Tuesday 31 March 2009

Bright week: Bright giveaway from Summersville

So, the important business first. Etsy designer Lucie Summers has offered to give away one of her notebooks to a Tea for Joy reader! Perfect for Bright Week, her bold graphic prints are just what you need to jazz up your daily ramblings.

To enter: visit the Summersville Etsy shop, and leave a comment below on a) which is your favourite item in the shop, and b) what you will note in the notebook if you win. If you win, you can have your choice of any of the $14.95 notebooks. The designs are available either as a lined notebook or a sketchbook.

Lucie was kind enough to answer my Beautifully British questions too.

Brief bio: After A levels, I went on to do an art foundation course and then onto Norwich School of Art and Design, where I specialised in print. After graduating, I opened up a patchwork and quilting shop with my mum, called 'The Colour Room'. It was great fun for 5 years, but funnily enough it was the least creative time for me personally, so when i got pregnant with my first son, we decided to shut the shop. I've always had a studio though, and carried on working and exhibiting my pieces, mainly art quilts with an emphasis on surface pattern. I discovered Etsy 2 years ago and opened a shop called 'lusummers' where I sold mainly paper collage pieces, which came to the attention of a few art directors who commissioned me for a variety of exciting jobs - food packaging for Frito Lay, a book cover for storey publishing and most recently a range of stationery for Galison in new york. I now screenprint fabrics that I sell under the 'Summersville' name on Etsy.

Describe your work: My work is pretty layered - whether I'm working on a paper collage/quilt, or screenprinting, I'm often thinking about layers. I've recently finished some screenprinted pieces that are being exhibited in New England in a print show and I found that I worked in exactly the same way as I do when I work in paper. I love colour and texture - and stitch. I try to combine a variety of techniques in my work - it stops me from getting bored.

What inspires you: Living in the countryside, charity shops, old teacups, coffee pots, crazing on old china, gorgeous interiors, rusty old cans, wooden crates - there's something interesting to be found everywhere.

Describe a perfect day: On the beach in Portugal near our friends' house, reading a fat paperback, watching the kids running in and out of the sea. Having lunch on the beach cafe, eating ice creams, walking around the town browsing in the shops, then out in the evening for a lazy dinner overlooking the marina. That's what we'll be doing in May, and I can't bloomin' wait!

The competition will close on Sunday at midnight, and the winner will be picked at random. Good luck!

36 comments:

pve design said...

I am rather fond of the totem screen print in green of course. Such bits of lovely cheer. I would promise to take good care and provide a happy home - if I won.
I love the journals. I have an addiction for journals.

Unknown said...

hi lynne
thanks for leaving a comment on blossom
i think you should still post a pic of carousels - i don't think you can have such a thing as too many carousels
take care xx

Helen said...

oh i love alphabetty! i would write my musings on the world in them.

Zoƫ Yule said...

Oh, anything with those darling little houses from the avenue print on it! They remind me so much of the canal houses here in Amsterdam, my impressions of which I would be recording in my journal if I won! :o)

RLMEnglish said...

I loved the Avenue and Weave in Green and Fuschia... it would be perfect for keeping bits of everything inside. Quotes from movies and books and snippets of poems bumped up against plans for party menus and itineraries for vacations. I can see it now!

Anonymous said...

hmmm...tough decision. it's all really great! but, if i have to choose...i'd say my fav book is the avenues (black and white) and my fav fabric is meadows.
oh what i would write...that would take up much to much space here...thoughts, dreams, reflections, silly drawings...

Leslie said...

I like the bright colors of all of the fabrics. I will use the notebook as a place to keep my notes for my cousin's wedding.

Jewelz said...

The soft muted tones of the winter collection in 'snow on oatmeal' is calling me. I am thinking of all the things I could create with the three panels! Very Nice

What would I note in a new notebook? Notable things, worthy things...ideas, inspiration, words, phrases, scribbles, doodles, patterns, pictures, thoughts, feelings, verse and prose, bits of fabric, choc full of 'stuff'...one thing you can be sure of is it would be filled from cover to cover, top to bottom, inside and out with pieces of me❁
I L♡VE a fresh clean slate.
A new Journal screaming... ME ME ME PICK ME :0)

Thanks for your generosity
Cheers
Jewelz

Lauren Maurer said...

The screenprinted fabric notebook/sketchbook in teal blue is my favorite! If I am the winner, I will use it to doodle my painting ideas!

Tara @ Aquamarine Art said...

Oh my goodness, I've been lusting after something from Summersville for AGES! In fact, what I really wanted was one of the notebooks with the house print on, for sketching and making an ideas journal.

Tina said...

I like the Twist print notebooks. Love the details.

Pattern and Perspective said...

I really like the totem in green. I just the grass green. The fave right now in the store is definitely the blue stalk mini quilt and the green bubble quilt. So cute. I love lusummers shop, have to yet order from there, but soon soon soon.

Hilary Claire said...

I really enjoyed the items that were in the Avenue print... I thought they were very "homey" and warming... especially the ones in light blue. I've never seen anything like them! If I were to win the contest, I would use the book as a travel journal for my 6 week trip to Rome this summer. By the way, I love your blog!
-Hilary

Rachel said...

I love all the handprinted fabrics, but especially the yellow twist one. So bright and cheery.

If I had one of those journals it would be filled with my usual mishmash of thoughts, lists, craft ideas and fragments of stories. My journals are terribly messy.

What a fun giveaway, Lynne! I always love finding new Etsy sellers to follow.

Grace said...

The Avenue series is so cute! I'm particularly fond of the journals, although all of the prints are lovely. All the colors make me happy, but red is the one that catches my heart and eye.

Thanks for hosting such a lovely giveaway!

Kaizen Fashion Project said...

My favorite is the avenue - hand screenprinted fabric in london bus red on oatmeal!

I would note my daily musings...

Anonymous said...

oh my goodness- everything in your lovely screenprinted shop is my favorite! seriously!!! but to choose just one...well, your "green bubble - really mini quilt - one of a kind" is totally rad! i've already picked out a spot in my home for it! should i win, i would use your neat journal for recording funny and happy things about my family- esp. all the funny things my 3 little ones say (since i've been awful about keeping baby books since the first born). thank you so much for the chance (and my choice is a tie between yellow avenue & blue alphabetty)! you do fantastic work, and this is such a nice blog!!! all good wishes

Girl at the Bus Stop said...

my favourite is the weave - hand screenprinted fabric in 6 colours - so much potential there for creative adventures! I already have Lu's gorgeous Avenue fabric.
I would use the notebook as a sketchbook for my handbag - I don't just sit and draw for no reason enough (and it's often where the freshest ideas pop up!) and I would draw in it on my bus journeys and in waiting rooms!

megan said...

i like the avenue in yellow. it just looks so warm to me. i'll put everything in it. lists, doodles, thoughts, quotes.

Anonymous said...

I really like the contrast in the Avenue coasters (gray houses with red border). If I had one of her journals it would be unlined because I would sketch my 'handmade' ideas.

Great interview by the way. I have bought some of Lucy's fabric before but didn't know much about her.

Kristy said...

I love the green totem print! What a great little shop - thanks for sharing! I may have to go order those magnets now...

Digital Misfit said...

The Avenue fabrics are just beautiful! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22663851

I would choose the Avenue sketchbook in London Bus Red (great name for a colour!).

hugs,
Heidi
heidig@gmail.com

pink dogwood said...

I am a new reader of Tea for Joy. Thanks for introducing me to summersville - I love it. I love the avenue print and would love a journal covered in it. If I win the journal, I will fill it with all my dreams :)

Anonymous said...

I would choose the "fancy A cuppa" because with the economy the way it is many people are stuck in there homes not being able to go out as much. The coasters would be nice to have so you could enjoy a cup of tea with friends and family by having them get out of their homes and into yours to enjoy just being with others and chatting about this and that. The coasters could be given as gifts at these meetings and when everything gets better again, the friends and family that have one of these coasters will look back at how time with others is the greatest gift there is, and that is what i would write about during these hard times that brought (is bringing) togetherness, the way it should be!

Lisa-Marie said...

I think I would choose the Avenue Coasters, as I have been looking for some funky ones incorporating red for my coffee table for about a year and a half! I also love the Alphabetty fabric in leaf green, which I would use to make a language feely bag to use on teaching practice.

I am taking an art elective at Uni at the moment, so I would use my notebook (an unlined one if possible) to collate my artwork and research, because having something so cheerful looking to put my work in would Inspire me! The idea is that our sketchbooks go with us when we ar teachers, so that we have a ready made 'teacher's pack', and it would be a joy to carry a lovely brightly printed one around!

Kitten's Lost Her Mittens said...

It's so hard to pick just one! I love all her screenprinting, and have had my eye on the journals with the houses and alphabetty prints. :)

If I won, I would use the journal as a place to record all my crafty inspiration. Thanks for the chance to win!

towhee said...

I love the avenue - hand screenprinted fabric in sky blue on oatmeal, from Summersville, that would be sweet to line a crochet tote bag. I would use a journal to chart out my crochet designs and knitting notes.

Jacqui Dodds said...

I really like the avenue - screenprinted fabric sketchbook or notebook in seafoam turquoise on cream.
I would use a notebook/sketchbook to write notes and sketches for any print courses I do in the future.

C. Cackley said...

I love the alphabetty design--perfect for a journal! I would use it to sketch the puppets that I make.

Pattern and Perspective said...

I forgot to say what I would do with the totem green notebook. I'd sketch in it or write mean things about people about work (just kidding)

Stephanie said...

If I must choose, I think I like anything done with the Totem or Avenue prints best. If I won, I would give a notebook to my little girl to fill with drawings & secrets.

Barbara said...

It's so hard to choose - all of the prints are so adorable! My favorite items are the magnets,especially the ones with the little house prints. I think they would make excellent gifts for teachers, co-workers, and friends.

As for the notebook, I found this contest when I was working on my own blog. I am working on achieving some wonderful dreams through the book "You Can Do It!" by Lauren Grandcolas. Some of the things I'm working on are playing an instrument, learning a foreign language and planning a party.

It seems perfect to use one of these cheerful and inspiring notebooks to take with me as I go on these adventures to record what I do, what happens to me, and how it feels to achieve some of the dreams I've been thinking about for years!

L said...

I love the yellow twist--bright & zany is always a winner in my eyes.

For me: I am making an effort this year to better myself with small projects--writing snail mail, creating new recipes, taking classes on things I've never done before, etc. I'm making many efforts to put myself out of my comfort zone in the hopes that I will be a more fulfilled person. If I won, I'd note my projects--what I'd like to do, what I'm in the process of doing, what each thing was like (what made me uncomfortable, what felt like home, what was fun, etc.), and see if, by the end of the notebook/year, I accomplish what I wanted.

The Dotty One said...

Wow- thanks for the fab giveaway. I've been coveting one of these notebooks for a while - since I saw them on Print&Pattern. I think my favourite has to be the totem screenprint notebook in the fushia pink - yummy! If I win the giveaway I would use it to scribble down my crafty ideas!
xx

Pattie said...

I really love the twist sketchbook :) And If I had it I would likely draw little pictures of the cupcake girls through out the pages making small notes about important things :)

Wendy said...

Oh, I love the avenue fabric notebook!!! I have a weakness for pics of houses...
I use journals for a little bit of everything - shopping lists, doodling, designs, musings... anything that could possibly involve putting pen to paper. It's so much fun looking through them afterwards, too!!!