More lovely stationery!!!

My first Blog award!

I am feeling very lucky today as Anna (from ARK Designs by Anna) gave me this 'I LOVE YOUR BLOG AWARD' which has put a smile on my face.

Here is a link to her lovely blog! I have only known Anna for a few months through blogging, we have never actually met, but I know from reading her blog and all the lovely things that she does, that we would get on well if we were to ever meet. In fact she lives in the same county as me, so I hope that one day, we shall get chance to get together, for one reason or another. 

As part of me accepting of this li'l award, I will be nominating 7 blogs that I love to look at and I will name 7 things that very few people know about me.

Hmmmm!

1 - I have double jointed arms

2 - My brother and his family live next door to me, so I get to see my two nephews regularly, which is lovely

3 - I LOVE LOVE LOVE Stationery & cards

4 - My degree is in packaging design

5 - I grew up in Oxfordshire

6 - I dance Ceroc (Modern jive partner dancing) when my work schedule allows

7 - My favourite food is seafood

Now I am nominating this award to 7 blogs that have inspired me or made me smile lately:

creativity blog

jilly.p.graphics

rachael taylor

littlebrownrabbit

dinky-daisy

6thstreetdesignschool

harrietkelsalljewellery

Thanks again Anna! x

I hope that you all like these blogs as much as I do! 

My trip to London

Hi

I hope that you had a good bank holiday, I had a lovely time in Brighton and spent too much money in the shops. Talking of which, whilst i was in London on Thursday, I bought some lovely stationery from Artbox, Paperchase and Cath Kidston - here are a few snaps, more to come tomorrow:

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

I'm off to Brighton for the weekend :-)

Have a great bank holiday weekend everyone!!!

The big smoke

Accessorize

One of my most favourite high street shops here in the UK, is Accessorize, it is just full with beautiful things! Today I thought I'd show a few purses that I love in their store.

and their socks are soooo comfy, check them out!

Cute

I'm a little busy to post today so here is a cute little piccie, have a good day!:

Raindrops

I came across this twee little website where you can make little tunes with the coloured rain. I know... I'm a big kid, but check it out, it's kinda addictive!

Beckys Bootique

Today I wanted to let you all know about a sale at one of my clients websites. I designed the look of Beckys website, logo and corporate ID. She has a sale on most of her lovely stock. Check out Beckys Bootique

Back to bunting

Angela at Ticketty Boo has kindly agreed that I may feature her lovely bunting cushions today. She is based in the Scottish Borders and only uses the best linens and cottons, you can find her gorgeous work at www.tickettyboo.co.uk and on her folksy site.

Christmas already!

Today I have been designing Christmas cards... yeah I know, it's very strange in spring, but that's the way it goes. Here is a sneaky peek of aspects of one of them.

Have a great day!

Bunting Images

Hi all,

I have a thing about bunting this week! I found this lovely bag on Folksy, which is created by designer Claire Hurd, she sells her work on Folksy and you can also find her on Not on the High Street. Many of her products can be personalised and she accepts private commissions. To keep up to date with her gorgeous creations then you can become a fan on Facebook

Beautiful Bunting

Today I want to introduce a lovely lady Anna Roberts-knight, she is a fellow illustrator/surface pattern designer, but she also makes the most gorgeous bunting. I got to know Anna from starting my blog, I contacted her out of the blue and she very kindly gave me advice.

Anna makes this gorgeous bunting and other bespoke personalised products to order. The customer chooses the colour themes, icons, names etc and then Anna works her magic. She also likes to do her bit for the environment and offers a recycling service, turning childrens clothes or blankets into beautiful products. Turnaround time is roughly 10 days.

You can contact Anna by email: arkdesigns@hotmail.co.uk, or follow her blog at: http://arkdesignsbyanna.blogspot.com

Another great book

Sorry for my lack of posts this week, I have been having problems with my internet connection, it has been a nightmare, how much do we all rely on having access 24 hrs a day!

Today I'd like to recommend 'Patterns' by Philippe de Baeck. It is full of exciting surface pattern design, featuring some of my favourite artists! Including: My friend Heather Dutton from Hang Tight Studio, Carolyn Gavin from Ecojot, Ian Dutton and Rachael Taylor. It is available at the bargain price of £6.78 from Amazon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Martha Stewart

My next book which I'd like to recommend to you guys is by Martha Stewart - 'Good Things for Organizing', so of course it is going to be wonderful! She shows a great number of ways to store your craft items using every day objects such as Shoe boxes, Doweling & Jars but not only that, it is full of hints and tip for throughout your home.

Book Inspiration

As I am pretty snowed under this week with licensed character design work, (which is top secret until it is in the shops!), I figured it would be fun to show what books I have in my studio, that inspire me and those that I just love looking at. Of course it goes without saying that my favourite book at this time is 'Print & Pattern' by Bowie Style (aka Marie Perkins), If you haven't checked out her blog, then take a look here, I am addicted to it and really missed it last week when she was away for Easter. The book is available For £12.35 from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Print-Pattern-Bowie-Style/dp/1856696464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271174816&sr=8-1

Here are a few photos to show what lovelies you can find inside :-)

Enjoy the sunshine!

New Logo design

Here is a new logo I have designed for a website design company based in Hertford, UK, run by two lovely ladies Sarah & Karen.

Fabric Obsession

I am excited today to have received a lovely parcel of fabrics I ordered from www.quilterscloth.co.uk I have no idea what I am going to do with them, I don't even like to sew, but I just had to buy them for inspiration.

We have sunshine here in Hertfordshire today, I hope that you do too!

Little Birdie Pattern

Hi!

I hope that you all had a great bank holiday weekend!

Following on from my Easter card I sent out, here is my little birdie collection of pattern. I hope that you like it :-)

Tigerprint

I am very excited today, as Vic from Tigerprint has kindly featured some of my work and a short interview with me on their blog! Check it out here: http://tigerprint.typepad.com/tigerprint/

Happy Easter

Hi

Today I thought I'd combine giving you a sneak peek of my new birdie characters, with an Easter Greeting to you all. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Have a great Easter break!

Love from Amanda x

Easter Gift for Clients

A few days ago I spoke about an easter pattern I have been working on. I have used it on a little gift for the clients I am currently working with. Here is a picture of what I sent out.

Barbie Sticker

I worked at a sticker supply company in December and here are some of my Barbie range which I worked on while there. Sorry about the poor quality of the picture but it gives you a general idea. Licensed character work is another part of my business, designing product with licensed characters from style guides.

New Pattern

Just recently I have been working on a robot pattern suitable for gift wrap. Here it is, I hope that you like it.

Welcome

Firstly I'd like to say a big HELLO & WELCOME to my new readers and followers, I have been looking at some of your websites and blogs and have been very inspired!

Today I have been on a 'Power of Momentum' course run by a local life coach who is a friend of mine. It made me realise what is important in my life and has given me the drive to change a few things. Even though I love my work and need to work because I don't have any financial support from elsewhere, today made me realise that I need to take more time for myself, family & friends and it reminded me of a great little story that I have up in my studio at all times. This is it, I hope that you like it:

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs...I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and then a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open up your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City or Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Perhaps twenty years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? That's when it gets really interesting" answered the American laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And then after that?"

"After that", concluded the American, "you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny fishing village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying the company of your wife and friends."

More examples of my patterns

Bloggers networking

One of the blogs I follow 'Lovely Clusters' has come up with an idea for bloggers to network. Check out her post here on March 22nd http://lovelyclusters.blogspot.com

This is an example of what you need to write:

Hi, my name is Amanda Lincoln & I am a Surface Pattern & Graphic designer, based in Hertfordshire in UK. I live with my housemate Matt and my bunny Maisy has the run of the garden.

I have three sides to my business, I design pattern for product such as wrap, giftware, scrapbooking, cards, partywear etc. http://www.amandalincoln.co.uk/portsp01.html

I also design licensed character product using style guides for manufacturers of things like mobile phone accessories, tablewear & stationery. http://www.amandalincoln.co.uk/portlp01.html

Plus I work with new & small businesses, designing logos and stationery http://www.amandalincoln.co.uk/portgd01.html

I have always loved being creative and I feel so lucky to be able to do this as my job. I have a particular passion for anything girly and Hello Kitty is my favourite license to work on.

This is my email address if you'd like to contact me:

amanda@amandalincoln.co.uk

Print & Pattern

I am very excited to see my work featured on my most favourite blog - 'Print & Pattern' today *GRIN* take a look here http://printpattern.blogspot.com

Casual Networking

I run a small networking group in Hertfordshire and we are meeting tomorrow, if you fancy coming along then the details are below, it'd be great to welcome new businesses:

Casual networking does exactly what it says on the tin.... I know some small businesses are nervous about networking and so I wanted to organise something less formal to what you usually find.

Basically we meet up and chat with other new and small businesses, rather than a more formal networking where you may need to give a brief ‘elevator pitch’ style talk of your company, this event will just be in a local bar or pub.

Casual groups are a good way to ease yourself in to networking if you’re shy or nervous, as you’re not going to be put on the spot to describe your services in front of bunch of experienced pitchers – it’s more a case of having a chat about what you do with a few people within the group.

The next one will be from 18.00 at Cinnabar Cafe in Stevenage Old Town on Weds 24th March. They offer light lunches and pastries if you'd like to eat whilst there and obviously the usual bar drinks and hot drinks are on sale too - they also have wi-fi access too for those who may need it.

Cost £3.50.

Feel free to bring other people along who may be interested in Casual Networking.

Any questions please mail me.

Stampin' Up

I went to Stitch & Craft at Olympia on Saturday to get some inspiration. Unfortunately I didn't come across a great deal that inspired me, apart from a great little company called Beyond-fabrics, unfortunately their website doesn't do the little stand I saw justice, but they do have a shop in Columbia Road, London, which I'm sure I'll be checking out in the future.

I also came across an American company who has bought stamping parties/workshops to peoples homes, A Stampin' Up! workshop is a crafting event where you open your home and invite your friends to enjoy an exciting demonstration provided by a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. When you host a workshop, you'll see new project ideas, learn different stamping techniques, and have fun with people you enjoy. I love the idea and I'm very tempted to have one, I just need to find enough local crafty friends interested in coming.

Check out: http://www2.stampinup.com for further information.