Weeknote 29 June

This week we have finally managed to get our (long promised) canvas prints on to the website. After months of been busy and not being able to get back on the website, I finally managed to shut all other distractions off for the day and add our canvas prints. I have tried to approach the canvas prints in a different way to most canvas print companies, as I've tried to think of them as blocks of colour rather than a particular flower, this may be a good thing or maybe it won't.

As a designer I when I think about a room I often think of the items in that room as pieces of a jigsaw, some are big, some small, some bold, some hardly noticed but colour is one of the linking themes. In my living room (where I am writing this from), we have a natural colour scheme, white walls with dark brown wood flooring and a white fire place, stone coloured rug and accessories, we also have the ubiquitous chocolate brown Italian leather sofas. On my walls I have a set of three canvas prints which have all the colours of the room in plus a little bit of orange as an accent....but these canvas prints are not of anything that you can recognise they are merely a blur of colours. This is the same thing I wanted to do with our canvas prints on the website, to allow people to purchase say a light blue blossom sticker and have a light blue canvas print of a flower to go on another wall, this could be a theme colour or just the accent in a room.

Only time will tell if my gamble has paid off, so if the names change in a few months you'll understand why.

I have also been working on another couple of products for the website this week and hopefully I will have at least one more up soon. The second one deserves a little more effort so I will be developing it up
before we make it for general release, with a bit of a PR push.

I watched Mary Queen of Shops this weekend about a couple who were loosing money on the homeware business, which Mary duely turned around, as she does, but what was nice is the little insight into what is hot at the moment in interiors...and that is earthy colours, greens through to pale blues with some yellow and natural wood finishes. Also in furniture terms retro/vintage items are all back in, things like side boards!

We also taking on a new member of the team shortly and we're looking forward to having so extra design in put from a very talented person...more details soon when the officially arrive.

Tomorrow is a busy day, we will be filming a number of videos for the website, including a mammoth task of one fitting video for every product we have...I very much doubt we'll get them all done tomorrow but we will try.

Finally I've been playing on my new machine, which is my iPad and I really like it, though my wife doesn't understand why I need another Apple product. In playing with it I also customised it with a laptop skin I designed and made last Saturday on my day off! We are hoping to develop a really interesting app for the iPhone etc soon so I'll keep you posted.

Sent from my iPad

Lunch Hour Loveliness - by Becky Clarke

This is the first in a series of tips from Becky Clarke a contributing writing on Your Home magazine. Your Home magazine have featured our wall stickers on a few occasions and we loved Becky's approach to real life projects so we commissioned her to show us some great ways of using our wall stickers

Flying ducks on a chimney breast get up to date with our fabulous makeover idea. This is a simple project that can be achieved by anyone and it can be completed within an hour! So make your lunch break worthwhile by following these simple instructions for a fabulous feature fireplace.

Steps to follow:

1. Roughly cut out the duck stickers so each can be handled individually. Lay them out on the floor to work out which pairs or groups look good together - decide on three sets of ducks. You could either have the ducks paired by size (large together, medium together etc) or mix up as we have. If you mix sizes, having a larger duck behind a smaller one looks best as this way you don't obscure the shapes.

2. Use small pieces of masking tape to stick the larger ducks to the wall on a diagonal sweep across the chimney breast - keep the other ducks for each group on the mantelpiece below so they don't get muddled up. Once all three are in place, step back to see if you are happy with the line and adjust any if necessary. Then peel off the backing paper to stick the large ducks in place.

3. Tape the front ducks in place over the larger ones. For a relaxed, more natural look, don't have each group in exactly the same position but if you're not sure, keep moving the ducks around until you're happy with how they are spaced. Then peel off the backing paper and smooth into place. Hey presto! Finished in no time at all.

Top tip: Mixing two different but similar toned colours as we have here with purple and grey gives a lovely shadow effect but two contrasting colours like orange and blue would be eye-catching and a touch of contemporary drama.

Becky

If you like these Flying Duck wall stickers they can be found on our Wall Glamour website.

Week Note - June 18

This week we've not been as busy as the last few months. In fact since February we have been almost flat out, which is great, but it's nice to have a slower period as we can get done all those little jobs that we've been putting on hold. Some of these jobs consist of mundane things like backing up our macs, others are a bit more interesting from a designers point of view like additional pages on the website, one of which is our featured artists and another is our real customers homes page. I'm also working on a new design for this blog to make it a little more magazine style as we have now agreed a bi-weekly blogpost from our new friend Becky Clarke from Your Home magazine.

I am also working on the new "Special Projects" website and our trade website, all of which have been on the cards for months. Our "Special Projects" website will show some of the larger projects that we take on in hospitals, schools and commercial buildings. One we recently finished was Leeds General Infirmary - Ward 9, which is a children's ward.


Wall Glamour and Grosvenor Interiors (who we partner with on our Healthcare projects), had another visit to LGI this week for some additional projects, now that other wards have seen what we've done on Ward 9 they all want some which is very pleasing to know that it has gone down well.

We also have Simon of Flexibubble working on our new brochure, which I'm a bit excited about. Though I don't envy him working for another graphic designer, it's hard enough when customers dont know what they want, but when they now exactly what they do want like we do it must be hard work.

Hits on the website are down a bit but with the nice weather we have had (intermittently) and the world cup I doubt many people are going to be doing much decorating. We often notice the difference between a nice weekend and rubbish weather, the hits drop off significantly over the weekend if it's nice.

We also had a little play in the studio with some offcuts and covered one of our office doors in a photo wall mural which we think looks the business, it's like a door to another world.

Pitter Patter Of Tiny Feet - by Becky Clarke

This is the first in a series of tips from Becky Clarke a contributing writing on Your Home magazine. Your Home magazine have featured our wall stickers on a few occasions and we loved Becky's approach to real life projects so we commissioned her to show us some great ways of using our wall stickers

When a new baby is due it's really nice to celebrate his or her arrival by decorating the nursery (or even the corner of mum and dad's room) to make it special. Wall stickers are perfect for this occasion as they look wonderful and will give the baby something to look at but can be removed without damaging the wall when he or she moves room or grows up. This design is something you can do before the baby is born as it works for either a boy or a girl then you can add more gender specific motifs or colours later on if you wish.

Steps to follow:

1. Measure the length of the crib and the length of the sticker so you can work out the centre point of both. Apply the "Cherish" sticker to the wall centrally above the crib following the application instructions.

2. Move the crib out of the way to allow easy access to the wall. Cut the butterfly and flower stickers into individual pieces  and put in different piles of blue flowers, green flowers, blue butterflies and green butterflies - this makes it easier to work as you won't be scrabbling around searching for the right sticker.

3. Use tabs of masking tape to hold the stickers in place. Have butterflies flying towards doors and windows, or perching on the word, and try not to worry too much about where things are. This design has a natural flow so there's no right or wrong place put to put anything so just try where you think looks good.

4. Add clusters of flowers at either end to frame the crib - again they don't have to match perfectly and it's pretty if they are in slightly different arrangements.

5. Stand back from the wall to look at the placing of the stickers and adjust any you don't like. Once you're happy, peel the backing paper off, smooth into place and remove the protective film to create a wonderfully decorated area for the new arrival.

Becky

If you like this design it is made up of our Cherish, Ickle Flowers and Butterfly Stickers Small.

Acrobatic Cows - by Becky Clarke

This is the first in a series of tips from Becky Clarke a contributing writing on Your Home magazine. Your Home magazine have featured our wall stickers on a few occasions and we loved Becky's approach to real life projects so we commissioned her to show us some great ways of using our wall stickers

Small rooms like a downstairs loo can often be a bit plain and boring. These spaces however are perfect for a touch of quirky Wall Glamour art because the smallest room in the house can also be the most fun - it'll become a real talking point for visitors too. Use stickers to decorate a cupboard, window and even have a tower of acrobatic moo cows - all to make you smile!

Steps to follow:
1. Cut roughly round each cow, and lay them out on the floor. Make different scenarios of groups (to represent your own family or friends is good).

2. Decide where the cows will work best and use a spirit level and pencil to mark a line on the wall.

3. Hold each cow in place and use masking tape to stick it to the wall. When each group is positioned, step back and check you are happy with the look. It's easy to change your mind and reposition at this stage.

4. Peel the backing from the first cow sticker, and with the feet just above the pencil line, smooth flat on the wall then remove the clear top layer. I place the feet above the line as it makes it easier to clean the pencil off later as you won't disturb the sticker.

5. Peel the backing from the next cow and smooth into place and continue until you have completed each group.

6. Decorate a cupboard by carefully cutting a cow in half and put the two pieces on the doors. You may need to take a small section out to allow the sticker to sit flat around the handle.

Tip: In a loo or bathroom, spaces are often small, so try several different groups - but be brave with colour. It's meant to be fun!

Becky

If you like these Cows you can purchase them by selecting the Cow Herd from our website and selecting the colour you want. We also do a Cow Herd Multicoloured.

Working Round Obstacles - by Becky Clarke

This is the first in a series of tips from Becky Clarke a contributing writing on Your Home magazine. Your Home magazine have featured our wall stickers on a few occasions and we loved Becky's approach to real life projects so we commissioned her to show us some great ways of using our wall stickers

Wall stickers don't simply have to be in a line or as a singular motif on a wall - you can tailor their use to work perfectly with whatever you have in your home. Obstacles such as wall mounted storage, art, shelves or furniture can be incorporated into a design scheme so the stickers work to make a fabulously decorated and unique room. This can be especially successful in a child's room where the colours, angles and multi level design add a cheerful and stimulating element to a plain wall.

Steps to follow:

1. Cut roughly round each vehicle so each can be handled individually.

2. Use a spirit level, measuring tape and pencil to lightly draw a line on the wall at a level appropriate to your obstacle - our line is at the same level as the bottom edge of the wall-mounted blackboard. If you're not sure where to have the line, use chalk that can be rubbed away and re-drawn until you are happy.

3. Use masking tape to position the vehicles on the wall. They can go over obstacles, drive out the door, go up an invisible ramp to a bed headboard or even up and over a curtain pole - just use your imagination! One the vehicles are in place, step back and have a look from a distance. Reposition any you need to - remember you get a great traffic jam feel if the vehicles overlap slightly.

4. Carefully peel the backing from a vehicle and smooth the sticker into place on the wall before removing the top protective layer. Clean any pencil lines from the wall.

Becky

If you like these Cars and Big Vehicles you can purchase them as a special offer by selecting the Big Vehicles and selecting the second option which is both sets for £40