Vintage owl keyrings

I have had a lot of orders for these little fella's and have decided to offer them in a new colour scheme for the spring. They will still be available in the fuschia and olive, but will now also be available in aquamarine and lavender, this new scheme uses gorgeous vintage fabrics. I have re-photographed them and uploaded the new pics and items to my shop, hope you like them.

Vintage Inspiration

I have been searching for new inspiration, well actually it's old inspiration. I have been researching  vintage children's books and prints to help me with some new designs. I love using old textiles and embellishments and it just seems fitting to find some of these lovely old designs to help me create some new ones.

I am especially loving the colour palette and the fonts used by Tove Jansson for the Moomins comic strip. Although as a child I found the stories a little eerie!

For a long time us designers were font snobs and I felt restricted by typefaces, we tended to stick to a nice sans serif font, like Arial or Vervanda but in more recent years those rules seem to have been broken and it's okay to use interesting type at varying scales, to create interesting texture and tone.

I really love the blue typeface used on the PAAS Easter egg colour kit, I wonder what these were for I'd love to get my hands on one. It's probably for some cheap children's toy but I really admire the illustration and how on even cheaper products, time and attention was given to this detail.

I really like the colours in these two book jackets, especially the Sleepy-Time Rhyme book. The illustrations on all the artworks are beautiful and some very stylised, I wonder if we will look back on the book jackets of today with such respect.

Back from Cornwall

I got back from St.Ives yesterday and soooo don't want to be back! I have decided that I just wasn't supposed to live in the midlands, I really ought to be in a little fisherman's cottage near the coast. But I guess I am just going to have to dream on for the time being.

I am happy to say that I have come home to a few new orders so at least I can be productive whilst wallowing in my post hol blues. To help cheer myself up I have also added some new vintage hand fabric covered buttons to my shop. I hope you like them.

Some small changes, Graphic Design.

Since setting up evajeanie in Jan 2011 I have been in a constant battle with myself as I also have and love my graphic design business, until now I have seen myself as a Graphic Designer who makes handmade items, but I can now see that this approach is likely to be detrimental to both businesses and what I need to do is join them up.

I have thought long and hard about this and for the first stage of this new venture I will be introducing more screen printed items that I have designed in 2D and hand screen printed, these can then be embroidered, I will also be printing my own designs onto fabric to create some really unique work. Also alongside this you will be seeing much more of my graphics work, on my blog and in my notonthehighstreet shop.

I will also offer my graphics as a service to other creative and handmade businesses, people who need help with designs or just print for business cards and flyers and all those things you need to get the message out there to buyers. I can do the online stuff too, banners and buttons for example, but can also set up a blog and help with social networking (if this is something you need please email me) evajeanie email as it would be good to know if there is any interest.

It just seems madness to have two successful businesses that could work so well together, why should I fight to keep them separate when bringing them together I can offer so much more, I hope you agree and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Carrier bag holders

Over the last week I have been working on orders and new designs for my shop. I have also been trying to remove some of the older items to make way for new ones and sometimes it's nice to have a complete change.

But I have one product in my shop that is and always has been popular. These are my free machine embroidered and appliqued carrier bag holders It's funny as I made them initially as a bit of a joke, but I think it has been one of my most popular items. Earlier this year I changed the fabric options, to keep things fresh and up to date, it was also to simplify things a little as my initial listing offered 8 fabric choices most of which were vintage and it was a bit too complicated on the stock control as each one uses a fair amount on fabric and I tend to buy vintage pieces in small sizes I almost had to buy more fabric every time I got an order. But that's all part of the learning curve and product development, I have plan now and a big stock of fabrics that are modern but in a vintage style.

I guess this bag holder has been popular because people are a bit more conscious of the environment and the importance of not just throwing plastic bags away, but re-using them each time we shop, the downside to this of course is a cupboard full of plastic bags, but they do squish down quite small therefore this carrier holder can hold loads.

 I think this is one item that is going to stay in my shop for a while yet. It is also available without the embroidered panel on the front. I make these for craft fairs in smaller quantities from the vintage fabrics I originally used so if you would like one of those you can message me, otherwise they are available from my notonthehighstreet shop