Custom wallpaper contest

This weeks spoonflower contest is not for fabric, but for wallpaper.
Spoonflower print custom fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap and decals, I know they have done a gift wrap contest before but I think this is their first wallpaper contest.

The brief this weeks was "Floral coloring book wallpaper - At Spoonflower, we like to keep our childlike creativity and curiosity alive. That's why we're oh so excited about this week's contest: floral coloring book wallpaper. Create a black and white design that is ready for crayons, pencils, and markers to go wild. Designs are intended for wallpaper, but previews will be sized as a quarter yard of fabric (21" x 18")"


So I got the pencils, pens and paper out and started drawing flowers. I then scanned the rough images into photoshop, cleaned them up and experimented moving them around and I came up with this design. I enjoyed this contest.

To have a look at all this weeks entries and vote for the ones you like go to
http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=244 
just make sure you go all the way down to the bottom of the page and hit submit when you do vote so it is counted, you don't need to sign up to vote

Earth Day Cut & Sew Bag

 This weeks spoonflower competition is for an Earth Day Cut & Sew Bag, the brief was "To honor earth day 2014, we're asking you to create a cut & sew pattern for a reusable shopping bag. The design should be set up to be centered. Preview will be sized at a single yard of (42" X 36") kona cotton."
This fabric design had two stages, the designing of the bag/ pattern and then the design to go on the bag. Spoonflower did supply a file for a bag if people could not make their own, but I felt it had a lot of wasted fabric space and I also wanted to put lining in my bag.
For me when designing the bag I tried to use as much of the yard as I could, I think there should be very little wastage if something is for earth day. The bag is lined for strength and has no seams on the bottom again for strength. The straps are wider so they don't cut into your shoulders when been used, I may even add a light-weight wadding/ batting to them give them extra support and comfort.
For the design on the bag, I used the crocheted hexagon I had been playing with recently (I posted about last month) and decided to scan them into photoshop. I had to do this many thing as what looks like a good hexagon when scanned for some reason does not always look like a hexagon or the stitches do not show nicely. I played with the scanned hexagons for several hours and created a few different fabric prints I was happy with to use on the bag. I also played with the colour a little, keeping with earth day theme I wanted a "green bag" that was green!
I have ordered the fabric and I am waiting for it to arrive to see how it looks when printed. I will make the bag and post a "how to" when it comes.
To vote for my bag or to see/ vote for the other bags in the competition click the link below http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=243 there are some really nice designs. You can vote for as many as you like (only 1 vote per person) just make sure you go all the way down to the bottom of the page and hit submit when you do vote so it is counted (you don't need to sign up to vote)

Lilies

This weeks contest at Spoonflower is "Lilies". The brief for the contest was "Since ancient Grecian times, lilies have been a symbol of virtue and beauty. We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as a quarter yards (21" x 18") To vote in this weeks contest go to http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=242http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=242    You can vote for as many as you like no need to sign in

This is my entry just called "Lilies" they are tiger lilies, to be honest I could not remember what type of lily they were when I was naming the fabric, I just really like these orange lilies with the dark spots. They were drawn using a pen and tablet in photoshop, I really enjoyed drawing the spots  I have not forgotten about my hexagons I am trying to find a way of using them in next weeks contest.

Since ancient Grecian times, lilies have been a symbol of virtue and beauty. We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18"). - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

Since ancient Grecian times, lilies have been a symbol of virtue and beauty. We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18"). - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

Since ancient Grecian times, lilies have been a symbol of virtue and beauty. We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18"). - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

Since ancient Grecian times, lilies have been a symbol of virtue and beauty. We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18"). - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

Since ancient Grecian times, lilies have been a symbol of virtue and beauty. We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18"). - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18") - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

We're welcoming Easter and the spring season with a contest celebrating one of our favorite flowers. Previews will be sized as quarter yards (21" x 18") - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.UqLjonZf.dpuf

Fabric Design Challenges

Restricted Palette for Whales Contest

In my last post I said I was not teaching this month as its the Easter break (a long break....), so I am concentrating on designing/ making and finishing items, plus having some fun by doing some challenges. So I am trying to enter the 4 challenges/ contests this month (1 each week) that spoonflower.com set on their site. The theme of this weeks contest is fabrics celebrating "whales" Here are the the instructions - All designs submitted have to use a restricted palette chosen by spoonflower (the pic shows the 4 colours and white), designs may include white but not black and will be displayed at 21" X 18" (a fat quarter)

This week, contestants used a restricted jewel-toned color palette to celebrate the most fascinating and magnificent sea creatures - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/#sthash.dXz9lSNq.dpuf

This week, contestants used a restricted jewel-toned color palette to celebrate the most fascinating and magnificent sea creatures - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/#sthash.dXz9lSNq.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. All designs submitted must use a restricted palette, visible below. Previews will be shown at (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry is April 1st, 2014. Designs may include white, but should not include black. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. All designs submitted must use a restricted palette, visible below. Previews will be shown at (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry is April 1st, 2014. Designs may include white, but should not include black. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. All designs submitted must use a restricted palette, visible below. Previews will be shown at (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry is April 1st, 2014. Designs may include white, but should not include black. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

Spoonflower cofounder Stephen Fraser is predicting that whales are going to be huge in 2014. All designs submitted must use a restricted palette, visible below. Previews will be shown at (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry is April 1st, 2014. Designs may include white, but should not include black. - See more at: http://blog.spoonflower.com/upcoming-spoonflower-contests.html#sthash.MmlO5a6J.dpuf

This is my entry called "Going Down" these whales are narwhals also known as the unicorn of the sea. The palette was a definitely a challenge but I enjoyed doing this design and got to use my pen and tablet, I drew the whales in photoshop (its not just for photo editing) I normally outline using real pens and paper and scan into photoshop, to tidy the drawings and colour them, but as I said I decided to have fun/ challenges and work in a different way. In fact this way was much quicker.
You can see this and the other designs entered into this weeks contest at http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=241

You can vote for as many or as few entries as you like (you can even vote for me) or just have a look, no need to sign in or join to vote. Note: you have to go all the way down to the end entry to confirm your vote/ s, there are lots of great entries this week. It so interesting to see how using the same theme and colours so many different ideas are produced.
Now I have voted and are onto next weeks challenge "lilies"