Moyo Digital Magazine Feature - Fashion & Fabric

Issue 3 of Moyo magazine is out, which includes an interview with me talking about 'Fashion and Fabric'. In this interview I answer questions like 'How to submit your work to a fabric company', explain the differences between designing for fashion and bolt fabric, and I walk you through my thoughts and process for designing my Hope Chest fabric line.

Also included in this issue is Amy Butler who talks about the business of design, a fun designer diary from Jessica Swift, and other great pattern news and information that I'm sure you'll love. If you are a textile or surface pattern designer, I encourage you to read this issue of Moyo which is all about fabric!

If you haven't heard of Moyo magazine yet, ‘MOYO’ (pronounced mo-yor) is from the Japanese for ‘pattern’, and was started by Rachael Taylor and Beth Nicholls.

Please feel free to share this resource on your blog, in your newsletters etc and tell all your friends about it. Visit the website and scroll down for details of how to share it. MOYO is free and they want to share the wonderful world of surface pattern design with as many people as possible! 

 

 

If you read my interview and have any further questions about fashion and fabric, please post them in the comments section and I'd be happy to answer them!

Uppercase Magazine Feature!

I received my Uppercase magazine, Issue 15 in the mail a few weeks ago, and things have been so busy that it's just been sitting on my table waiting for me to dive into it. I finally decided to take a delicious minute and indulge myself by soaking up the creativity of this issue. And as I was working my way through the magazine, I came across my work featured in it! I shouted 'What?!' out-loud and freaking out my husband(which is always awesome). What an awesome surprise!! {Thank you Uppercase!!}

The feature was about their theme 'Pixel Perfect' which showcases multiple artist's interpretation of artwork created with pixels or small elements to create a larger cohesive piece. My feature is on my 'Cross Stitch Roses' artwork (which is currently on fabric, in my Hope Chest collection) and the 10'x10' backdrop of this artwork that I painted. I talk about what inspired this artwork and my thought process behind it. 

I'm a HUGE fan of Janine Vangool's Uppercase Magazine. I discovered it during one of my many visits to Anthropologie - plopped myself down on their beautiful couches and flipped through it. I was taken aback by the fabulous, matte paper, the gorgeous design of the magazine and the quality of the artists featured, and have been hooked ever since. I even went online and ordered some back issues and the Dottie Angel book {which is a beautiful MUST for your bookcase!}. And then I subscribed which means I get guaranteed happiness in my mailbox 4 times a year.

If you haven't heard of Uppercase, here's an explanation from their website:
UPPERCASE publishes books and magazines for the creative and curious: products that spark the imagination and inspire creativity. Our eponymous magazine, now in its fourth year, is loved by readers around the world and has been recognized for its design excellence. Our books profile up-and-coming artists or explore emerging trends in design and creativity.

On a side note - I highly recommend you subscribe! It's $80 a year for 4 beautiful and inspiring issues - which I understand is a lot of dough for a magazine subscription. For me, I really wanted to be a part of supporting an independent magazine who is putting out gorgeous and relevant content, inspiring me in my creative work, promoting artists and creativity - and when it comes from a creator who is living her calling in life, it's just icing on the cake.

Thanks Uppercase for the feature!

Hope Chest Photo Shoot- Creating my Cross Stitch Roses Backdrop

 

As I'm waiting for my Hope Chest photo's I thought I'd go ahead and share with you a little 'video' I made of me painting my Cross Stitch Roses backdrop for my photo shoot. I posted on Facebook and Twitter, a little sneak peak of the backdrop, and today is the big reveal!

This backdrop I painted is based off of my new fabric "Cross Stitch Roses" which is a part of my Hope Chest fabric collection with Blend Fabrics. The 'video' is made up of photos I took while I was creating the backdrop, so you can see it being built little by little. I've never made a video before, so I'm crossing my fingers that this works. Do let me know if it doesn't (and send any tips my way) and I'll try to fix it! ; )

{Close-up of my Cross Stitch Roses painted backdrop}

I'm also including some photos of the backdrop I painted here too. I absolutely love how vibrant the colors turned out, and I can't WAIT to see the photo's from my Hope Chest photo shoot to see how it turned out there.

{Photo of my Cross Stitch Roses backdrop from my upstairs window}

I had an absolute blast creating this. It took me about 5 hours to do. I first took my 'Cross Stitch Roses' artwork, and sized one of my motifs in Illustrator so I knew what size I needed to make my stamps. To create my stamps, I cut out 'x' shapes from foam and then glued them to pieces of foam core. I then used craft paint in a variety of colors to stamp the design out onto a huge 10' x 10' cutting of muslin fabric that I laid out on my back patio (of course with a painting backdrop underneath so it wouldn't go through onto the patio!). I also used a gardeners kneeling pad for my knees in order to keep the experience from being painful.

{Me with my creation}

I hope you enjoy seeing a little part of the process and getting a glimpse into a little bit of the behind the scenes prep for my Hope Chest photo shoot. I absolutely can't wait to see the photo's and share them with you too. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll have them and be able to share. Thanks so much for watching my little video! 

In the Press: Art & Design Licensing Sourcebook

 {My ad in the Art and Design Licensing Sourcebook}

Huge thanks to the Art and Design Licensing Sourcebook where they featured my work and latest happenings in their Summer 2012 issue! I was pleasantly surprised to find my work featured 4 times on pages 27, 77, 79 and 81!
 
You can view their new Summer 2012 digital edition here.

 

{Talking about my work having a fresh take on florals, my industry experience and Surtex showcases} 

{Talking about my 5 new licensing deals including my fabric and stationery lines with Blend! Coming out very soon...}

The Art and Design Licensing Sourcebook is an industry trade magazine that is your desktop guide to ‘who’s who’, keeping you updated with all the latest trends, new properties, retail analysis and a plethora of information on new developments.

 

{Featuring my tasty collaboration with Lucks}

 

{Showcasing Wellspring's product launch with my artwork}

 

SO exciting!!

Featured on Print & Pattern Blog and the Surtex Marketplace

Huge thanks to Bowie Style from the fabulous Print and Pattern Blog for posting about me, my work, and my upcoming Surtex attendance!

I'm SO excited to attend this year, and have been working away like crazy to prepare. As a reminder, I'll be in booth #325!

Speaking of Surtex, you can now see a snippet of one of my new collections, "Tea House' on the Surtex Marketplace of rotating images...so you need to wait a while for it to pop up.

I'm also working on some fresh, new things for all of you that I plan to introduce in the fall. Crazy, exciting things are happening and I can't wait to share with you!

My Print on American Idol Judge Randy Jackson

OK, this is kinda fun. Wednesday night I was watching to Top 10 perform on American Idol, and as Randy Jackson (one of the judges) was talking I'm looking at his shirt and thinking....that print....looks familiar.....it's MY print!!! So I pull up my iPad and find the print I have posted on Flickr to show my husband to make sure I wasn't crazy...and crazy I was not! SO FUN!

I tweeted about it, but thought I'd send you guys a picture too for fun.

 {Screenshot from the American Idol video 'Top 10 Perform' - Randy & J.Lo}

It's funny because when I designed this navy/gold/brown colorway for my 'Dot Tac Toe' print, I was thinking of how it would work awesome for a guy. For my Just Dandy photo shoot I SO wanted to have a tie or a button-up shirt made out of it for a little boy, but just didn't get around to it. So here it is! Awesome! Made my evening for sure!

I Spy: Glam Garden!

{Cover of Quilters Home Magazine | Oct/Nov 2010 Issue}

This weekend, I visited one of our favorite hang-out spots - Barnes & Noble to peruse magazines and books while sipping a Chai tea latte. I started in the women's interest section, then the home magazines, the computer section, and then the sewing and crafting section - piling on magazines at each stop. As I was in the sewing section, pulling out the Quilters Home magazine, I spotted something that looked a bit familiar. Looking more closely, i-spied some of my Glam Garden fabric being used for a featherweight cozy cover on the cover of the magazine!!! The COVER? Seriously? I teared up on the spot, rushed to my husband and shook the magazine at him (gently) with my one free hand. His huge smile and my teared up eyes made for a happy moment.

Teri Coffman? You made my day, week, month! {Thanks for using Glam Garden! Gush!}


As you could probably guess from my exuberant thanks, Teri Coffman is the designer behind this Fab Featherweight cozy. Check out her blog to read up on her story regarding this cozy cover, and many more fabulous things and sewing adventures on her blog. There's a variety of fabric prints mixed in with Glam Garden {in case you are having trouble spotting}, but that does not for one bit change my excitement!

Just thought I'd share with you my happy moment {blush}.

My Work Published in 'Exciting World of Pattern Design'

Last spring I was contacted by the team of people working on a new book for Zeixs, who asked if I could send them some of my work to be included in their upcoming book 'Exciting World of Pattern Design'. That was pretty exciting and flattering!! So off I sent my pictures, not thinking much of it, and low and behold last fall the book was published with photo's of my work included. Me? Seriously gushing with excitement!

I thought I'd go ahead and share the pages I'm on with you, as well as turn this into a book review to share with you some of the other fabulous work included in this book.

First off, this book is like a brick! It's about 5.25" square, and about 2.25" thick, jam-packed with more than 700 patterns inside it's 653 pages! The book categorizes the artwork into 7 sections: Objects, Animals, Typo, Human, Geometric, Abstract & Floral. Each page is flooded with images, the only wording on the page is the artist's name & website information - which is also included in a list in the index in the back.


There is such a plethora of inspiration and different styles captured in this book! The images I've included are just a small sneak-peak as to what is inside. Some of the pages even include showing the pattern on a product, which is so fun to see it come to life.

My friend Diane lives in Budapest, Hungary and was able to find one in a bookstore over there. She picked me up a copy and brought it to me when we were both in NYC this January. {thanks Diane!!} Speaking of Diane, she is also featured in this book! Check out her beautiful work and adventures in Budapest by visiting her blog.

Diane's featured artwork

If you are a pattern lover, and are able to get your hands on one of these German books I would say go for it! It's absolutely stunning and full of beautiful work! I haven't been able to find this book in the US, but you can purchase it online directly from Zeixs.

True Up Interview - Part 2

As mentioned previously, here is part 2 of Kim Kight's interview of me at True Up. This time it's about the Hot Blossom collection. She asked me about the inspiration around each pattern and color story, which was really fun to reminisce! Thanks again Kim!

That paisley sure got me (read the interview to understand what I mean). Whenever I see it, I find it humbling and those memories keep me pressing on when I feel stuck...which can be often sometimes. I'm super grateful to Robert Kaufman for picking up the Hot Blossom collection, and am really excited to see what people do with it! I think that will be the most inspiring to me - to see it come alive through another person's perspective. There's something about a creative passing something to another creative, who passes it on to another creative... like we're all collectively working on something fun together and inspiring and being inspired by each other. TAG - you're it! Be sure to upload the fun things you make to the Hot Blossom Flickr group!

True Up Interview - Part 1

A short while ago I sent Kim Kight at True Up blog a little e-mail to let her know about my Hot Blossom collection, and she splendidly suggested doing an interview - thanks so much Kim! Today she posted "part 1" of the interview...stay tuned for more on Monday. Yes, this quiet introvert really does have a lot to say - ha! I was super flattered that she would even ask, and found it really fun to chat with someone in this new industry. It was a good exercise for me to push myself to open up and share a small piece of my life.
“True Up” means to make balanced, straight, square. In sewing, “true up” means making a piece of fabric true to grain with a well-placed cut or rip. True Up is a blog devoted to fabric, and Kim Kight is a definite fabric aficionado.

It's been great chatting with Kim, and it's so inspiring to see all of her fabulous work, fabric postings, interviews and information she pours into her blog. True Up just turned one year old a few days ago (Happy Birthday!) and Kim has soared to huge heights in such a short amount of time. What an inspiration!

Thanks for all the information and inspiration Kim! Here's wishing you a fab new year!