My Fabric is Finally Here!

Hooray! Yesterday I received my little fabric stash with my own designs from Spoonflower. It took what felt like forever but it was totally worth it. I ordered without looking at their color guide (I know, I know), but my colors still came out just as they are on screen. Some of the line work on the seahorses print is too dark and not very visible - that's probably the only color that's off. The quilting weight sort of feels like not-so-great muslin but I'm still very pleased with the product. I now have a better reference for sizing and what-not, so I'll be reordering a few of these and some new ones in a month or two. I can't wait to start cutting up these little samples for some new projects!

Oh, and Jake moved all my stuff upstairs into one of our spare rooms and I'm already loving it. I still have to "unpack" but I'm looking forward to getting attached to this little room.

New Site Design

For a graphic designer (or at least me), redesigning your own portfolio is just about the hardest thing to do. How do you choose to represent yourself? Do you want to look trendy and cool or buck the trends and do something ugly or weird? Do you make something unlike the rest of your work or pay no attention at all to the design and let your work speak for itself? Or do you just use one of the million template sites out there for designers?

So you can see, now, how it's big news that I redesigned my website and it actually made it's way online. It's the other side of Elloh Handmade: Elloh Design. Where it all started. I'm hoping to keep up the textile design and illustration and get some new clients/work, but this is simply just a show-and-tell :)

Lya Doll

Lya is my most recent plush creation. She's cute and simple, with triangle hair and a separate skirt tacked on to her body. I'm torn between using this pattern for future dolls or just keeping it organic and making them all completely different. We'll see.

See more photos here.

Weekend Recap

The weather was beautiful this weekend, so we spent some time (4 hours) napping outside on a blanket. That was the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

More Pattern Experiments

I was inspired by Audzipan's display of her fabric design and decided to share with you some of the patterns I've been working on. I recently ordered samples of these from Spoonflower, and they should be here in the next week. I'm too excited to see what they end up looking like. Hopefully soon I'll have the guts to show you some more.

Right now is a weird stage for me in my design career. I've always been a full-time web and part-time print designer. Now I really feel like I want to move away from branding myself as a web designer and explore the type of design I really love: print, illustration, textile, etc. I'm in the process of changing my online portfolio from a showcase of work to a showcase of my personal style, but it's difficult to believe anyone would be that interested in my wacky ideas for fabric or art. Somehow, I feel better sharing all of this - like I can really move in that direction instead of feeling like it's a big special secret I'm keeping all to myself and thinking about way too much.

Any feedback on these designs is appreciated :) I still have a few in my back pocket for a later release.

New Location

That's right! My plush goods are now on display and for sale at Lemea's Gift Gallery on Main Street in American Fork.  Now I just have to work on making my space a little prettier, but it's a good start.

Some Dux

These are my two newest creations. Even though it's still gray and gloomy here, it has to be spring somewhere, right?