Big News in My Little World

My transition from practicing Interior Designer and Showroom owner to writer, illustrator and product designer has not been long by industry standards ( I've been working on it for a little over three years now) but it sometimes seems like a eternity to me.

The financial payoff is still a ways off in the future and I have had to considerably scale back my lifestyle. There have been many days and late nights spent drawing when I have questioned my decision to switch gears and work at my new goals full time.

On the other hand, my new career has brought me friendships and associations that I would never have developed if I had not made the decisions that I did. It has also brought me fantastic opportunities that I never dreamed would be available to me.

As I was drawing the treatments for my first book it quickly became apparent to me that it would require me to design unique patterns and color schemes for each drawing.

This was no easy task and was probably the most time consuming step of the process but one that I also found very gratifying.

For each design I drew a fabric pattern and chose a color palette that I would have used if I where specifying the treatment in real life. I did not want to use plain colors or repeat motifs. I wanted the selections for each design to reflect its personality.

In my original designs I tend to use varying scales of pattern with large motifs highlighted by the shape of the treatment.

It is not uncommon for me to use five or six different fabric in one treatment if it is appropriate for the design.

Anyway, apparently my hard work and attention to detail did not go unnoticed! ( take this as a lesson kids - always do your absolute best and good things will come of it).

DRUMROLL PLEASE !!!!!! I have been given a fabulous opportunity to design a signature line of fabrics for a leading manufacturer of custom, print to order fabrics, Adaptive Textiles.

Adaptive Textiles was started by the talented husband & wife team of Larry and Jeanelle Dech. Jeanelle, herself an interior designer, master workroom technician, slip cover magician, industry innovator and educator, saw the substantial benefits of print on demand fabric production and was among the first to invest in the state of the art technology.

This method of printing is eco-friendly and is being embraced by "green" designers around the world because of it's no-water process and zero ink waste. ( honestly I don't know that much about fabric production but I plan to give myself a crash course - I'll share the highlights with you later.)

Designs can be printed on a wide number of different ground cloths giving you flexibility in fiber content, weave, durability, hand of the fabric, drapability, and finish. Their services are available to anyone who wants custom printed fabric in small runs. You can create your own designs or a complete private label collection.

My signature fabric designs ( that sounds so cool!!! ) will be available for use with the Jackie Von Tobel modules of Minutes Matter Studio which is anticipated for release beginning in March! I will be documenting the entire process here and how the fabrics will be integrated into the Studio modules.

To say that I am excited is a vast understatement. I am over the moon and I can't wait to get going. The plan is to introduce the first patterns of the collection at The International Window Fashions Expo in Atlanta in May so if you're in the area come on over - the drinks will be on me!

The success of my book and all of the subsequent opportunities that have come my way are all the result of a few very important people who have taken time from their busy lives and businesses to look at my work, give me advise and encouragement and welcome me into their worlds. Words cannot express my gratitude to: Christopher Robbins, Suzanne Taylor, my editor Madge, and everyone else at Gibbs-Smith, Debbie & Casey Green and everyone at Minutes Matter & Studio, Beth Hodges, Jeanelle Dech at Adaptive Textiles, Deb Barrett, Margie Nance, Susan Schurz, Joan Willis, Lavelle Pindler, M'Fay, Grace McNamara, Bruce Knott, Shannon Flaherty, Nika Stewart, Pate-Meadows, and the rest of the design and blogging community that I have come to know and love. (Sorry I'm getting sappy!)

Also, I can't forget the fam-dam-ily, My awesome and very handsome man of the house Arnie, my two sons - JT & Geordie, and the resident princess, Angelica. Oh yeah - the two most spoiled dogs in the world Peaunt & Marty.

I hope that the process will make for some interesting posts! Can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Creating Covers

I've been working day & night on two new book covers. First, my new book, The Design Directory of Bedding. Above is the fabric that won the cover contest featured here. I think it will be a good backdrop to my illustrations.

Designing book covers is much harder than it looks especially for someone like me who has no clue what they are doing. I have a book designer that I work with that is provided for me by my publisher. She does all of the fine tuning and interior layout etc. But I still have to draw the color illustration and find the cover fabric. So here is the process.

First, I decide what design I think would be appropriate for the cover. I try to find one that is not too traditional but also not too modern. It needs to appeal to the most common denominator. Enter the design shown above..


Then I add fabric and texture and color the illustration.



Then I decide I don't like it and that it needs brighter color and a table with a lamp...so I redraw it.



Then I try it out on a mock up of the cover.


Then I decide that I hate it and I start over.

I redraw it again with more traditional fabrics and more texture so I can use more color.



Then I find color inspiration from Designers Guild - gorgeous!

Then I do a messy color test to see which colors will go where and if I like it.


Then I color the final drawing.



I think I like it, so I try it out on another mock up of the cover.

Now it goes off to my editor for approval or another re-do.



Cover number two is for the new book I am writing with Minutes Matter. It's a marketing book for the interior design industry which will be released early next year ( more to come on this later) . Luckily one of my partners at MM, Casey Green is a super talented graphic artist and an extraordinary business women. She is doing all of the designing I just give her my input.


Cover # 1 fit their current branded image.




Cover #2 Added more color



Cover #7 is the winner.

You'd never know how much work goes into creative efforts that is never seen. I have hundreds of drawings and mock covers that will never see the light of day (probably for the best). It makes me wonder how many really great artists threw away masterpieces because they didn't like the finished product. I'd love to see go dumpster diving over at Picaso's or Monet's place.

Come See Me at the World Market Center

If you are looking for some fresh inspiration I will be a featured speaker at a special event at 11:00 a.m. onTuesday, Oct. 14 at the new Las Vegas World Market Design Center. I'm giving a seminar on current window treatments trends and construction. It should be a fun and informative event and it's followed by a hosted luncheon. The schedule also includes an in depth seminar on choosing the correct fabrics for upholstery and draperies sponsored by Robert Allen in their beautiful new showroom. There will also be seminars taking place in several other showrooms and the day long event will be followed up by a cocktial hour. I'd love to see you there....


The World Market Center has been growing in size and showroom space since it's groundbreaking several years ago. The photo above shows it's current configuration which includes three enormous buildings and a new parking garage.


This model shows an approximate view of the completed project which will consist of 8 buildings totalling more than 12 million square feet of state-of-the-art exhibit space on 57 acres in downtown Las Vegas. It's hard to believe that this huge complex is going up in my own back yard after years of schlepping across the country to High Point!

Bedding Book - Sneek Peak

I'm working like a dog on my new bedding book and it's finally coming together. Writing and illustrating books like this is a herculean task to say the least with thousands of images and thousands more hours of research and drawing. I constantly wonder what I am trying to prove while I am coloring renderings of bed skirts at 2:00 in the morning! The drawings in this book are much more detailed and complicated than my window treatments book and they each take quite a bit more time to complete. Here is a sneak peak of some of the finished renderings. Hope you like them!





Have a Great Weekend.............................................

House Beautiful & The Design Directory of Window Treatments

I've hit the big time - House Beautiful knows I'm alive !!!!!! I was so thrilled to find out the they have highlighted my book on their website.

They say " Everything you ever wanted to know about window treatments and then some. Serious truth in advertising here. This is a design directory (and handbook, dictionary, encyclopedia, etc. )"
"Jackie Von Tobel doesn't want you to just look out the windows -- she wants you to dress them up!"

Forgive me for my shameless self promotion but I am just so excited. In all of my years as a designer I never envisioned my name being associated with House Beautiful.. I have to say this is one of the great perks of writing a book!!!!! Now I just have to cross my fingers and see if they put me in the Magazine. Maybe I should write them several hundred anonymous emails suggesting that they highlight my book in the next issue! You never know - it might work!