A wintry collaboration

Rebecca Stoner, who collaborated with us on our Winter Pinterest board

Roman Blinds Direct is proud to announce that we have launched our brand new Winter Collection. This features some of our most stylish and fabulous fabrics, which we handpicked with great care as we collated them for the collection.

As you may or may not know, we have a Pinterest account, on which we pin images of both our products and things that inspire us. We have recently collaborated with York-based surface pattern designer, Rebecca Stoner, who has guest-pinned on our Winter board with some images which inspire her when she creates at this time of year.

We thought it might be a good idea to introduce Rebecca our audience, which is why we set up the interview with her below:

RBD: Well, first things first, introduce yourself!
RS: My name is Rebecca Stoner and I’m a Surface Pattern Designer and Illustrator based in the beautiful City of York in the UK.

RBD: What is it you do over at rebeccastoner.co.uk?
RS: I create designs and patterns for products such as fabric, home wares, stationery, laser cut metal and more. I work with a wide range of different clients on varied projects but I tend to work a lot in fabric/textile design and architectural design such as surface patterns for laser-cutting and window vinyl. I had my first licensed fabric collection released last year with Dashwood Studio called Prairie, which was aimed at the quilting and craft fabric market. I also have my own online shop where I sell cards, notebooks and art print

RBD: And how did you find yourself doing that? Do you have your own studio?
RS: I used to do office work such as admin and accounts but I never felt fulfilled and always wanted to do something creative as Art and Design were always my strongest subjects at school. I took some time out to go travelling and when I got back I decided to go to University, which is when I discovered Surface Pattern Design. After my degree I went straight on to do an MSc in CAD for Textile Designers and on finishing that I set up my own business – that was 10 years ago now! I work from a dedicated room at home which I use as my studio.

RBD: Have you been working on anything exciting recently?
RS: I completed a lovely project for York Hospital in the Summer which was to design some digitally printed wallpaper inspired by a summer meadow for their Oncology Department waiting area. This has recently been installed and I can’t wait to go and see it. I’ve also been busy working on lots of fabric designs for a client and I’m currently working on some designs for Greetings Cards and Stationery.

RBD: What inspires you to create in the winter months?
RS: Well during the winter I’m not just designing for the winter season because I’m always working a year or more ahead with my designs, so I can actually be creating designs for Summer, which sometimes feels a bit strange but not as strange as designing for Christmas on a hot Summer’s day! I actually find it quite easy to get inspired to create in Winter because I love being tucked away in my studio with my sketchbook, pens and paints especially when it’s cold and bad weather outside.

RBD: What can we expect to see on your board?
RS: Lots of pattern!! Oh and colour! I love pattern and colour, obviously, as that’s my job but I know not everyone appreciates it quite as much as I do so I’ll try not to get too carried away! My own home has quite a retro feel to it with some mid-century modern furniture pieces in it, which I also love, so you might see that kind of feel creeping in too!

Our thanks to Rebecca for taking the time to answer these questions, as well as posting some really fantastic images onto our Pinterest. Her own Pinterest page can be found here.

Don’t forget to follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Why not do the same with our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, while you’re at it?