The Anti Bucket List

So with it being the last day of 2015 I thought I'd look back and remember the highlights of my year. I'm not a strong believer of New Year's resolutions as I feel that you should be bettering yourself and improving every day of your life, not just once a year. I guess it's also because a lot of the time people tend not to stick to them for very long.

But I've seen a lot of people doing the 'Anti Bucket List' where they've listed all the good things they've done and the fun memories they have. I first read it on What Olivia Did and thought it was a great way to make yourself feel good about your achievements. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others, thinking about what we haven't managed to do and what is still left to do, that we kind of take our focus away from all the things we have achieved.

So I decided to write my own Anti Bucket List on here. I've learnt so much this year, whether it was related to my work/designing or not. I do believe that creativity isn't just your work, but how you live your lifestyle. Everything that you do certainly has some creative thoughts within the process, whether it's what you decide to have for dinner, which route you decide to take on a drive, or how you interpret a song. So as a creative soul who decided to swap a 9-5 job for a more creatively and mentally challenging project, I feel that every little step during the day affects the way you work and how inspired you feel. I've listed some of my best highlights of the year. Here goes..

-I went on my first ever trip to Dublin with a bunch of lovely girls, saw some beautiful sights and experienced things like traditional Irish food and Irish dancing. Although it was a short trip, it was eye opening and taught me a handful about the culture.

-I saw SClub7 in concert! Seeing as this had been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old it's definitely made it to the top of the list! The best part of the night was meeting them all after the show and getting a few pictures with some of them!

-An amazing trip to Barcelona that was full of inspiration, energy, and excitement. Although I've visited a few times now, it's one place I can never get bored of. Every time I go I manage to discover something new and fall in love all over again.

-Spending a weekend away in Belfast for a beautiful wedding in a breathtaking countryside resort. I got to see some of the most wonderful greenery and buildings that looked like they'd been taken out of a fairytale.

-I got to spend the August Bank Holiday with some of my favourite people ever, for the first time EVER! Considering that up until this year I'd been working every single Bank Hol at the end of summer, it definitely felt good to actually enjoy it with people I love. We explored the streets of Brighton, experienced a seagull coming straight at us and stealing an ice cream, and spent time in London just sightseeing and having a chilled weekend. Read Prim's post here.

-During an evening out I bumped into Claudio Ranieri. If you're not into football then you probably won't know who he is or what he's achieved during his career. But this being a dream of mine since I was in school, I was thrilled to have actually met him and taken a cheeky selfie!

-I finally went to Budapest and it is seriously one of the hidden gems in Europe. There's so much to see and learn and it is all filled with unique experiences and culture.

-I got to spend heaps of time with family and loved ones, creating so many new memories together. Whether it being at home or taking trips up north to a small town in Scotland, I'd definitely consider this a luxury.

-I managed to do a lot of DIY (all by myself) fixing book shelves for all those pages of inspiration I've collected, and building up my own workspace.

-I learnt to cook some great healthy meals, being creative with the flavouring and changing up the ingredients to suit my taste, obvs!

-I actually met the greatest football manager of ALL time. A man I've admired for a long time, for his strong work ethic, his unique techniques and the way he expresses his individuality without being scared of what anyone else may think. He's truly the Special One.

-Best one of them all; I started selling my own designs! I'm hoping to move forward with this and I have lots of new ideas for the coming year. Hoping for the best, xo

'Liberty in Fashion'

So this week I finally went to visit the 'Liberty in Fashion' exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London. I've been so excited to see a range of designs, artefacts and so much history that lies within this unique British department store. As soon as I walked into the first room I was in awe of the wall art featuring an illustration of the store. Next to it is a timeline with all the important turning points and achievements, which is a feature that most exhibitions normally have.

The exhibition features various dresses and outfits made out of some iconic Liberty prints from different eras. There has also been a lot of collaborations with different brands using the prints, some which are featured in the exhibition.

I especially fell in love with the range of printed silk scarves and fabric samples that were laid out in a glass box. The collection of them together just looks so intricate and colourful that it draws you in.

Below I've included some photographs of my favourite pieces. I don't want to give too much away as I feel that its worth going inside and seeing it for yourself as it was beautifully curated. If you do have an interest in art, fashion and textiles then it's definitely worth a visit! And if you've ever been to Liberty's and fell in love with even just one product or design then you won't want to let this unique exhibition come to an end without stepping inside! xo

My Insta-Diary

So the past couple of weeks has been so busy full of completing new designs, editing, and basically just spending so much time in my workspace doing whatever I'm required to do that day. If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I'm always uploading new photos of my designs, my desk, what I'm doing, and what inspires me.

So here's a few of my fave images that I've put up in the past couple of weeks. The top left shows a couple of illustrations when I'd just started them. I then slowly started adding features and then adding a print on the scarves. This takes a lot of time and there's so many moments where I just don't feel that a piece of my work is even good enough to show anyone. But a lot of the time I'll keep working on the same design and eventually I end up liking it.

I even uploaded photos of my desk where I'm using products with my own designs that are available on Society6 and Art Rookie, which I'm absolutely loving! The quality of these products is so good and of course they are printed only after orders, which makes them very unique!

If there's one other thing I love taking photos of, it's the beautiful pattern and colour of the skies that rarely occurs. The most simplest things like this can give me so much inspiration throughout the day, and I've kept a collection of these photos from over the years.

Anyway here's a selection of my favourite Instagram posts over the past fortnight. If you'd like to see more of the photos of my inspirations, workspace, or how I create my illustrations just drop me a comment below. Hope you all have a lovely festive weekend before Christmas, xo

The 'Love & Light' Collection

For my Graduate Collection in 2014 I designed a series of prints that were based on tropical plants. I took inspiration from various plants, although in the end a lot of the finished designs and the consistent features were what I had imagined in my mind. I ended up using Chinese Lanterns as my main inspiration, as they are my favourite plant. I also kept going back to the heart shape of the lanterns, which in the end became the essence of the collection.

The finished collection was then named 'Love & Light' which I thought was a perfect fit! Since then I've continuously based a lot of my designs on a similar shape, and that thread has run all the way through to a new collection that is based on sea life and creatures, which I will be revealing soon. Although these designs were initially made for silk scarves, I wanted to use them to place onto other products which I hoped people would love.

So out of the 'Love & Light' Collection I chose my favourite designs and decided to upload them onto Society6. Below you can see a variety of the designs and the products that they are available on. My favourite is probably the 'Twisted Tropics in Blush' but I also love the 'Summertime Always Leaves' as that deep orange is my favourite! Which design/product is your fave? I'd love some feedback on these designs. If you like any of these products you can buy them from my shop www.society6.com/sukisabur, xo

Round up of the week

So this week has been pretty busy for me as I've been working on lots more designs which will be available very soon in my Society6 shop. I mentioned in my previous post that they're all based on people I've either met or been inspired by. Some of these new illustrations have already been named, whereas some are yet to be completed.

Here's a sneaky peek of a few of the designs I've been working on. These have all been taken from Instagram so if you'd like to see more then be sure to follow me @sukisabur_designs, xo

Fashion Illustrations

For my Society6 shop, I decided to start off with a few illustrations that I've been working on recently. I use a mixture of ink and gouache paint for the illustrations which I feel makes them stand out, and both the mediums seem to work well together. I've been working with the same style for a long time, but I feel like I might want to try something new very soon so keep a look out.

A lot of these illustrations have been inspired by people that I know, maybe random people that I've met, and even celebs. The aim was not for them to look exactly like these people, but just give off a vibe that maybe I've felt from these people. A lot of these illustrations were named after I'd completely finished them, as the names popped up in my head after seeing the various features, and also the colours that each girl is wearing.

Here is a small selection of my illustrations. If you do want to see more then pop over to my Society6 shop and have a look at the different products which are available with those designs. xo

(These designs are all copyrighted to Suki Sabur by A©ID)

Giveaway!

I'm hosting a giveaway on my Instagram to win an Iphone6 'Delta' phone case. Click here to enter it and be in with a chance of winning. If you'd like to view more of my designs these are available on Art Rookie and also Society6. For the people that don't use Instagram, I'll also be posting this on my Facebook page too. xo

A Quick Note..

So you all might be wondering why I have fashion and beauty reviews from last year's posts. Thing is, there's so much that I like doing, and trying out new beauty products and getting dressed up is something I always look forward to. So last year I decided to start a blog but never really stuck to it as I got so busy with my designs.

But I didn't want to just start another blog and delete the old one as I feel like that is another side of me that a lot of people know of. Everything today is so advanced, I mean you can easily delete accounts and photos with a click of a button, but the actual memories stay with you forever.

So I guess I just wanted my readers to see that and feel free to read those posts. Although I'll be now keeping this blog for my designs and anything related to that, I didn't just want to erase last year's posts.

On an end note, I hope you like my designs and I hope I can inspire you to let out that creative side in you, and if you want to find me on other social media platforms, I have linked all my accounts. xo

Looking back on 2015

So I started this blog over a year ago and then gave up posting when I got busy with my own designs. You might be wondering what I've been doing this past year, so I'm gonna give you a quick update. This time last year I remember planning my first trip of 2015, which was to the Scottish countryside. Fast-forward a year later and I feel like I've done so much in just a year, but at the same time it's gone way too quick!

This year was full of so much inspiration, and I'm so glad that for the first time I've actually made time to enjoy moments and not rush myself. I had the chance to visit some beautiful places such as Dublin and Belfast. I also visited Barcelona AGAIN, and although I always end up going to the same places when I go there, I did discover a few gems that I've never seen before. But I think the best trip of them all was Budapest. Everything was so breathtakingly beautiful. This was a place I'd been wanting to visit for such a long time, and I finally did. I learnt so much about history, culture and art, and I came back with so many amazing ideas for future designs, which I'm still keeping quiet about!

But the one thing I'm so happy about is the fact that I finally started selling my designs on Society6 and Art Rookie. Both are platforms which provide for independent and new designers. Art Rookie is just for British Designers, whereas Society6 is for designers worldwide and is actually based in the US. I've always loved the idea of designing and selling my own products, and I'm so glad that people have been loving my designs.

I will go into detail another time about the collections that are available to purchase. But for now I need to get back to finishing off a couple more illustrations which will be added online soon. I've added a few snaps below of some of the designs that I've been working on over the past few months, some which are yet to be revealed. All of these images were posted on my Instagram, so if you'd like to see more then head over there and give me a follow. xo