Pre order

If you're interested in taking a nosey at my new line of tees and sweatshirts before they are released, all you have to do is join my mailing list. It's very easy to join, the link is in the side bar next to this post called 'Subscribe to our mailing list'.

There is no obligation but I'll be offering a pre-order service. This service will let you order your size and give you a choice of base colours/styles. I won't bore you on the blog, I'll save that for the newsletter:) I'm aiming to send it mid day, tomorrow, 9 May, New Zealand time. So if you're interested please sign up so you don't miss out.

Mash up

Ok this is a quick post about a few things, hence the title. First I just received these macaroons in the mail, totally out of the blue with no note or anything. It's not my birthday for a few months and I haven't done anything nice in ages. I'm utterly undeserving, not that that's going to stop me from eating them. I'm no Colombo or anything but given where they came from I think I might have figured out who sent them. Look out lady some love coming back your way soon.

Secondly I'm setting up a news letter for 'Dear Colleen'. It probably won't be more than 3 or 4 times a years so it's not going to block up your inbox but will keep you informed about any interesting news and offer little discounts here and there. Plus it'll mean you're amongst the first to see new designs. 
Signing up is easy:

1. See that little gadget, the one in the side bar it's a bit ugly and called 'Subscribe to our mailing list'! Well you type your email in the box under that.
2. Next you'll get a little box pop up asking if you're sure you want to go through with it, hopefully here you click the 'yes' button.
3. Then you'll get sent an email to confirm the address is yours and asking you one more time to OK things.
4. That's it. Now you can make a cup of tea and forget about it until I send you a message in a few weeks time:)

Third and finally you may have read that I had a deadline for today. I had planned to have a website of sorts up and running plus new branding. Well last week put a bit of a spanner in the works. I have been quietly working away on both but neither are ready to hit the go button on . Trying to repoint a web address is melting my brain. For today I thought I may as well share the new logo. I loosely have been using 2 branding marks up until now, the 'hi' speak bubble and 'dear colleen' in woodblock type. The new mark shows a mix of both but in a style that sits with the new designs I have be working on in 2012. There is more thought behind it but I'm heading out any minute and don't have time to get into that now. 

I actually spent a day on this mark, unlike my existing 'brand' (if you can call it that) which I pulled together in under an hour. I'm not sure why but designing for myself just isn't fun. Big sorry to Amy and Liora who I made the deal with but at least it's got me going on it if not all the way there.

Misfit

I'm a plus size girl and I for one get sick of not being able to buy many of the cool clothes on etsy because they only come in XS, S, M or sometimes/rarely  L. When it comes to tops I'm sort of lucky (if you can call it that) God didn't bless me with a large rack so I can usually wriggle into high street and if I want something on the loose side I just buy boys. I'm cool with this but I am an eternal tom boy at heart. Anyone who takes I look at my Pinterest stream could be forgiven for thinking I'm pinning mens jumpers for my boyfriend, well I'm not they are all with myself in mind. I have my eye on the ASOS number below. I think it'll look pretty sweet with skinny jeans and my winter biker boots.

Anyway as always I digress. As you may have already read I am about to release a line of tees and sweatshirts and I would like to offer a plus size option. The only thing is I've hit two problems. One the wholesale base stock I'm buying doesn't go any larger than XL which in women's will be around a 14-16uk and in mens the XL will work out at around a 18-20uk maybe 22 at a push. The second problem is that I know high neck line tees and sweatshirts are a bit of a no no for big boobs... if you've got them you may as well be proud of them, right. I personally get round high neck lines by wearing a scarf as shown below (how cool is this olivia mew silk scarf!) this brakes the visual and stops the overwhelming wall of jugs look. So I'm putting a call out to other plus sizers, help me:
1. Are you ok with wearing boys stuff? 2. What type of tee/sweatshirt style do you like (if you have links please share below)? 3.Would you like me to offer a custom print serves, you provide the base item of clothing and I have it printed for you at a discounted rate*? 

*The last option would be good because you would get the exact fit you like but as I have to have printing done in runs of at least 20 I would need to get a few people on board. This would mean a lot of organising and with anything that involves getting a number of people to pull together it will take time. You may be waiting 5 weeks or more to get your item, can/ would you wait that long?

blessings

This past week has definitely been one that hit me full in the face. We've all had times like these so I know you'll understand what I'm talking about. Monday morning I had something awful confirmed that deeply effects my business through no fault of my own, I would love to share the details but I just can't at this time.

Within the same day my boyfriend got told to go to A&E immediately to get an infection he'd had for a couple of weeks treated. He was and is fine but the man you love getting unexpectedly put in hospital for a few days is a bit of a shock to say the least. Between getting my ducks in a row to protect my business and worrying about Scott there hasn't been a whole lot of work happening this week. I can't tell you how frustrating this is as I have been on such a creative roll of late.

But anyway I called this post blessing because I still have many to count; Scott being home safely and mostly in good spirits about his new badass neck scar. Having an amazing circle of friends to turn to for support, advise and contacts. Discovering the culinary wonder that is beetroot on wholemeal toast with camembert (picture above). Any meal that easy and tasty has to be a blessing, right? Somehow keeping on top of the 100 days project (picture also above) I now have 2 full sheets. Finally, getting back into my work and seeing my new line come together. I still have a bit to do but it feels more like a mole hill than a mountain at the moment. I'm pretty glad to put this week behind me and hope to share more positive posts in the weeks to come.

100 days...

I have just embarked on the 100 days project, you can read about it here. Basically you choose a creative processes and do it once everyday for 100 days. I am taken it as an opportunely to add some structure to my structureless life. But more importantly it's giving me a reason to 'practice' doing hand lettering.

My project is pretty straight forward I will hand write the word 'PRACTICE' in an illustrated font. My first go -above- is pretty crappy but I have 99 more goes to get it right. (Note the awful kerning/spacing at the end of the word, I'll be working on that tomorrow)

I'm documenting my work on Tumblr and also daily on Instagram user name dearcolleen... no surprise there.

hey cookie

No posts for weeks then two in as many days... no jokes about buses. Anyway this is a quickly just because I made these cookie the other day and they were devine.

The lovely Sophie a friend from Wellington recommended this recipe for Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (I won't bother repeating it here just click on the link). Sophie runs a great blog, please do check it out, her OE will make you green with envy. Anyway it's the best thing I've baken in ages and so easy, there for utterly blog worthy. I cook a lot and never post recipe so you know it must be good. I believe Sophie made them with the much talked about Whittaker's peanut butter chocolate, I used their peanut slab. I'm sure both addictions add some magic.

in the zone

Ok sorry about the awful title but it does sum up why yet again I have been AWOL. I recently made a board of all the concepts in my notebooks that I felt would make good designs, it's a rather grand total of 35, I'm not going to get them all done over the next few weeks but I am keen to whittle the todo list down.

Since opening the shop I have introduced new work as and when they're done, the odd piece here the odd piece there. However for this release I wanted to work more like a fashion designer might and create a line of designs on a theme, which will be launch together. This hasn't been an easy way to work, particularly financially but hopefully it's been worth it as I'm really pleased with how things are coming together. The new line is definitely a progression but hopefully without losing the elements that make it feel like mine. As always, I'm writing most of the copy as well as drawing, designing and working out production. I'm 7 designs down and I'm aiming for a finished line of 12 pieces. At this point I'm pretty mentally shattered but my hands are serving me well and seem to be drawing faster and with more accurately each day. Above a preview of a tee design in progress from scribbled idea to artworked design. Thanks to a couple of cool folks on social media for pointing me in the direction of this version of the old quote. I'm aiming for a release date of early May.

Well I'm publicly announcing deadlines I've also made a pact, of sorts with some fellow designer types on twitter to get my rebrand and website sorted (kind of) by the 4 May. I'm very thankful for Amy Potter and Liora of Toodles Noodle for being part of this plan because it might actually get me to stick to a deadline for once.