"Shaggy Lava Lamp by Luke" on six different Spoonflower fabric swatches

One of my grandchildren spent four days with us recently.  He created a surface design using my desktop computer using Crayola Art Studio Draw & Paint with Digital Paint.  I worked with the design, creating a basic repeat from the design.  I showed him how to upload it to Spoonflower and he got to see what it would look like if printed on fabric, wallpaper or gift wrap.  He really enjoy seeing the virtual displays on Spoonflower. We ordered 6 swatches of  different Spoonflower fabrics so that he could see how each fabric surface accepted the colors in his design.  See all of my grandchildren's artwork here.

It has been interesting to watch the progression of my grandchildren's artwork.  What struck me about this design is that this grandson is moving from the literal to the abstract -- at least on this visit. :-)

Going down on the left are:

1. Faux Suede
2. Linen Cotton Canvas
3. Performance Knit

Going down on the right are:

1. Eco Canvas
2. Minky
3. Cotton Poplin

This photo was taken indoors on a cloudy day, no flash.
 

"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.

"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.

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.

"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. 

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.

Spoonflower Gift Wrap is here

Yesterday evening FedEx came rolling into the driveway.   Our cats scrambled for cover. The sheep baaaad and baaad.   Buster, our dog, barked excitedly.  So did I.  Well, that last sentence isn't true, but I was excited because I knew it was the Spoonflower gift wrap.

A wrapped birthday gift for one of my grandsons.  This design may be viewed at my shop on Spoonflower.  In addition to gift wrap, this design is also available as fabric and wallpaper.

I initially ordered four rolls of Spoonflower gift wrap.  Each roll was in a plastic sleeve inside a long square box.  The four boxes were strapped together.

In one of my previous posts, I stated I thought the gift wrap was a bit pricey, but since actually working with it, this is $15 gift wrap.  It is fairly thick and has a slight gloss to it.  Colors print well on the gift wrap.  When shopping online at Spoonflower, what one sees on the computer monitor is what one will receive. Just click on the gift wrap button and look at the preview.  The gift wrap will look exactly like the preview you see on the computer monitor.

I love paper and once I held the gift wrap in my hands, I started thinking about other things that could be done with the gift wrap.  One is limited only by the imagination.  Of course, the easiest thing to do, after wrapping a gift, is to make an envelope.  The link below will take you to my photostream on Flickr where I've posted a brief clip on how to make an envelope from Spoonflower Gift Wrap.

How to make an envelope from Spoonflower Gift Wrap

One Spoonflower designer has done a design featuring different styles of picture frames on a white background.  This kind of design on gift wrap or even wall paper brings a host of ideas to mind.  A child could use it to post his or her favorite stickers, it could even be used as a table runner at family gatherings.  People could doodle within the frames while they visit.

Another Spoonflower designer has done a beautiful design in red and gold which lends itself well to the holiday season. 

And if you want to test your children's reading abilities, see if they notice this design wrapped around their gift. 

All kinds of designs are on Spoonflower.  If you don't believe me, think of a design you would like to see on fabric and type in the word on Spoonflower's search box.  Something will come up and the design will be on fabric, wallpaper, decals, and now gift wrap.  How cool is that?

Spoonflower is selling gift wrap paper designed by indie designers!

Yesterday afternoon, as I was looking at designs on Spoonflower, I noticed a small package option down on the right hand side of the viewing window.  "Special Holiday Item.  Buy this design on Gift Wrap."  I clicked and there was one of my designs made viewable as gift wrap!  Oh, the excitement.  I looked through my designs and decided on four designs that would work as gift wrap all through the year, not for just the holiday season.  The wrapping paper is a little pricey at $15 a roll but you get a generous amount of gift wrap: 36" wide by 6 feet long.  Plus it's a little pricey because either you design your own wrapping paper or you can choose one of the wonderful designs available through indie designers on Spoonflower.

Here is one of my designs that can be purchased as gift wrap paper: "Happy Birthday to You!"  All of my designs on sale in my  shop can be purchased as gift wrap. 

Now, for the holiday season, you have the option of purchasing fabric to make gift bags or buying wrapping paper with designs that won't be found anywhere else except Spoonflower!

 

Wallpaper and Decals too!

In addition to fabric, Spoonflower announced this morning that it will begin printing wallpaper and decals  using indie designers' designs.  This is exciting news.  I had the opportunity to try out the wallpaper and I ordered swatches of several of my fabric designs to see how they looked on wallpaper.  Fantastic.

Spoonflower's printing process picks up all the color and detail that a designer puts into his or her design.  There is a visible richness and depth to the design when printed on wallpaper.

The surface of the wallpaper is smooth and just slightly -- very slightly glossy -- actually I would call it a "glossy matte" which I know is a contradiction.    

Here are two photos  of my design, Blue River Stalactites printed on Spoonflower Kona cotton and printed on a swatch of Spoonflower wallpaper:

I am afraid of wallpaper, commitment phobe that I am. I took one swatch and applied it to one of my walls.  The surface of the wall was very slightly textured.  The paper is easy to work with and easy to apply.  I left the swatch on for five days.  On the fifth day I removed it.  The wallpaper is easy to put on and easy to remove.  There is a brief video shot of my hand removing the wallpaper in the video above..

As Spoonflower says, the wallpaper is great for people who rent their homes, apartments, duplexes, etc. 

Spoonflower is an easy web site to work with.  Setting up your home page and shop is fairly simple.  If you have questions, there are lots of other designers to answer your questions or you can contact Spoonflower directly.  Spoonflower posts regularly to its blog and  there are lots of answers to common questions posted there.

There is no fee to join.  You can upload a design and see what it will look like in fabric, wallpaper or a decal for free.  Your designs will need to be proofed before they can be put up for sale which does involve money but Spoonflower tells you about creating collections so that the proof swatches will be as inexpensive as possible. And, if one of your designs sells, even if it is just a swatch, you will receive ten percent of the sale in Spoondollars which can be applied to your purchases of fabric or wallpaper. 

If  you have ever thought about designing your own fabric or wallpaper, give Spoonflower a try.  Spoonflower . . . what a concept!

My "Make Me Laugh" Throw Pillow

There are two designers on Spoonflower: Amy_G and Whimzwhirled.  Each designer has her own distinctive style and they both produced designs that made me laugh out loud.  So I decided to sew a "Make Me Laugh" Pillow.

For one side, I chose a fat quarter of Amy_G's "Flying Tin Cans brought to you by Can-Do Airlines!"  printed on Spoonflower Kona cotton.  Here's a pic:

For the other side of my "Make Me Laugh" Pillow I chose Whimzwhirled's "Pick Me" design in a fat quarter of Spoonflower Kona cotton.

Look at that frog.

Lots of talented designers on Spoonflower.  Take a look.

Spoonflower Projects Apr. 2012-Aug. 2012

I recently uploaded a brief video to Flickr showing some of the projects that have been completed using Spoonflower fabric by two Spoonflower designers and me during a four month period.  As  usual, I didn't get as many projects completed as I wanted.  Since the weather has cooled off now, I can work in my little house, "Summersgaze"  longer during the day.

The video appears here:  Spoonflower Projects Apr. 2012-Aug. 2012

I have more ideas and fabric than time, but with autumn comes a resurgence of energy so I hope to complete more projects.  Looking forward to my shipments from Spoonflower.  It's always like Christmas when the orders arrive.

Fat Quarters

Fat Quarters on Spoonflower

Aside from finding the terms "fat quarters" amusing, I am also attracted to the size of a fat quarter of fabric.  It is not intimidating -- 21" by 18", yet it's bigger than an 8 x 8 swatch.  One can get a better feel for a design, plus, let's face it, it's less expensive than a yard of fabric.  For those of us who paint or sketch, a fat quarter of fabric is the same as a waiting canvas.

The above highlighted link will take you, not to Spoonflower, but to Flickr, where there is a 60 second film clip featuring designs created specifically for the fat quarter.  While I enjoy looking at photographs of swatches, I also enjoy combining motion, music plus the fabric swatches.  The designs on Spoonflower are art, after all, and art and music are an unbeatable combination.

Texture Maker

Two great things about Spoonflower is that I'm continually learning something new (like fat quarters can be used for more than just throw pillows!) and that the designers are generous with their tips and information about how to improve designs.  One designer, Phoebe, has a shop on Spoonflower which you can visit here:  http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/feebeedee.  One day while on Spoonflower I saw that Phoebe had mentioned Texture Maker to help in making seamless repeats.  I messaged Phoebe and asked for more information.  She told me what was involved and how to get started using it.  She also gave me several tips.  Thank you so much, Phoebe.

What is nice about Texture Maker created by Reichart Software Engineering is that you can get a 30 day free trial.  When looking for it on line, do a search for Texture Maker 3.1 using the years 2012 or 2011.  There are older models out there, but Texture Maker 3 by Reichart is the most recent that I could find.  Thirty days of a free trial is a good deal.

An example of what I've done with Texture Maker so far can be viewed here:  Circus Ribbons.

So, Spoonflower -- it's really about more than fabric design!

A Field Guide to Fabric Design by Kimberly Kight

As I've mentioned before, there are many talented designers on Spoonflower.  They can work absolute magic with the designs they upload.  Someday I'd like to be like them!

Kimberly Kight has written "A Field Guide to Fabric Design."  Her blog is www.trueup.net. The softcover book, 160 pages in length, is divided into three sections.  I'll get my only criticism of the book out of the way first: there is no index.  Even if the Contents page is comprehensive, I find an index is always helpful. Now on to the good stuff.

The book's first section deals with the basics of design and color, i.e., how to develop a style and the use of color.   There are four different kinds of patterns: one way, two way, tossed, and four way print.  When designing on Spoonflower, designers can automatically put their uploaded designs into a basic repeat pattern, a half drop repeat, a half brick repeat, or a mirror repeat.  My goal right now is just to achieve a seamless repeat.    Kimberly mentions that the eye is naturally attracted to a one way print; however, the disadvantage of a one way print is that more fabric is wasted in cutting out a pattern.   A tossed design, one that has no up or down, is print in which less fabric is wasted because pattern pieces can be cut any which way and the finished product will still look great. The section also covers set layouts as opposed to random layouts.  There are excellent tutorials for designing repeats by hand and also by computer and why we need to PROOF!

Under the heading of "Know Your Color," there are ideas for developing color  palettes and how these schemes can be applied in Illustrator and Photoshop. The upsides and downsides of following trends are included as well as where to go for inspiration.

Another important part of Section One is the Copyright Primer.  It covers how important it is to do your own work and it also talks about protecting your original work.  Public domain designs are discussed.  Also this helpful web site is included:  www.copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm.

In Section Two, printing the design is addressed.  There is an excellent tutorial on fabric construction and the different weaves that are involved.  After a discussion of weaves, there is a discussion of knits.  There are lots of illustrations and photographs.  She goes into fiber types and weights and yarn qualities.  There six pages devoted to which fabrics are conducive to digital printing and hand printing among other methods.  Kimberly also goes into lino block printer and rubber block printing.  Again, her instructions and illustrations are extensive.  Inks are also covered.  There is a section on digital printing.  Spoonflower is covered as well as other digital printing services.

Interspersed with the tutorials and basic information are discussions with designers about the various topics covered in this book.

The final section covers the world of fabric design: building your brand, going pro, design school?  There are also three pages at the very back of the book devoted to resources such as reading material, software, digital textile print services, supplies, websites, design programs, and trade shows.

This book is well worth the price.  I have marked and highlighted many of its pages.  In the evenings, when I'm tired of sitting in front of the computer, I read and re-read its pages.  Kimberly Kight did a great job and I highly recommend this book.

We live in exciting times!

If you grew up in the times of mimeograph machines and remember the smell of the purple ink on exams handed out by the teachers, if you remember learning shorthand to take dictation or using a Selectric typewriter, if you can remember advancing your camera's film to the next frame and letting the film roles pile up in a drawer before getting them developed, then you can relate to my view of exciting times as far as the Internet, digital photography and Spoonflower.

I still find it difficult to believe that images we create can be uploaded and reproduced on fabric.  And all the different image programs available to edit our creations is wonderful.

That I can do this

Tiny bird done with acrylics and  Q-tips

and it turns into this design on Spoonflower  is still amazing to me.  Now I just need to master the art of the seamless repeat or even better, a multi directional fabric design!

Bzzzz!

On Spoonflower, I have group of designs in a collection called Bzzzzz!  These designs are dedicated to the honeybee although you will not see the actual bee!

Carl in his outfit with his smoker.

Out by the bee hives.

I think in this picture he is adding a super to the top of the hive.

Coming back from the hive.  Our son  Jacob didn't like the bees much.

Long ago -- back in the late 1980s -- my husband, who is a patient man, decided to try his hand at keeping honey bees.  He chose the Italian strain because they were the most gentle.  He purchased two hives from a man who lived 20 miles south of us in Lawton OK.  He had a friend with a truck -- thank goodness for friends with trucks -- and they went to pick up the hives.  They had to cover the hives to transport them back.  That was the beginning.

The idea was to harvest enough honey to use and give to friends and family.  Our little sideline wasn't named Broken Foot Honey Farm until during our first harvest.

It was a cool foggy day in November.  Weather affects bees.  On cool, foggy wet days most bees like to stay indoors like people do.  But since my husband had the day off from work, he figured he might as well try to harvest the honey.  My children and I watched at a distance as Carl approached the hives looking like a white bear.  After he put some dry tinder in his smoker and started a fire, he looked like a smoky white bear.  The top was lifted off the first hive and smoke sent down into the hive. Bees began flying out but they weren't too upset because of the smoke. Suddenly the smoker went out, leaving the hive exposed and Carl standing there with no smoke to lull the bees into submission.

The bees went on the attack.  Carl yelled for me to bring him some tinder and matches.  So here are two things to NOT do if you are around angry bees: wear wool and have on a fragrance. (I had been at a parent-teacher conference at my children's school earlier in the day.)   As I got closer to the hives, the honey bees greeted me by going for my eyes.   The first thing honey bees go for are eyes. After all, what will you be able to do once you can't see?  Bees are so smart.

So, not being a calm person like my husband, I panicked, threw the tinder and matches in the general direction of my husband and started running.  The children enjoyed the show from the safety of the house.  My hair was long and the bees got tangled in with my hair which really enraged them.  In my running, I fell and broke my left foot.

Carl continued to work with the honey bees as I entertained the children.  I crawled toward the house.  Looking back, we laugh, but at the time, it wasn't funny.  The honey was delicious, and with each additional harvest, things went more smoothly.  Then we lost the hives to mites.  Nothing was done for a few years, then Carl got the urge to try beekeeping one more time.

It was 2005.  We drove to Tipton, OK, and purchased a hive from a beekeeper.  We still didn't have a truck that go that distance safely, and once you ask a friend with a truck to help transport honey bees, that's the only time you can ask that friend!  No, this time, the covered hive was placed in the trunk of our Ford Taurus sedan.  We made it home safely although we wondered for a time if this was another dumb thing that years later would give us a funny story.  We could hear the bees buzzing in the trunk.

We lost that hive.  Even the gentleman from whom we purchased the hive is having trouble keeping his bees now and his operation is big.  He transports hives all over the country -- California, Texas -- to pollinate the orchards.  His wife runs the tag agency in Elgin OK and we purchase honey from her.  This past year, though, the honey ran out in the spring.

I'm not sure what will happen if the honey bee population does not increase.  There are other insects that pollinate, but none so industrious as the honey bee.

The original is faded now so the scan didn't come through too well.  We used this logo on  our honey
and also on the greeting cards I sold in a florist's shop in Fletcher.


Here's a link to a brief video I posted 4 years ago on YouTube.  If you can listen closely -- once I quit yapping -- you can hear all the bees pollinating the corn.  Carl planted corn this year but there are no honey bees.

YouTube video I posted about honey bees

Su_G's Designs on Spoonflower

When I first saw the design "Manly Lines of Chalk" on Spoonflower, it immediately reminded me of the abstract artist, Paul Klee.  The vibrant colors combined with the design really came together.  Su has several other fabrics along this line that be coordinated with this fabric.   I ordered a fat quarter of the design printed on Spoonflower's Kona cotton.  The colors are very vibrant.  Check out the rest of her designs on Spoonflower.  Her shop can be found here.

Throw pillow made from Su_G's "Manly Lines of Chalk" design on Spoonflower.

Summersgaze in Summer 2012

Who was the person who first uttered, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans."  (Was it Paul McCartney?  Not sure.)  In between life, this is what has been going on at Summersgaze.

First, my husband and I have been in the process of repainting the tiny house.  The poor wood is so thirsty, it drinks up the paint -- pumpkin -- so it's taking more paint than we had originally planned.  Still, it is coming along.  We got the three major walls finished yesterday, with just a few touch ups remaining.  Here are some pics:

Saturday 1:  Out of paint.  The east side is done, but we still needed to finish this south side, then begin on the north.
These tiny houses are great for experimenting -- my husband wanted to try his hand at installing
solar panels.  It worked!

Saturday 2:  Out of paint again.  At least all three major sides are completed save for touching up.
The porch will be the next focus.  Since I want the porch to set everything else off, I'm still thinking
about colors.  But I do know the door will be a shade of turquoise!

Carson

I have a collection of designs simply called "Carson."  Carson was the last name of my grandmother's grandparents.  If any of you have ever done any genealogy research for any length of time, you might have discovered, as I did, that even though I never met the individuals, the more I learned about them, the more I felt like I knew them.  A photograph of Lovina Jane Record Carson and her husband, Thomas Riley Carson, appears on my blog, Genealogy ending in Cowley County, Kansas ; more information about her can be found there.

My fabric design collection, "Carson"   on Spoonflower is dedicated to Lovina.  She was a milliner and she taught piano lessons, in addition to raising her children and helping her husband run their farm.  My grandmother gave me Lovina's travel trunk.  It traveled with her and her husband and their baby boy from Peoria County, Illinois to Cowley County, Kansas in 1874.  I am not sure exactly how old the trunk is but I date it on her travel date.

"Carson Star"

"Lost in Thought"

These two photographs show the design on which these fabric are based.  This lady rests on the interior lid of the travel trunk.  The first design, "Carson Star," is a crop of a detail  of the photograph of the lady.  The second design is a mirror repeat of the lady herself.  Both these fabrics work well together.  The fabric shown above is Spoonflower's Kona cotton.

Cinnamon Swirl

Bamboo blinds with morning sun shining.

Bamboo blinds manipulated with photo editing

Some designs I'm not too sure about until someone makes a comment.  In fact, you can tell this by looking at the name of the collection -- "Regrets, I've had a Few!"   Cinnamon Swirl is one of those designs.  One morning the sunlight was filtering through the lowered bamboo shade in the dining room and I took a picture. It was really quite lovely and I wondered what a fabric design would look like using that photo.  I uploaded the photo to Sumo Paint and fiddled with it until something showed up that I liked.  With Spoonflower's mirror imaging, the resulting design was something I liked. (Regarding Sumo Paint, for about the past week or so, there have been issues with that site.  It's an easy to use site and I read about it on the Spoonflower Fabric Design group on Flickr.  I'm not sure if the Sumo site has been revamped or what.)