In July 2015 we mentioned that Jennifer Holbrook has designs licensed to Magic Murals. In the film "Miracles From Heaven" the mural appears in an exam room scene, on a cabinet. Pretty cool, Jennifer! You can keep up with Jennifer's latest design projects on her website, JGHolbrookDesign.com

Sarah York has hatched a project with Elmwood Brand, creating packaging for a trio of Tesco Finest Easter eggs. The UK grocer has built a reputation for their annual limited edition eggs, having previously won Good Housekeeping's "Best Easter Egg" two years in a row! But who cares about the chocolate; look at Sarah's beautiful abstract paintings on those packages! Keep up with Sarah's career and latest work at SarahYorkDesigns.com

Solvejg Makaretz has announced plans to introduce her Tröskö brand to  Surtex, coming up May 15-17, 2016 at Jacob Javitz center in New York. We're sure Solvejg's crisp fresh designs will make a splash with buyers. Solvejg looks forward to meeting other guild members at the show! You can see her work at ​TroskoDesign.com. Be sure to visit Solvejg at booth 466.

Danny Berish of Black Rhino Creative  alerted us about his video of tapestry artist Jane Kidd. Ms. Kidd is up for Canada Council for the Arts Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. The awards ceremony is next week. Watch the video to learn more about the Jane Kidd's process, and her gorgeous tapestries. 

 The workshop will be part of a new space dedicated to research, experimentation, prototyping, and the exchange of information in the field of textiles and beyond. It will be called Lottozero/Textile Laboratories (www.lottozero.org) and will be a shared space open to local and international designers. Inside the center there will be a workshop with machinery for textile design, and an exhibition space for shows and events, and also an open co-working studio for designers, artists and artisans. 

The sisters have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for machinery needed in the laboratory, such as the hand loom, silkscreen printing equipment, and the finishing tools. Of all the various rewards to those who pledge funds to Lottozero, the most notable is a silk twill and silk/modal scarf collection, made in Italy which Arianna and Tessa have produced in an exclusive collaboration with various artists and designers. With a week  to go, the campaign is well on it's way to meeting it's $10,846 USD goal. 

The trademark design used for this campaign is called -Verde di Prato- and was inspired by the green marble of Prato, used from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. which adorns the facades of monuments in Tuscany unique and recognizable worldwide . Examples include the baptistery of Florence, the church of San Miniato al Monte and, of course, Prato Cathedral. The -Verde di Prato- headscarves celebrate the values of the Tuscan heritage and history by giving them a contemporary twist, inspiring the wearer with confidence and positivity

Other scarves in the collection were created in collaboration with friends of Lottozero: artist and illustrator Anna Deflorian, the Parisian textile designer Coralie Prévert, the co-founder Arianna Moroder, graphic and design Studio Mut from South Tyrol, and the Russian artist and designer Nadia Grechina.
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If you would like to contribute the Kickstarter campaign will continue through March 17th (the fundraising closing date.)  
Lottozero will open its doors in June 2016 with a group exhibition of international artists who will present different forms of expression, characterized by the presence of the textile element. You can keep up with Lottozero on their Facebook page, or Instagram feed. 

In the wake of Jen Hewett's visit, we're still all abuzz about creating stamps for use in our surface pattern design, so here are a few tutorials to get you started. 

In SJaneCraft's YouTube video she talks about the tools and materials, and demonstrates carving a stamp. Hand Carved Stamp Tutorial

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Reg Silva's tutorial on How to Carve Eraser Stamps is full of information, including advice on carving erasers (not all types work) and additional carving tools. 

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Carolyn Hasenfratz' Rubber Stamp Carving  tutorial has detailed advice on carving stamps that will last well. 

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Martrice Smith has tips on workflow in her tutorial, and introduces the use of a roller to apply paint. She also shares a really clever tip for using a phone book as an "inking plate." 

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The Blue Berry Ash blog gets a little more hardcore with a tutoiral on carving stamps from linoleum blocks. 

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's brief post about her interlocking (two part) stamps will inspire you. For more information on her process, you can order her book, Carve, Stamp, Play: Designing and Creating Custom Stamps from Amazon.

Should you want to use your stamps on fabric, Jesse Breytenbach shares tips in her three part series on Printing Fabric. In the third post in the series she takes you through the process of preparing your fabric for stamping, applying your design, and then setting the ink. 

For some inspiration, guild member Jill Turney blogs about her stamp-making adventures, and maintains a board on Pinterest with tons of inspiring stamping images. 
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To add the charm of handmade stamps to your computer designs, without losing any of the texture that makes the hand stamped look so appealing, guild member Pamela Farmer has a YouTube video with her process for that here.

Jen will be showing examples of her boldly saturated hand-printed designs on bags and apparel.

Learn about her on-line 2-day class, and live 1-day class in block printmaking in association with the Handcraft Studio School in Emeryville.  (Go to the Handcraft Studio School website, and you'll quickly find that Jen's are the only classes that are sold out three months in advance!)

This is where I met Jen, and I know you will love to meet her too. She's positive, enthusiastic, encouraging, full of ideas and understands the artist's way.  Bring your questions to engage with our creative and business savvy guest!
-Jeannie Bosko

If you missed our January 14th guild meeting, you missed some pretty clever designs incorporating handwritten text in response to our January design challenge. Luckily you still have time to celebrate National Handwriting Day, Saturday, January 23rd. Sakura of America is celebrating with a giveaway. To participate write your favorite quote on a piece of paper, preferably with one of Sakura's fine implements of course, and post your entry on Instagram with the hashtag  #handwritingmatters. Winners will be chosen from entries made between Friday, January 15th, and Monday, January 25th, 2016. Full Giveaway Terms are here. The prize includes several gorgeous Pigma Micron products, that I'm sure you'd be delighted to get your hands on!

At the Fashion and Textile Museum in London is a surface pattern designers dream!  The exhibit explores Liberty’s impact on British fashion, from Orientalism and Aesthetic dress in the 19th century, through Art Nouveau and Art Deco in the early 20th century, and the revival of these styles since the 1950s. 
Liberty, the iconic London department store, is celebrating it's 140th anniversary this year. Over 150 garments, textiles and objects demonstrate Liberty’s strong relationships with designers since 1875, from Arthur Silver of Silver Studio to collaborations with Jean Muir, Cacharel, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood.

Surface pattern designer and blogger Modflowers has a lovely write up of her private viewing experience of the exhibit with no less a personage than Sarah Campbell! (Look for our upcoming book review of The Collier Campbell Archive) There are several up close photos of exhibits showing initial artists' sketches, alongside the finished designs on clothing. Talk about your ultimate Sketch Chronicle! 
Is it too much to hope for an airplane ticket to London in our Christmas stocking?