Book Review – Colour Deconstructed by Tricia Guild

During Meet The Blogger in Amsterdam we also took a trip along the canals to the Designer’s Guild show room in Amsterdam. It was a chance to buy a copy of Tricia Guild’s latest book “Colour Deconstructed” and have it signed as well. They only had the Dutch versions available but actually language isn’t really an issue in this book – colour plays by far the biggest part.

The images include some of the ones that Tricia Guild used in her presentation and started with black and white. She said that she is normally more associated with bright colours but in her opinion black and white can make just as much of a statement.

I can see that the book is going to become one of my “go to “resources when I want to look for some fresh colour combinations. There are pictures from nature or striking colours spotted on her travels mixed in with how she has interpreted these colours in houses around the world. Definitely a book to look through on an autumn day with a nice cappucino in hand.

This mix of greens yellows and aquas is always a favourite for me.

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And behind the scenes nearly ready to launch my own range of cushions – very exciting to see them go out into the world at last. Would you like to make sure you stay in the loop about new designs and other creative snippets ? Make sure you subscribe to my studio newsletter here.

All Roads Lead to Leiden

Oh the Internet is a funny and tangled place. A day or so ago Ama an Etsy friend from Leiden posted a picture that a local blogger, Louise, had taken of her market stand during one of Leiden’s many festive weekends. Of course, I had to pop over to the blog to read the review and reminisce over attending the same event last summer. On reading a bit further I discovered that the same blogger had just been featured by Tina,a London blogging friend who has a regular challenge post. And the challenge this time was for each of them to make a video about their respective towns, Leiden and London. So hop over here to see both of their videos.

In the meantime I have finally felt like piecing together this Ixxi that I designed with images from ” A Leiden Year”. I know it sounds a bit soppy, but I felt too sad about the end of the Dutch adventure to pin it up before now. It really felt that I was reconnecting to a part of my heritage again , only to see it come to a halt. Well, there are good sides to every change, of course, but I do plan to hang on to those strengthened Dutch ties with more regular visits – and with a bit of luck there will be another period over there in the future.

Day 30 – Wrapping up the Blogging Experiment

Today is the last day of my 30 day blogging experiment. And it has definitely been a useful thing to do. I have got back into more of a pattern with blogging and also uncovered a bit about the direction I want this blog to take. And above all, it has to stay enjoyable to do.

One of the motivators for doing this was the fact that I knew I would be off to the Hive blogging conference and I hoped that by blogging more regularly I would be more likely to put into practise what I learnt.

So what will I take away from this experience ?

I really like having just a couple of blog posts prepared ahead of time so that if “real life” takes over there is a little bit of built in margin. Mostly this wasn’t in place during this 30 day stint – but it would be my ideal scenario.

I also enjoyed having a couple of themes to keep going back to. Not so rigid that there was no room for talking about current inspirations, but with enough of a structure to not start from a blank page every time. I will be keeping going with the DIY Fridays and also the My Edinburgh feature. ( If I’m away from home for a trip I might stretch that to a more travel oriented direction.)

I enjoyed doing the posts that had more images in them. In the past I’ve tended to just post one image at the top, but actually it was nice to include more than one.

Although it is great to share inspirations and resources perhaps I don’t post enough work in progress and new pieces ? There will be some changes coming along on that front.

Do you have a blogging structure that you stick to ? Do you blog ahead ? Do you mostly share images and resources from other places or do you create original content ? Why do you blog ?

Ever since the Hive I have been mulling over what I’d like to change about my blog so I’d be interested to read your thoughts about blogging ( see questions above ) and also – what would you like me to blog about ?

(No Friday DIY today. To be honest, my quick and easy little project turned out to be easy – but a little more time consuming as it had to allow for paint layers to dry. So I’ll hold it over for next week. )

Day 27 – Monday Inspiration

I think Mondays are a good day for a bit of inspiration and one of the things that has come out of my 30 day blogging experiment is that I like to have a little vague structure to my blogging routine. That means that if I come across something during the week I can save it up for a particular topic, rather than just blogging in a very random way.

And for me , Mondays are about getting the week off to a good start. If I have a good and productive Monday then that sets the tone for the rest of the week.

This week I have a couple of videos for you , with the writer Menna van Praag. I have to confess I had only vaguely heard of her, but her latest book was recommended by someone and so I visited her website. She has an interesting story to tell about just keeping going and not giving up. Both interviews overlap in content a little, but I found both of them worth watching. Even if you are not a writer, the message is, make things happen yourself, don’t wait to be discovered.

Here she is interviewed by Lilou Mace and here is an earlier video that she made after her first book was published.

I am also having a 24hr little sale over at my Etsy shop – get 25% off with the code SUNNY. I’m planning some new projects and making a bit of space in my studio.

Also, if you’d like to be kept informed of new work and other behind the scenes snippets you can make sure you don’t miss any news by subscribing to my Studio Newsletter.

Day 26 – A Little Friday DIY

Earlier this year I made a whistle stop trip to London and as part of that I visited Selina Lake’s book launch and vintage fair. I was lucky enough to get one of the goody bags containing a couple of tins of Plastikote spray and they have been great fun to use.

First up were a few flowerpots that I picked up for next to nothing. A quick spray with the paint and they turned into something a lot nicer and a happy home for the Dutch daisies.

Second in the queue was something a lot less pretty. I have been looking around at things that I throw away and wondering if there are any ways to give them another lease of life. I’m sure I saw this idea somewhere online or in a magazine but can’t for the life of me remember where – so if you know, please tell me and I’ll add a credit.

Requirements – a few ice cream sticks. I’d like to point out that it was not just me eating all these ice creams ! Quick coat of plasticote on one side, let them dry and spray the reverse. And voila – handy signs for writing the names of plants once they are in the garden. I used one of those all purpose pens to write the names, and hopefully they will stay legible. This is a really good idea for me as sometimes it is a while , between planting something and finding out if it is happy in the garden. Hopefully it will make it easier to choose the right things in future. Plus I will finally get to grips with plant names too.

The colour that I used for these is Leafy Rise . They say on the can that you can use it inside if well ventilated . Personally I’d use them outside as they do give off quite a lot of fumes . For more info see the Plastikote site .

Yvonne from Yvestown was also at the fair, giving a crochet tutorial , and she also came up with a fun use for the paint – very sweet little containers. You can see her post over here.

Day 11 – I just Like to Make Things – Lilla Roger’s Book Review

Do you paint or draw ? Do you like to make things ? Do you think that it might be nice to transform these things into something that goes out into the world ?

My Monday inspiration is a recent book by Lilla Rogers – “I just like to make things” . In fact, this is the book I wish I had read years ago ! But better late than never – I think she has something to say that is useful to artists at any stage of their career. She addresses how to get going, how to improve your work, how to increase your chances of getting commissioned as well as how to deal with the stumbling blocks along the way, such as jealousy and being “stuck”. Each section also has short interviews with working artists giving their tips and tricks.

She also deals with things relevant to particular categories such as bolt fabric and children’s illustration. If all of this raises as many questions as it answers Lilla is also running a couple of courses with Beth Kempton, the first of which starts at the beginning of June. And on top of that is running a talent search between now and October. If this is your kind of thing pop over and have a look !

Day 10 – Some thoughts on Marketing…

Just recently I wanted to order something, from a company that in the past I have ordered a lot from. I had not used them from this particular computer however, so there were no cookies embedded or other ways for them to recognise me. So when I visited it the other day I was presented with a 50% offer – but also invited to sign in if I was already a customer. Once I signed in the discount disappeared. An email to the customer service informed me that no such discount was currently available. A double check from another device showed that the offer was indeed there, but only for a new customer.

This led to me pondering the whole question of offering discounts or special offers. And how frequently this is for new customers only. Perhaps this does bring in new people – but how many old customers do you lose at the same time ? I feel very disinclined to order from this company again, if I can get what I need elsewhere.

It also reinforces my opinion, that when I do a special offer myself, I want to make it available to anyone and not just a new customer. What is your opinion on this ? New customers only – or everyone ?

Day 9 – In the Flow

In the flow and surrounded by Flow. Despite being in Scotland I have managed to keep up to date with my Flow reading – the Dutch magazine which has become popular even beyond Dutch speakers ! After this issue I think I’ll order a subscription for the Dutch one and hope to track down an Edinburgh stockist of the international one.

If you haven’t heard of Flow and you like papery things, colour and all things creative and gorgeous – then do keep a lookout for the International version. They have increased their sales points for this quite a bit in the last month or so. You will be in for a treat.

It is interesting how many niche magazines are appearing ,from many countries and very different to the traditional “glossies” in style, Frankie from Australia and Uppercase from Canada spring to mind.

If you keep an lookout on Flow’s Facebook page you might sometimes come across a giveaway – I’ve been lucky enough to receive something from them .

Day 7 – Evolving and Growing

( This fabulous lighthouse is at the maritime museum in Rotterdam.)

Although I have loved being on Etsy and have no plans to close my Etsy shop anytime soon, I have started to feel that I want to spread my wings beyond the site.

This is largely related to my new textile venture. In order for my work to be on Etsy I would have to be doing all the sewing up myself. And while I think it is important to know how to make all the components of a product, I really don’t want to be sewing all day. If I learned anything from my time as a silk painter it is that I don’t want to be doing all the making again.

So behind the scenes I am working away at a new site. Part of the site also incorporates a blog but I am undecided yet what to do about my blog. Should I close this one and just redirect traffic over there ? Should I repeat the content in both places ? Do you have any advice based on moving your own blog from one place or another ?

Day 6 – Thursday Book Review – “Flipped It” by Melody Biringer

I had another book in mind to review today, but I will save that for next week as this one is hot off the press, or the digital equivalent. I really enjoyed Melody’s first book “Craving Success” about her personal experiences setting up about 20 enterprises. The most popular chapter in that book was called “Flip It ” – and echoes her mantra of “Flip it before you Ditch it”. This really struck a chord with me too as I am part way along a similar process to “flip” what I am doing.

The book is a collection of about 40 versions of doing this – across many different industries – and – at about half way through – I’ve found a lot of useful ideas and things to watch out for. There is also something very encouraging about reading how other people have managed to reformat businesses that were not working in the way that suited them. Perhaps very successful , but no longer fitting in with their goals and aspirations. And it is a reminder that it is up to us to decide what is most important.

If that has whetted your appetite , you can find out more here and also the information on Melody’s first book.

I am also always interested to hear which books you would recommend – of any genre. Feel free to let me know in the comments.