Creative Live with Bonnie Christine online workshop

Recently i have been watching the Surface Designs from Scratch online workshop, on CreativeLive.com
I had never heard of it before, it just popped up on my facebook. Being the newly organised person that i am, i put it down in my diary and set a reminder on my phone, and yesterday i sat down to watch the 8 hour live seminar, which in their time is 9am-4pm, but for me thats 5pm-midnight. Im totally a night owl anyway, so i dont mind so much!

This course is all about illustrator. Im a photoshop girl. I do things in photoshop that i should definatley be doing in illustrator. We got taught at uni by a woman with an unbeliebaly monotone voice, i never got into illustrator. Ive always had photoshop on my laptop (dont ask how or why!) so im just used to that. I really need to learn illustrator!!

Anyway - we just finished 'day two', and its just into the early hours of Friday morning for me. Ive learnt SO much i cannot tell you!!!!! I was doing all sorts of things wrong, even looking back at my uni work and tutorials where we are forced to use illustrator. I actually dont understand how this programme is free..

So i thought i would share with you my first ever illustrator work which i have created using Bonnies helpful tips. Okay so its super simple, and it took me about an hour, but im really happy with it!

We were set some homework, to think of a fabric collection theme and story, with some brief ideas for about 10 repeats. We needed photographs to work from, drawings in line form, and also some sort of typography. Well ive been drawings lanterns and edinburgh based items for one million months though, so for the sake of this i thought i would try something completely new. 

I currently work for Clarks shoes. Its actually really great, i get to meet lots of people everyday and i spent most of my day telling the children how cool their socks are and getting them super excited for back to school, searching for light up shoes in the stockrooms, and organising one million sale shoes! So i thought - what a brilliant place to start this idea up. I spend all day in there, im sure i can come up with something! Before i started, i was not a shoe person. i am a bag person, duh! but oh jesus help me im converted. This is bad news for my bank balance!!

So, today, i did my homework!
I have finished for the evening with this vector of one of my favourite shoes we stock. Its a brogue shoe, patent with a random fabric bit in the middle which is like a flecked woven material, with big bits of colourful material woven in. This post is in no way affiliated with clarks. I just love this shoe!

You can find more info about the shoe here: http://www.clarks.co.uk/p/26103980

And here is my image!

Thankyou to Creative Live and Bonnie Christine for this workshop :)

A busy week!

A very busy week both at university and at home!

I organised all my fabrics and went through what i avtually need. I had a mini tutorial on monday with my textiles tutor to sort out my colour palette. i am having serious SERIOUS colour palette issues.. i just dont know whats going on and i dont know how to get these colours into my designs, decide on a final palette and make ti all look lovely!

We had a pizza party in our Dec Arts 3 studio, with a little help from out biggest glass kilns. Well it is afterall just a huge oven! 

I also came home as sadly we lost my Nanna Richardson this week and it was her funeral. It was very sad, but good to see family!

Ive also been commissioned to make a bunch of babywipe holders for the local ceramics cafe. My friend works in there and came up with the idea for the kids partys.. And theyre gonna pay me in vouchers which is perfect as my little brothers love it there! Im also going there this week to paint a teapot - got a voucher for my birthday :) So that should be good!

Some of my current fabrics!

Packing for homecoming... two weeks off uni and ive secured a work experience placement so im taking everything back! Using this lovely Ted Baker tin for sewing essentials :)

Potential fabrics for local ceramics cafe - 'Crafty Coffee'

Won this cuuuuuuute lino brooch from Kayleigh o'mara!!! Love it :)

Colour - I have been told to play alot more with colour and whether thats thread, paint, pencil, pen, fabric, ink etc. so i have decided to play with each individually. I have made one palette from kona solids, one from ink and the other in dulux sample pots specially mixed for me, so that i can play in three different ways!

One of my colour palettes has come to life with Robert Kaufman Kona Solids.

Making a mess, creating one palette in inks in the screenprinting rooms, NTU.

I have made these colour story boards which present colours on velcro so i can move them about, potential prints and fabrics, as well as physical fabric samples. Love being this organised!

And finally.. our studio.. closed for the evening! I run the CREO instagram page :)

Lanterns Recreated

Well i created a lovely lantern repeat print today, from a drawing, and i skipped into uni to show my tutor.. oh.. she didnt like it!! not at all. Thats annoying i was really happy with it. So this evening i have been playing around with it some more to make it more loose. I also tried some new colours. and im really happy with these!! We will see how they print in fabric before any decisions are made :)

Blue :)

A nice strong green! Not summery - more royal

Another blue. Can you tell what my favourite colour is?

Love the pink - a bit different for me!

Greeeeeeny teal :)

Eight Weeks to Go

not joking. eight weeks to go until my degree collection is finished and up on display for my graduate show!!!!! HELP!! okay i think i will be okay but heres a quick update from the last 6 weeks!!

I did a fabric shop in London.. well its got to be done hasnt it!

My business plan is handed in.. that a 150 page report of research and final written plan!

Colours im working with at the moment. some changes to be made

Organisation :(

Well i visited my favourite fabric shop in the world :(

some drawings

In the print room again! - printing onto my digital prints with gold.. YUM!

Colour Palette

I have a good few colour themes going on at the moment, all extracted from photographs that form my primary research in edinburgh. I like to present my palettes in a different way rather than the tradtional. so here are some, in chimneytop form! Created with my bamboo :) 

Digital Fabric Printing

Having my first tutorial this year tomorrow! Im quite nervous because they either send me on a motivational high where i work work work or bring me down to a state of depression which means i just want to sleep, eat chocolate muffins and watch big bang theory everyday for about 4 days.. soo.. yeah, nervous haha! Ive missed the last two weeks because ive been visiting London, including a trip to Top Drawer which was really great, i saw some great designers, and it gave me an insight into smaller trade shows which i could more than possibly exhibit at this time next year! Also good to see layouts as im thinking forward to my degree show, and trade prices was interesting to see too!

The shop featured in the next few photographs is called 'Miss Katie Cupcake' - an adorable little shop absolutely filled to the brim with handmade and vintage-esque goodies, my mum and i stumbled accross this little shop when we were wondering up to the royal mile. its no bigger than my bedroom and we probably spent an hour in there! Anyway - i fell in love with a little linotype tray filled with goodies, got a good photo, bought a brooch and then went home to draw up from my photograph! And it features in my print below :)

Miss Katie Cupcake - Shop in Edinburgh - Photo by MacLean Photography :)

 Visiting Top Drawer in London was a great eye opener! We turned a corner to see some lovely scarves, my flatmate nudged me and said 'Hey! you can make scarves.. they would sell so well, definately get on that!' anyway.. 55 stands and about 1200 scarves later we decided its er.. its already been done. ive never seen so many scarves at a show!! maybe i wont bother with those then!!

Top Drawer London!

Oh and the fabric design - im getting somewhere - but SO slowly... I have to work at it for hours and hours and then just before i quit photoshop i have this idea.. and it comes from there! Also i havnt got illustrator so i cant make vector files, which means i cant reeeeally use these as theyre not good enough quality. when means all the work im producing, is infact, a waste of time.. but i figure ill go through like this, and then when i know my final designs ill re do them in high quality! A decision im sure ill live to regret! 

This is my latest design featuring picknmix bags from the christmas fair, in my colour palette blue tone, with drawings from miss katie cupcakes shop over the top. a continuous line drawing created in pen. Its a little different i think i quite like it.. and it does feel more surface design than fabric design.. i can see it on notebooks etc.. we will see! the white is a layer inbetween just the break up the colour and line.. but i quite like it. hmmm.. i havnt slept on this yet though! 

Rhea Clements Design Intern - kinda!

This week - and hopefully every week after this - i am helping Rhea Clements, a local Nottingham based designer, in her home studio. She produces bright and bold knitwear her huuuuge and quite scary knitting machine! She products bags, fashion scarves, gloves, jewellery and much more! Its all really nice and properly made - so im proud to be helping!

We are in the middle of talks for a new photoshoot to promote some products. We have a few locations and 'set designs'  in mind but one idea which will involve natural wool and paint - im excited to get started! Ive thrown a few of my own ideas around and luckily Rhea is really open to suggestions and loves my ideas!

Here is a photo i took today of the table we were working at - so much colour in this room its crazy!

Happy little intern :)

Final Year Student!

I am a final year student. I AM A FINAL YEAR STUDENT! We even have the date for our graduation. its too real!

anyway - im attempting to get stuck... whilst everyone else is at secret tinie tempa gigs at the new Students Union, im sat here painting colour palettes from my trip to Edinburgh!

Contextual Research File Started..

Back in Bon.. love this place!

colour applied to acrylic paper, ready to cut out and create a range of palettes!

Using my new Bamboo tablet in my final year work. This will be brilliant for creating hand-drawn templates on photoshop. Last year i drew everything, scanned them in and edited it all on photoshop.. ahhh!

The Weekender Bag Progress

Its finished!! Thank goodness. have not blogged my progress because i havnt sat still for like three weeks! But i have finished and i can finally have a nap :D

Alot of coffee was consumed.

The designs are being drawn up for the final screenprints!

Working out the best position on the screens

The screens just after they have been burnt!

some fabric samples for accessories

 Sorry for the jump here - i dont have good photos of all of the fabrics seperately which i know its kinda stupid but yah - here is the finished article! It took me three days of printing and three days of construction and is all from scratch, including piping and handles etc.

The finished bag :)

Feature fabrics for kindle case pockets.

the luggage tag which comes with the luggage bag. It is the purple print on the reverse!

Bag feet. im showing everyone my bag feet.. proud of these haha!

so to conclude although i am quite proud of my creation, i have leart some very valuable lesson which i will take forward with to to third year. i also have a better design placement idea, but hell im not making another bag (They are way too expensive to make).

Thanks for looking!

Colour Splash & Technique work

This week i have been trying to figure out my colour palette and also figure out what my pinpointed technique or subject matter is.. urghhh still not very excited at the thought that all the work i have done so far is for nothing so this aspect of the project is kinda going nowhere!!

Here is my first colour palette.. in splash form! Im going to do them all like this because its pretty and my 'thing; is watercolours.. even though these were Acrylic paints.. watered down.. because i can ever get watercolours the right colours.. if that makes sense! TOO MUCH COLOUR!

I dont know what the call this one. I also dont think i will even use it, It is too bright and in your face and also as im writing this ive remembered i forgot to even do a splash of the main background colour i intend to use..

:(

This is todays work :)

Very Summery Colour Palette; Too bright i think but might mix some colours in the print room and re-decide :D