

1- Rebecca Adlington's olympic nails

2- Black tipped manicure-Vogue

3. Caviar manicure (my fave!)-Ciate

4- Colourful Cotton Candy- Miss Adelinne

What's your favourite and have you tried any creative nails? Have a good afternoon! :)

A Great British Summer!

As I said previously I decided to enter a few design ideas to the Hallmark competition.  I decided to go with one idea thinking about the oh-so-british sporting event of Wimbledon (everybody loves wimbledon and strawberries and cream in summer don't they!?) and then also looking at camping and the iconic VW camper van for another british summer idea
Below are what i entered and a few drawings that got me started :)

Recent work!

Hi there! I have recently been working on some designs for competitions etc so will post some images up of them shortly and other recent goings-on!

One of them was a competition for Hallmark that I came across on their blog so decided to give it a go.

This was the brief based around A Great British Summer,  very fitting for all of our success with Team GB!!  I decided to go for something a little out of my comfort zone but will post some images tomorrow :)

July Highlights!

Hi, apologies for the long delay in any posts! I have been slightly busy this month with graduation, work/interviews and also buying a new pc (which I have finally set up!! :)). So with the delay I thought I'd share some highlights from the last month!

Enjoying cosmo's with my lovely friends a bit too much! :P

Out and about getting some inspiration

My new mac :) :)

Best Ice-cream ever!!

At last of all my graduation where I officially graduated with a 2:1 BA (Hons) Textile Surfaces!

Busy Bee!

Sorry for the delay in any posts these last 2 weeks or so, been an extremely busy bee with some exciting things! I have just come back from New Designers in Islington where I had a fab week so some pics will go up very soon of what I got up too there.  In the meantime, take care!

Degree Show!

Well the opening of my degree show went really well, had some lovely feedback which was very nice to hear! Remember it is open until Saturday 23rd June so get yourself there and check out some new talent in the design world.
Thought I'd share few pics below from the night :)