Etsy shop find...a chat with MaggieMagoo Designs!

This months etsy interview is with Carole of MaggieMagoo Designs.

Selling tea towels, art prints, tote bags, notebooks and embroidery hoop art, Caroles designs have a lovely fresh feel with gorgeous florals and bright, optimistic colour palettes.
And obviously, we all like a cacti or two (says the self confessed succulent addict), so you're going to love her embroidery hoops...so gorgeous!
We couldn't have a feature on MaggieMagoo Designs without Maggie herself.
The wonderful rescue dog that inspired Caroles etsy shop gets a little of the spotlight, so look out for her below.

So, lets get to know a little about the designer behind the shop then shall we?

Grab that cuppa...

1. Can you tell us a bit about you and your background... 

I’ve always been creative, since being small I’ve drawn. 

I don’t have an arty family, but my mum has always sewn & knitted & my dad can make pretty much anything out of wood, so I guess I have a crafty background. 

I studied Printed Textiles at Leeds & was lucky enough to be spotted at New Designers by Tigerprint and I’ve been a greetings card designer at TP ever since.

I spent a couple of years thinking I’d like to work with textiles & print again before deciding to launch MaggieMagoo Designs. 

In 2015 I developed a collection of designs for tea towels, stationery products & prints. This has grown over the past year and now includes more textile based products, such as purses, pencil cases & embroidery hoop art.

I love doing craft fairs & try to do events as often as I can. 

I enjoy meeting people & discussing my creative process and you can’t beat the buzz of someone walking away with a piece of your work.

2. What books/ magazines are currently on your coffee table?

I don’t seem to have much time for reading these days. 

The last book I read was Viv Albertine’s autobiography (she was in the all female punk band The Slits). 

I treat myself to beautiful books from time to time & three of my favourites are Olaf Hajek’s - Flowerhead, Carson Ellis – Home & Deep in the Woods by Christopher Corr, which is an absolutely stunning book.

3. Who are your design heroes and what inspires you?

I’m inspired by pattern, colour and nature. 

Walking Maggie in our local woods is a great way clear my head & become immersed in the natural world. 

I’m a big fan of mid century design, heroes include Stig Lindberg, Robert Stewart, Lucienne Day and Josef Frank. 

I collect vintage ceramics, prints, books & textiles and this is a great source of inspiration. 

Scandinavian style with its clean modern simplicity is another influence. 

Sometimes it’s more about the space around shapes, which makes a design work. 

There are so many illustrators I admire Aitch, Olaf Hajek, Teagan White…

4. Tell us about a typical day for you...

When I’m working from home my day begins with coffee in bed, Instagram and 6music. I’m slightly addicted to Instagram (my partner would say this is an understatement!), there’s so many amazing designers, illustrators, photographers, stylists…I can easily lose hours! 

Then I do emails, admin, packing orders, social media stuff. 

If I’ve got a fair coming up, I need to sort out stock, wrap products, pack everything up etc. 

By this time of day Maggie is staring at me beseechingly, so we go out for a walk, which is always a good break. 

I fit in a bit of designing after this. 

When I’ve got a lot on I’ll work in the evening, quite often that’s when I feel most creative. 

Then my boyfriend & I will try to meet up between 9 & 10 and we’ll watch a music documentary, or a box set & I’ll do some embroidery.

5. Can you give us an insight into your creative process?

An idea usually begins with something I’ve seen, it could be anywhere - on Pinterest/Instagram/in a shop/a magazine/an exhibition. 

Often it will be in the back of my mind for a while before I do anything with it, but I’ll be collecting images & pinning stuff during this time. 

I think I need this processing time. 

I then do some drawing/mark making and this gets scanned in & manipulated in Illustrator or Photoshop. 

Sometimes things come together really quickly, other times I need to leave things & come back a few days later.

My current collection grew organically, it began with 3 patterns, which I put onto screen & printed by hand, these were then developed into designs for textiles & stationery products. 

These initial designs have been added to over the past year & have now grown into a substantial range of products. 

I’m currently working on a new range with a more illustrative feel & different subject matter, which I’m quite excited about.

6. When did you open your etsy shop? And how did you come up with the name?

I first opened my shop in 2013, but only had 1 product for sale. 

I didn’t really have any idea of what I wanted to do, so I let it close after a few months. At the beginning of 2015 I felt more focused and spent the first 6 months of the year developing a cohesive collection. 

I reopened my shop in August 2015 with a full range of products.

The company name was inspired by our little terrier Maggie. She’s a bit of a troubled soul as she was badly neglected for the first year of her life, but we adore her & we’re so glad we’re able to give her a good life. 

I’m a big believer in adopting rescue animals & giving them a second chance.

7. What’s the most popular item for sale in your etsy shop? 

And your favourite?

The toadstool & cactus designs are the most popular. 

My favourite has to be my embroidery hoops. 

I find it relaxing sewing on an evening.

8. What art do you have on your wall?

I have a big pin board in my studio with lots of illustration & pattern I find inspiring. 

We have a couple of vintage prints, there’s little bit of mine & friends work, prints from Hannah Matthews & Cactus Club, a Scouts Honour calendar, a tiny but perfect Sarah K Benning embroidery that I got from Renegade craft fair, a few gig posters and lots of family photos.

9. What are your top three blogs?

Print & Pattern is fantastic & I love that Bowie Style gives upcoming designers a platform to show their work as it’s tough to get noticed. 

She’s been kind enough to feature my work a couple of times. 

It’s also great for keeping up to date with current high street trends.

Another one is Brown Paper Bag by Sara Barnes. 

She features lots of quirky illustrators, gorgeous textiles & ceramics on her blog. 

It’s a wonderful blog & I find it really inspiring.

I use Pinterest & Instagram loads as they are fantastic for finding inspiration.

10. What do you do in your spare time?

When I have time I go for walks in the countryside around Yorkshire, my boyfriend is always discovering new places for us to explore. 

I love being surrounded by nature, or being by the sea.

There’s nothing I like more than trawling through a car boot, flea market or charity shop, searching for treasure.  

On a recent trip to Berlin I went to the Mauer Park flea market in Prenzlauerberg, which had everything you could ever want from a market, crafty/arty stalls, junk stalls, vintage stalls, food & drink – I was in heaven!

I love live music & try to see a band at least once a month. 

We have some fantastic independent venues in Leeds.

I like to cook & my guilty pleasure is watching Masterchef (my partner doesn’t understand why I want to watch people cooking things like brains, with us both being vegetarian, I can’t really explain it myself to be honest. Perhaps it’s the art on a plate aspect…)

I also like to crochet, but I haven’t had the time to do that for quite a while, embroidery has taken over, and there’s only so many blankets a household needs.

11. Do you have a favourite book from your childhood?

Roald Dahl books have always been my favourites

12. What are you currently passionate about or fascinated by and how is it inspiring your work?

I’ve started exploring embroidery hoop art & I’ve found some incredible work by other designers to be inspired by (and be in awe of their skills) Chloe Giordano, Sarah K. Benning & Memorial Stitches, Yumiko Higuchi & Liz Payne are a few creatives I admire. I like that embroidery is a traditional skill that’s being reinvented in a contemporary way with such a vast range of styles & subject matter.

Carole very kindly sent me a lovely photo of her workspace to share with you all too. 

Isn't it lovely!

You can follow MaggieMagoo Designs here...

facebook | website | pinterest | instagram | etsy 

(all images used above are copyright of MaggieMagoo designs)

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Vanessa McKeown...

I came across the intriguing work of Vannessa McKeown recently who simply loves to make things and photograph them. 

Since then, I've been fascinated by her weird and wonderful styling and photographs, in particular 'Fruloons and Vegaloons' balloons and 'Good gone bad'!

Amazing!

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This & That...

This yummy looking blueberry mojito from Baking Beauty

That lovely floral print by Anika Starmer

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Colour crush...

Lovely colours for your Wednesday!

(clockwise from top left)

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A cat lovers birthday party!

Whether you're turning 4 or 34, who wouldn't love a cat inspired birthday celebration with lovely details and decorations like these?

It was my birthday yesterday so a little bit of self indulgence in todays post,

I think its allowed isn't it...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

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Looking for new designers!

Paper and Cloth are looking for exciting new talent!

(image above copyright of paper and cloth design studio)

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Inspired by...Amy Van Luijk

Amy Van Luijk is a UK based designer and illustrator, currently living in Bristol.
Her designs have been used for stationery, book covers, fabrics and published in books/magazines.
The technique of cutting and pasting and the different colours and textures makes Amys work really playful and fun, and I just love it!
Take a look at her website here, I'm sure you'll love it too.
You can also follow Amy on instagram and twitter.

(all images above are copyright of Amy Van Luijk)

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Little spaces...soft sorbet

Some inspiration for little spaces in todays post, with a lovely neapolitan inspired palette, soft sorbet tones and kitsch accessories.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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Colour crush...

Colour crush time, and a happy Friday!

(clockwise from top left)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

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Midweek moodboard...Come on summer!

Where did the sun go?

Come back!

Floral print

Pineapple inflatable

Perrier poster

Hula print

Lemon inflatable

Palm trees

Lemons

Pool painting

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Take Four...gotta love a watermelon!

Lots of watermelon loveliness doing the rounds at the moment.

Here are a few favourites...

Watermelon skirt

Watermelon birthday party decorations

Watermelon downloadable wallpaper

Watermelon pattern

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Something for the weekend...

Homemade Jaffa Cakes...

enough said right?

These little lovelies can be found in the wonderful book 'Homemade Memories' by Kate Doran.

If you like the look of these, there are plenty more amazing recipes in the book... mini marshmallow teacakes, blackberry and apple pastilles, bourbon biscuits, I love it!

The Biscuiteers recently featured a guest post on their blog, where they shared the recipe for these little beauts, so head on over and find it here.

Why not give them a go this weekend?

(image above from The Biscuiteers blog, and seen in Kate Dorans Book 'Homemade Memories')

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Etsy shop find... a chat with Papio Press!

This months etsy interview is with Zanna Goldhawk, one half of the talented duo behind Papio Press.

Zanna and Harry both met at the University of Gloucestershire, 
and since then have gone from strength to strength, 
combining their skills to create a very beautiful brand indeed with a wonderful aesthetic.

The Papio Press etsy shop is full of illustrated loveliness where you can get your paws on calendars, mobile phone covers, notebooks, cards and more!

All of their products are designed and printed in the UK using 100% recycled or FSC approved paper.

The illustrations have a lovely whimsical feel and I love how Zanna describes it as 

"a modern re-vamp of traditional patterns" because its exactly that. 

So, lets get to know the illustrators behind the shop.

Grab that cuppa!

1. Can you tell us a bit about Harry and yourself, and your backgrounds, etc... 

I'm from Penzance in Cornwall, and Harry is from Nottingham. 

We met on the BA Illustration course at the University of Gloucestershire and we've been pretty inseperable since we started collaborating in our second year. 

We worked on a number of different projects together until eventually we hit on Papio Press in the summer of 2014. 

We graduated in Novemeber of 2015 and have been putting our all into the business since then, it's been a truly amazing expirience for both of us!

2. Who are your design heroes and what inspires you?

We share all our design heroes with each other, so we share most of them. 

Of course William Morris is a big one, and we're both huge fans of everything the guys at Nobrow press print - their colour palettes are just out of this world. 

Our work is mostly inspired by nature - it's the dream really, to be able to make a living off drawing something so beautiful. 

3. Tell us about a typical day for you...

On a typical day we start by packing orders & responding to any enquiries or emails. 

It's definitely best to get that kind of work done first. 

And then after that every day is completely different depending on what needs to get done! 

Sometimes it's design work, sometimes it's product photography or even website design. Yesterday we got a huge shipment of cards in and spent the whole day packing them into cello bags with envelopes. 

When you run your own business you've got to do all the jobs so there's a massive variety of things to do from day to day. 

4. Can you give us an insight into your creative process?

We usually start by having a meeting with each other where we discuss what products we want to make, and what sort of theme/style we want to artwork to be. 

Once we've decided that, Harry usually works out the costs while I put together an artwork brief for both of us to work to. 

Just basic stuff like 'Two floral notepads to be finished by the end of June'. 

But it really helps! 

Being free to draw and create whatever you want is incredible, but we figured out pretty quickly you can spend a lot of time fiddling about and getting nothing done if you don't give yourself a deadline, and having a theme means our product ranges are more cohesive. 

5. When did you decide to open your etsy shop together? And is there a particular meaning/ reason behind the name 'Papio Press'?

Harry already had an Etsy shop where he was selling a few bits, and that eventually became the Papio Press shop when we started it in June 2014. 

We decided to start Papio because we'd just finished our second year at Uni and we wanted to start trying to find a way to make a living off what we love while we still had time and money on our side. 

There isn't really a story behind our name. 

Coming up with a name for something is the hardest part, we thought about it for weeks, and eventually went with Papio Press because we liked the way it sounds. 

It makes me think of 'paper' and 'happy' kind of mixed together!

6. How would you describe your work/style/ aesthetic?

It's really tricky to try and define your own work/style because you've got to look at your work more subjectively than you're used to, so I'm not sure I'm going to be very good at this! Haha. 

But If I had to come up with something I would maybe say a kind of modern re-vamp of traditional patterns. 

Except our work contains a lot of cute animal characters as well! 

We're both illustrators, so that's the field where we both feel our work really fits. 

7. What art do you have on your wall?

A lot of illustration everywhere! 

We're always buying new prints. 

Amoungst the many some of our favourite prints are by Vikki Chu, Pirrp Press, Livi Gosling, and both our grandparents. 

We have a lot of scraps and bits of patterns and things that we liked everywhere to keep the inspiration alive!

8. What’s the most popular item/s for sale in your etsy shop? And your favourite/s?

The most popular by far, and our favourite has been our 2016 Calendar. 

It was our first Calendar and the response to it completely blew us away. 

It was nice because it was a sort of practical combination of loads of our work!

9. What's your guilty pleasure?

Well I can't speak for Harry on this one but I'm a real sucker for trashy TV shows. 

I usually manage to fit in an episode in the day somewhere as a break. 

At the moment I'm re-watching 90210, and plan to move onto Gossip Girl. 

Gotta love the drama. 

10. What’s the most rewarding thing about being a designer/illustrator?

Definitely hearing back from customers who have been really happy with our products. Sometimes you get so involved in the business side of it that you forget that all these orders you're getting are people spending their hard earned money on something you created. 

We like to remind ourselves of that every day. 

If we get a big order for prints especially it's like, wow, that person likes what we're doing so much they want to put it up all over their house! 

Amazing. 

11. What are you working on currently? And any big plans for the coming year?

We've just finished our 2017 Calendars and we're getting the mock ups printed as I'm typing this! 

I can't wait to see them. I'm seriously excited about our Rainforest Calendar, which we've teamed up with the charity Rainforest Concern for, so 10% of the calendars profits will be donated to their amazing cause. 

Other than that we're just gearing up for Christmas! 

It's good to get as much as we can organised before the madness hits! We can't wait.

(all image above copyright of papio press)

Thanks to Zanna for taking some time out to tell us about her world and the goings on at Papio Press!

You can follow Harry and Zanna here...

facebook | pinterest | blog | etsy | instagram | twitter | website

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