Christmas cards

My handmade Christmas cards have been on sale this winter in Vintage Reloved in Hartlepool. This is a brand new shop which opened early December and if you want some vintage, excellent quality bargains get yourself down! It's just opposite Marco polos in Hartlepool town. I'm going to be stocking the shop with birthday cards in the new year, please make sure you pay them a visit!

Designs for gift

Here are a couple of card designs I've created. The ideas behind this come from patterns I have created from different types of jewellery. I've then added my own colours to these and layered them behind Christmas decorations. I really enjoy this process because you never know what the final outcome is going to be. You can just keep adding and taking away until you're pleased with what you've done.

Gift Research

This week I went to London to collect research for a gift project which I began this week. I found this really helpful and I gained a lot of knowledge about what is already on the market. 

On Thursday Hallmark visited us and spoke to us about their company. I found this really inspiring and it taught me a lot about working in the industry. 

I can't wait to get started with gift and my ideas right now are to create my own patterns and incorporate Christmas images into these somehow. I'll be updating soon with some of my outcomes.

Sampling

Here are a couple of photos of what I have been working on the last couple of days. The digital elements have just been printing and I'll be posting photos of the final outcomes hopefully next week. 

This was a successful piece and I managed to try a lot of different printing techniques such as; pigment, acid, Procion, discharge and hand painting. I then dip dyed this and I think it worked really well.

Here are a couple of samples which include gold metallic binder, pigment binder and illuminated discharge. The deep emerald background sample works well with the violet discharge but I feel this could be developed further with some hand painted areas of pearl binder.

Above is a sample of hold metallic binder with violet illuminated discharge. The discharge is very subtle but in this case works well because the gold is the main part of this design. Next to it is a photocopy of my drawings onto acetate which I have put into a screen and this is used as a digital element within one of my finals. I think I could add some embellishment to this one with hand embroidery.

I feel this sample is again quite subtle, to develop this further I could paint in some discharge to take away the colour from certain areas which would give more definition to my print.

Here I have overplayed a silk organza print with illuminated pigment discharge ontop of a Procion printed sample. The layering works well but I feel this could be more interesting with embellishment.

Finally I decided to scan in my fabric samples to photoshop and began messing around with different colours. This was great to do however when this was digitally printed it didn't print in the same colours as I could see on the computer screen because they were not pantones. However I am going to develop that sample with added print and stitch and it might turn into something completely different.

Geometric

Today I've been having a play with my drawings. I decided to scan my drawing sheets into Photoshop and then I manipulated the colours. After printing these out I started cutting them up into shapes and re arranging them back together. After this I started overlaying other patterns I had created on paper and I found this interesting combination. When taking this into design I think the background would look great digitally printed, with the flowers screen printed using pigment and the black lines of detail to be applied using flocking. 

Design development

I was a bit worried at first when I started development because I couldn't figure out how to put what was in my head onto paper. Eventually after a lot of photocopying, cutting, placement and concentration I think I've finally got there. Here are two of my favourites up to now. However I know these can be developed further so expect another photo soon! 

Uni Work Bay

I have currently updated my uni work bay with market research, all of these images have contributed to my ideas, colour scheme and use of pattern. I am now beginning the development stage of my project, firstly I am going to photocopy my drawings and arrange these into fashion prints. From this I will begin creating samples using screen printing, digital printing, embroidery and fabric manipulation. 

A2 Drawing Sheets

Here are some of my final A2 drawing sheets, I enjoyed creating the colourful background using procion dyes and bleach. By collaging on the top, stitching, layering and adding photoshop work it really adds a depth to the drawing and makes it much more engaging to the viewer.  

The bottom drawing sheet is quite flat compared to the others and I feel that to improve this I could add stitch and cut out some areas.

Necklaces

I really enjoyed drawing these necklaces, I tried styling them by handing all three together so the drawing incorporated a lot more colours. I think this will look much better on a coloured hot pink background. Therefore I'm going to cut this out and place it onto a coloured background bringing the colours to life. 

Oriental Museum, Durham

I'm going to visit the Oriental Museum in Durham on Wednesday. It will be the first time I've been there and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be doing lots of sketches and taking plenty of photos whilst I'm there and will hopefully find lots of things to inspire me within my project.

https://www.dur.ac.uk/oriental.museum/

Possible careers

http://www.drapersjobs.com/job/2653136/junior-bags-designer-accessorize-/?LinkSource=HomePageRecruiterListing

Today I've been researching into possible careers I could go into after finishing my degree, here is one that caught my eye.

Cut out drawing

I really enjoyed doing this drawing because it was my first time using felt tip pens and I thought they were great for adding really interesting marks. I also used coloured pencils and a silver metallic sharpy pen, these were great for adding shading and hints of shine. If I were to add to this I would think about cutting the whole necklace out and collaging it with other drawings. 

Experimenting with watercolours

I wanted to create a marbling effect so I tried this easy way which a friend told me about. All I had to do was fill a sink with bubbles and splash watercolour on to the top of the bubbles. I then placed my sheet of paper on the top and this is the effect I got. I am really pleaded with the outcome and will use these within a collage, the colours will really make it stand out. 

Drawing set

This is my first time creating a drawing set and it wasn't very successful. I am going to work on this more and try some different ideas such as placing a wooden board behind with various textures and objects this will add a lot more depth and interest. 

Mood board

I really enjoyed doing this because it was very free for you to do anything you like. By adding the 3D objects such as thread and beads it really brought my concept to life. I think to improve this I could find some vintage Egyptian jewellery because it would contrast well with the modern images. 

Work Bay

Here is my current work bay at uni. Over the summer holidays I visited the Victoria and Albert museum and the British museum in London. This was a great way for me to collect research for my next project. I took a particular interest in Egyptian, morrocan and african jewellery. Therefore once I returned I then researched into these further and found market research from journals which showed the same style. My bay is quite flat at the moment so I will find some 3D objects which I can add to it.

Feeling inspired

So yesterday I decided to have a browse on vogue since I need a new theme for my fashion project which I am beginning in September. Here are a couple of things which caught my eye.

Vintage Fayre

I attended a very small but lovely vintage fayre, very inspiring places and they're probably one of my favourite things to do. I'm off to London on Thursday so ill be checking out the markets whilst I'm there, can't wait!

New York

In May 2013 I visited the most amazing place on earth, NYC and I have to say it definitely lived up to its expectations and more. Here are a couple of my favourite photos to document my travels, enjoy.

Painted out design

This is my first painted out final design for furnishings, it's only half finished I just need to decide what colour to make the other areas, I can't wait to see the finished outcome.

My first ever printed length

Here is a photo of my first printed length, it was such a great process. I can't wait for all the more prints to come!

London trip

Today I came back from London after spending 3 days there. I have to say it is one of my favourite places in the world, so beautiful.

It was my first time visiting liberty and designers guild, two amazing shops that I would highly recommend to anyone who has a passion for printed textiles. Here are a couple of photos I wanted to share with you.