The Secret Garden ~ Notebook Collection

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
Frances Hodgson Burnett

It’s such a pleasure to introduce my brand new collection of notebooks - The Secret Garden. It has always been a dream of mine to design my own notebooks. From an early age I was fascinated by pretty notebooks, and collected them as treasured keepsakes to hold my thoughts, memories and doodles. As a lover of flowers and gardens, I was inspired by my daily ritual of pottering in the garden, growing new plants from seed, and immersing myself within scented avenues of vibrant and elegant blooms. For this collection I wished for it to evoke halcyon days of wandering through vintage ornate rose gardens, heavenly fragranced cottage gardens, and fruitful Victory gardens and allotments.

Before beginning the main design of the notebook, I illustrated the repeating floral patterns for each cover. I studied vintage botanical illustrations and wallpapers, along with admiring the covers of 1940s era books about growing vegetables. As I decided upon a collection of three, I chose my favourite garden types - cottage, rose, and vegetable or ‘victory’ (victory gardens were encouraged during WWII and came to signify resilience during very tough times).

Once the cover patterns were completed, I moved my efforts towards designing the notebook’s exterior and interior, and setting up the design files for print. I designed a title plate for the front cover - much like one which would adorn a book cover. The plate shimmers in pale gold foil, and adds a touch of luxury and old-fashioned glamour to the cover. Inside, I created a simple pattern for the endpapers, with a decorative frame for personalisation. The cheery floral face from my logo embellishes the top of every cream-coloured page - of which there are 64, with lines to keep your lettering perfectly straight. The interior colours reflect the colour palette of the individual notebook cover.

The trio collection is embraced by a branded label, which showcases the notebook covers on the reverse - perfect for gift-giving. For that extra special touch, each spine is hand-stitched with a complimentary coloured thread. The result is a truly bespoke and luxury Irish-designed notebook collection, which can only be found in my store. If you’re like me and love to write, make daily lists, scribble down plans, or doodle ideas, then this collection is the ideal addition to your home office or studio. It’s sure to brighten any desk and offer an inspiring place to write and dream of secret long-forgotten gardens.

I shot a special video of the collection for my Instagram page, come take a look here. Available to purchase now in store - thank you for supporting my small Irish business! ~ Rachel x

Rachel Corcoranirish stationery, irish design, irish made notebooks, irish made stationery, irish designed notebooks, illustrated notebooks, three notebooks set, notebook collection, 3 notebook collection, 3 notebook set, luxury notebook collection, floral notebooks, botanical notebooks, gold foil notebooks, pretty notebooks, irish illustrator, flower pattern notebooks, vintage notebooks, irish made gifts, notebooks from ireland, secret garden books, victory garden, cottage garden, rose garden, cottage core, cottage core aesthetic, cottagecore notebooks, Surface pattern design, surface pattern designer, Vintage botanical patterns, floral patterns, floral pattern design, pattern design, pattern designerComment