What I love about paper!

I absolutely love paper!  I couldn’t do my job without paper, it’s where all of my designs begin.  Even when I’m using my tablet I begin with drawing in my sketchbook.  I love that when presented with a new, crisp, blank piece of paper the possibilities are endless, it’s just up to your imagination what you can do with it.

I’m a surface pattern designer and illustrator and begin every new design with just this, a blank piece of paper and a pencil.  I have folders stacked full of my sketches which very few people will ever get to see.  So just for you I’ve taken a photo of a tiny section of these initial ideas.

A tiny selection of my sketches

I get so excited about getting a new sketchbook or notebook, then the terrified feeling that I’m going to mess up the first page and ruin it all (as I’m sure every other stationary lover does too!).  This means I have some beautiful notebooks that have never been written in! I’m waiting for an amazing project that feels worthy of writing in them.  Am I alone in this? I suppose we all have our little quirks, if anyone has any suggestions of how to use them let me know!  I mean look at them, they’re just too beautiful to use!

I’ve taken part in quite a few different snail mail projects, ones where we send each other a beautifully illustrated envelope, or send little drawings inside and I’m taking part in one at the moment where we send little gifts (more to come later this week!).

An illustrated envelope I've sent

My world seems to revolve around paper and card at the moment, I have a greeting card and notebook collection currently for sale with more on the way.  There’s something so wonderful about holding a printed version of your work and my love of stationary made it clear what to manufacture first.

Spaceman Notebook

A selection of my greetings cards

I’m so happy to be part of this bloghop where lots of paper lovers are sharing why they love paper, make sure you keep reading =)

Here is the participant list so you can easily find your way:

Majo Bautista / Tona Bell / Louise Best / Cathy Bluteau / Jennifer Bomgardner / Giova Brusa / Lindsay Buck / Beka Buckley / Joanna Caskie / Jonathan Chapman (Mr Yen) / Halle Cisco / Sarah Clare / Cathryn Clarge / Dawn Clarkson / Rhiannon Connelly / Jenny D'Fuego / Molly Dhiman / Ian Dudley / Ayisatu Emore / Akmal Farid / Monika Forsberg / Claire Fritz-Domeney / Louise Gale / Chrissy Gaskell / Julie Hamilton / Emma Hawman / Rachel Hazell / Holly Helgeson / Claudine Hellmuth / Kim Henkel / Sarah Hoffman / Joanne Hus / Paula Joerling / Beth Kempton / Julie Kirk / Eos Koch / Katie LaClair / Kristy Lankford / Michelle Manolov / Doreen Marts / Rosie Martinez-Dekker / Tori Mears / Maria Mederios / Lise Meijer / Debbie Miller / MaryJane Mitchell / Suzy Naidoo / Grace Noel / Hannah Nunn / Camilla Olsson / Jo Packham / Rachelle Panagarry / Monette Pangan / Melanie Paul / Nicole Piar / Jen Pitta / Liz Plummer / Julie Reed / Michelle Reynolds / Lisa Rivas / Angee Robertson / Natalie Ryan / Aisling Ryan / Elisabet Sapena / Kyrrha Sevco / Jamie Sprague / Elizabeth Steele / Terri Stephens / Juniper Stokes / Mary Tanana / Maike Thoma / Linda Tieu / Gabrielle Treanor / Tammy Tutterow / Deborah Velasquez / Jordan Vinograd Kim / Cat Whipple / Brooke Witt / Katie Wood / Amelia Woodbridge

The PaperLove Blog Hop is a celebration of all things paper! Follow the links to discover more bloggers who love paper and use it to inspire and delight. And if you want to explore a whole world of paper, and stretch your paper passion further with a host of creative projects, why not join the innovative new online course PaperLove (starts March 31). Led by book artist Rachel Hazell, PaperLove is a five week creative adventure for paper lovers. Find out more here.