stationery – Ella's Place

Posted on March 17, 2017March 7, 2017 by ellajohnston12

New Illustrated Wedding Collections

I’m very excited to announce the launch of my new personalised wedding stationery collections on Not On The High Street. Inspired by botanical and avian vintage illustration, I hope my collections offer something special for every couple wanting to make their celebration sing.

The intricately drawn illustrations in these collections are created with vibrant washes of watercolour and ink. All are printed in the UK on high-quality FSC-certificated textured gesso card. Every piece of stationery can be personalised to the client’s specification.

Pink Flamingo Collection
Bold, bright and beautiful, this pair of cheeky, loved-up pink flamingos are sure to put a smile on people’s faces. The Flamingo range is perfect for fun loving couples and those who are aiming to bring a tropical flavour to their day.

Eucalyptus Collection
Elegant and soft, my graceful watercolour eucalyptus motif gives this range a timeless, tasteful quality. It is the ideal collection for those looking to create a gentle, relaxed feel to their nuptials.

Fern Collection
Fresh and delicate, the Fern collection hopes to recall the style of vintage botanical illustrations while still giving the stationery a contemporary twist. Great for the pair who want a strong, yet simple theme for their big event.

Swan Collection
For those who want something really romantic and trad, here’s my Swan range. Swans mate for life so this is ideal…

Posted on February 21, 2017February 21, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Drawing of the week: Flamingo Head

This week’s drawing of the week is of a bright pink flamingo head.

I must admit it has taken me a little while to warm to the flamingo bird, although really fun to paint and draw (you can really go to town with pink watercolour here), it was a bird that never really got under my skin like a puffin, lapwing or curlew. I suppose I was put off because they have been so popular as a motif in homewares and stationery design.

Perhaps I also thought they were show-offs of the avian world – to me they were just a bit too lairy with their pink plumage. Maybe I was jealous – no one could accuse me of being leggy and it’s rare that I splash out with colour in a sartorial sense (I leave that for my illustration).

Of course I was wrong. I mean these birds are magnificent creatures and when you find our about these birds they really are fascinating. Here are some fun flamingo facts…

Special bills
Flamingos beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they eat. The bills are uniquely used upside-down. Don’t know what I mean? Take a look here…

In the pink
Their distinctive pigment comes from carotenoids they eat in animal and plant plankton which are broken down into pigments by liver enzymes.

Flam Fam
Flamingos are very social birds. Their colonies can be thousands strong. This protects them from predators and enables them to nest more efficiently.

What a pair
The birds perform synchronised ritual displays in colonies. The members of a group stand together and display to each other by stretching their necks upwards, making calls while head-flagging, then flapping their wings. Flamingos form strong partnerships although in larger colonies flamingos sometimes change mates (well we’re all allowed to change our minds). Both the male and the female play a part in building and defending the nest. Occasional same-sex pairs have been reported, which makes me happy.

Don’t you just love flamingos a bit more now?

Posted on January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Monday Moodboard: Feathers

Here’s my feather themed Monday Moodboard.

Happy New Year! Yes I know I’m a bit late, I started 2017 with a ton of commissions so I’ve been rather busy this past three weeks.

So 2017 has started really well for me – I hope it’s the same for you.

After a nice bit of satisfyingly new work to get to grips with I can now settle into working on drawings for new prints, gifts and stationery.

I’ve read a lot of trend reports saying feathers are going to be big motifs over the next couple of years. Which is very handy for me as I’ve been working on feather illustrations on prints for some time now one of which you can see in the bottom right hand corner of this board.

Here are some more feather daubings in close up…

Posted on April 30, 2016April 24, 2017 by ellajohnston12

#Stationery made with love

As you know I’ve been blogging a lot about stationery this week for National Stationery Week. It’s really got me thinking about my own work over the years. Shown above are my illustrated greetings cards, handprinted notelets and tags, plus a 40-page notebook.

My ranges so far have consisted of detailed illustrative motifs and individually handprinted pieces. Whatever style I plump for at a particular time it’s important to me that my stationery offers something that you can only get from me.

So the handmade, handcrafted, hand-drawn element is essential to every collection I create. All the time I’ve been creating stationery I’ve put a little bit of myself in every collection. I really want each piece to be made with love.

You can take a look at my most up to date stationery collections on my Not On The High Street, Folksy or Etsy shops.

Posted on August 30, 2015August 30, 2015 by ellajohnston12

How to show you care… write a letter, send a card

I love letter writing and I like sending friends and colleagues little notes and cards.

Handwritten messages are a wonderful thing. It’s a real delight to receive a handwritten letter or card, so much better than a text or an email. Plus you can keep a handwritten piece – I store my favourites in a little box and if they’re particularly lovely, I display them on my kitchen pin-board.

That’s why I like to make stationery that is really special – one you can send yourself or give as gifts to others. For this handprinted collection, I’ve drawn and carved out a leaf design on a rubber block then used rich pigment ink to colour it. I’ve then stamped the motifs over quality card and paper to create a stationery set that is unique every time. Just like a piece of handwriting.

I currently have two products using this technique – a stationery box set and a notecard box set.

The stationery set has ten leaves of A5 size handprinted writing paper, five A6 handprinted postcards, 15 handprinted envelopes and ten recycled handprinted paper gift tags.

The notecard box contains ten leaf postcards, five in orange, five in blue.

My leaf stationery sets are available to buy on Not On The High Street.