a little surprise

A nice little surprise arrived in the mail today in the shape of 3 beautifully wrapped and beautifully designed postcards from the very generous Rachael Taylor - thank you so much Rachael, i love them!

Inspiration

I find inspiration to 'create' from so many facets of my life. And i think, sometimes, i have days where i am not actually creating/making/drawing, but am looking and absorbing only. And what has inspired me, sits with me for a while....i really like that time.

I have been having that 'time' the past week. Because i have a 'just-turned-5 year old' the luxury of going to the movies, obviously just doesn't happen as often as it used to. Now when i go to the movies, it is even more special than ever.  Just recently i went to see the most beautiful movie (recommended by a gorgeous new friend), the movie was Life of Pi.

This blog doesn't review films, i am no film reviewer, that's for sure, however, i was totally blown away by this movie. It was so so beautiful - visually, creatively and spiritually. It left me quite speechless and it 'sat' with me for days. Ang Lee is a genius.

a feature

I was really happy today to discover that one of my patterns was featured on Rachael Taylor's blog. You can find it here......

My 'beary sneaky' bears were featured....and were 'beary happy' to be too!

Welcome to the bloghop: Let's Fly!

Hello! I'm Julianne Hall and welcome to jookiku! You have probably just been visiting the very creative Dawn Clarkson (from Turin, Italy) at her fab blog, nice and fancy. I am very excited to be a part of this 'bloghop,' it's so inspiring meeting new designers, looking at their collections and seeing what they are up to.

If this is the first time here at jookiku, please take a look around...you can access my website and facebook page from the side buttons. jookiku is a relatively new little world of whimsical characters, patterns and illustrations, brought to life with lots of colour and a bit of quirkiness!

This world of jookiku (a funny little word, not meaning anything in particular, i just thought it had a good ring to it!), has evolved out of my love of creating characters and patterns. Having been a graphic/surface pattern designer for over 15 years, working for many different companies, i felt it was time to bring to life my own little creative world, (that is evolving out of my head on a daily basis!) and that is really how jookiku was born!

And so, for this special 'bloghop,' please see below my surface pattern creations: 1. fly free!  2. over the rainbows and 3. up up & away! featuring 2013's Pantone Colour of the Year: Emerald Green and inspired by the theme: 'Let's fly!'

I am very excited about 2013, and what it holds in store for jookiku. 2013 will see the launch of my online store (yay!), with products such as bespoke canvases, prints, stationery...and some very quirky little characters - in soft, cuddly form (no less)....and other happy treats for the soul! So, please, if you would like to be informed on my shops' launch and its product line, just 'like' my facebook page, to be in the know :)

I am also looking forward to 2013 for the creative collaborations, both locally, here in Australia, as well as internationally with other creative souls. Since completing the Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design course in 2012, i have met some incredibly talented designers from all over the world (most are taking part in this 'bloghop'), who have inspired me on so many levels. So some wonderful collaborative projects are a must! Also in 2013, I am aiming to have my very first 'jookiku exhibition' - showcasing original illustrations and printed fabrics, so please, watch this space for more information!

Finally, one of my biggest goals in 2013, is for this little world of jookiku, to grow...for it to go out into the world, boldly and happily and spread its little wings....and fly!

Which leads me nicely to the next designer on our 'bloghop' trip, all the way over in the UK, please visit the very clever (i love her work!), Zoe Attwell, enjoy! ;)

Thank you so much for visiting jookiku and please come back again soon! I would also like to thank the curator of this 'bloghop,' Rosie Martinez-Dekker from Believe Creative Studios for all her organising...and if you have come upon my blog midway and would like to go right back to the beginning of the 'hop' please go to Gill Eggleston's blog at Pattern Addict.....

Bye & happy hopping!! xx

Let's Fly! Bloghop

Starting Thursday January 10 - Sunday January 13, there is going to be a fantastic 'bloghop' featuring over 50 different surface pattern designers from around the world...including jookiku! Curated by Rosie Martinez-Dekker from Believe Creative Studios, we are preparing to showcase our brand new design collections inspired by the Pantone Colour of the Year: Emerald Green, to the theme of: 'Let's Fly' - as that is what we are all aiming to do in our design careers in 2013 and beyond.

A 'bloghop' is such a great way to discover and promote new blogs, design collections and ideas of designers. It starts with one blog: they write a post and upload their new designs and they then post a link to the next blog....so you are essentially 'hopping' from one blog to the next!

We will be beginning at Gill's blog, so please come and take a peek, from 10 - 13 January to discover inspiring new design collections....and have a lot of fun along the way!

a collaborative calendar

How about this to begin the new year.....a wonderful, creative calendar to adorn your wall for 2013!
My super-creative-surface-pattern-designer-friend, Maria Jose Bautistav (or Majo as we like to call her), came up with the great idea of creating a calendar, with each month designed by a different surface pattern designer. I was so excited to be asked to design a month alongside some really talented designers. The result: a beautifully colourful, original calendar!
You can download January from Majo's blog here. Majo also showcases thumbnail artworks of all the other months, along with details of when each month will be available to download. It's a lot of fun....and free!! Yippee!

jookiku is featured on the month of October....here is a little peek below.

Happy 2013!

 Wishing everyone a very happy 2013! May it be your best year ever! x