littletree joins the art & business of surface pattern design...

Image HERE

Good Monday everyone! How was the weekend for you? Today I have put together a little colour palette based on a fabric by one of my all time favourite designers Lucienne Day. I just love her style, use of colour and her work is probably one of the reasons I became a designer! I am sharing this today because one week ago exactly I signed up and started my journey towards becoming a real (hopefully paid) surface pattern designer! How exciting! The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design is run by super talented designer Rachael Taylor and Beth Nicholls of the company Do What You Love which specialises in e-courses and retreats for those of us who want to do what we love for life!

Although I have a degree in printed textile design that was a fair few years ago now and as much as I'm happy with how my work looks it could do with a little more direction towards an individual style. The industry has changed so much since I graduated and we never did cover much of the 'what to do after university' side of things anyway, so I can't wait to get into more of the business how to's, licensing and selling my designs!

So over the next few months I will do a few regular posts here to keep you updated on how things are going with the course but as things get busier I may not be blogging as much...but I hope you still stop by, see how I'm doing and comment, I always enjoy reading them! Have a good week everyone!x

pinterest pick of the week...

Image copyright Littletree Designs

Welcome Friday, another weekend is almost here and so that means it's pinterest pick of the week time! This week I have been doodling around with drawings all related to baking (above) all grouped together in a little collection, maybe for a pattern or just a fun print...I don't know yet! And then the other day I was browsing around on Pinterest and discovered this great board by Elodie Le MiamMiam called 'home graphics' which was packed full of prints and patterns made up of collections all related to one another. There are so many lovely pins I had to share my favourites with you today...hope you enjoy my little collection of 'collections' and have a lovely weekend. xxx

As usual click on the links above for the sources.x

littletree discovers...cards at society 6

Now I think I may have been living under a rock somewhere because when did society6 start doing cards? And I have an account! Hmm...this had indeed passed me by because it's such a good idea and not a bad price either! I can't say all of the designs I have uploaded for other products necessarily work as a card but I have rounded up a few that I think are card friendly. As an extra incentive society6 are offering FREE shipping worldwide until Sunday! I would love you to pop by and have a look even if you just click the 'promote' button on a few! Ta very much! x

All images copyright Littletree Designs via society6

'Oh My Days!' - SOLD!

image copyright littletree designs

Just a quick post to say a super big THANKS! to Caroline South of the lovely blog Scraps of Us for buying my print! If you don't know her blog then hop on over as it is full of cute pics, vintage goodies and general fab-ness!x

image from scraps of us blog

littletree wins a giveaway! yey!

Ello my lovelies! How are we today? I'm pretty good after winning the giveaway from the blog Rhi-Creations run by Rhianna, she had been doodling her way through March and decided at the end to giveaway a print of a doodle of your choice! I had to pick this doodle as I always sing along if I hear the song and I loved the handdrawn type and little stars!

Rhianna is very talented at handdrawn type and illustration which you can see over at her Etsy shop Ello Lovely. I have been a fan of Rhianna's for a while now so it was great to win her giveaway but if you are unfamiliar with her work I seriously suggest visiting her shop, I have added a few pics of my favourite prints below so you can see what you're missing!

Above images from Ello Lovely

This last print/crochet combo is one of Rhianna's latest collaborations with a lady called Meredith who runs the Etsy shop Sheepish Knitting & Crochet and I think it is such a great idea I really wish I had thought of it first!
Thanks to Rhianna for letting me share these with you today and thanks for my lovely print! xxx

littletree's treasury's...

visit the treasury HERE

visit the treasury HERE

visit the treasury HERE

I may have become a little addicted to making treasury's on Etsy...I had never made any until Friday and now I've made 3! Very good for kick starting the creativity by staring at lots of pretty things...not so good for actual work! Oops! Most of the items are from my favourites list but some are new to me and maybe to you to? Hope these treasury's don't distract you from your work too much...see you tomorrow blog peeps! x

littletree bakes...chewy date and walnut traybake

Hello blog friends, did you have a good weekend? Yes? Mine was pretty good as it involved a little baking and a lot of laziness...which is the recipe for happiness in my book! The recipe I'm going to share today is one I have made plenty of times from the book '1Mix, 50 Cakes' by Christine France. It's a really handy little book with all sorts of cake recipes from classic sponge, cupcakes and traybakes to fancy gateaux, all based around the same basic ingredients.

The original recipe is actually chewy date and sesame tray bake but I've just chucked in some walnuts to mix it up a bit! You can easily leave out the walnuts or add in any other nut you prefer. Anyway enough rambling, here's the how to...

Ingredients

• 6oz/175g Soft Butter
• 6oz/175g Brown Sugar
• 6oz/175g Plain Flour
• 1+1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3 Eggs
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• Handful of chopped dried Dates
• 3-4 tbsp of Orange Juice (enough to cover the base of a small saucepan)
• Handful of chopped Walnuts
• Sesames Seeds for sprinkling on top

Let's Bake!

• Preheat your oven to 190c. Grease and line a rectangular tin roughly 12x9 inches.
• Put your chopped Dates and Orange Juice in a small pan and heat gently, stir occasionally until the liquid has been absorbed. Leave to cool. (This can take about 5mins so use this time to measure out your other ingredients, just keep an eye on the dates!)
• In a large bowl mix the Butter and Sugar until smooth. Gradually add in the Eggs, Flour, Vanilla and Baking Powder until you have a thick fluffy mix.
• Now add in your nuts and cooled dates. Stir through the mix carefully.
• Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth out, sprinkle on the Sesame seeds.
• Pop in the oven for about 20-25mins or until golden and cooked through. Check with a skewer to be extra sure.
• Leave to cool and cut into slices. Enjoy!

Pictures taken by me!

PS - Last day for free shipping in my Etsy shop! Enter FREESHIPPINGAPRIL at the checkout!x

and a little more love!

Just a moment ago I noticed that the super lovely Louise of the blog Love Print Studio has done a little post about my new 'Treats' prints in my Esty shop! What a pleasant surprise! As I have had so much extra press this weekend I have decided to continue the free shipping a little longer until midnight Monday 23rd April...

Yes thats right! You now have until Midnight Monday 23rd April to use the code FREESHIPPINGAPRIL on all of the items in my Etsy shop! 

Right off to slouch in front of the tv...well it is a Sunday...Thanks again Louise!x

a little more love for the weekend!

image copyright Natalie Singh

Happy weekend! Now I know I don't usually post at the weekend but I had to share this interview that I did for the lovely Natalie of The Homely Place. It has been in the works for a little while but Natalie e-mailed me last night to say it had gone up, so if you're interested in finding out a little more about me and my designs then hop on over to check out the interview here! I am hoping to do the same for Natalie sometime soon as she is also a talented surface pattern designer so do keep an eye out!

Pssst...Don't forget to head over to my Etsy shop to get FREE shipping on all my items until Sunday 22nd! Just enter the code FREESHIPPINGAPRIL at the checkout!

some littletree love for me and you!

Happy Friday everyone! I'm a very lucky lady this week, I have had my work included in some lovely blogs with some great designers. And so to celebrate a lot of love being sent my way I am sending some your way with FREE shipping off all items in my Etsy shop until Sunday! Plus new Treats Prints (below) are in the shop now! So why don't you 'treat' (see what I did there?) yourself to a little something?

If you would like to share the love on your own blog or facebook page that would be greatly appreciated, just link back if you could :) Hope you all have a lovely weekend and fingers crossed for a sunnier week next week, the month of April has certainly been living up to it's 'showers' reputation!x

 

All above images copyright of Littletree Designs

so BIG BIG thanks this week go to...

The lovely Colleen from Hello Olive for featuring my 'Oh My Days!' print in her post here...

 And Amy from Penny Candy for featuring my 'Retro Alphabet' print in her post here...

Love to everyone this weekend! xxx

pinterest pick of the week...on a thursday...

Hello all, now you are probably thinking 'hey, it's not friday!' but this week I am doing our pinterest picks a day early...tomorrows post will explain all I promise! Back to today though and my new found love of these little guys...foxes! They are definitely the new owls on the 'block' and I have found the perfect board from Sarah Eaton called Foxy Foxy to share a few favourites!

How cute is this little guy?! As usual click on the links above to go to the boards and the sources...

See you back here tomorrow for a little treat!x

feeling like a holiday is needed...

 

All above images from Plenty of Colour

Hello everyone, I've been feeling very much in need of a holiday this week and although I have one booked for June it just can't come around quick enough! So I have made do with staring at these beautiful pictures of Mexico over on the Plenty of Colour site run by Chloe Douglas. Her site is indeed packed with colour and she has some fab Pinterest boards too! So many wonderful colours I just had to put together a little palette...

In keeping with the Mexican theme I'm also drooling over these Fish Taco's I pinned from the Rhi-Creations blog run by Rhianna. The taco's are accompanied with fresh Peach Salsa and Lime Sour Cream...how amazing does that sound?! Click on the link above for the recipe...if you like what you see Rhianna has a food blog too, check it out here... Hope you have enjoyed this little trip down Mexico way with me! x

Image from Rhi-Creations taken by Rhianna

new patterns...the little house on the hill

copyright littletree designs

Hello again, I have a little sneeky peek of a new pattern range I have been working on, it's more child friendly than my normal work and as usual it all started with a doodle! I thought it might look good as fabric made into a patchwork quilt once I have designed a few more co-ordinates, what do you think? x

littletree discovers...polkka jam

Good Monday everyone, hope you all had a good weekend? I thought I would start the week by sharing a new shop I discovered on Friday thanks to Jen of the blog Little Birdie, if you havn't visited her blog you must it's fab! She had posted a link on facebook stating the loveliness of the stuff sold by Polkka Jam and so I hopped along to take a peek and was instantly hooked...I fell in love with the soft colour palettes, the cute prints with the cats and the bulbs growing in tea-cups! I have picked a few favourite pics from the gorgeous Polkka Jam blog to show you, hope you like and do pop along for a visit because there is much more! Have a good week blog peeps!x

All images from the Polkka Jam Blog