Florentine Lilies Linen bag and Fabric Printing

This is my latest fabric printing 'project' a linen bag size - approximately 34cm height 28cm width, that I have made using my own design - Florentine Lilies. Although slightly nerve racking at first - in order to make sure that the hand printed design was the right size for the bag - it was a pleasure to sew up and quite therapeutic in the end.

Firstly I hand printed my own design onto some lovely natural coloured linen fabric:

Then a smaller version of the same design hand printed onto cotton for the lining:

A peek inside the bag after it has been sewn up reveals a nice surprise with the design continuing on the lining:

I have made the bag just the right size to carry a few essential things when I am out and will definitely be using it as a book bag for my book group.

New large size hand printed Snowdrop Moleskine notebook/journal/sketchbook

The snowdrops are looking lovely as usual at this time of year and I have just printed the larger size of Moleskine journal/notebook for some orders and have also added some to my Folksy shop. The larger size is ideal for making notes in, using as a sketchbook and for ideas when you are out and about. Folksy are really coming on in leaps and bounds at the moment with their redesign of their online shops. Here is an interesting article on the Folksy blog which highlights some of the creative businesses around Birmingham.

Cockatoo Pantone 14-5420 Etsy Treasury

Turquoise is one of my favourite colours and I was very pleased when I had an email from Cat Thomas to say that she had included my 'Bridge of Sighs, Venice' card in her Etsy Treasury which can be found here. Apparently this shade of turquoise is one of the Pantone colours for this season and Cat has written a bit more about it in her blog Baban Cat.
Pantone have a website where you can see what colours they have chosen for the year or season and here is a link to the colours for Spring 2012 which includes Cockatoo Pantone 14-5420.
I must admit that I don't always follow strictly what colours are in for a particular season, however, I started to become intrigued about 'in' colours by reading this post written by Niki who writes a lot about colour in her blog Unified Space.
So although it wasn't deliberate I am glad that the colour of my 'Bridge of Sighs, Venice' cards seen below are considered to be one of the 'in' colours for Spring 2012 and they can be found here in my Etsy shop.

Awaiting Spring, Etsy Treasury

I turned on my computer this morning to find that my handprinted Snowdrop Moleskine journal has been featured in this lovely Spring Etsy Treasury which can be found here. The Treasury was curated by Hannah Madden from Hanmade and my handprinted snowdrop journals shown below can be found in my Etsy shop here.

The Hare with the Amber Eyes - Edmund de Waal

If you have not already seen this book then The Hare with the Amber Eyes is a must read for 2012. I chose it for our reading group before Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

The book centres around a group of 264 wood and ivory Japanese carvings called netsuke and is written by Edmund de Waal, a British ceramic artist who has created installations for the Victoria and Albert Museum, Chatsworth, Kettle's Yard and Tate Britain. These carvings were bought by one of de Waal's ancestors in Paris in the 19th Century at one of the most exciting times in the History of Art. It is not so much a detailed history of each of the minature sculptures but more of the history of the collection being moved around Europe and Asia as de Waal researches his family history and also includes some of the more frightening times of Europe's past.

The paperback includes photographs of some of the carvings, some family photographs belonging to de Waal and also a family tree of his ancestors dating back to the time when the family made their fortune in grain and banking. The family tree is a must to follow as you read the book in order to keep a track of who is who in the story (the family tree may not be available in the Kindle version). The hardback, illustrated edition contains many more interesting photos to guide you through the book.

Reflecting Winter and Spring

This small Moleskine journal is the third of my designs that I have hand screenprinted onto notebooks in the studio:

This original design, drawn by me, was inspired by the ferns and icicles of a small frozen waterfall in the Welsh village of Llanarmon DC:

In the spring of 2009 I was asked to participate in an outside exhibition in the village and therefore screenprinted my Reflecting Winter and Spring design onto aluminium:

It seemed quite natural to play around with the scale of my design and first I printed it onto cards and then onto the Moleskine. The journal is quite handy, easy to carry and is perfect for note taking and making lists in - it can be found in my etsy shop here

Celia Birtwell's Artisan Printers

This video shows some amazing printing by one of England's last remaining Artisan Printers for the textile designer Celia Birtwell. I would love to spend some time in there watching them print: