LOUISE BODY WALLPAPERS AND CUSHIONS

Louise Body has branched out into cushions as well - so beautiful.

ITCHING FOR ETCHING

I was at London Print Studio today - I had my first go at etching , this is a hard ground print. The next process I'm going to try is mezzotint which basically adds tones and colour. The bees are from drawings I did in Italy where I saw the largest dark blue bees in the world they could hardly fly. I also had a professional practice lecture and a lot of useful websites were recommended so I'll be checking those out and posting any useful info.

PRINTING CHRISTMAS CARDS

The set up - Speedball silk screening set - plus two pots of ink from london graphics. I didn't have a heater which I know now is an essential on a rainy sunday in London. (and not just to dry the prints)
The little donkey production line.
The cards start to look good. Some need a little retouching but that's what happens with hand printing, I guess it's part of the charm.

These are exciting times for me as I've just started my printmaking course. my first day was last Monday, we were shown etching and we're carrying on with that tomorrow. I couldn't wait to print christmas cards.

These are exciting times of change of for me. I have started my Printmaking MA, it's going really well so far, well it has only been one week. I missed that screen printing induction but I did learn etching last week and that continues tomorrow. It's every Monday for 2 years at London Print Studios.

FRAGRANT WALLS BY FLAVOR PAPER

Scratch and sniff wallpaper - gimmick or genius ?? I love the idea of it - imagine in clubs - people would go wild for it. However does it really work in domestic environments ? Time will tell. Most of all it is cute idea and a percentage of sales goes to the Human Rights Campaign to help achieve human equality. worth buying just for that.




These are some other prints by Flavor Paper. I like how busy they are as people always say to keep it simple. These exceptions to the rule are beautiful, busy and colour wall coverings.

PAPER VOYEUR

These aren't new but I took another look at them today - it is a great idea to have hidden images in wallpaper. I think it's an idea worth considering for inspiration for my own designs - although different subject matter of course ! Paper Voyeur

MORE CHRISTMAS CARD IDEAS

CHRISTMAS CARD IDEAS

My ideas for christmas cards - work in progress.

MORE OF MY DRAWINGS

I am finding it very hard to not work in colour and miss seeing what my drawings will look like on black backgrounds - so I let myself have one indulgence and did this with chalks on black paper. It is a very different process drawing for designs and drawing to be life like and I'm still learning these techniques. Below are sketches of Peonies and Roses to use for printing. Inspired by the Columbia road market photographs. I have to do many more of these sketches so I'm ready to use them for prints but these are the best so far.

These drawings are from a little while ago but I keep coming back to them as I like the building up of layers and having a background to the flowers. I looked at few of my flatmates plates as inspiration but also a beautiful Paul Smith dress where he has cropped together different fabrics. On the short course I did at Central St. Martins I learnt that you have to do lots of initial sketches even before you start thinking about colour so that's what I have been concentrating on.

The drawing below is inspired by a Renee Mackintosh textile design - he was into some psychedelic designs in the 1920's ! so cool !

Linda Florence designs

'Crafts' magazine's current issue features an article on Linda Florence. They describe her as a textile designer, I have only ever seen her wallpapers but i bet her textiles are great as well ? Here's some images from the article. I love the 3D wallpaper idea and her scratch away wallpaper makes the whole wall interactive.

Wallpaper in the Press

This clipping is about a project Graham & Brown are doing with Central St. Martins students to design environmentally friendly wallpaper.

Flickr report

I am a big fan of SMOSCH both her blog and her creations. I discovered something new when looking at her flickr images - a Swedish tradition called Fika. I think I'm a big fan of it already - it means taking a coffee break with friends. and according to Amelie my Swedish colleague it's the equivalent of a cheeky pint. SMOSCH makes hers look extremely stylish by using beautiful ceramics and generally lovely 'bits and bobs'. more flickr reports soon....


I have recently spotted some real little gems on Flickr. This innovative poster taken by seanyt at B&Q. Great way to advertise wallpaper.

New Books

Look at that amazing wall ! I would love to see that for real. It looks like it's painted straight on to the wall and ceiling.




I ordered myself a new wallpaper book and it made me go back and look at one of my favorite purchases. 'The Decorative Twenties' I bought it from a beautiful independent book shop in camden. It has some lovely inspirations especially the ceramics.

Columbia Road Flower Market

This morning i visited London Print Studio to take a look round. They have all sorts of printing available but i'm mostly interested in silk screens. There's something about the print rooms i really love. I will get photos next time if possible.




on Sunday i visited Columbia Road Flower Market - it's so lush down there - so many flowers and beautiful little shops. there were a couple of really nice galleries and design shops. here's one of the best. Two Columbia Road