'the life of a textile and surface pattern designer'

Posts tagged “inspiration

Rockin’ my world…

So many things rocking my world right now and this final design in one of them…
11cfinalmarkedLove the flow of this one!

Other things rocking my world right now?

MISSONI_13_Sogg7-1529x998

–  The landscaped knit dress (above) from Missoni’s Summer 2013 collection.

– Eyeshadow palettes… urban decay, lancome & benefit are doing it for me BIGTIME!

– Sophia Webster & Nicholas Kirkwood Shoes..amazing!


Inspired!

IMG_9797web

Whoever thought that a family outing to Lyme Regis, a small coastal town in West Dorset, little more than twenty miles from our home would be so inspiring!

IMG_9818

I am really loving the pastel colours that were so evident within the town and thats from ME…. a girl rarely inspired by muted colours.

IMG_9788

But don’t they look oh so gorgeous?! Thinking this may well be the inspiration behind the new brief that I start today.

IMG_9790

Not only were the colours more inspiring than I could ever remember but there were lots of interesting shapes around too…

IMG_9847

Aren’t these just so much better than ‘normal’ street lights!

IMG_9845



Spotted: Gorgeous Everyday Design…

People are sometimes confused at what I do, but surface design really is just everywhere! Yesterday, we were wandering around the supermarket doing our BIG shop and I spotted the most am.a.zing drinks bottle ever. (If anyone knows the designer, let me know as I’d love to see more of their work!)

d8c8733de6b7e117276fe3ea7efd6033

How gorgeous is that beautiful design…the illustration is so soft and in such yummy colours! I really couldn’t resist buying this fabulous bottle and I am so glad I did because the drink inside is really delicious. Even better, I notice that some of the proceeds from each sale goes to Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Win…win (and a perfect example of surface design!)


Company in Focus : Marimekko

During research for my first project, I started reading the wonderful book, ‘Textile Designers at the Cutting Edge’ as a source of inspiration.

I loved reading the ‘stories’ and profiles of each designer within this book and it was here that I originally stumbled upon the Finnish designer Maija Louekari.

An interior design graduate with a talent for drawing, I adore her organic abstract style which is often complemented by vibrant colour schemes and expressive motifs. Much of Maija’s inspiration comes from observations of her surroundings. For instance, she finds Cities and their multi-layered dimensions, from people to architecture, absolutely fascinating.

Screen Shot 2013-01-07 at 13.42.17

It was through Maija, that I then found the Finnish company ‘Marimekko’. Oh my, I have absolutely fallen in love with this vibrant design store. So many delicious products AND a fascinating history which has impacted the design market dramatically.

Siirtolapuutarha mug by Maija Louekari for Marimekko.

Siirtolapuutarha mug by Maija Louekari for Marimekko.

Marimekko cleverly continue to allow their business to grow by letting their designers create ideas that they are passionate about, rather than what they are told. They are encouraged to keep their work loose and free, pushing boundaries without restriction. Designs are rarely planned and are often spontaneous, growing organically, telling a story. This approach continually keeps the designs fresh and ahead of their time, rather than merely following others.

Klapi Cotton Fabric by Jenni Rope for Marimekko

Klapi Cotton Fabric by Jenni Rope for Marimekko

It is the passion of the designers that really keep this company alive. Marimekko wants to set them free and to be emotionally inspired, expressing their individuality just like there target customers, who they were to give an “…authentic taste of life…” (Marimekko Yearbook 2011) It is this supportive ethos and energetic way of working that would really make Marimekko one of my top companies to work for, they really have thought of every aspect from a designers point of view.

Mini-Unikko Coin Purse by Maija Isola for Marimekko

Mini-Unikko Coin Purse by Maija Isola for Marimekko

For instance, even though their core business is through great design, Marimekko believe that manufacturing of the products go hand in hand. Therefore in 2011, they expanded their large manufacturing facilities even further. The manufacturing center is nearby to their design hub, so that the designer is able to oversee each of their projects through from start to finish ensuring it stays true to the design.

Kalku Mug by Sami Ruotsalainen for Marimekko

Kalku Mug by Sami Ruotsalainen for Marimekko

With such a strong spirit and original approach, working together as one team to facilitate a unique and creative atmosphere, I am feeling so inspired by Marimekko and can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.  Their designs are always so bold, experimental and dare I say it maybe even a little ahead of their time.  Each design has been created from the soul and (from my background reading) I get a great sense that each design has been created from the heart even if sometimes this can be an emotional experience.


Outside the box

As a designer, you have to go with your instinct and stay true to the project you are working on. For every decision you make, there is no right or wrong but  the most important part is to just make a decision and go with it. 

IMG_6348

For my recent Urban Line collection, I had to create a content board. Content boards are similar to a mood board in that it is a board (often A3) that captures the essence of the content. You should use both secondary and primary images to help convey this. It should be a little ‘window’ or (taster) into the ideas behind your collection and a great source of inspiration. Generally these boards would be flat (with maybe a little texture), however whilst creating the content board for ‘Urban Line’, I had a great urge, as a designer, to bring it off the page and to really give the viewer the idea of the large amounts of construction within the city. This led to the creation of a 3D board…very similar to that of a shadow box.

IMG_6352

I have really thought outside the box (haha no pun intended!) with this handcrafted ‘content board’. It was a risky idea, but one which as a designer I fully back as I feel this is much truer to the essence and nature of my project than an almost flat piece of paper. I have yet to have feedback on this ‘board’ and it could go either way, but I’m really hoping they love it as much as I do, although I am prepared that I may be told that on this occasion I have pushed the boundaries a little too far (is that possible as a designer?! is that not perhaps our objective?!) .

IMG_6358

We shall see!


Big Love…Concetto Gallo for Habitat

A real quick post as I should be working on my deadline that is next week, but I just popped into ‘Homebase‘, which houses a selection of ‘Habitat‘ products and I saw this wonderful collection by Concetta Gallo.

Concetta Gallo Teapot from Habitat

Concetta Gallo Teapot from Habitat

I literally had to stop myself from buying it all!

Concetto Gallo Cushion from Habitat

Concetto Gallo Cushion from Habitat

It’s so eclectic (which co-incidentally as a designer, I was recently described as been..perhaps that’s why I was so drawn to it) and I really wish I had designed it! I quickly googled Concetta Gallo, when I got home and found this inspiring YouTube Video on the designer alongside a sclupurist/designer Kathy. It’s literally 6mins long (and probably the best 6mins of my day so far!)

Go watch it now….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xuFYG9eA6E 


2.4.4

So, today was largely spent whittling down those photos to 244! Followed by lots of sketching and researching all the inspirational things I discovered over the weekend.Where do I start…so much to show you and I was only there for little over 29hrs!

We stayed at a pub in Wembley and although I’ve driven through I’ve never actually stopped and explored wembley before. So, we decided to have a little wander around on our arrival before heading over to Camden. Our accommodation was very close to the stadium and  the stadium in itself was just full of inspiration, so many curves and lines all the right places.

Just look at this wonderful lettering I found just day the hill.

Fabulous shapes!

Lines EVERYWHERE within the city….

We then took the long tube ride over to the treasure of Camden…a place I’d never yet made it to…but wow, we were in our element, the place was full of atmosphere and individualism, a unique hub of London.

Totally inspired by this place and the mass of people within, so many cultures and ideas brought together in one place.

I really couldn’t have spent a day in a better place. It was buzzing. After a while of exploring, we had the most a.mazin.g starbucks by the canel and it was getting late so we decided to head towards the tube. As we were coming out of starbucks, we spotted a band that was setting up earliar, playing on the side, with a crowd gathered round. This encompassed everything I love about London!

We got back to the tube, but you what…we were enjoying the ambiance of Camden so much we decided to just keep on walking. Exploring the streets ahead and seeking more inspiration on our adventure.

Just LOVE the boldness of that ‘Madness’ poster. Look at all those people…on a sunday evening…where we live you wouldn’t probably even pass this many of a Saturday!

After walking on, we ended up at Mornington Tube, where we looked at the map and ended up heading towards Covent Gardens and Leicester Square. If we thought Camden was busy, that was nothing….

We have both been to central London many a times, so we wandered around for a while absorbing the city, but we did have an ulterior motive in finding some food! We found a lovely traditional pub in Covent Garden with proper ‘homecooked’ food (I really wanted the lasange) but for one reason or another when we went to order they weren’t serving. Gutted wasn’t the word! As we aimlessly left, we passed a couple of ‘Leon’ restaurants, which been his namesake, Hubby was eager to go in! The menu was on my favorite kraft paper and there was a strong history to the brand with many old photographs displayed on the wall of ‘Leon’s’ childhood. Kept him happy!

After our food we were pretty knackered so we headed back to Wembly on the tube….even just walking through Wembly was busy, busy, busy.

The next morning, we headed back East to try and find Brick Lane. To save us changing tubes so many times, I decided we would get off a couple of stops away…DISASTER! We had no clue which way we were going or where we were. Typically the direction I *thought* we were going was the wrong way! But on the upside, we stumbled upon a paperchase. Anyone that knows me KNOWS how much I LOVE paperchase! I could spend (actually I think I probably do) hours and hours wandering around, ‘stroking’ all the gorgeous products!

We passed lots of fantastic architecture..a real mix with the area incorporating many old structures been surrounded by  new building sites

Again, just like the day before lines and geometric shapes featured heavily in the designs.

LOVE how many of these pictures have leaves and organic elements creeping into the viewfinder. This photo is a perfect example of that.

After wandering for a little longer, we finally realised that we both have smartphones with sat nav apps…why didn’t we use that in the first place to find our way. We found brick lane but I must admit after our challenge in finding it I was dissapointed at the quantity of street art. I had a preconception from the hype that is Brick Lane, that the place was filled head to toe with art, but this sadly was not the case. The Street Art we saw was amazing, really wonderful and as a viewer does make you intrigue and wondering what each image stands for, however selfishly,I just wanted more!

We had just a few precious hours left before we had to head back home to reality, so we decided to hop into the centre one last time on our way back to Wembly. We got off at Charing Cross and exited along the embankment. Bea.uti.ful.

(and theres those leaves creeping in with the geometric shapes again!)

For lunch we tried out Nando’s (I swear I came back with my trousers feeling much tighter than before we went!) and  totally fell in love with their interior design.

Sure they thought I was some mad woman snapping away, but all the wonderful design in there and the art on the walls was just so inspirational.

As always, I totally wanted to stay…so many places to go…so much to do….but hubby was having none of it..though I know we’ll be back very soon.

P.S – that’s not bad going from over 1000 photos to 244 to just 27 in this post!


Geeking Out!

20121023-174022.jpg

Okay, so, schoolgirl error I may have just missed the bus from uni back to the park and ride. But, on a good note, that gives me to time to post this little video I created early this morning! It’s only short, but you get to hear all about my guilty pleasure!

GUILTYPLEASURE from CLAIRE SMILLIE on Vimeo.


Moving forward…

Okay, wow….did I really last post on the 1st October…just about three weeks ago?!! Jeez, time for a BIG catchup as that ended up as a pretty monumental day and since then my feet really haven’t touched the ground.

So, let’s rewind back to the meeting I was off to….well it went well….really really well and let’s be honest it was a pretty life changing meeting.

The meeting had been planned for a good couple of weeks or so, but the day before, I faltered, so worried my design work wouldn’t be what they were looking for….so worried I would walk in and they would laugh at me….

but yet, in my heart of hearts I knew it was what I wanted so bad and that was why I was so worried about making the ‘perfect’ pitch.

Thank God for Leon….the day before…that Sunday when i was so worried to the core, he pushed and pushed for me to go to it and show them my ‘stuff’.

I was worried my sketchbook’s were too messy…..he was adamant it showed my passion

I was worried my drawings weren’t technically perfect…..he was adamant it was my style

I was worried I was self-taught…..he was adamant it showed my determination

So I went….

And I waited….

In the ‘White Space’…

Clutching sketchbooks and cushions, drawings and paintings, doodles and portfolios…..

My whole ‘art life’ in my arms….

Waiting for a lady named Katie….

Watching the clock…

worrying I was going to be in the wrong place at the right time….

or maybe the right place at the wrong time…

And then…

She arrived.

We walked to her office….

I remembered how minimilistic and professional it looked against how scatty I must have appeared balancing all my work below my chin and under my arms, hands full to the brim…

“So, tell me about yourself” was the first question

I thought for just a moment…..

and all of a sudden….

the heavens opened…

I literally flooded the next 30mins jumping up and down….

Inviting Katie right into my world…laying myself bare for her to see my design process…

flinging sketches, portfolios, products, fabrics, drawings and everything I had, in front of her like a crazy lady at a 100mph.

That was the only question she asked.

I never gave her chance to ask anymore.

She was so lovely and laughed, saying I’d answered all her questions in that first reply.

I promptly kicked myself for going off on one, at the speed of lightening….getting carried away wanting to show her everything.

Why could I have not been more professional….more reserved.

She said they’d get back to me in two or three days.

I drove the long drive home, wondering if perhaps I should have done things differently.

I got in the front door and there was a message…

A message from Katie….

asking if I could start tomorrow!

I didn’t even have to think about my reply…

my dream was coming true.

And then that evening, reality hit and I was worried…

Worried about my job…

Worried about the money….

Worried about childcare….

Worried about the travel…..

Worried I really wasn’t ‘good’ enough….

but you know what Leon wasn’t….

he knew, like he always does, it would be just fine….

everything works out how it’s meant to be….

and it did.

I have found my place, my home where I should be…

people who share my crazy passion for pretty paper,

paint, ink, collage, stitching and design.

Day’s spent designing,

creating art,

not necessarily worrying about commercial value,

but giving it soul….

I feel alive….

it’s all I wanna do….

I’ve been going to bed so damn late….

waking up so damn early…

and I LOVE it….

this is how life should be….

Leon was right……

Push your dreams forward because it’s pretty damn perfect X

Claire Smillie – First Year Student ‘BA Hons Design’, University of Plymouth (Somerset College) <<<<<< yes you read it right….that’s me….thats what the meeting was about…I’m a ‘mature’ student, with the most supportive husband, two GORGEOUS kids, ((my big ass Mac)) and the bestest job ever. Someone really must be looking down on me right now, because I can’t stop smiling to myself…. I  feel like the luckiest girly alive X


Roll on September

Feeling SO inspired and motivated right now, I can see GOOD things are going to happen in September…it’s going to be the absolute BEST month!

‘Daisy Brown’ Iphone case now available to buy from Society6

Last night, I didn’t go to bed until nearly 3am…I didn’t need to…heck I didn’t want to! I was too excited for the ideas that have been whirling round my head…trying to put steps in motion to make them happen 🙂

Can.not.wait

P.S. That iphone case ^^^^^^^ shown above was my new release last night over on Society6. Go check it out….they are offering FREE worldwide shipping again until Sunday!

P.P.S ***Last night, I sent emails out to everyone who registered an interest in blogging for the second ‘Passion For Pattern’ bloghop which will take place on 16th September 2012. If you wanted to take part and haven’t received an email, contact me NOW by emailing clairelouisesmillie@hotmail.co.uk…we’d love for you to join us :)***


Pinterest


Since getting back from holiday……did I tell you I went to Egypt?!!…..

Am.az.ing place…..

this last week or two has really been about chucking myself back in and getting all inspired once again!

And trust me, been blessed to work within such a creative field, this is so damn easy!

I remember around Christmas I posted a video…..something I’m planning to do some more off 😉 …

on what inspires me…. and you know what, I’d almost forgotten all about Pinterest!!

I gotta admit I love, love, love, love, love….what more can I say?!!!

I tried to to keep away from Pinterest due to the concerns and issues I kept reading people have surrounding the use of this site,

but I just happened to land upon it again within the last couple of weeks and I can’t believe I kept away for so long!!

For me, it’s like window shopping, passing by sooooooo many shops looking at what they have to offer before going in….

it just offers me so much goodness and inspiration all in one hit.

 I could literally spend hours and hours looking through all the beautiful, creative pictures and reading the very wise quotes.

It allows me to find places that I never knew existed, little treasures that I couldn’t even ever imagine trying to look for.

Are you on Pinterest? If you are, hook me up…I’d love to follow your boards and see what inspires you!


Inspired by Fringe Arts Bath 2012

Coming up three weeks ago now (goodness how does the time fly!?) it was my birthday and for various reasons, this turned out to be a .hard. .hard. day. So in a bid to cheer me up, my husband took me out for the day, just to the city of Bath an hour down the road. We had no plan….except knowing we had to be back in time to pick the kids up.

Art by Ella Robinson

We parked up and just starting wandering around the wonderful city and then we stumbled across one of the empty shops in the city centre and saw it had been lent out as part of an Arts Exhibition for Fringe Arts Bath. We thought we’d have a nosey to help pass the time and wow, I am so glad we did as it was THE BEST bit of the day.

I came out of there feeling so inspired by the wonderful work we had just seen…..we even had to go back a second time to take lots of pictures and share with you guys!

We spent so much time there, that we went to order some lunch after coming out, looked at the clock and realised we needed to *dart* back to the car to get home in time, so we had to cancel that lunch order! But boy, seeing all this wonderful art made it completely worth missing lunch!

There was so much I wanted to show you and I wish you could have seen it all for yourself as the pictures really don’t do it justice! Big thanks though to Hubby who ‘played photographer’! (I think he secretly enjoyed the role!)

The photos in this post are just *some* of the work that inspired me from the exhibition…..but there was sooo much more!

Unfortunatly, I do not have the contact details for all the respective artists or links to them as I do not know myself. So if you are one of the artists or know of them, link me up…I’d LOVE to see more of their work and give them the credit they quite rightly deserve 🙂

Although the exhibition is no longer on, you can check out Fringe Bath Arts website here : http://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk


On a day like today…

…I could really do with a pair of these funky wellies by Jessica Swift!

Shalimar Rain Boots by Jessica Swift (www.jessicaswift.com)

Shalimar Rain Boots by Jessica Swift (www.jessicaswift.com/rain-boots-buy/shalimar-boots)

How cool are these?!

Totally, totally LOVE!

She has even made THE BEST LOOKBOOK EVER to show them off in all their glory! The design and photography is WONDERFUL, you must, must, must go take a look 🙂

These are what rainy days must be made for!



The Art Of Wild Abandonment Bloghop

A BIG HUGE WELCOME to ‘The Art of Wild Abandonment Bloghop’, brought to you by a selection of bloggers from the wonderful online course ran by the inspirational Christy Tomlinson and Junelle Jacobsen. When I first brought up the idea of a bloghop I was a little nervous as I had nooo idea of the amazing response this would receive. I am so pleased that so many of you wanted to join in the fun and have come along today!

This workshop has really taught me to step back and look at the beauty and the potential to create and be inspired by the world which is right upon my doorstep…both inside and out.

We have an utterly FANTASTIC lineup for you, with over 50 blogs all sharing some fabulous creations from Journal Pages to Watercoloring, Mixed Media and More. All of this work has been inspired by the wonderful things we learnt from Junelle and Christy throughout our workshop. As you will see this really has been such an inspirational workshop for so many of us. For me, it really changed my creative process and is THE BEST online workshop I have yet taken (and there’s been a lot!!!!) ….just waiting for the follow-up now Junelle – hint, hint!!!! 😉

I never go anywhere without my sketchbook now, I’m always looking to capture the simple everyday moments as life passes by. Never worrying what the finished article may be, I’m just enjoying the moment…me and my pencil…pure bliss.

To follow along the Bloghop is easy, all you need to do is follow the links from one Blog Post to the next. You’re starting point is here at www.clairesmillie.wordpress.com and if at anytime you come across a broken link or lose where you are, just pop back here and refer to the complete running order posted below. You should then be able to find the correct link to the blog you are looking for and get back on track. Along the way, don’t forget to leave a comment on all of the lovely blogs you visit. I have a prize up for grabs of 3 PanPastels, which has been kindly donated by UK based retailer Creative Moments and can be posted anywhere in the world! The winner will be chosen randomly from all the comments left on any of the blogs on the bloghop from now until 11:59pm BST on Sunday 6th May 2012, so the more comments you leave, the more chances you will have to win! I will post the winners name/comment here at www.clairesmillie.wordpress.com on Monday, so make sure you pop back to see if you’ve won and to claim your prize!

Now, you’ve probably heard enough from me, so let’s get the fun underway and start hopping!!!! The first blog I am sending you over to is ‘My Scraptastic World’ which is the fabulous blog of Angie Ibbott Blom…..I can’t wait to see what she’s been upto! Happy Blog Hopping everyone!

‘The Art Of Wild Abandonment Bloghop’

Claire Smillie https://clairesmillie.wordpress.com/

 Angie Ibbott Blom http://angieblomdesigns.blogspot.ca/

 Tracy Cedara Dunn www.thrutheatticdoor.com

 Kay Boespflug http://www.nordljusfollowyourstar.blogspot.com/

 Marsa Fisher http://www.gcstampingirl.blogspot.com/

 MotherDanaSt John http://www.stjohnstudios.wordpress.com/

Janice Richie www.janrichie.com

 Torri-Curtus Burtenshaw http://www.grumpydogsworld.blogspot.com/

 Susan Thomas http://www.mywritings-ariel.blogspot.com/

 Cheri Andrews www.cheriandrews.blogspot.com

 Jenna Alexander http://www.prairiemountainlife.blogspot.ca/

 Christine Piazza http://www.cmcscrap.blogspot.com/

 Chrissy DiMaria Farnan www.myhootdesigns.com

 Maria Levine http://www.riacreations.blogspot.com/

 Stephanie Schutze http://www.scrapmanufaktur.blogspot.com/

 Jan Chau http://noodlita.tumblr.com/

 Becky Voth http://www.scrapateenygirls.blogspot.com/

 Valerie Herbert http://www.valsartstudio.blogspot.com

 Valerie Weller http://www.twig2neststudio.blogspot.com

 Gina Lee Kim http://ginaleekim.blogspot.com/

 Kimberly Sturrup Roberts http://www.bahamadawn.blogspot.com

 Rebekah Farr http://www.bekahjan.com

 Michelle Daigle http://www.thepaperdog.blogspot.com/

 Joanne Freeman http://sjjtst.blogspot.com.au/

 Vicki Robinson www.greeneyedladydesigns.com

 Carin Cullen http://createdwithlove.typepad.com/lifeasweknowit

 Judy Hardwick www.bepresentbereal.blogspot.com

 Jeanie Dickinson http://jeaniesdesigns.blogspot.com/

 Kim Gigot Stanford http://www.lularoo.blogspot.com/

 Kelly N James Webb www.mypunksmom.com

 Donna Peter http://orangalicious1.blogspot.ca/

Michelle Little Smith www.gingodesigns.blogspot.com 

Karen Maldonado www.reallifeinpictures.blogspot.com 

Stephanie Ward Frisby www.lilnefie.blogspot.com 

Sheryl Callan Meilahn http://sherrae-paperpatterns.blogspot.com/ 

Ulrika Blomfelt www.lillblommanskapar.blogspot.com 

Olga Valls Bassa http://muasdcolorines.blogspot.com.es/ 

Deborah Suriano Mahnken http://fishbowl.typepad.com/ 

Ingrid Opgenhoff http://ingridsart65.blogspot.de/ 

Esperanza Beltran http://esperanzabeltran.blogspot.com/ 

Becky Lesher Grundei http://beckythoughtsncomments.blogspot.com/ 

Marilyn Johnson www.marilynjohnson.blogspot.com 

Becky Handforth www.becky.handforth.blogspot.com 

Dolores Raml http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com/ 

Ashley Summerlin Murphy http://ashleysartcloset.blogspot.com/ 

Goog Guarino http://journeyofamermaid.blogspot.com/ 

Becky Thomas Lane http://hillcountryliving.blogspot.com/ 

Sherry L Coogan http://myfavoritethings-slc.blogspot.com/ 

Meagan Boone http://myjoyfulartstudio.blogspot.com/ 

Fran Pascazio http://kindredspiritspartdeux.blogspot.com/ 

Paty Shaulis http://flyinthecoffeart.blogspot.com/ 

Julia Monroe www.allsparkledup.com 

Janet Terrien Bracewell http://janetb-designs.blogspot.com/p/art-and-journals.html

Jodiann Cates http://jodianncates.com/

Ann-Margaret Arnold http://www.annmargaretsvisions.com/

Linda Barutha http://livelaughloveretreats.com

Margaret Stewart http://piecesofmyheart-ladyquiltsalot.blogspot.ca/

Kelly Hoernig http://www.artfuldandelion.blogspot.com

Camilla Olsson www.bitznpicez.wordpress.com


What a week!!

Wow!!! What a busy, busy week!!! I have been very lucky to have been involved with working behind the scenes on some GREAT projects going on at UKScrappers. Simple Recipes, a monthly scrapbook challenge and the UKS Art Journey.

On Tuesday, the Simple Recipe I devised for the month of February was launched, which you can find here. Below, is one of my example pages for the class.

Oooh and ^^^ THAT ^^^ background paper…couple people have asked where I got it from and I am so excited
to have been asked because its mine….alllllll mine!!! Lol, that’s because it my baby….part of a collection I have designed which you should be able to buy very soon….as soon as you can I will certainly be posting more details here 🙂 Exciting times!! Gee…did I ever say how much I LOVE my job?!? Such a lucky, lucky girl.

And today, the PDF I devised on doodling has been uploaded as this weeks Art Journey 🙂 Hence the pictures of art journal pages in this post! These are one’s that I have created and used as example’s! Can’t wait to see what you guys make! Link me up to your blogs, I’d LOVE to see,


Creative Jumpstart!

Have you seen the Creative Jumpstart Summit from Nathalie Kalbach? It is a fabulous series of some of the most inspirational scrapbookers and mixed media artists, telling you how they Jump Start their Creativity. I’ve loved the videos these inspirational woman have shared with us and it prompted me to think about things that help Jumpstart my Creativity and made you this little video……

Untitled from Claire Smillie on Vimeo.