Motivation, now where did I put that....I seem to remember seeing it...

Ah, that's right, there it is!

It seems to have taken me ages to find my friend motivation. For posting on the blog anyway.

I don't really know what happened to it. All motivation to blog just up and left me...without even saying good-bye. Ever felt like that?

It wasn't 'writer's block' as I have been doing things, even though I haven't been blogging about them.

I've baked some delicious individual Sticky Date Puddings and Caramel Sauce, for a recipe spot on Julie Gibbons' Tractor Girl blog. The recipe is on my Facebook page if you want to give it a go. It is such an easy one and so yummy. They are even great as muffins for lunches the next day, if they last that long.
 

At the sewing machine, this cute little outfit became reality, after much procrastination. That motivation thing again, it went missing again for a while, around the time I was trying to get this finished.

Some new patterns are uploaded on my Spoonflower account. I've ordered samples of a few of my recent patterns and hopefully they will arrive this week.

Frankie & Swiss are a Melbourne outfit who do the same as Spoonflower, digitally print fabrics in both large and small runs. Which is fantastic for fledgling surface designers like me. Michelle has been really helpful, but I'm yet to order a sample from her. I'll wait until the Spoonflower samples arrive, as she suggested sending a cutting would give her an idea of what I am trying to achieve in colourways for the fabrics.

Plenty of time has been spent on Illustrator making patterns as things come to mind, but I'm planning on doing complimentary patterns for some of them. Mainly with the patterns I would like to use as fabrics for my 'jane on jane st' products.

Here's one I'm pretty happy with. I call it 'Flare'. The pattern on the right is a basic repeat of the motif. I was thinking there could possibly be a couple of complimentary patterns from this, as each of the elements, or a combination of a couple, would easily create some contrast and interest.

My 'Diamonds and Pearls' pattern has been around for a while now. In fact it's now my blog header. I revamped the blog quite a few months ago, while I was trying to figure out how to do a repeat of the 'Diamond' pattern for a complimentary fabric. I still don't quite have the repeat figured out, it's a bit tricky but I'm nearly there with it. It's been very much trial and error, so I'll see if it works.

The 'Chevron' pattern that is part of this story is loaded in my account on Spoonflower. There is another pattern that goes with this, but it's not finished yet. The purple is more prominent in the 4th one of this story, unlike the 'Pearls' pattern below, where the brown charcoal colour stands out.

"Chevron"                                             "Pearls"                                           "Diamonds"

The screenprinting gear came out again about a month ago. I tested three new prints, and here are two of them, 'Eat' and 'Mid-north Beaches' scroll.

Keep your eye out for the Giveaway I'm planning. It has something to do with the 'Eat' print. My blog was 2 years old on January 24th, so it might just be something to celebrate.

The tote bags are test samples. My idea was to test the prints, then line the bags with contrasting fabrics. They are all earmarked for 'giving' away, but the next batch will become part of the product line on my 'Made it' store. I've closed all the items on the store for the moment, as I am in the process of getting quotes for labels and swing tags.


They will all have, what now seems to be, the trademark aqua colour for 'designed to a T' and 'jane on jane st'. Here's a sneak peek.

Very plain and simple styles was all I was after. The 'jane' tag matches the blog page.

The screenprints were very pleasing in the end, so permanent screens are next on the list. At the moment, I'm still testing all my designs by preparing the print with a sun exposed screen. A very satisfying process, but the screens don't last very long without the emulsion being 'set' so you are able to use it over and over again.

Interestingly, the young lady who taught me how to do sun exposure is the daughter of a printer who worked for the famous Florence Broadhurst. So screenprinting has been in her blood from a young age. Her business commercially prepares screens for large and small business.

So, after all that, the motivation to write about what I've been doing certainly had left me, but I've kept busy. Holidays are coming up soon, with some relaxation in the garden and at the beach (if the weather holds up).

The Giveaway will be up on the blog later in the month, so keep watching here, on my Twitter account, and on my Facebook page for how to enter.

Have a great week everyone!