Jane Foster at Peter Jones store in London

I was invited to the Haberdashery Department of Peter Jones store last Saturday in order to show my toy kits that they currently stock that the company Make International produce. They provided me with a table to display my various kits and I sat and designed whilst customers browsed the store. It was lovely to meet several children who also wanted to join me in drawing various animals and faces - here are a few snap shots from the event and the time I spent enjoying London at it's most Christmassy!

Scandinavian inspired garden ideas - Jane Foster

Scandinavian inspired garden ideas  - Jane Foster

We moved into our current home 16 months ago and decided we'd like to give it a Scandi feel. It's a quirky 60s house full of light, which is why it appealed to us. The whole house needs work but as we're in no hurry, we're happy to do it ourselves over the next few years.
The garden was a complete blank canvas - literally a rectangle of flat lawn. Our initial focus was to build a studio in the garden and we chose to build it from insulated panels (SIPS) and then clad it in larch. We wanted it to look Scandinavian in feel - here are some snap shots - my partner Jim built it from scratch. He hired a digger and the created a few grassy banks using earth he dug out from the ground. We planted a few silver birch trees and have built a deck on several levels for various seating areas. Our seven year old daughter loves playing on these areas and makes den with cushions and rugs on them in the summer.

Now that the studio has been built, we're thinking of garden inspiration and I've found a really cool link to great garden ideas on a site called homify. The site is full of inspiration to suite a range of tastes but I've focused on a few here that have a particularly Scandi feel and that I might be able to pinch some ideas from.

This garden below is a project in Holland by WWOO Dutch Design. What I love is the use of concrete fencing to create an outside room. The tree provides shading and a wonderful dappled light, creating a much cosier space that if it wasn't there. I really like the timber table and bench seat - really  great clean lines and shape.We've struggled to find tasteful garden seating. I also love the fact that this is an outside kitchen with what looks like an oven!

This garden is a project by Ansicht Zuang and can be seen here.  I love the wild grass (we let the grass on our bank grow wild like this in the summer - Polly loves playing in it) large silver birch and path. This path has inspired me to create a curved version in our garden using pebbles and timber, instead of concrete. I'm a huge fan of gardens that aren't too fussy - I don't like flowers beds that look great parts of the year but the rest of the time look redundant and scruffy. I prefer grasses that look good all the year round.

What a clever planting idea! I particularly love the black board painted wall so you can add labels to the herbs in chalk. We've got a black board wall in the kitchen but it's never occurred to me to paint one in the garden! My daughter would love this and she could also go and fetch the various herbs when I choose them for cooking!  This project can be found here.

Here's a garden studio with a planted roof! The project is called small green roofs and can be seen here. Something we've been considering for a while now - perhaps with sedum. Not only would it be great for attracting wildlife, it would soften the look of the studio roof.

I shall post some more photos of our garden space once we've made a few more changes - will wait until the Spring when I feel like gardening again! 

New Quirky Hand Illustrated Figures / Dolls by Jane Foster

Making quirky figures is one of my favourite things to do - I love stuffing these hand drawn fabric characters to see what they end up looking like! They're often quite 'odd' in a good way. (I hope!)  - a but like me really! Here are some snap shots. The reason I designed one character wearing a Patti Smith Fan tee shirt is that I've been a long Patti Smith fan herself and recently heard her being interviewed on Radio 4 - she's been on my mind this week. I saw her perform in Brighton many years ago and never tire from listening to her talk and sing.

Am selling these on my Etsy site here. 

Handmade Miffy items to be sold Sunday 1st November at 10am

I'm listing 20 handmade Miffy fabric cushions Sunday 1st November at 10am (UK time) from here.
A few months ago I was fortunate to be able to buy some very rare 70s Miffy fabric that I've used in these 20 cushions I'm selling. The fabric is designed by Dick Bruna and was originally from Holland. I've added panels of 70s and retro cottons to make these. Am also listing some handmade purses. I've signed a licensing agreement with Miffy to allow me to legally sell these items. Here are a few snap shots.

The Guardian include my ABC book in 'What are the best baby's board books?'

Am thrilled that the Guardian recently included my pre school board book 'Jane Foster's ABC' in their article 'What are the best baby's board books?'

They said the following - Fabric designer Jane Foster’s ABC is a collection of gorgeous images for the different letters of the alphabet which will make a perfect introduction to learning the alphabet when the time is right.

You can read more here.

It's available to buy from my website, Waterstones and other book shops in the UK and USA.

Christmas Toy Kits by Jane Foster

The Christmas toy kits that I designed are now available to buy from Make International and John Lewis. (and other stores)
Each kits contains everything you need  - vacuum packed studding, instructions and printed fabric. The toys have been designed with printed fabric on both sides.
The mini ones are so cute and can be added to a Christmas tree or mantlepiece.

Here are some snap shots.

Press Release - New Books From Jane Foster

Am so excited to announce that the 5 children's books I've been working on the past few months are going to be published next year! My hand drawn illustrations appear in all five books.

Templar have acquired world rights from Claudia Kennerley at Palazzo Editions.
Three of my new books will be published in January 2016  - Black and White, Colours and First Words.
Stripy Tiger Pattern Book and Brown Bear Colour Book will follow in March. These two titles introduce children to the concepts of pattern and colour with beautiful die-cuts and tabs making them perfect for hands on learning.

The Bookseller wrote a piece online here and Book Brunch announced the new books this morning.

Helen Wicks at Templar said: "Jane's latest range of pre-school titles continues her stylish study of first concepts, exploring colour and pattern through distinctive, high-contrast illustrations. Her playful characters and cheerful designs engage toddlers with their stunning simplicity."

New Haberdashery Range Coming Soon! - Jane Foster with Make International

Am very excited to announce my new Haberdashery Range for Make International is coming very soon! You can view the products here. I've spent years designing and screen printing my own fabrics for toy kits so it's been very exciting to collaborate with Make International on a range of Haberdashery products, ranging from toy kits to fabric buckets to pin cushions. Keith Brymer Jones made several visits to various factories in order to source the best quality products that are hand screen printed in just the same way that I did the prototypes. I've added a photo below showing the actual silk screens used and the long printing tables.
All the products have been screen printed onto cotton using water based eco friendly inks. I love the packaging that's been used and each toy kit comes with vacuum packed stuffing. Here are some snap shots of the products. They will be available to buy from Make International and John Lewis very soon.

Short break in Cornwall - summer 2015

We recently returned from a short break in Cornwall  - here are some of my favourite photos - St Ives will always remain a special place due to it's history of artists and wonderful light. I also love Marazion and Zennor.