Monday, May 20, 2013

How to do PERFECT REPEATS!

Would you love to be able to do perfect repeats with your designs all the time, quickly and with superb results? You need to enroll on this wonderful course Reign Repeats prepared by Maria Jose Bautista V. Majo is a VERY talented designer and is sharing her know-how with anyone who cares to sign up to do this course. I am so tempted to do this course myself but I have a to-do list which cannot be ignored any longer. If I clear a bit of stuff off my desk before June 7th which is when the course begins... I'M IN. Please read below what Majo has to say about Reign Repeats and of course sign up if you can it is a chance not to be missed.

About the course:

I've partnered with the awesome team of Skillshare to teach Reign Repeats: create perfect repeat patterns in Adobe Illustrator. The class is for surface pattern designers, graphic designers, illustrators, artists, crafters and anyone else who is interested in pattern design using Adobe Illustrator.

You'll submerge in the wonderful world of patterns, and learn how to use the basic Illustrator tools to bring to life your ideas. You'll learn how to create a repeat, both the old-school way and using Illustrator CS6 new Pattern Tool. At the end of the class you'll be able to create your own designs for you to use however you want; for example, to sell your own fabric on Spoonflower. To help you get started with this, you'll create a repeat for a Spoonflower contest as part of the final project.

I'll explain you how to get your hand-drawn sketches vectorised (even if you don't have a scanner), how to apply colour and then easily re-colour your design to create new colour ways, the different types of repeats and how to make them, and how to solve most of the common problems that arise when using Illustrator. I'll also teach you how to prepare perfect files for you to get your best results on Spoonflower.

At the end of the class, I'll choose the top 15 designs and will showcase them on my blog and Facebook page. For a week I'll ask my readers to vote for their favourite designs and the top 3 voted will receive some fab prizes donated by Spoonflower.

This course will be packed with lots of useful info, helpful resources, and inspirational interviews from great designers that have come to reign repeats. If you can't wait to get your ideas on to fabric or any other printed surface, don't miss the class… enroll now! http://skl.sh/11jgtzb

 
DON'T MISS IT!

Friday, May 10, 2013

World Lupus Day - Butterfly Showcase 3 - Final

This is the third and final Butterfly Showcase to celebrate World Lupus Day. By reading this post you are helping to raise awareness and support for Lupus sufferers. Please enjoy the last 10 of the 30 butterfly designs received from all over the world. Remember to check out all the designs on Pinterest and re-pin your favourites. If you would still like to participate in some way you can send me any butterfly designs you may have and I will pin them on the special 'Butterflies for Lupus' board I have created on Pinterest.
If you missed the first 20 designs this morning just continue to scroll down after this post is finished.

Maria José Bautista V
Julie Hamilton
Julie Ansbro
Jennifer Borek
Holly Helgeson
Lisa Rivas
Dawn Clarkson
To finish off the 3rd showcase a set of four super butterfly designs. My special thanks go to Gabri, Eloise,Tommy and Maider for their wonderful drawings, and of course to their Mums who sent them to me. THANK YOU x
Gabriele Age 10
Eloise Age 4
Tommy Age 2
Maider Age 7
Sadly this is the end of my Butterfly showcases, thank you so much to everyone who took part and made World Lupus Day a date to remember!

World Lupus Day - Butterfly Showcase 2

This is the second Butterfly Showcase to celebrate World Lupus Day. By reading this post you are helping to raise awareness and support for Lupus sufferers. Please enjoy another 10 of the 30 butterfly designs received from all over the world. Remember to check out all the designs on Pinterest and re-pin your favourites.
Call back later today to enjoy the third and final showcase. If you missed the first 10 designs this morning just continue to scroll down after this post is finished.

Tina Devins
Joni Barriere
Jessie
Nandita Singh
Laura Escalante
Annaline Sophia Designs
Sonal Nathwani
Mary Jane Mitchell
Ellie Rampton
Pila Podersalu

World Lupus Day 2013 - Butterfly Showcase 1

Lupus is a serious autoimmune disease which affects around 5 million people worldwide. May 10th is World Lupus Day and to show support and help raise awareness of the disease I have decided to publish a selection of butterfly designs with the help of my surface pattern friends. The butterfly is often chosen to represent the disease as a symbol or logo. 

I have donated a small sum to LUPUS UK for each of the 30 designs received from all over the world. Due to the number of entries I will post three showcases today, all with links to the designer's blog or website, and there will be a small showcase of childrens designs in the third post. The designs can also be found on Pinterest and I invite you to re-pin your favourites to spread a bit of butterfly loveliness. I hope you all enjoy the butterfly images and take a few minutes to contemplate the life-altering disease called Lupus. You can find out more about what Lupus organizations around the globe are doing in celebration of World Lupus Day here.

Thanks to everyone who sent in a design. Please come back later today to enjoy the second and third showcases.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

May - 2013 Designer Calendar Project

Gosh is it already MAY? Time to download another month from the 2013 Designer Calendar Project. The Freebie Designer Calendar Project is an idea by Maria Jose Bautista V and is totally curated and overseen by her.
This month has been designed by Rebecca Greenwood of Little Tree Designs her design is dedicated to her Mum who celebrates her Birthday in May. Rebecca's work is bright and colourful and will liven up your wall or desk.


The idea - 12 surface pattern designers each to create a month using their unique style, the only guidelines being the format and the colour palette! The result is a very different calendar full of fun designs and patterns. You can check out all the details and download the month of May on Majo's blog. There is also a feature about the designer Rebecca Greenwood.
 May is availbale as a free download. You can get your copy to print and keep HERE.