New Work
« Previous EntriesWorking on patterns
By Marceline | March 4, 2010
First, big thanks to everyone who voted for me on Spoonflower. Hopefully I’ve made it to the next round, at which point I will be pestering you for votes again :)
I’m currently getting a big bunch of new designs ready to be swatched by Spoonflower so I can put them up for sale. The colour thing has been driving me a bit mental so I’ve ended up making my own palette of safe colours which I’m going to get swatched too so I can see any colour shifts. It’s just too annoying having to order new swatches if the colours are wrong, since they’re in the US. I quite like how it looks as a pattern, though it is eye-bendingly weird if you repeat it over a yard.
Anyway, here’s a sneak peek at some of the new colourways I’m getting printed. Some are colours people have requested and others I might want to buy myself. If you have any other requests do let me know asap and I’ll add them to the list. I can’t put designs up for sale until I swatch them so this is your last chance til I next have a batch of designs to print.
I’m also getting some secret surprise designs printed which I can’t wait to show you, if they work out. I’ll keep you posted!
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New Notebooks
By Marceline | February 21, 2010
As mentioned yesterday, I have two new notebooks in the shop. These mini I Love Buttons notebooks have been on my mind for a while, but I only really got the final idea worked out after Borders closed down leaving us without a Paperchase. I already knew Paperchase had the exact notebooks I wanted to use so I had to bribe my sister to bring some up from London for me. They’re simply hand-stamped with one of my vintage buttons and an I Love Buttons stamp I had made. They’re a really dinky size but with loads of pages so great for sticking in your bag for those random brilliant ideas.
I also have a brand new Bread Slice notebook. I’ve noticed that guys seem to prefer Bread Slice so he’s now printed on a manly blue notebook with lined pages, and with just a touch of watercolour paint. This now completes my Cakeify and Friends trilogy of notebooks – who’s your favourite?
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Printing and drawing
By Marceline | February 20, 2010
Wow, look at me, I’ve actually been printing. I’ve had a few big orders from shops all at the same time so I had to buckle down and make big batches of things (and make a truly frightening stationery print order). It’s never the most fun making loads of the same thing but once you get into a rhythm it’s pretty easy to keep going until you run out of space.
Like so. Not pictured are the other bags perched precariously on a box of notebooks and the ones that were sitting on my lap for lack of any other space.
The only large flat surface in my room is my bed, which is fine for small batches of notepads but absolutely no good for anything that needs to dry overnight.
So, thank goodness then for some products that dry instantly and can be piled up at random.
Also, not pictured; me ironing everything before and after printing. Tedious.
(You might spot a couple of new notebook designs there – they’re in the shop and I’ll post more about them tomorrow). Sorry also for the less than brilliant photos – I’ve mentioned the rubbish lighting in my room before I’m sure.
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Two new zines!
By Marceline | February 18, 2010
After last year’s no-zine disaster, I can hardly believe I’ve managed to get two completed during the first two months of 2010 – yay me!
The first one is about my trip to Thailand two Summers ago to visit Claire – you can read all about our obsessions with Mr Bun and frosty ice drinks, the endless heat, our jaunt to the Rabbit Resort in Pattaya and the odd daytrip we spent in the company of James Bond. There’s also a bonus 2 page shopping guide of all the kawaii shops we visited (and yes, I’ll be updating the sadly-neglected online version I started too).
While I was in the zine making mindset, I went through all my collected writings and picked out some fun things for a new zine called Oddments. Long time readers will remember the blog I had of the same name which I stopped updating when I got confused about what I was doing with it. Zines seem a much better way of collecting together my various things and stories so this is a beginning. I have many more planned, but we shall see how it goes. Anyway, it has Nintendo DS game reviews, a slightly mental diary I wrote when I played the two Tamagotchi Corner Shop games, a few of my favourite books about Japan, some drawings and even the recipe for Soup of Awesome which I mention fairly regularly. Now you can make it too! Some of the content has been published on this blog (eg. the iPhone apps and What I Wore Today drawings) but there should be plenty new things for everyone.
You can find both these zines in my all new upgraded Zines and Records section, alongside my Tokyo zines, the Asking For Trouble 7″ box set and a few other fun things. I’m also selling copies of the new zine by Katy of Girl Industries. It’s called Answers on a Postcard and features snippets of interviews from lots of awesome crafty types that Katy interviewed, as well as her own bits and pieces. This issue is centered on craft book reviews and is a mighty good read – there’s a new issue out every month so why not subscribe?
And finally, I plan to expand the zine section over the coming months so if you write a cool zine, or have read any good ones lately, especially about travel, Japan, crafts and music then please do let me know.
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New Product Bonanza
By Marceline | February 7, 2010
Well, I have been busy. Actually, I really haven’t, and if things don’t improve, you’ll be seeing a drawing of me in my pyjamas at the end of the month. However, I have managed to stay awake long enough to design a few new products which are making their way into the shop.
First up are these I Love Buttons notecard sets featuring three of my favourite vintage button designs. They’re the sort of things handy to keep in a drawer for a quick thank you, congratulations or happy birthday.
They were my favourite new product for all of 24 hours until these arrived:
Sun and Rain writing pads! I have always wanted to design my own letter sets and it took me a long time to realise I could do notepads instead (much less complicated). I’m really pleased at how bright the colours are, and have already snaffled one for my own use.
Also in that parcel were a couple of test prints – here’s a sneak peek at one of them…
I should have them in stock in a week or so.
In other news, my button shoes are on their way!
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Green Gocco
By Marceline | February 2, 2010
So I finally got some sunlight to take pictures of my recent gocco printing. I wasn’t actually printing anything entirely new but printing my buttons on to GREEN kraft paper. I’m ashamed to admit I have owned this roll of green kraft paper for at least two years, with this intention, but never actually printed it up. In my defence, I printed so many copies on brown paper that there was never a need to do reprints. I did finally run out though so I took the opportunity to print buttons on as many sheets of green and brown paper as I could manage.
Most of them will end up as vintage button badge sets but some will be cut up and made into gocco book hearts. It still always amazes me how different inks look on different papers.
Anyway, they’re all listed in my shops now. If you mention Valentine’s Day in the comments/notes to seller etc. before the 14th, I’ll include a free Cakeify gift tag. Yay!
I’m currently waiting for SIX new products to arrive. Hopefully, they’ll turn out good.
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I still love my gocco
By Marceline | January 27, 2010
Winter! You’re annoying! I’ve been doing a whole lot of gocco printing lately but even at 2pm there’s not enough light to take any photos of the process. Boooo. The results of my printing will have to wait but I can’t believe I have never shown you my Cakeify paper bags! Unless you bought something off me in the last few months, in which case you probably got one. If not, here is a rubbish photo. I made a batch of these last year and have been using them to wrap up orders and delight my craft fair customers. I printed another 200 at the weekend and it was very tedious but it’s all worth it in the end.
While I was ill I did a bunch of supplies shopping (most eBay, fact fans) and was amused to discover I had accidentally ordered tiny paper bags instead of the big ones. These are a mere 5″ square but perfect for badge sets and sticky note pads. Obviously I had to stamp these too, because I am insane. They’re done with a rubber stamp I had made ages ago.
And if I can’t show you anything new I have printed, at least I can tell you that Cakeify gocco notebooks, vintage button badge sets and gocco book hearts are now all fully stocked again – yay!
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Designing my dream shoes
By Marceline | January 22, 2010
Ever since I opened shop on Zazzle and got to design shoes, I’ve been desperate to own a pair myself. They are a bit pricey though, which is probably why I haven’t sold any yet though they get a lot of nice comments. Anyway, my aim with my Zazzle shop then became to make enough money from sales and referrals to pay for my own shoes. I finally reached that in December and since then, I have been trying to figure out what the heck to order. It’s one thing to be able to design your dream shoes, but quite another to actually know what that is.
I think I finally have a design I’m going to buy so I thought you might like to see the process.
Firstly, I didn’t go for one of my current designs (above) as Glasgow is a bit grimy and white shoes would be a bad idea. I also wanted them to go with most of my outfits and be suitable for most occasions, which kind of rules out bunny shoes. I already have at least 3 pairs of ridiculous shoes.
So I turned to my button design. This was the first try:
The grey background is a must, as grey is my absolute favourite colour, despite not even being a colour, and the majority of my staple clothes are grey. I love the colours in this but it looked way too garish on shoes. I think it will be nice for stationery and maybe also as fabric.
Topics: New Work | 3 Comments »
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Valentine’s Day
By Marceline | January 21, 2010
You might have noticed the shop is looking all lovey dovey now that Valentine’s Day is on the horizon.Whether you’re after a cute card or a sweet gift, there’s lots to choose from. Check out the Valentine’s Day collection for ideas.
I’ve also added another new product which is ideal for Valentine’s Day – custom book heart cards. I made a few of these for weddings last year and thought I’d make them available in the shop too. You get to customise it to match the couple so the font style and book heart designs match their tastes.
Topics: New Work, Shop Spotlight | 1 Comment »
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Little Button Bags
By Marceline | January 17, 2010
These Little Button Bags have been sitting somewhere in the back of my head for a long time. It took the arrival of a huge parcel of mini bags at the same time I was stamping buttons on thank you cards for it finally to come to realisation.
So, if you only have a little button stash, these will suit you perfectly. They’re also great for little gifts and for transporting and storing jewellery and other favourite things. Buy them singly or in packs of 3 from my shop right now!
You’ll also note the shop is gearing up for Valentine’s Day – more on that soon. In the meantime, don’t forget the SALE as a lot of the items will be removed in the next week. It’s also your last chance for FREE UK SHIPPING on orders over £10. That’ll be going back up very soon too. Hurry hurry!
Topics: New Work | 3 Comments »
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