#SpoonChallenge: Urban Landscape

In my part of the world, all roads lead  to Oklahoma City whose urban landscape is constantly changing. 

"Ode to the Spatula"

That ever present kitchen utensil . . . one that we cannot live without  . . . certainly deserves its own surface designs, don't you think?  This video clip features Spoonflower faux suede swatches printed with spatulas and coordinating designs.  "Ode to the Spatula"  Check it out on Spoonflower.

#SpoonChallenge: Fish

#SpoonChallenge: Cat

"Willow Blue" on Spoonflower

"Willow Blue" printed on Spoonflower cotton poplin

My newest collection on Spoonflower is "Willow Blue."  It's a small collection based on my stylized drawing of a willow tree.  I converted this drawing into a digital brush and stayed with a palette of three colors: white and two shades of blue.  The above picture shows Spoonflower 8x8 fabric swatches printed on cotton poplin.  This design is also available on gift wrap and wallpaper.

#SpoonChallenge: Beetles

#SpoonChallenge: Hedgehog

#SpoonChallenge: Platypus

En Garde!

When my son was small, he was interested in knights and castles.  One Christmas we bought him miniature knights as a gift.  Now his sons have the collection.  I made a playmat for the knights by stitching together 8x8 swatches of Spoonflower basic cotton Ultra from my "Castle Gray" collection on Spoonflower.

The back side of the playmat is "Jacob's Ladders on Black"  printed on Spoonflower faux suede.

En garde!

#SpoonChallenge: Toast

Krussimages and "The Man with the Blue Feather"

"The Man with the Blue Feather"  (sounds like the title for a mystery, doesn't it?) is a surface design by Kim Russ of Washington State.  This is one side of a throw pillow I recently made.  "The Man with the Blue Feather" is printed on a fat quarter of Spoonflower basic cotton Ultra.

Kim Russ, Krussimages on Spoonflower, is a surface designer whose work is fresh and original.  Also, if you like cats, then her Spoonflower shop is a shop you should visit.  Her cats are often featured in her designs.


This cover for my Wacom drawing tablet is made from a fat  quarter of Spoonflower Kona cotton printed with Kim's design, "Bookcat".  It is a good example of how Kim incorporates photographs into designs featured in her Spoonflower shop.

Looking for fresh and original designs?  Visit Spoonflower's Krussimages.

#SpoonChallenge: Tea

#SpoonChallenge: Arrow

Yellow Dots and Lizards

Spoonflower is currently testing a new fabric -- Ottoman Rib.  It's a lovely textured fabric -- tiny horizontal ridges.  Solids looks wonderful on it because the texture of the actual fabric adds a little "oomph."  This curtain panel is made from two yards of Spoonflower Ottoman Rib.  The design is "Big Yellow Dots on white."  (This design is part of my Spoonflower "Imperfect Dots" collection. The tieback is made from proof swatches of Spoonflower Ottoman Rib from my Spoonflower "Bewildered Rhino" collection.

Now those gigantic lizards hanging about!!  They are the work of Gail from "TwoBeardsPlusMomma" on Etsy.  I love the lizards' bright cheery colors and they certainly brighten my dining room.  Now I'm ready for the coming dark days of winter.

Gail also has a Spoonflower shop.  You can visit her shop here.

#SpoonChallenge #7: Book

I know, I know.  So where is the book?  Well, books are made up of words and I am in love with words so I thought I'd do a doodle of how the name "Summersgaze" came to be.  I get this calendar every year called "Forgotten Words" and about 10 years ago, one of the words, I think, was "summersgaze."  I say I think because I can't locate any references to it now.  But I do remember how it had something to do with how the word "gossamer" came to be.  In late summer, geese molt and feathers float all about.  (We had geese so I can attest to the floating feathers.)  Somehow the floating feathers and the gossamer that floats about in the sky in early autumn -- those two things became associated.  I know that this makes absolutely no sense but that is how I came up with "Summersgaze."  And I really wish I could find that calendar entry -- I tore it out and put it someplace safe because I thought it was such a beautiful word, "summersgaze."

And this is apropos of nothing but the other day the comic strip "Shoe" had a pretty phrase: "sustained darkness with scattered stars." 

Spoonflower faux suede

Spoonflower 
Faux
Suede








                

A couple of months ago Spoonflower introduced faux suede to its line up of fabrics.  Faux suede is luxurious to the touch and surface designs and solids print well on it.  This picture shows solid color coordinates available in my "Remembering Braniff" collection on Spoonflower.

My childhood home is not far from the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.  My father retired from the Federal Aviation Agency located at the airport.  Aviation was a big deal in our house and in the USA at large during the 1960s as we set our sites on even the moon.

In the mid 1960s I looked up in the sky and saw a lemon yellow plane landing at the airport.  It was so pretty against the blue sky.  It was a Braniff jet ( anyone remember Braniff?) and it signaled "The End of the Plain Plane,"  Braniff's advertising slogan.  Each plane was painted a bright solid color.  (There was even a lavender plane until it was discovered that lavender combined with white or black was considered  "bad fortune"  in Mexico and South America, where Braniff also flew.)

But it was the "Lord of the Bright Colors," Italian designer, Emilio Pucci, who put Braniff in the headlines both on the fashion runway and the airport runway for it was Pucci who designed the uniforms for Braniff's "air hostesses."  The uniforms were the latest in mod and chic. He even designed bubble helmets for the "air hostesses" to echo the space gear that astronauts wore into space.  Pucci's signature was all over everything -- his bright colors, his complex patterns utilizing geometrics and marbling patterns.  

So an Italian created what I remember as the "mod" style in the USA -- bright colors and an escape from the restraints of the 1950s.

For further information on Spoonflower's faux suede and other offerings can be found here.


And be sure and check out my Spoonflower "Remembering Braniff" collection.

Rhondadesigns on Spoonflower

Australia has so many talented designers!  I made the above pillow from two fat quarters of Spoonflower linen-cotton canvas.  The fabric is printed with "A Heaven in a Wild Flower" taken from an original oil painting done by Spoonflower designer Rhonda W.  This beautiful painting was inspired by William Blake's poem "Augeries of Innocence."  Because Spoonflower does digital printing on its fabrics, gift wrap and wallpaper, all the wonderful brush strokes and details can be seen in the finished product.

Another thing to keep in mind when browsing Spoonflower, if you see a design you like but it isn't the right size for the width of fabric you want or perhaps you need the same design but in a different colorway, send a message to the designer.  He or she will be happy to work with you to get the design you want.  The reason I bring this up is because originally this design was available in a smaller repeat version.  I sent Rhonda a message asking if she could resize it for a fat quarter of linen-cotton canvas and she did and now I have this beautiful throw pillow sitting in my living room in Oklahoma.
Check out Rhonda's shop on Spoonflower.

#SpoonChallenge 5: Lemon using text in the design

Colorful and Bright: Paysmage on Spoonflower

 

If you like bright, colorful designs, check out Sylvie Chantraine's shop on Spoonflower.  I have mentioned before that Spoonflower designers are from all over the world.   Sylvie is from France. Pictured above is a throw pillow I made from two fat quarters of Spoonflower basic cotton Ultra printed with two of Sylvie's designs:  "Constellation Car" and "Greek Paradise Cartoon."

The little yellow car button is something I found at Wal-Mart!

Redecorating a Bedroom in the 1960s

This has been a rough couple of years.  I was blessed with long lived relatives.  I know that there are so many people that cannot say that.  All of my grandparents lived well into their 80s at least.  My paternal grandfather lived until he was 91 and my maternal grandmother reached the age of 100.  But apparently, eventually, we do die.   Last year both of my parents passed away within six months of each other. I was fortunate to have them as long as I did.  The other cataclysmic event was that I was in charge of selling my parents' home of almost sixty years -- the home where I grew up.  So many memories.  It was a tearful excavation of memories.

In the garage in a gray metal filing cabinet, I found a Pittsburgh Paints Decorating Guide which is pictured above.  When I was around thirteen, I started bugging my parents about redoing my bedroom. I had a purple bedroom with purple and white curtains and I wanted a change. After all, I was a teenager!  So as a birthday gift, my father and I went to Pittsburgh Paints on SW 59th in Oklahoma City.  He let me choose wallpaper for one wall and then a new color of paint for the remaining three walls.   At the top of this post is a picture of my bedroom revamped.  The painted walls were a creamy yellow and the wallpaper was a floral of yellows, browns and oranges.  The curtains were a golden brown.  I loved that bedroom.  My mother and I took the two purple shag throw rugs that were on my hardwood floors and we bought Rit orange dye and dyed those rugs a brownish orange.  Oh, that made a mess in the washing machine.

Outside that curtained window was . . . and still is . . . a beautiful deep red crape myrtle.  If I close my eyes, I can still hear "Cherish" playing on my clock radio while I'm doing my homework. The DJ on KOMA is saying, "How many listeners want to hear "Cherish" one more time?"  (It was played three times in a row that day!!)   My windows are opened -- there was no central air conditioning -- and I can hear the neighbor boys calling to one another, car doors closing as the fathers come home from work, and my mother saying, "Debbie, dinner's ready."
 

SpoonChallenge #4: River

This morning on my walk I looked toward the west.  Over the Wichita Mountains were dark clouds and a small vertical rainbow of color not unlike the above drawing.  A river of color in the clouds.

Joan McLemore and her Spoonflower shop

Spoonflower has so many wonderful designers from all over the world.  I made this drawstring bag from two fat quarters of  Spoonflower linen cotton canvas printed with designs created by Joan McLemore. The lining of this bag is a design from from Joan's "Textured Faux Linen" collection. It's called "Linen in light watermelon." "Linen Sunset" is the exterior design.  These designs really do look like linen!  Joan has expanded her range of faux linen designs since I made this bag. Check out Joan's Spoonflower shop. You will find a wide range of surface designs to choose from available in Spoonflower fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap.

"Crowded Land" by Su_G on Spoonflower

I love Australian Su_G's collection, "Crowded Land" on Spoonflower.  Wonderful blues and browns, great textures.  My daughter likes this collection too and asked me to make throw pillows from some of the designs.  These designs are printed on Spoonflower cotton poplin.   Check out Su's surface designs on Spoonflower. She's a perfectionist with a great eye for color.  Her surface designs are based on her original works of art.  Check out the zoom view on her designs on Spoonflower and you will see the wonderful details of her work.  And because Spoonflower digitally prints these designs onto fabric, wallpaper or gift wrap, all these lovely details remain. 

Day 4 of the #SpoonChallenge: Landscapes

Oklahoma . . . where the wind comes sweeping down the plains!

Keweenawchris's Pouch for Magnifying Glass

Lori Christensen (Keweenawchris on Spoonflower) made this wonderful little pouch from two 8x8 swatches of Spoonflower fabric. The outer swatch is Spoonflower's Eco Canvas printed with "Crazy for Cosmos!"

The photo of the pouch opened shows a fabric design, "berry_orbits2" by Spoonflower designer nerdlypainter.  

Lori's shop on Spoonflower is an eclectic array of abstract, concrete and geometrical designs with lots of surprises.  Her inspiration for designs is found in the natural surroundings of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  You can visit her shop here.

Spoonflower has surface designers from all over the world.  Visit some of the shops and you will see how many designers are influenced by where they live, what they see everyday.  Spoonflower is a tour of the world in fabric design.  It's well worth your time to check it out.

Day 3 of the Spoonflower Challenge

Day Three of the Spoonflower Challenge -- the prompt is TREE.  I did two -- my idea of a blue spruce and a willow tree.  The willow -- now that I look at it, it looks more like some sort of tropical tree but I was trying to imitate the layering of willow leaves.  Also, it seems as if our strongest winds are out of the south and all our trees have a tilt toward the north.  I did both trees with fine point sharpies.

Day 2 of #SpoonChallenge: Mountains

Day 2 of  the SpoonChallenge is mountains.  I just have to walk a few steps down my road to see the Wichita Mountains to the west.  In the winter, when the leaves are off the trees, I can see the range from our front yard.  The Wichita Mountains are ancient.  Worn down by time, winds, and the movement of the earth’s surface, the mountains are now lying almost on their sides. I think they are tired!  The Rockies are babies compared to the Wichitas. The Wichitas have a weathered beauty.    Depending on the season of the year, the light of the day, the humidity in the air, the silhouette of the Wichitas changes.  The range is loveliest, I think, when it’s a clear winter’s morning.  Then it appears a deep beautiful blue.

If you are interested in reading more about the Wichitas, this link will take you there:  Wichita Mountains on Wikipedia

Can I do this?

My last post was in December 2012.   There is that saying, "Life is what happens when you're making other plans."  During this time, I continued to make designs and grow my Spoonflower shop while dealing with the events that life dealt me.   Writing went by the wayside.

So, as my kick-off entry to get me back to posting on this blog, I've chosen Spoonflower's challenge for this month.  It's 30 days of drawing and sketching.  Each day Spoonflower will send a prompt and participants will answer that prompt by doing a quick sketch and posting it to their favorite social media spot.  I'm posting mine to Flickr and I confess that this morning, much time was spent researching "#" and why does it exist?  I'm old.  That's what I do.  So, this whole deal is a challenge for me. Can I do a doodle everyday?  Can I remember to "#" it?

The prompt yesterday was "cactus."  Below are my 2 quick drawings of cacti.  I emphasize quick because while I was sketching, a new hot water heater was being hauled through the house and the old one removed.  For about 90 minutes, the house was filled with the clanging and banging of installation, enhanced by the constant yelping of our dog, Buster, locked up in the bedroom (so he wouldn't bother the plumbers.)

Not saying this is going to be pretty!  Just saying it's an exercise to get me back in the swing of things!