Fanatical About Fabric!

Well Hello Again!

Fanatical about fabric......you could say that! 

From the youngest age, I have memories of cosy snuggles with my mum under a blanket. Rainy days are my best, I know you already know this, but perhaps so as this was the perfect time for those happy hearts to relax. I am sure my blankets and covers weren't fancy pants one like you see now everywhere, Cath Kidston, Orla Kiely or Marimekko, but whatever the pattern when I close my eyes, the all comforting cosy feeling comes back to fill me with love! In fact my best one, my baby one, which I still have now, all worn and thin, was a pale yellow floral thing, with dodgy velcro bit down one side. I think my Grandma made it from a sheet originally. After I grew out of it, it became the cats blanket...... they were the snuggliest cats you could have imagined. 

So maybe that's where it all began for me, and many others I am guessing. A love of being comforted, cosy and soft familiarity. 

And now, I love patterns and I love fabric. The thing I like most when creating a pattern is the simple repeat, so silly a simple thing, yet somehow it fulfills every bit of me, perhaps that's the conditioned consumer in me, to love multiples and choice and lots........ what ever the reason, these are some of my favourite designs for halfpinthome, and probably with no sensible reason why!

This was the first baby dolly quilt design I made, it's in lots of colours now but I really loved working towards a retro feel! Loads of people think you should never put red and pink together but I happen to think it's immense. I may be the only one!

This was the first batch of number bunting fabric I ordered. With some designs I grow out of them really quickly and move onto the next thing but I still really love this design!

When it comes to the colour combination of baby blue and red I just can't help myself......bonne nuit fabric, the clouds with stripey red nightcaps, has the same effect for me, I thought it would be a passing colour phase but it makes me smile every time!

Accidental Acorns.
I never intended to use these fellas as a pattern design but I am so glad I did. I like it equally in green, pink and blue. I have lots of future plans for these little characters!

For those of you who may not know where the fabrics are ordered from, I get them from an online digital fabric printers Spoonflower. It really is easy peasy, and anyone can have a go at creating their own design. < Such fun >

BUT with pretty much anything in life there are pros and con's......the pros being

1. It's all eco-friendly! No nasties at all, especially great for children!
2. It's easy, well we all love that!
3. And it's a super massive company so prices are more affordable than anywhere else I have seen.

The con's are that
1. Shipping from the USA has it's own issues*

 (see my rough guide to spoonflower orders below)

 2. And there are special washing instructions!

Both of which are not so bad really once you know what to do!

BTW THANKS to all of you who have already ordered fabric samples/fabric bundles/fabric M's and FQ's and wall paper samples from spoonflower, or through facebook,
it's really nice to know some of you like what I do! :-)

See you next time!

*So below is my very rough guide to spoonflower!
(please note things can change and I am not an accurate source of anything- I am covered now? lol)

1. There's a whole lot of choice so be prepared to trawl. Alternatively just search 'halfpinthome' ;-)

2. Approx 4 or less test swatches will not incur any fees.
(You'll have to check the ever changing exchanging rate)

3. A single FQ in any fabric type will not incur any fees. Handy for the new halfpinthome FQ 'MYO' designs!! (Less than £15 of ordered goods excluding postage.)

4. A single metre in Kona Cotton (the fabric type I always use) will not incur any fees.
(Less than £15 of ordered goods excluding postage.)

 5. It's eco-printed, so whilst its awesome for the environment and kids, it means for best fabric care it's hand wash with phosphate free powder. It can go in the machine on 30 degrees with phosphate free powder but colours may loose a little each time. Some people would not mind for the ecological benefit, others would. It's a personal thing!

6. Patience! You'll have to wait a few weeks for things to arrive! Unless you order express which will attract fees/tax/import duty. Small orders under £15 and huge orders 20m + (lots fees here!) come pretty quickly but those middle orders can be a drag if like me you are impatient for new fabric!

Cake Pop Pay Day!

Jeeez! 

Time flies! 

Hope you are all well?!

I don't usually take on logo designs as a rule, but I super love Erica Murfitt's Cake Pop business. She really has an amazing eye for detail with those pops! So when she approached halfpinthome to help her come up with something for her business I knew it was something I wanted to do!!

While I am no logo master, I do know it's a serious thing......it sets you apart from the rest and has to be something to get you noticed and remembered by! In essence, a simple relay of information which looks glossy and sleek, yet approachable and friendly.......a business is no good without customers after all!

As Erica already had an idea in mind, that's where it started! A rhino, with moustache, holding cake pops, in the style of Foxy and Miss Mouse. A Rhino Manimal, lol, I worked hard on this, but really rhino's aren't the cutest animal, and the colour doesn't leave a lot to be desired! Let this be known as 'The Ugly'.

Erica and I talked about how we could make changes to improve the look, she wanted to include hand lettering and smaller pops....she really had her heart set on the rhino and when you have an idea in mind, it's hard to leave the vision behind. So this is what came next!

Still no where near right! The pops were now too small to be seen on smaller promotional items such as stickers, and rhino manimal just wasn't the bees knees, poor fellow! Let this be known as 'The Bad'

At this point I asked Erica to bear with me (I think she was loosing the will to live for logo's!) while I showed her what I imagined for her cake pop business. As she loved the hand lettering which we had already used and the colours this is where it started.........

I loved the idea of pop 'characters' from the beginning, so I went back to this as a concept, and the huge donut pop Erica makes looks amazing, so colourful and fun and definitely something to remember! Hoorah, Erica hung in there and when she saw the progress she liked it too! After some further discussions we were getting somewhere!

A pig and a clown! The pig pop being a best seller and the clown pop a new venture for her. It soon turned into this logo below (almost there) and I know exactly what I will being doing next to complete it! Shhhhhh, don't tell Erica ;-) Let this stage be known as 'The Good'.

So whilst work on the main logo will continue, a huge selection of little pop pics have been produced to use as stickers on cake pop boxes, postal orders, and bags etc......

Ta-dah! The Fin & Sully's 'look' is born........it's a great base to work from, and (hopefully) says everything it needs to for Erica's tasty cake-tastic pop business! New pops can be added into the Fin & Sully's circle when Erica creates and launches them and it's always exciting to see different imagery as a customer, even if you have already have a favourite.........donut pop for me!

This design process really was 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' but I am so looking forward to seeing them all glossy and on all her packaging! To check out Erica's facebook page click on the link!

It was such a treat to do this, especially as I REALLY was part paid in pops!! YUM!

Thanks Erica!

Alice in Wonderland

No rules, no rhyme and no reason.......

It's almost 3 years since I met my friend Amanda, an illustrator, 'Amazing Amanda' when she not there, and also C'Amanda since my little girl once upon a time thought that was her name.

*First eye open*

A talented person who works for herself, being creative, enjoying what they do and earning a living! Without her I don't know what I would be doing now. It's not that I didn't know which direction I wanted to go in or what kind or career I wanted, or that I lacked determination or a work ethic. I've always been an artist at heart, a person who had to make things for the love of it.

I graduated from my Art & Design degree with a first in 2005 before creating a clan of mini me's. I just didn't know how to go about bringing that into my daily life in a tangible way. The very minute I saw what Amanda did I knew I wanted to be a commercial illustrator. But how?

I lacked courage and conviction.....and then I accidently, one day,  found www.spoonflower.com  AND www.boraillustrates.com

*Second eye open*

This was such an injection of faith.  That you can be who you want to be, create what comes naturally, put yourself out there, and you don't even need as much courage as you think....... just enough to press publish, send, post, tweet, make public or submit. That's 2 seconds of courage......and a door open.

So when I sit down to my mad hatters tea party everyday at 9.30am, after the school run, conjuring up illustrations and design ideas, there will always be room at the table for C'Amanda and Bora who led me to my own front door and showed me the right key.

I am just at the beginning of my trip down the rabbit hole...............where I shall always try to do things for the love of it, with no rules, no rhyme and sometimes no other reason than I want to!

To see what I create on a daily basis pop here!

www.facebook.com/halfpinthome
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To see what's currently for sale pop here!

www.etsy.com/shop/halfpinthome
www.spoonflower.com/halfpinthome