Planet Ruby Starrs

Sneak preview for samples going to print...  checking for colour and size... I am having such a lot of fun putting these designs together - so much funky colour going on and some of these are destined for further embellishment with some bling and beading and maybe a bit of embroidery... I now have 12 definitive final designs -I'm aiming for 24 - the others aren't far behind.  While its great fun I just cant stop putting things together I have so many primary drawings and photographs I just want to get the best out of them.  I have used a lot of photograph resources this time something quite new for me.  My Photoshop skills have come on in leaps and bounds - overlaying colours, stacking layers, experimenting with image hues, levels, differences, smudging....... and more.  I've been doing web based tutorials to hone skills and while it doesn't stick immediately I know where to go to revisit when I need to. My next dilemma is what fabric to print on, I was going for

More and more scarf designs are starting to emerge in a more cohesive and collective manner - I have collated them all (80 plus) on to thumbnails so I can faff about and pick the ones that work best, that I like best, that Dr Fred likes best and those which I think have a commercial value... although really most of them are starting to look quite quirky and I think my target market might be less main stream than some brands appeal to - but realistically I have to have some designs which appeal to a quieter taste, they are still quite funky but in quieter colours and may be less bizarre imagery, not everyone wants to wear a giant home made chicken in a basket image around their neck!!! So now I have to make the final decisions and then spend the next couple of weeks making sure the art work is spot on and ready to go tot the printers so that they can come back to be hand rolled hemmed (approx 4 hours per scarf) but its a lovely finish and also I am going do some embellishment on

In between doing a lot of uni work and Dr Freds Stargazing exploits we are finding a little bit of time to do our house.  It is really starting to look like we live here!  Realising that I only have a finite time left to do college stuff and by the end of May my degree will be all but finished, we decided to leave the bulk of the house stuff until then - although Dr Fred keeps saying he wont be here all summer he has Munros to blag... so I will be busy...  beore with Dr Fred being industrious.. However we decided one room could have a make over so we have one place that says we live here - its actually a longer process than just decorating as I believe houses need to be lived in and personal ambiance acquired slowly as possessions take up their rightful place and rooms evolve over time.  But we have to start somewhere so we spent a weekend when our expected visitors had to cancel and we stripped the anaglypta wallpaper   - some satisfyingly easy huge long bits but some incredibly

More design development, this week was pretty much given over to consolidating and reflecting on work achieved so far.   This has allowed me to identify the gaps, the designs I don't think work and those I really like and which ones I am going to develop.. Original blind drawing, hand coloured using various media, including collage, oils, promarkers - scanned and digitally placed on geometric background. I'm experimenting a lot with scale and different backgrounds, and next week will be taking the chosen designs forward for further development, varying sizes of patterns, different lay outs and also defining some colour palettes.  I have a lot of work on the go and now is the time to make decisions and start to refine the designs.   I had a lovely afternoon playing in the sewing room with different embroidery and embellishment techniques and I want to apply them some where among my final pieces.  Then we had a very inspiring seminar with Claire Baker whose work is st

I have lots of new work emerging at quite a fast pace.  Lots of ideas which in turn lead to more ideas and in between all the college work I'm starting to make our new house look like our home.  However precedence is being (albeit reluctantly sometimes) to the work need to ensure my degree work stays on the appointed plan - not that its a very structured plan more fluid and allowing for creative juices to flow. So this week I have painted the kitchen walls lime green - refashioned the units so they look a little more contemporary and put out my treasured collection of marmite jars and then also knuckled down to some serious design work towards my scarf collection. I have also been trying to master the next technical issue - more Illustrator - harder than I had hoped but slowly getting there - its always a time issue for me, I just want to be able to do it straightaway and while it is a creative adobe programme just like Photo shop the similarity ends there and it so doesn't