Pin-Hop Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to my little slice of design paradise. 

You are probably here as a result of the Pin-hop over on pinterest, and you liked the design I pinned over there. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

The Pin-hop Story: 

This January a group of designers got together and created a pattern design blog hop, which turned out a great success!  But, looking through more than 50 separate designers blogs took ages!

So, after that weekend they started a serious discussion: How to keep the idea and creative input of a blog hop, but make it easier to pick and mix and find just your favorites? The answer was, of course, Pinterest!

Where else can the visitor get a quick overlook and  pick out exactly want they want to see, without going through every link in a chain? And all designs are clickable, taking the visitor directly to the designers blog, to see the whole portfolio. On pinterest you can also make comments, share, like, and save to your own favorites. Perfect for all visual artists!

 Below you will find more designs I created using this 2013-2014 trend board as a source of inspiration. 

I stuck with the colours provided as they go against the 'norm' of what I usually like to use, and really wanted to push my boundaries of colour. 

©JLWIllustration 2013

©JLWIllustration 2013

©JLW Illustration 2013  

If you click on any of the designs above, they will take you to my 'Find New Designers' board, which showcases more of my work.

But remember, you need to head back over to Pinterest and check out what other amazing talent is on offer too. 

While you are here, why not check out what the fabulous Wini Dougall's has to offer on her website? 

Comments and feedback is greatly appreciated, or even just a hello, to let me know you popped by. 

Have fun with the Hop. 

Jennie 

How to make a mini Notebook

Hello one and all...

Welcome back to my blog. 

Today I am going to share a little tutorial on how to make some mini A6 Notebooks (15 pages 30 sides) using just a variety of basic office equipment in approximately 8-10 minutes (per notebook). 

Disclaimer: This is how I create my notebooks, that I sell via etsy. This is not the only way, nor necessarily the easiest/best way, but it is how I have learned and the results are top knotch. I recommend you practice this technique and then adjust to suit your requirements/needs. 

Happy Making!!!! 

 Open up your design (if using a digital design), ensuring the template is A4 in size, adjust the scale of the design, baring in mind this will become an A6 notebook and large scale prints may not work as well as if it were smaller in scale. 

Send to printer, I use the specifications below:

 (sheetfeeder, borderless, Epson Photo Quality) and placed my logo across the back of the design ensuring it doesn't affect the pattern.

 (this is optional, but recommended if you intend to sell them)

EQUIPMENT

7 sheets A4 white paper

(I use basic printing paper)

1 A4 sheet with chosen design 

(I use Linen cardstock at 300gsm)

Paper trimmer

Metal ruler

Sharp Scalpel/blade 

Long arm Stapler

Staples

Using the paper trimmer, cut the A4 white paper in half, width way, repeat with patterned paper. 

Fold the patterned paper in half, to create a guideline for the staples, I use the black slider to make sure the staples are inserted evenly at either side of the line. Two staples should be all that is needed. 

Turn the notebook over and using the metal ruler against the staples on the left hand side, pull the paper from the right hand side and create a crease rubbing your thumb across the outer side. 

Turn the paper around 180 degrees and repeat. This will create a fold that allows the paper to turn easily. 

As you can see the notebook now folds over and has a nice curve to the seam where the staples sit evenly. 

Here you have 2 options.

 (I prefer the scalpel, but find the paper trimmer works well). 

As you have folded the paper over, you will find that there are overlapping sheets, and odd sheets of paper longer than others. Using either method, trim the paper down so the paper and the front cover are the same size. You should only need to remove minimal slices (see trimmer photo). 

Please note: if you use a hand scalpel or as I have a blade, please ensure the blade is super sharp, as a blunt blade will just drag the paper and ruin the whole notebook. A sharp blade should only need one or two strokes to trim the paper. 

Here you can see the finished product, complete with a band of card (semigloss epson paper) with my business logo on and a small product description. 

P.S I noticed the pattern across the top was a little uneven after I took this picture. This is common, simply trim it to even size. Please note all sizes are approximate as this is handmade. 

Back of notebook, simply use a small piece of tape, or double sided to fix the band together. 

I always seal my notebooks in a C6 (A6) clear sealable bag available from any craft store/online store/eBay. This not only keeps it clean while being stored but looks professional when posting out to customers. 

Here we have both notebooks complete, using 1 sheet of A4 Cardstock, 7 sheets of A4 paper, a few office essentials and a little patience. 

 Including time, it costs approx 60p to make 2, probably less with practice. 

Don't be disheartened if it doesn't work first time, I must have made 5-10 of them before I created one I felt was suitable to sell. 

Remember, if you find an easier solution to any section, give it a try, maybe there are other ways to make a mini notebook, and I'm 100% sure that there are, but this is my way, and it may just be your way too. 

Note: Easily applicable to creating and A5 notebook also. 

Thanks for reading... 

Another Excuse......

Whoopsie... haven't blogged in weeks.

 Can I still blame morning sickness-that-lasts-all-day?

Good, Alright. So I haven't been blogging, but I have been working. I've had a few little features, so don't forget to check out the 'my features' tab along the right hand side, I've entered a competition or two, and created a few new collections for my agent ( they are top secret though, Sorry!). 

I Submitted 2 designs for this quarters MOYO Magazine. The theme was 'conversational prints'. 

Not sure if they will be selected but I like them anyway. 

I Also submitted these for the MOYO Competition that was based around the theme of Architecture. 

I went with the idea of subway's and the patterned tiles that are usually adorned along the walls. 

Did I get it right?

I LOVED this months Tigerprint competition, with a shiny new website, it was great to create a mood-board as part of the brief. The theme was Colour, and I am loving Pastels at the moment. 

NO Top 10 this Month, but never-mind. 

Finally, I entered the Wallpapered.com competition in conjunction with The Ideal Home Show. 

My design wasn't selected as a top 5 entry, but again, never-mind, its all a learning curve, and I am building on that ever expanding portfolio. 

Promise to Blog more :-) 

Licensing and Product Mock-ups

One can dream of having their designs actually printed on products, in shops, for sale and I'm happy to say that I'm lucky enough to have been found by an agency recently, and have begun designing some new collections for them to license.

Very Exciting isn't it?

Until recently, I've but dreamed of having my designs on products to actually sell, and previously I've mocked up some of my patterns on products, to see whether they would fit.

Today I am going to share the mock-ups, and you never know, the right person might be looking.

Stationery

Dream Client: Paperchase/Marks and Spencer

Children/Baby

Ideal Client: Stokke, Mothercare

Partywear

                     

Interior and Homeware

Ideal Client: Next, Marks and Spencer, Debenhams

Fashion

Dream Client: Hunter's, Next

Thanks for Dreaming with me.

Until Next Time. 

Tigerprint Carousel

Last week I found out via Twitter that Tigerprint were accepting designs to be shown on their homepage on a 'carousel'. I took the opportunity for some free publicity and got to work straight away.

You can see my design, alongside many other beautiful designs from my fellow ABSPD mod 2 friends.

here it is:

ABSPD Showcase and Magazine

The end of Module 2 of 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design' has come. Once again, I have absorbed an amazing amount of information, and become overwhelmed with the amazing work of   my fellow course mates. You guys are amazing, thank you for allowing me to share in your Journey.

The course is having a Showcase to share with the world a snippet of what we have created during the course, its always fantastic so see my work amongst that of other inspiring people. Another reason to be thankful to Rachael and Beth.

Rachael is also starting an online Magazine, based around the SPD course, featuring past and present students and lots of other exciting information that I dare no share just yet. so Shhhhh!

Here is the collection that I Submitted for both the Showcase and the Magazine.