Goodbye + a gift :)

It's the end of 2014, and I bet we are all busy thinking about what we achieved or didn't this year - to then move on to 2015's resolutions. 

Well... there are MAAAAANY things I wished I had accomplished this year, but I didn't. The truth is, I don't want to cry over spilt milk or kill my braincells thinking about the should'ves, could'ves or would'ves. What's done is done, and what isn't well... isn't, right?

I've decided to make peace with the fact this was the way this year had to go: I needed it to heal and reorganize my life and priorities. My Dad's been gone for 14 months now... it is still very hard, and it might never stop being so, but from January 1st 2015 onwards, I'll do my best to take my life back on track ;) 

The first thing I need to do is focus on fewer things. That way, I hope to be able to mentally wander less (a.k.a. procrastinate less) and better manage my time. 

Great blogging needs to be done constantly, it requires a lot of time, and real bloggers not only follow a tight schedule but also create amazing new content. I haven't been doing any of those things for the last 365 days, and I just don't like being mediocre at anything. 

Therefore, as much as I love blogging, I think I need to formally take a break from it. In order for me to be able to really get something done this year, I must hierarchize my activities. Blogging can't be a thing I sporadically do: either I commit to it or I don't. 

And since I don't feel I can commit to it right now, I've decided that I'll put my blog on pause for an entire year, in the hope that by the end of it, I'll find myself more satisfied with what I've done, and with more energy, time and ideas to start blogging again. 

As a goodbye present, I've decided to giveaway a Skillshare Scholarship. What's that? It's a free annual Premium Membership for you to take unlimited classes and learn a bunch of cool things this New Year. Just enter the raffle below, and share the news with your friends and family so they can participate too. It'll close on January 6th. I'll announce the winner that same day (afternoon probably) on my social media (yup! I'm pausing blogging, but I'll keep using all the other juicy social media channels we all sooooo much love and enjoy, hihihi!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


PS. Don't forget to follow my social media channels so we can keep in touch during 2015 :D (and also, to find out if you are the happy winner in 6 days!)

Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · Pinterest · g+

freebies // The 2014 Designer Calendar + Planners :: June

It's June... already half of the year, and I'm here again with some nice freebies :) 

Remember, this year's Designer Calendar will not only include downloadable digital calendars to be used on all of your tech devices, but also printable planners for you to keep your things-to-do organized.

June downloadable calendar designed by MaJoBV by Maria Jose Bautista V

May was a bit of a hectic month for many Surface Designers (including the ones that I was going to feature this month.) They were just really swamped with work and were not able to delight us with their fabulous work. Don't worry though... they will! (hopefully soon), and on a good note: I ended up having the pleasure to create the freebies for you, yaaaay!  

download : widescreen 1 // widescreen 2 // fullscreen 1- iPad landscape // iPad vertical // fullscreen 2
iPhone3 - iPhone4 // iPhone5 // Samsung Galaxy

For this month's freebies I used my Shape Confetti design (it's brand new... I created it last month) in Pantone's Spring 2014 color palette. I hope you like its simplicity and brightness as much a I do :) 

download : A4 / Letter

To download the planner just click on the links below the image. Remember the planner is a high-res JPG to be printed on either A4 or Letter paper.

If you want to see other versions of my Shape Confetti design visit my Casetify shop (where you'll also find more brand new work.)  

All designs are for personal use only. You may print the planners and use them as many times as you like, but please remember they may not be resold, modified or otherwise distributed. I'll be happy and grateful to you if you spread the word and feel like sharing them with others through your social media or blogs, but don't forget to credit the original designer and include a clickable link back to the original post.

challenge // Valentine's :: week 2

Remember the Valentine's Design Challenge I decided to do? Well... here are the designs for the second and last week of it. I hope you like them. I'm turning them into printable cards to add to my MaJoBV Digitals Etsy shop (a bit too late for this year, but still can add them for future ones, right?) and I would love your feedback :) 

candy declaration designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

cake declaration designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

valenswine's designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

like, love, want designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

art luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

choco luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

valenstine's designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

Thanks for stopping by, and... 

HAPPY Valentine's Day to you all!!!  

challenge // Valentine's :: week 1

The fab Lesley Todd from a Finch Five launched the first Valentine Design Challenge this year. I found about it yesterday, and loved the idea so I decided to catch up and keep going with it until the end (February 14th). Below my designs for the first week. Designs that I've turned into cards and will soon be available on my MaJoBV Digitals Etsy shop :)

pefect luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

honest luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

eternal luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

impossible luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

sweet luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

girls luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

boys luv designed by 2014 © Maria José Bautista V

Don't forget to let me know what you think... I'd love to know!

Happy weekend everyone :D

bloghop // tropical fusion :: caribbean sea

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the very first bloghop of the year. Just like last year we celebrated Pantone's 2013's color with the Let's Fly! bloghop we wanted to do the same this year to honor 2014's: Radiant Orchid.

a special thanks to Lisa Rivas for the fab logo :)

If you are following the hop in order, it is most probably that you are coming from Rosie Simon's blog and have just admired her gorgeous, bright and fun work. Please now take a couple of minutes to take a look at the designs I've created:

caribbean sea designed by 2014 ©  Maria José Bautista V

One of the first things that first came to my mind when I read the theme for the hop was fish. Tropical fish are so fun and bright! I knew I wanted them to be the main subject of my designs. I hadn't designed for a while so it was nice to take some time to draw and slowly make one more tiny step towards coming back to my old self by creating something inspired directly by the beautiful and colorful fauna you find under Colombia's oceans.

wiggly coral designed by 2014 ©  Maria José Bautista V

Thank you so much for stopping by. The bloghop isn't over yet so make sure you visit Leska Hamaty's blog to discover what she's all about! If you have only just found our bloghop and want to start from the beginning, then hop over to Groovity's blog where all the the fun kicked off :) 

teaching // Reign Repeats :: session 1 :: winners

Sofia, Lucia and Robin!!! You are the 3 happy winners of Spoonflower fab prizes. Please email me your full names, postal address, phone number, and email so that I can give Spoonflower your info for them to give you your goodies :)

FIRST PLACE- picnic ants by Sofia Figueiredo

SECOND PLACE- classy picnic by Lucia Barabas

THIRD PLACE- picnic blueprint for bug access by Robin Pickens

Over 424 people voted and the blogpost had almost 1000 views this past week (woohoo!) I closed the contest yesterday at midnight (Colombian time) and these were the final results:

results updated on midnight July 14th, 2013

blog lovin' tour // success

Hello everyone! and welcome to the fifth and last week of The Declaration of You! Blog Lovin' tour.

The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they've craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You's Blog Lovin' Tour, which I'm thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more and join us, read here!

Success is such a big word and it is usually socially associated with the amount of money or possessions you have acquired thanks to your job. Every year when my birthday gets closer (fiy… it's on August 15th, hehehe) I think of what I've done in the past year and where those actions have taken me. In other words, I reflect on my year's success  I don't think so much about the amount of money in my bank account ('cause there's usually none at the end of the month, but hopefully my hard work will soon pay off, right?), but on how I've grown personally and professionally through the year compared to the previous one.

It's been a while since I've felt successful, not so much on the personal level but on the professional one. Right until I graduated university in 2008 I felt pretty good when doing my yearly recap: I was a good student, I got accepted in the best Colombian university, I was then one of the five chosen to go to Milan as an exchange student, decided to transfer to Italy and bust my a** off Summer 2006 to pay for the expensive tuition, was able to pay for almost all my living expenses in my new city so that I wouldn't be an economic burden on my family, and graduated on time. I felt pretty proud of myself and believed everything I had ever done was only going to make my journey a successful one.

Reality isn't as easy as I imagined. Time to find a real job in Fashion design arrived and it wasn't as simple as I'd thought. I got offered a couple of internships but all unpaid (which for me wasn't possible because I had to pay the bills.) Many things happened, many non-fashion related jobs came, and then some related to it arrived. I worked for a fashion house and learnt a lot (though I lost my creative soul there since designing for them meant copying from the high-fashion brands… awful!) I don't regret the experience though… I didn't do much real designing (just copying) but I learnt many other things and had the chance to travel to China for business. After a year, my time there was over; it wasn't a happy or healthy work environment, so I quit. Thought all my new experience and skills were just going to help get a new much better job (the one I've always dreamt) in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and in order for me to pay the bills I started teaching English and Spanish (like when I was student) and on a side, started making hand-tailored clothes for private clients and designing textiles to sell on Spoonflower. I didn't feel fulfilled… to be honest, I felt very frustrated that after all my hard work and dedication, I wasn't working on what I really love. I kept going while getting a job in fashion seemed always more difficult. I had a couple of interviews but none ended up in job offers (some were just more unpaid offers.) Then I was told I was never going to get a job in fashion being fat (yes, that hurt! a lot!)

Since I was a little girl I'd always dreamt with having my own fashion line, but before doing so, I really wanted to work for a famous and important fashion house to learn from the best. That didn't happen. Don't know if it ever will… I like to think everything is still possible even if I was told by my family to let it go, that my dream was never going to come true if it hadn't already, that I should just do something else and that I was too old to just keep pursuing a dream (that hurt too!) Then I met Angharad, an amazing Textile master while being her assistant in a Textile Design Summer course in 2011 (she's an amazing teacher and a great person.) I decided to take some private classes at her school (check it out because she offers many interesting workshops taught by great worldwide recognised artists and designers), and one day she told me: 'why don't you just start something of your own?' I told her I was scared and I didn't feel I had the necessary experience to go on my own. She said being scared was normal, and that I just had to take the risk. If I failed, at least I tried, but if I succeeded, then maybe those who so far have chosen not to employ me, would notice me and ask me to collaborate with them. I would never forget her advice. She was right… I had to dive in, even if that meant being scared. In Colombia we say: 'you have to risk an egg to earn a chicken' and I felt that way. While I tried to figure out where and how to start, I came across The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design e-course and my new journey started.

It's been almost a year since I finished the course, and for the first time in a really long time, I feel this birthday recap will make me feel awesome! I'm still teaching English and Spanish (it is still my safe money while designing becomes all I do), but I've finally found myself in the professional world. Since my last birthday I've learnt a lot about myself and my work, signed 3 licensing deals, was one of the Top 10 REPEAT(ed) designers, signed with A Fresh Bunch, I recently finished my first Skillshare class which was a total success and I'm working on new courses. This year I feel successful and it has nothing to do with how much I've earned but with how much joy and satisfaction my actions have brought to me this year. I'm not done yet… not at all. I'm only starting… I'd say, I'm just getting ready to start the marathon. After such a long time I've come to realised that it's the little successes in life that make up the big success at the end of it all. I used to judge my accomplishments too hard. Either I was working as a designer or I wasn't and that determined my level of frustration. Now I know it isn't that black and white and that there are many little (and big) things I have to contemplate. Plus, being successful is not only having a good career but also being a good person with yourself, your loved ones, society and our beautiful planet Earth (but this post has gotten way too long, so let's talk about that another time.) :)

blog lovin' tour // intention

Hello everyone! and welcome to the third week of The Declaration of You! Blog Lovin' tour.

The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they've craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You's Blog Lovin' Tour, which I'm thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more and join us, read here!

This week is all about intention. I have so many of them, but rarely get to to make them come true. Most of the times because I don't believe in them strong enough, so when I read about intention on The Declaration of You and how it is just something you are willing to believe you can do, I felt so much better. Intentions can definitely be small or huge, what matters is you believe in them.

I wrote a very looooong list of things I'm willing to do/believe/say/receive/create, but the one that at the moment matters the most to me is the one following: 

All I've always wanted to be is a Designer, and not being it 100% of the time frustrates me. Next year I'll be 30, and I want to start my 30s feeling completely satisfied with the direction my career is going to. I don't expect to be rich + famous overnight (yes, as childish as it sounds, I do dream economic peace of mind and people recognising me and my work all around the world), but I do expect to finally pay my bills with what I've always dreamt being before I leave my 20s. It is easier to believe it is possible than to just repeat to myself it is real when it isn't yet, so from now on I'll read to myself my biggest intention of the year every day, and hopefully next January I'll have a huge smile on my face while I tell you about how my intention became a reality ;)

events // Pin Hop June 2013

Welcome to the Pin Hop of June 2013. This is the first ever pin hop and it is the innovative idea of Tina Olsson (Fyllayta). Before I continue, I'd like to thank Tina and Gill Eggleston (creator of the fab Find New Designers first surface pattern designers' directory) for organising the pin hop. I'm very excited to be part of this fun pattern event, and hope you'll love it! 

Première Vision + Indigo - A/W 2013-13 - Print Trend Report - Patternbank

We were given the chance to choose from four of the themes part of Patternbank's A/W13-14 print trends forecast. I absolutely loved all 4 themes (Urban Metropolis, Historical Adornment, Midnight Garden + Optical Day), but wasn't feeling they quite suited my style. After thinking what to do for a while, I decided to just choose the one that was sticking out the most to me, and adapt it to me. I chose Historical Adornment because it immediately made me think of Marie Antoinette (I love Louis XVI and Versailles Palace's fashion and decor), big Rococo wigs and cameos (you can see my inspiration board here). 

RocoWigs designed by 2013 © Maria José Bautista V

I'm glad the themes weren't so right up my alley, that way I got to challenge myself and created a new collection that I really love, hehehe. It is now with great honor that I want to present you my RocoWigs Collection. Enjoy!

RocoWigs [detail] designed by 2013 © Maria José Bautista V

RocoFlorals designed by 2013 © Maria José Bautista V

RocoRibbons designed by 2013 © Maria José Bautista V

RocoCake Damask designed by 2013 © Maria José Bautista V

I hope you've liked it, and if you have, don't forget to leave a comment below (it is always super nice to read them ☺). Click here to go back to the Pin Hop and decide where to stop next. If you prefer to hop in order, continue with Ella Tjader Designs' blog and see her gorgeous designs! 

blog lovin' tour // enthusiasm

Hello everyone! and welcome to the first week of The Declaration of You! Blog Lovin' tour.

The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they've craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You's Blog Lovin' Tour, which I'm thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more and join us, read here!

We start the tour with the word enthusiasm. It is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English as an 'intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval'. To me is what makes you go to work with a big smile on your face! I've had many working experiences… design related and non. I still do: I teach English and Spanish to pay the bills in the meantime that I can really make a living off my real and true passion: design. I've learnt from every single one of the jobs I've had, and don't regret any of them. I've always worked hard and done them right, but I've noticed only designing makes me really happy and sparks in me feelings of fulfilment and joy. It makes me challenge myself and want to learn and improve and evolve as much as I can. That energy that runs through my body, soul and mind when I design I call it enthusiasm, and I really invite you to pay attention and discover what makes you feel it :)

#52collections // week 1 :: Holi collection

Happy Sunday Everyone! Here's the collection I created for the first week of the #52collections challenge. Enjoy and remember, any feedback is more than welcome! :)

ps. Don't forget to come back later for today's Mani Sunday.