12 Personal Highlights of 2016

Two photos for each month in 2016 <3 

Happy New Year!!!

 I know I'm not the only one glad to see the back of 2016 as it has been a pretty crappy year for MANY reasons. But I am trying to look on the bright side to keep myself sane so I have made a list of 12 personal 2016 highlights that I can use to reflect on, this time next year. You can read last years 2015 highlights here. 

1) Travelled to Paris to visit my first ever trade show, Premiere Vision, where my designs were presented on the LCA stand! My work also went to Surtex in New York and MoOd Brussels (How exciting!).

2) Shortlisted in a live brief with Tigerprint, designing a gift bag, wrap and tag collection. 

3) Won a two week placement and cash prize from a live brief with Hallmark. I met some lovely people on placement.

4) Survived London for two weeks on my first ever placement. 

5) Shortlisted for the Mollie Makes magazine handmade awards and went alone to the awards event in London where I pitched my designs and ideas to the likes of Pinterest, Etsy and Crafty Fox Market. I met so many lovely people here and found it an inspiring event.

6) Enjoyed a two week work placement at Lemon Ribbon, a children's fashion print company. I realised here that I really like designing for younger boys. I also learnt A LOT on illustrator. I also got the chance to go to a meeting at Paperchase's head office down Tottenham Court Road. (it was very exciting!.

7) Visited Maya in Brighton for the first time, and fell IN LOVE with Brighton - what a lovely place. I can't wait to take Rob back with me in Summer, as I know he will love it just as much as I did.

8) Did a placement at UK Greetings where I made a gift bag, wrap and card collection that I am proud of (for once!!).

9) Visited lots of new places, cafes and antique shops with Rob where we hoarded even more Hornsea pottery along the way. We also stayed in a beautiful Mid-century house in Bridlington. It is our future house goals. We felt so at home there <3 <3 

10) Had a stall at Leeds Print Fair where I sold cards, wrap and prints. It was so nice to see people smiling at my work. 

11) Survived the *majority* of a Dissertation project (* majority being the favourable word here, as I still have 11 days left until my deadline and quite a lot of work to do... cry..).

12) Developed and designed this blog into 'Pattern Perspective' instead of 'A Textile Perspective'. I love having a space on the internet where I can write my thoughts, showcase my designs and document my adventures.

 I am a little nervous for 2017. After all, it is going to be quite a big year in terms of change. I don't really know where I will be this time next year and this makes me incredibly anxious. I do know that I graduate this year, meaning I enter the *real world* where I need to get a job, house and more bills. I do feel quite a bit of pressure on getting the perfect design job straight away so I am slightly worried, but I need to focus on my last few months at university now and put everything into my final major project. 

 I don't really do new years resolutions but I do have a few 2017 goals (like being proud of my final degree show work, getting the chance to exhibit at New Designers, and getting my first ever design job) but I'll be keeping the rest to myself. I hope you all had a great festive break too. I spent most of it in bed ill, typical me. Whenever I have a break I always get ill. 

All the best for 2017!