Sunshine and Relaxation

Here I am relaxing on the couch after finishing these lounge pants.  As soon as I completed my Art Gallery Printed Paper Play print, I said to my nieces this print needs to be made into soft pants.  Spoonflower recently made available Cotton Spandex Jersey, perfect for my project; so soft and comfy. This colorful organic print was made from a leftover printing project from my daughters class last year.  I cut out a bunch of shapes that were used by her class as an ink resist for Gelli plates.  I scanned in the shapes and then played with them in my design program.   Summer Blossoms Garden and the other color variations (below,) part of my Monoprint Variations collection, were designed in collaboration with my daughter using the same process.

Spoonflower will soon be changing the format of it's contests, so this may or may not be my last entry.  The theme is weather and love.  I chose to draw elements with colored pencils to make a sweet and sentimental ode to my children.  I have been singing You Are My Sunshine to them since they were infants.  Sometimes I still serenade them to wake them in the morning.  :)  Please consider voting.


You are my Sunshine

Here is a brief clip of the Soggy Bottom Boys singing You Are My Sunshine from the excellent film O Brother Where Art Thou.

Barbells and Cheap Fat Quarters

One of the best things for me about living over seas it that I have more time to exercise.  It really helps that I live walking distance from my gym.  Last year with my children at three different schools, with three difference schedules, it was very hard for me to keep up with their schedules and also exercise.  Another benefit is that my oldest boy and I spend more time together now since running and using the equipment are two of his favorite things.
This week's Spoonflower contest theme is fitness, so here is my entry, African Mod Barbells Allover Blue and Green, which I have made into a scarf on Poly Crepe de Chine.  Please consider voting.
Also at Spoonflower this week, until noon EST Thursday, November 12th is half priced fat quarters.  Great time to stock up!

 

Small Things: Plants and Microorganisms

Haven't had a lot of time for crafts recently but ATCs are just the kind of art one can do with a small amount of time.  (If you haven't heard about them here is a little info.)  The guideline for this swap was to have a cut-out and an add on item.  I really enjoyed learning more about foraging while in the US this last year so I thought that would be a great theme for this card.  I used a page from my old, worn copy of Peterson's A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and Central North America that had fallen out for the middle ground.  The trillium is a pen and watercolor pencil drawing displayed in the cutout of the text.  I added more forgeable plants on top in the form trim, drawing and beads.

Forage ATC

I also had some excitement in that I won the ATC giveaway from Bridget.  This was her Additive/Subtractive Book Page card from a 1953 yearbook about Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.  Nicely done!

And on to other small things, this week, on Spoonflower, is a Microorganism design contest.  My younger son was excited about this theme and asked to help design my entry.  He did all of the drawing and I am responsible for the color of this small scale ditsy design.  Please consider voting.

Old School Vibrant Microorganisms

 

2nd Fairy, Michigan & Christmas Cookies Already?



Swap Fairy from Jill Webb, pattern by Susan Barmore

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dollstreet Dreamers had a fairy swap.  To accommodate everyone's busy schedule, the deadline got pushed back a couple of times.  I was very happy to get my fairy  from Jill Webb in the mailbox right before I left.  (Really, it came the last day I had mail service!)  I had to pack her in the suitcase and just got around to photographing her. 



My fairy, original design by Penney Hughes

I really enjoyed my brief time in Michigan.  I loved the seasons, the woods behind my house and all the wildlife wandering through.  I loved the chance to work with the Lansing Maker's Network folks and I learned a lot.  The people of Michigan were friendly and welcoming.  I enjoyed many special beverages that I had never seen before, like Faygo (Rock 'n Rye!), Vernors, Meads like B Nektar's Zombie Killer, various local hard ciders and the spirits of American Fifth.  I hope to return to Michigan when it is time to hang up the towel with overseas life.  When I do, I want to explore the art scene more and look deeper at the work of artists like Jane Reiter, Kelly Boyle, and ceramic artists Doug DeLind and his daughter Jody DeLind.

Christmas Cookies?  I know, not even Halloween yet but Christmas crafting starts now, so I have created a Christmas themed design for this week's Spoonflower contest, Pop Art Cookies.  I hope you will consider voting.

Ghana and Butterflies

Last year I came up with a design collection (seen in this previous post), inspired by my time in Africa.  I had never been to Ghana, but had learned about it and had researched it's birds, plants and butterflies.  It was a country that intrigued me.  Now, it looks like my family may be moving to Ghana. In the midst of getting our household ready, I added to the Ghana Fantastic Floral collection for Spoonflower's new contest, Butterfly Coordinates.  The idea of the contest is to create four coordinating patterns that fit onto one yard.

Please consider voting.

Mermaid Play

What do mermaids do when it is time to have fun?  My latest design, Mermaid Reef Country Life Reds illustrates just what mermaids get up to when they relax.  This design was created for a Spoonflower contest whose theme is to design a mermaid themed pattern for girl pajamas to be made by CWDkids.  Please consider voting.

 

 

New Milestone Giveaway! And Bees!

Things have been silent here on the blog for a couple of months.  My husband had knee replacement surgery so I have been a busy bee helping him plus doing the extra the things around the house that he normally does.  Things are getting back to normal now, thankfully.
So here I am with three things.  First, I am back with another Spoonflower contest.  This week's theme is Bees.  It was difficult to decide between my designs and polling my friends resulted in a three way tie so I went with this one.  Please consider voting.

Busy Bees Blue

Here are other two designs.

Busy Bees on Lavendar

Busy Bees on Yellow Daisies

 And now for the milestone.  I have finally broken the 100 favorites barrier on Spoonflower for one of my designs.   To celebrate I am giving away three yards of fabric of any of my designs.  To be entered into the drawing, simply comment on my blog naming your favorite of my designs from my shop.  To get an extra entry favorite my design on Spoonflower.  These entries will be combined with my Facebook entries.  The drawing will be May 1st.

And for the last little giveaway.  Spoonflower is giving away a swatch of their new fabric Cotton Lawn Ultra.  Simply enter the coupon code freelawn.

A little Bee PSA

Christmas Celebrations

When I first went to Boston to visit my husband's family, it was during winter break between college semesters.  They took me to see Christmas Revels and I absolutely loved the show. The Revels is a series of vignettes celebrating folk customs around winter for the current theme.  No matter the theme there are always certain elements, Morris Dancers, a mystery play with St George and the dragon, the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, a dance with the audience and a lovely poem by Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day.   Christmas Revels and other seasonal shows run in several US cities. You can find your closest Revels here and further links for a taste of the Revels.

Susan Cooper reading The Shortest Day

This week's Spoonflower contest is for a monochromatic winter scene toile design.  My design below is based on remembrances of Christmas Revels past.  Hope you can take time to vote for designs you like.

Stripey Walls and Ornaments

The two for one fat quarter sale at Spoonflower has been extended one day so head on over there because the twelfth is the last day.  While you are on the site, please consider voting in the Ornaments giftwrap contest.  My entry is simple and a little retro with silver tinsel in the background.

Snowflake Ornament Bright

As you know from a previous post we are getting settled in to our Michigan home.  Sadly, though, we still do not have our household effects from Africa.  This means that we are all sleeping on the floor until they arrive.  The best thing about that is that instead of unpacking I can focus on other aspects of decorating, like the nightstand remake from my previous post or painting my eldest son's bedroom.  

A little background...my oldest son was not very happy with the house we selected.  He feels crowded with all of the trees surrounding us but the biggest problem is the lack of basketball hoop. Pretty much every other house we looked at had one, except this one.  All of the flat parts of the yard are right next to big windows and we are up on a hill, so there isn't really a good place to install one. We offered him a budget to decorate his bedroom so at least he feels like he has some space his own.

My son decided he wanted a grey room with a blue feature wall.  At the paint store he selected seven blues but just could not not narrow it down.  He decided he needed little 8oz samples of all of them so he could get a feel for which would look better with the grey.  Still he couldn't decide.  So I suggested we find a way to use all of them.  That is how we ended up painting the subtle hombre stripes seen in the picture below.  He is pretty happy with how it came out.  I used this tutorial to get really clean lines.  And now you also know why his bed is on the floor.  :)

Hi from Michigan

the view from the front door a week ago of my new home

Hi from Michigan.
I have been here two months now.  I moved from very hot and muggy conditions in Dakar to summer time weather here which turned quickly into a very condensed autumn.  It is predicted to snow already by the end of the week. 
In that period of time, we purchased a house, entered the children into school, and have begun to unpack our long term storage items.  We are still awaiting our items from Africa.
There is a lot said about reverse culture shock by expats. One of the things I find overwhelming is all of the stuff easily available everywhere, and at such great prices!  It is so easy to spend money.  Another difference is everyone seems to have a smartphone and expects you to have one too.  I haven't figured out how to get a prepaid phone yet and it seems like one is required to have a plan whether you have a contract or not.  This might sound weird but I also notice I am not 'special' anymore.  I don't stick out anymore and believe it or not that is a little uncomfortable since I have gotten used to being the foreigner.  I also miss my friends in Dakar and the amount of time I had to spend with them and pursue my interests.

Deer and other wildlife walk through my backyard daily

Life in the US goes so fast and so I am intentionally trying to move slowly while settling in to this new environment.  So many things to do but I feel I need to just set up my house and make sure the children are settling in too.  Luckily the new house is so grounding that it soothes me whenever I look out the window.
Lastly, if you get a chance, please vote in this week's Spoonflower Calavera contest, ending Thursday.  In honor of Day of the Dead, here is my entry based on Calaveras and Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass Calavera.

In Honor of Earth Day & A Dress Not on My Daughter



Drawing of finished bag

 
 In honor of Earth Day this year, Spoonflower is hosting a contest for a shopping bag.  The idea is that the bag can be made with one yard of fabric and reduce the reliance on plastic shopping bags.  I have used prints from my Pond Life collection since it is a celebration of aquatic plants and animals.  The prints feature blue herons, turtles, amphibians, insects and other creatures found in and around freshwater ponds in the northeastern United States.  Please consider voting in the contest.  The Heron and Cattail prints will be available soon.
And finally is a picture shown below of someone other than my daughter wearing one of my fabric designs.  She purchased Red Rose Argyle from my Garden Path collection and had it made into this stunning retro dress.  Thanks for sharing!


Full yard view of the fabric on Kona cotton



 

Sharon in Red Rose Argyle

Great Barrier Reef Designs

The theme for this week's Spoonflower design contest is Great Barrier Reef in honor of Australia Day.  Above is my entry, a very textural illustration of the sea teaming with poisonous and dangerous animals found in Australian waters.  Included in my design are lionfish, box jellyfish, blue ringed octopus, stone fish, cone shell, and sting ray. Please consider voting. 

This week's theme inspired several additional designs based on tropical fish, shells and sea urchins.  These designs will soon be available for sale at my Spoonflower shop.

Spring Floral Hex Cheater Quilt



Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Mock-up Flat, queen size



Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Square, fq






















Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Center, 1 yard

With the New Year I am back to participating in Spoonflower's Fabric Design Contests.  This week's entry is for a spring floral themed cheater quilt square.  A cheater quilt is a printed fabric that looks like a pieced quilt.  It allows a quilter to skip the piecing and quilt the layers.  Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Square is my submission to this week's contest.  It uses the limited color palette Spoonflower has selected for the entries and fits a fat quarter of fabric.  Please consider voting for my entry here.  If you do vote, deciding who to vote for will be particularly hard in this contest.  There are so many excellent entries.


Horizontal Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Chevrons

Vertical Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Chevrons

 I decided that along with designing the quilt square, I would also design other coordinating components to create a easy quilt.  The top right photo shows a mock up using my elements. On the bottom, is a sample mock-up as it might look on a bed. The Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Center is a one yard design.  The Chevron designs are basic repeating patterns.  All designs can be used on their own.  If you are interested in creating this quilt, please visit my Spoonflower shop.  The fabrics will be available for sale soon.


Floral Hex Cheater Quilt Mock-up

Fall Color Gingko Style

This weeks's contest at Spoonflower is based on fall leaves.  There is no fall season here in Senegal, just wet season, dry season and harmattan, that is, the winds that blow in from the Sahara.  But my body still remembers the rthymns of the seasons from further north and the beauty of autumn leaves.  For Gingko Leaves on Bright Magenta and Blue, I used a yellow ginko leaf I scanned some time ago over a colorful watercolor background as my entry.  Please condsider voting in this week's contest.
Another variation on the ginko leaf design, Yellow Ginkgo Leaves, is also available.

Day of the Dead Art

I am participating again with a Spoonflower contest.  The theme of this contest is Ghosts and so I have submitted a design based on the Day of the Dead celebration from Mexico called Day of the Dead Dancing Ghosts.  This celebration is a rememberance of the ancestors who have died.  The dead are considered to be partying with the living during this festival.  Please consider voting in the contest.
At the bottom are two ATCs which are my interpretation of sugar skulls. Sugar skulls are used to represent the deceased.  Smaller skulls represent children and larger adults. You can learn how to make real sugar skulls here.

Starry Night

This week's contest entry is Seven Sisters in Purple Space for the Constellations contest on Spoonflower. The Seven Sisters is another name for the constellation also known as the Pleiades or M45.  I have drawn a stylized set of the stars in the constellation and layered them in different directions.  Please consider voting for me.

Designing for Shoes!

This week's Spoonflower fabric contest is to design a geometric print in a small scale suitable for shoes.  The winners get custom made shoes from Milk and Honey!  This is the mock up I made with my fabric design using one of their shoe templates. It is just to give you an idea of how the design might look, the real deal will not look exactly like this.  Please consider voting for me.

Nostalgia: Brookside Gardens Fabric Design

I spent around ten years living in the Washington DC Metro area.  During that time one of my favorite places to go was Brookside Gardens.  Really, I love the entire extended Wheaton Regional Park.  I have taken many pictures there, including this one of the Japanese Tea House shown below.  When I read about the Spoonflower competition Kuler Spaces I knew that this would probably be the space I chose to explore.  I have been meaning to create some art with this garden as inspiration and this was an opportunity to do something really novel.  The background of the fabric is taken from the woven reeds/sticks that make of the ceiling of the teahouse.  I used the photo below as well as photos of flowers from the garden, turtles from the pond, swallows that I saw flitting around the teahouse and of course the Japanese Maple.
Adobe's Kuler program picks a selection of colors based on a photograph. The Spoonflower contest requires the designer to use only the color palette from their photo in the fabric design. The Kuler program is a fun toy to play with and there is an iPad and a browser based version of the software.   Because there was no other theme this week's contest is one of the most diverse group of entries I have seen.   Please consider voting.

Brookside Gardens

 



The color pallete selected by Kuler from my photograph



A Little Rococco

Its time for another Spoonflower fabric design contest.  The theme this week is fashion fabrics.  This seems like an incredibly open-ended contest and I expect many entries with some very different takes on 'fashion.'  I decided to focus my design on the fashionable hats and hairstyles of 18th Century Europe and really concentrated on France in particular. I limited my palette (color selection) and tried to capture a torn paper look for each of the portraits.

Another fabric design contest is up an running on Connecting Threads, a quilting fabric vendor.  Connecting Threads asked artists to submit designs with no particular theme in mind and artists could submit as many designs as they like.  Five winning artists will then create a collection based on the winning design.  I submitted three designs, the one below, the Moroccan Tiles print from the previous post and Garden Path with Chickens.  My designs are on page 20 under 'All Categories.'

  Thanks for taking the time to vote!

Horses, Pegasi and Unicorns

Every Little Pony Across the Desert

Every Little Pony at Her Own Speed

My ability to design fabrics is curtailed over the summer while I have the kids at home and we are traveling.  I really wanted to enter the Horses contest on Spoonflower.  I have two designs--one a sporty, stripey design influenced  by My Little Pony, the other design places the horses in the desert and is inspired  by 70's pop music.  The desert design is the one I entered into the weekly contest.