Friday 27 April 2018

Dusky Dreams Collection

Dusky Dreams is the latest collection from Liliflora Pretty. Combining original watercolour botanical art and the simple elegance of silver and pearls, this collection evokes a shabby chic romantic sensibility.

The Everyday collection includes the classic ball chain and pendant necklace, a 6-charm bracelet and lever back earrings. It's comfortable, wearable and versatile. Suiting professional and casual styles, you can use these pieces to compliment your everyday look with a touch of floral flair.



The Pearl collection brings the luxury and charm of pearls and more hand-assembled pieces. Pendant necklaces, stacking charm bracelets and dangle earrings combine to create a romantic set, perfect for weddings and other very special occasions.



As ever, the centre of the collection is the floral art. I just adore flowers and every chance I get to paint them is pure joy. As the name suggests, this collection is featuring pink flowers and in particular Rose, Gerbera Daisy, Lilium, Peony, Sakura and Rosebuds. Each product listing on Etsy includes the options for the images.




 The Pendants are available in Rose, Gerbera Daisy and Lilium. The earrings are available in Rose, Gerbera Daisy, Lilium and Peony.




The items are available individually or in sets. You still have the option of separate images for the pendants and earrings in the sets. Make it your own!

Oh, and if pink isn't really your colour, keep watching this space! New collections will be released in the coming months in beautiful blues and lovely lilac!

Don't forget, if you're not already on my mailing list, Liliflora's Pretties, you can use the form at the top right to subscribe. You'll not only receive a 30% discount code for immediate use in my Etsy shop, but you will also be given the link to a growing library of gifting printables. Including tags, pillow boxes and other printable templates featuring my original designs, the library will grow over time. Any suggestions for templates you would find useful are always welcome!   If you would like to see an example of what's in there already, check out this tutorial.

Take care,

Emma

Tuesday 24 April 2018

Printable Pillow Box Tutorial

Hi there!  In this post I'd like to share the first designs in my new printable gifting library and show you a tutorial for using them!  To get the link to the library, use the sign-up form on the right to join Liliflora's Pretties.  Not only will you get the link to a growing library of gifting printables, but you will also receive a 30% discount code to use in my Etsy shop to thank you for your support!

Pillow Box with Gift Tags.

Materials:

  • Bluebird's Song Printables x3.  Print onto sturdy cardstock.  I used 200gsm Quill Board
  • Scissors and paper cutter (optional)
  • Ruler
  • Bone folder or embossing tool
  • Double-sided tape 5mm wide or less
  • Hole punch
  • Thin ribbon, bakers twine or embroidery floss.
  • Pen
  • Optional: Ribbon, paper flowers, washi tape, resin embellishments, charms etc.

 

 
Method:

 
  1. Cut out around the outside of the pillow boxes.
  2. Using a bone folder or embossing tool, score the semi-circles marked at each end of the pillow boxes.  Note: you have more control if you pull the tool towards you.  Use a ruler to assist in scoring the centre line and the flap line.
  3. Fold along each scored line to create a crease and start forming the box.
  4. Apply double-sided tape to the front of the flap on the left.  Fold the pillow box along the centre fold and bring the other side in line with the folded flap.  Press the edge down to adhere to the tape, being careful to keep the box square.
  5. Fold in the curved bottoms of the box.  Place your gift inside the box and fold it closed at the top.
  6. Select a belly band that you feel matches your box and cut it out with scissors or a paper cutter.  Trim the band if it looks wider than you would like.  Optional: experiment with patterned scissors.
  7. Wrap the belly band vertically around the box and secure at the back with double-sided tape or Washi tape.


  8. Cut out a tag of your choice from the printable, use the hole-punch where indicated and write a note or the name of the recipient on the back.  If using a card, score along the centre line before hole punching.
  9. Using the twine, thin ribbon or embroidery floss, tie the tag to the belly band.  You could also try wrapping the stringing material around the package a few times for decoration, either vertically with the belly band or horizontally.


  10. Your box is finished and ready to gift, or you could experiment with embellishments.  Add paper flowers, ribbon, charms, resin flowers or whatever you wish to make the gift personalised and gorgeous. You could also try using a strip of bellie band to make an origami star embellishment.  Check out a tutorial for that here!


Thank you for following along with this tutorial.  I hope it helps you to make a special gift even more personal and lovely.

I would love to see what you create!  Tag me @liliflorapretty on Instagram, or share in the Liliflora's Pretties Facebook group here.

If you have any suggestions for the next templates, let me know!  Also, have a look at the gallery tabs above and let me know whether there's something there you think would look great on these Printables.  I'm building this library to be useful to you, so suggestions and feedback is always welcome!

Take care,

Emma

Saturday 13 January 2018

Bluebird's Song Collection launch!

Liliflora Pretty's first pattern collection for 2018, Bluebird's Song, has launched on Etsy and Spoonflower!

The collection was inspired by a friend who suggested that I create something with bluebirds.  Living in Tasmania, the blue birds here are Superb Fairy Wrens, and they are absolutely adorable and it was a pleasure to draw and paint them.  Along with some roses inspired by vintage and shabby chic graphics and some tiny forget-me-nots and butterflies, a collection was born!


This is a male Blue Wren showing off his iridescent blue plumage and pretty song.  Adorable!

There are 6 repeating patterns, available for sale now on Spoonflower.  I was so happy with how well the test swatches came out, that I immediately ordered them in Spoonflower's sumptuous satin fabric for some personal projects!


I'll save further details of the fabric collection for another post, today I'd like to focus on the products that I've created using this collection that are now available in my Etsy shop.

The jewellery collection includes pendant necklaces, lever back earrings, bracelets and anklets.  They are all created with rose gold plated findings and reproductions of Bluebird's Song motifs which are secured under flawless glass cabochons.  The glass protects and magnifies the images underneath.

Bluebird rose gold pendant earrings anklet bracelet jewelry collection superb fairy wren vintage pink floral shabby chic roses
Just a sample of the 30 individual jewellery pieces you can mix and match!

 

There are 5 illustrations in the collection, 3 of which feature quotes and words of encouragement in hand-lettered watercolours.  The 'Bloom Gracefully' print is an 8 x 10 inch, while there are 2 sets of 5x7 prints.  One of these sets features images of Superb Fairy Wrens perched on branches of blossoms, while the other set includes quotes over a floral repeat.

blue bird art print watercolour inspirational quote hand lettered superb fairy wren bird in flight vintage shabby chic floral rose illustration
The art prints come carefully packaged to protect them in transit.

Finally, there are 4 notepads, featuring the same illustrations as the 5x7 prints, and 6 notebooks which are covered in the 6 repeating coordinates.  They each include 100 removable pages, are A6 in size and come with a complimentary rose gold and crystal pen.  The differences are that the notepads have plain paper, a cardboard back and open vertically, while the notebooks have dot-grid pages perfect for bullet journaling, a place-marking ribbon and open horizontally.

notebooks notepads bullet journal bujo dot grid rose gold pen bling blue bird inspiring quote watercolour illustration
The pen writes in black ink and is as reliable as it is pretty!

Developing these products has been a labour of love and I'm grateful for the feedback I received from the markets I attended over the Christmas period last year.  While it may have been the season, I feel that my work is best suited to items which will be given as gifts to show love and appreciation.  It's an honour to think that most of the items I sold during the markets will be used to make someone else happy and express feelings of admiration.  Selling in person was a wonderful experience and I look forward to participating in the Etsy Made Local market in Hobart again this year.

Don't forget, before heading off to explore the Etsy shop to see all the items in the collection (with all variations on all items there are 43 in total!), make sure you use the form at the right to get your 30% discount code.  As one of Liliflora's Pretties, you'll also receive advance notice of upcoming releases and can even influence what products and designs get produced next!  The confirmation email will give you the link to head straight to the shop, but if you already have your code, jump straight into the collection here.

Take care,
Emma

By the way, let me know what you think of the new branding in the comments below!

Monday 31 July 2017

Christmas market preview 2017

I had a goal this year to be ready for Christmas by August, and while I'm not 100% there I thought I'd share some of the new items you'll see in my Etsy shop and at some local markets around Hobart. Some of these have been shared on Facebook and Instagram, while others are completely new and even still in development.


Clockwise from top left: Polish paper Bombki made from kraft paper, Botanical collection paper and grey paper, rolled rose fabric rose earrings and buttons from Koi Blooms collection, Botanical collection print on Italian paper matted with maroon paper with distressed foil corner elements, shrink plastic ornaments with Botanical collection images and faux silver-leaf edging and polymer clay teaspoon bookmarks.



Clockwise from top left: Floral crown with faux white leather, rhinestones, silk roses, ribbon, lace and pearl strand.  "Celebrate Romance" 8"x10" print with Koi Blooms pattern and distressed foil typography.  Polymer clay wish bottle necklace.  Botanical art print on Italian paper matted with vellum featuring distressed foil elements.

The botanical collection of floral images is still growing and will feature repeating patterns and the samples you see here are just some of the variations and new products I've been working on.

I'm trying to focus my work more on the shabby chic style to try to give a more coherent idea of style, which has been relatively unfocussed!  Keep an eye on my facebook and Instagram for more updates!

Take care,

Emma

Sunday 27 November 2016

Christmas fabric, cards and giftwrap for 2016 + free printables!

Well, it's almost that time!  The most bustling, stressful, and wonderful time of the year!  Christmas can mean so many things to so many people, but for most of us who recognise this holiday, it means that we're going to be really busy!  Shopping, socialising, planning and celebrating take a lot of effort and energy, not to mention time.  And no matter how hard you try, you always end up forgetting something, or worse, someone!

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/489177849/christmas-card-set-digital-download-gift

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/489177849/christmas-card-set-digital-download-gift
 

Liliflora Pretty has the solution to instant, coordinated greeting and gifting!  Over on my Etsy shop, you'll find my collection of rustic floral Christmas cards and gift tags.  They're digital downloads that are made available to you the instant your payment it received.  Print them out as many times as you need to have all the cards and tags covered for your loved ones.  The four cards and a sheet of tags together are only $5.00AUD!

http://www.spoonflower.com/collections/167472-floral-christmas-by-liliflorapretty


The 2016 Christmas Fabric collection over on Spoonflower coordinates with the cards and tags.  The Christmas imagery is subtle, the most 'Christmasy' coordinate is the bauble repeat.  Because of this, these fabrics can be used for projects all year round that require a boldly beautiful floral touch.  With Spoonflowers' faster shipping options, there's still plenty of time to get these fabrics if you want to make your gifts or help a friends' stash this festive season!  Oh yeah, and all the designs are on Spoonflowers' high quality gift wrap as well!  They haven't been optimised for wallpaper, but if you think you'd like them to be, just drop me an email or a message on Spoonflower!



To give you a taste of the designs in this collection, you can download free samples of 4 of the designs right here:

Christmas Flowers
Floral Mint
Floral Pink
Starry Rustic



The pdf files are designed at A4 size and the patterns go right to the edge, so there'll be a little bit of clipping when you print them based on your printer settings.  I'm especially happy with the tessellated floral patterns!  Here's some ideas for what to use your papers for and how they coordinate with the cards, tags and fabrics.

The papers are being used here to give lovely presentation to a food gift in a cardboard server,
as well as a doily and a napkin ring with tag as a place name.

Another doily and presentation on the side of a cardboard food server featured with
washi tape and one of the cards you can purchase as a digital print from Etsy!
 

This was a very yummy photoshoot!

May your Christmas and New Year be safe, charitable, fun and healing.




Gather friends and family near and enjoy your holiday season filled with warmth and laughter.  Don't forget to bring others in from the cold.  Now, more than ever, a season of love, understanding, togetherness and acceptance is so needed by the world.

Take care,

Emma.

Tuesday 16 August 2016

Crayola Marker Graffiti Style Lettering Tutorial

It's tutorial time! I've been sharing some of my hand lettering practise on my Instagram lately (follow me @liliflorapretty), and I'm always surprised by how many likes and new followers it scores. People genuinely love lettering and type, and no wonder! It's such a wonderfully direct way of expressing yourself, combining communication, inspiration and art to do so.

typography, how to, lettering, handlettering, tutorial, graffiti, markers, calligraphy


Today I'm going to share a technique that uses inexpensive materials to give a fun result reminiscent of graffiti. It's casual and versatile. You could use it to decorate cards and scrapbooking pages for teens, to decorate canvas shoes and bags or to create great edgy home décor prints and transfers.



So let's go!

To produce the lettering in this tutorial, you will need:
  • Kraft Paper Crayola Markers (I'm using the Super Tips)
  • A metallic gold paint pen or Crayola marker
  • A white gel pen (I'm using Uniball Signo)
  • A dark brown pencil (I'm using Faber Castell classic colour no.376)
Crayola markers, metallic markers, kraft paper, markers, gel pen

This is a pretty basic tutorial, with the idea being that by changing up the colours, shaping the letters slightly differently and even experimenting with different papers and shadow techniques, you'll be able to create your own signature version.

I recommend that you start by practising holding the marker and making the different letter forms until you feel comfortable with it. The style here is very casual and also very forgiving of errors. Hold the marker on it's side, so that as much of the marker as possible is touching the paper, and form your letters with sharp slashing strokes, mostly downward, to get the thicker line at the top, and the pointy line at the bottom. The exception to this is when you're making the crossbars of letters like "A" and "H" where you make the motion going upwards.


 We're also going to be padding out the letters by making strokes alongside the original ones. You'll notice that Crayola markers don't blend like alcohol one's do, but the extra layers you will make to colour it consistently will make the colour bolder on the kraft paper, so it still works out well.


When you feel ready, (and hey even if you don't!), write out a short phrase or a word on a fresh sheet of kraft paper using a pink marker. Don't worry about padding out the first pass, you're just laying down the basic shape of the letters, looking at the spacing and layout, and making sure you're happy with the basic structure before you get too committed. When you're happy with it, do the second pass where you are putting on an extra stroke next to the ones you've already done, overlapping them slightly, and then going over both strokes again to make sure you have an even colour. Give it all a moment to make sure it's dried before adding the next colour.



For this example, I'm using metallic gold  Crayola markers layer dark over light quite well (see the title as an example with dark green layered over light green), try experimenting with different colours on a scrap of paper for your own creations. While I'm using the Crayola Metallic Marker in gold, you could always use a gold Sharpie or similar gold paint pen to get the same effect.
 Colour the bottom third of each letter and punctuation mark in your phrase, trying to maintain the shape of the letter. Once this has dried, apply small dots at the top of the part you just coloured gold, putting more dots at the bottom and fewer as you go up. Don't extend this more than a little bit above the metallic part. Its supposed to look like the gold is fading out as it gets further up, to transition nicely between it and the background colour.



You could leave the colouring at that, but just to introduce a bit more interest, I've gone ahead and used a purple marker to colour just the very tops of the characters, also adding the dots to make it fade down nicely.



Now it's time to make the lettering stand out and refine the shapes of your letterforms. Grab your white gel pen and draw outlines around your letters. Make them as thin or thick as you like, and take your time to make sure these lines are fairly neat and solid.



Finally, to make your letters really pop out of the page, we're going to apply a drop shadow in dark brown pencil. Draw a strong, narrow, dark line of brown on the left side and the bottom of each of your strokes. Go back through and draw a wider, slightly less bold line of brown that starts to blend the shadow out. Finally, go back and apply a very broad, very light area of brown that blends back into the darker browns.

Blend it in with light passes of your pencil or a blender pencil.



You did it! And I'd love to see it! Please share your results on Instagram and remember to tag me in @liliflorapretty.  I hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful. If there's anything I could explain better, anything else you'd like me to make a tutorial on, or if I've missed something here, please comment below to let me know!

Take care until next time!

Emma.

Saturday 9 July 2016

How to Easily Organise your Art and 3 Powerful Reasons why you want to!

In this post, I'm going to share a way of using bullet journaling techniques to build a comprehensive index of your sketchbooks, journals, inspiration and finished works whether they are digital or physical.  In doing so, you'll create a powerful resource you can draw on for inspiration and motivation anytime.

artistic resources, inspiration, sketchbooks, organisation, artist, creative, bullet journaling


Whether you use sketchbooks and visual journals or you sketch on loose pages or even create your work digitally, this simple organisation method will work.  All you need is a notebook and a pen!


If you're already familiar with bullet journaling, you're going to recognise the concept and the symbols we'll be using.  If you're not, and you love to keep lists and make plans and want to do so more effectively and in a way that makes you more productive, I recommend checking out bulletjournal.com to learn the basics.  It's not necessary for what I'm about to show you, but it's a great concept and it's best to start at the source if you want to explore it more fully.

We're just going to use two of the principals of bullet journaling: creating an index as you go, and using simple symbols to give your entries more meaning.


Index pages filling up with pages numbers and headings
Number the pages as you go

Open your notebook to the first double spread and mark the pages with the heading "Index."  You'll want to repeat this on the next double spread to give yourself enough lines.  On these index pages you'll enter the page numbers and simple headings for the information you're going to put on the other pages to make it easy to find later.

Now open the next double spread and number the pages at the bottom.  Give a heading to the first page to describe the sketchbook, file, folder or device you're going to catalogue on that page.  If, like me, you have multiple sketchbooks that all look the same from the outside, mark them or decorate them to make them unique.  I simply numbered them on the spine with a white paint pen.  You can also add extra information such as the dates it was started and finished.  On the page in your notebook, start listing the contents of the book or file.  List everything in the book or file, even if it doesn't seem immediately important or useful.  Use the following symbols to assist you when you look through it later:

* - an asterisk denotes something important.   It could mean a resource that you find useful or that you need to refer back to regularly.

! - an exclamation point means 'Inspiration!'  While you'll find lots of it amongst your work, you can use this symbol to note something of particular interest or something you think can help you in a current project.

Draw a little symbol of an eye next to any entry you feel deserves further investigation and development, whether immediately or in the future.

If none of the above applies to the item, just list it as a bullet point.

When you've listed each item, go back to the index and write in the page number or numbers the entry covers and then give it the same heading as you did in the book.

Entering the contents of a sketchbook as it's filled is easy!

Keep working through your collected sketchbooks, notebooks, files, folders, binders, boxes, drawers, computer, laptop, hard drive, thumb drives, phone, tablet, etc.

You could include other things as well, such as a brief catalogue of the titles and genres of books you have in your collection that you draw artistic inspiration from, a list of websites or blogs you find useful or helpful.  You can also make note of your favourite motivational quotes, personal mantras and artistic goals.  Don't forget to keep lists of effective strategies for combating creative blocks or recapturing your creative drive after a setback or hiatus.

Just make sure to keep the index updated as you go, and number the pages as you make each new entry and the resources you need will be right at your fingertips!

A couple of years worth of sketchbooks, numbered on the spines for easy reference

Now, I must admit, if you've been a creative for years, you're going to find it daunting to think about going through all the material you would have created, collected and compiled over the years.  Even with a simple and straightforward method of cataloguing it, it's still going to be a time consuming exercise.  So, why do it?

Well I have 3 seriously powerful reasons, and one really fun one, for why you want to invest the time to do this.

The first is that this will be a wonderful resource all by itself, and the more you put into it, the better it will be.  This is an index to your creative life!  Refer back to it whenever you're stuck for ideas, need reaffirming your goals and motivation or if you need to easily track down a piece or body of work that may suit a potential client.

The second is that it gives you an opportunity to go back through work you may not have laid eyes on or thought about for years!  It's amazing to see how far your art has developed over time and to pick out the patterns emerging in your subjects and style.  It's also great to revisit ideas that you may not have had time to fully explore when you had them, but that can contribute to a new project or inspire a future one.

Recording the contents of a binder where I keep the samples of my fabric designs.
The third reason is that any excuse to buy gorgeous new stationary is always a worthwhile pursuit!  Ok, I admit, that's the fun reason.  It's worth some serious consideration, however, as you're going to want a sturdy hard backed notebook that will stand up to a lot of use over time.  And yes, I recommend a physical notebook over a digital one, although you can always create one of those as well and save it to your cloud to prevent it being lost.  There's just something so much more accessible and flexible about a physical book.  Because I couldn't wait to try out this idea when I had it, I went out and bought a notebook (a Buffalo notebook from Typo, in rose gold glitter!  Squeee!), but given I have some designs available on Redbubble hardbacked journals, I'd be truly honoured and grateful if you found one of them compelling enough to purchase!

http://www.redbubble.com/people/liliflorapretty/works/17635858-oriental-paisley?p=hardcover-journal&ref=artist_shop_grid
Oriental Paisley
http://www.redbubble.com/people/liliflorapretty/works/17661817-rose-macabre?p=hardcover-journal&ref=artist_shop_grid
Autumn Macabre
http://www.redbubble.com/people/liliflorapretty/works/21066335-sinister-shabby-wallpaper?p=hardcover-journal&ref=artist_shop_grid
Sinister Shabby

Ok, so here's the real third serious reason why it's worth the effort of cataloguing your artistic journey: CONFIDENCE!  By having a resource like this, you have the confidence of knowing that if you have a creative block you can always find a way to smash it.  If you ever need to refer back to a particular piece or body of work, you don't have to go hunting for it, you can easily find it in your index.  If the worst should happen and someone copies your work or questions your intellectual property, you can quickly track down the original sketches and where the idea developed from to prove that something is yours.

Just the process of putting the index together is beneficial in itself.  Revisiting my previous work has given me lots of fresh ideas to take forward, along with some great Throwback Thursday material for social media (follow me on Instagram @liliflorapretty)!
It's also been fascinating to see how my style and skills have developed over time, as well as the sorts of things I draw inspiration from.

I hope you find this idea useful and motivating.  It's well worth the time you'll spend creating this invaluable and very personal resource. It will also encourage you to keep referring back to past work as you move forward, which is a great way to stay in touch with your style and remind yourself of how far you've come over time.

Comment below with your ideas for what you might include in your index or other ideas you have for cataloguing your art.

Take care until next time,

Emma