FREE TUTORIAL - How To Find Inspiration for Your Next Project...

Hello my lovelies!

I'm often asked how I decide to put fabrics together when starting a project or what makes me choose a specific colour theme...

As a textile artist I love to see a project take it's own journey and enjoy the organic process of watching it grow before my own eyes as I work.
For me this is the most exciting part of my creative designing.

I know many of you struggle with finding a starting point and have often heard people say "oh I'm not a designer..."
I disagree.
Anyone who creates is a designer in my eyes and although you may not be showcasing your designs  along the catwalks of Paris or exhibiting your canvasses at the Tate you are still a designer in your own right.

Anyone who knits, crochets, sews, paints, embellishes...you get the picture....should be brave enough to call themselves a creative designer!

We live a very visual world these days and are drawn to striking images.
So... to help anyone out there needing a guiding hand with their designs, I thought I would put a little tutorial together to hopefully help with some pointers as to where to get that much valued inspiration from...

How To Get Inspiration for Your Next Project Tutorial...


I believe we are surrounded by loads of beautiful inspiration all around us each and every day of our lives for any design if we only know where to look...

Perhaps you want to make a patchwork quilt but are not sure what colour theme to start?

You fancy creating a scrapbook of family heirloom memories but are frightened to take that plunge to put pen to paper?

Maybe you fancy combining fabrics and paper together to design a mixed media collage to celebrate your recent holiday?

You really don't have to look very far for some simple ideas.
Mother Nature provides us all with colours, patterns and textures, all free of charge I might add, that many designers have used in their work over the years...

Fashion designers, artists, hobbyists and crafters all use the glorious beauties offered to us free of charge to help them develop their own style.

So where do you start?

Here are my Top Ten Tips to help...

* Always try to carry a camera with you to capture the tiniest of detail, colour palette or scenes you want to re-create with fabric, paper, canvas or other mediums

* Try taking a photograph each day to capture each and every new experience you encounter however mundane as a reminder of the simple everyday things in life that make us smile

* Write down a list of inspirations to include in your designs.....quotes, words from a song, names of flowers, poems

* Spend time gazing at the sky for combinations for backdrops of pictures, taking into account how Mother Nature uses her colours together

* Write down a list of flowers for each season that you see on your travels...how they look, their colour, their form and any details you may think important....how many petals? what shapes? etc

* Doodle down your ideas in a journal but never worry about making a mistake drawing ANYTHING! It is all part of the process of designing....

* Collect different textures to draw, and refer to when creating your designs. 

These can be fabrics, natural elements, beach finds, dried flowers or petals, pieces of  bark or even everyday haberdashery

* Collect images from magazines, pieces of fabric or photographs of other people's designs to help with a starting point for your colour palette

* Create a mood board to explore options...

*BE CONFIDENT - be true to yourself with your own style....what works for you may not work for someone else but this doesn't mean it is wrong!
You don't have to be good at drawing, photography, sewing skills etc
you just need the confidence to give something a go and know it really is OK to make mistakes!

 PLEASE DON'T COPY! 
We all love to share our designs with others but please respect everyone's original work and use your imagination to be your own designer and not a carbon copy of someone else.

I hope you find a little inspiration from these few tips...

Have fun creating my lovelies...

there really is nothing better for soothing the soul in the stressful world we live in these days!

If you have five mins do leave a little comment to let me know your thoughts on creativity...I would LOVE to know!

Toodle -ooh for now!

Tilly

x x x