Festive Freebie!

Thanks to everyone who's visited this blog and for all the kind and encouraging comments about my work this year! I've made a high resolution PDF of the above image for you to download and use as gift labels or cards, or anything you like - click here to download the file (under 'file' on the top right)! Just print onto card or sticker paper and fill in your name or personal message on the blank cloud at the bottom.

I hope you have a brilliant festive season and a very happy new year!

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Evergreens

Thanks so much to all of you who bought a 2012 calendar and journal cover! I really hope you, or whoever you give them to, will enjoy using them next year. This design follows a similar theme, with just the red crowned cranes and pines making up the pattern for this week's Spoonflower contest (evergreens, limited to just four colours). Apparently the clouds are for good fortune and the cranes and pines both symbolise longevity in eastern tradition.

Pine & Crane

Pine & Crane details - click to view larger.

Click here if you'd like to see all the other evergreen designs (and vote!) and if you drop by tomorrow, there'll be a small Christmas freebie from me to you for you to pick up :)

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Update: See the new night and day versions of this design here!

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Illustration Friday: Round

This is the view round about now from Curiosity..

and this will be the view in around about 8 and a half months!

Amazing! 

I made these illustrations digitally with lots of good texture in them - click for a better look. You can also see some other round illustrations here!

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Barn Swallows

Birds of a Feather..

This repeat design of Barn Swallows was adapted digitally from the original Illustration Friday watercolour for the feather contest at Spoonflower. These birds and this colour remind me of the time of year when the night sky doesn't get darker than indigo until after midnight - one of the few pros of northern life!

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Beautiful

If you haven't yet seen Kina Grannis' amazing video, directed by Greg Jardin, have a look:

 I think the animation goes so brilliantly with the song - beautiful!

Free Shipping!

Spoonflower are offering free shipping today and (for some of us) tomorrow until the following times:

Amsterdam:  Thu, Nov 17 2:00 PM - Fri 2:00 PM
London: Thu, Nov 17 1:00 PM - Fri 1:00 PM
Los Angeles: Thu, Nov 17 5:00 AM - Fri 5:00 AM
Chicago: Thu, Nov 17 7:00 AM - Fri 7:00 AM
New York: Thu, Nov 17 8:00 AM - Fri 8:00 AM
Tokyo:  Thu, Nov 17 10:00 PM- Fri 10:00 PM
Sydney:  Thu, Nov 17 12:00 Midn - Fri 12:00 Midn
Auckland:  Fri, Nov 18 2:00 AM - Sat 2:00 AM

So if you'd like to order the calendar:

the journal cover:

or the new place mats:

you can do so here - they make brilliant gifts!

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Around the World in Fruit & Veg

A new and improved version of this! I really like the way the polar regions worked out in the different shade of wood.

Around the world in Fruit & Veg Details - click to view larger.

They're available as linen place mats here!

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Koi & Crane Journal Cover

I've been working on a 2012 journal cover based on the koi and red-crowned crane vector images I made for the calendar recently. It's designed to fit on a linen-cotton fat quarter, including instructions, here at spoonflower and fits an A5 journal or sketchbook.

Koi & Crane Journal - Cover

Koi & Crane Journal - Inner Panels

2012 Journal Cover Details - click to view larger.

I hope you all have a great weekend!


Update October 2012:
Read about the new 2013 journal cover here!

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2012: Love, Luck & Happiness!

Calendar 2012: Love, Luck & Happiness

Calendar Details - click to zoom.

I finished this calendar just in time for this! It turns out my helper, although brilliant in her field, isn't so good with vector graphics. Much of this design is made up of symbols used in some eastern cultures to signify prosperity, longevity, happiness, harmony and good luck - let's hope they work!

If you'd like to invite some auspicious symbolism into your life next year, why not pick up this calendar on a linen-cotton blend here for just $14 (£8.70/€10.20) You could hang it, make a cushion out of it or just use it to dry the dishes :)

Update October 2013:
Read about the new 2014 calendar here!

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North Carolina Sun

I'm so excited to have come 8th in the contest at Spoonflower, where they've been busy printing this week's top ten!

Printed up and billowing in the North Carolina sun!

Thank you those who voted for this design! Poppy Field in Fuzzy Felts is now available here (also in the white version) on cotton and linen; 15% of profits are donated to The Poppy Appeal. If you'd like to have a look at all top ten designs, Spoonflower have posted them on their Flickr page here!

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Koi & Crane

Another couple of vector images from my latest project:

Koi & Crane

I've based the crane on the Red-Crowned Crane which, although endangered through loss of habitat, has been increasing in numbers over the second half of last century. These beautiful birds have an elaborate courtship dance (involving throwing grass in the air!) and pair for life.

Red Crowned Crane by Roy Toft

While looking for inspiration I came across this photo of calling cranes on Hokkaido Island by the fantastic wildlife photographer Roy Toft. Have a look at more of his incredible work here and here!

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Fuzzy Felt

In observance of Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the US), the subject at Spoonflower this week is military. I immediately thought of the poppies worn in countries around the globe to support soldiers and their families on the anniversary of the armistice. I also found out that fuzzy felts were invented by Lois Allan while manufacturing felt gaskets during the second world war. Without wanting to trivialize the subject, this tied in too well to resist and so Poppy Field in Fuzzy Felts was born:

Poppy Field in Fuzzy Felts

Fuzzy Felt texture details - click to view larger.

If you like fuzzy felts, poppies, the military or even my design, head on over to the contest page to vote - 15% of the proceeds from this design go to The Poppy Appeal!#

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One!

Forest & Sea is one year old today - hurray!

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

State of mind

This gorgeous girl's been helping me achieve the right state of mind for my latest project. As you can see, she's an expert in attaining tranquility through meditation:

She's also pretty good at yoga; here she is practicing her Chakrasana:

She takes students on Wednesday mornings if anyone's interested :)

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Eastern Zen

A preview detail of some Eastern Zen I'm working on at the moment:

Have a good weekend everyone!

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Scatter!

Scatter!

Scatter! A design with Galápagos Sea Lions; new, improved and available on linen and cotton at the Forest & Sea Spoonflower page!

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Update 2014: See the new version of the sea lions here!

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Winter Sleep

Winter Sleep

A screen print / Gocco style version of Winter Sleep. I've never used a Print Gocco but I liked vectorizing the squidgy ink edges of the elements.

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Illustration Friday - Hibernate

Winter Sleep

Click for larger view.

I think I'll feel like giving this a go when this amazing Indian Summer is over and the cold weather arrives.

While reading up for this illustration, I read that a bonfire pile is heaven to a hedgehog looking for a place to hibernate. If you're celebrating Bonfire Night at home next month there are some good tips to avoid a grisly end for them and the other wildlife in your garden here.

You can have a look at all the other Hibernate illustrations here!

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Ditsy

At Spoonflower this week everyone's designing ditsy prints. I was definitely getting into the spirit of it and being really ditsy.. and indecisive but that's normal :) I did a lot of drawing and painting, toing and froing, and found ditsy prints are quite hard to keep fresh and will happily evolve into your gran's old wallpaper if you don't keep your eye on them.


See?

I decided to simplify the colours and here's what I came up with:

Summer Meadow

Click the details for a bigger image.

Have a look at the other designs and vote for some good ones here!

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Northern Autumn, Southern Spring

Northern Autumn, Southern Spring

A limited palette (3-colour plus white) design for the Autumn contest. The background is grey - my 3rd colour - with a white pattern that's ended up looking quite warm and felty. If you have a sec, vote here!

Northern Autumn, Southern Spring Repeat.

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Into the Blue

Into the blue.

Click to view larger image.

These birds are soaring into the Spoonflower blue! This colour is so reminiscent of the 50's and 60's, I used a pattern of white dots to shade the clouds that many pop artists used in that era. This contest was palette limited to black and white, spoonflower blue and one other colour.

See the other entries and choose your favourites here!

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A new background.

Back in March, I submitted a design for the Joseph Joseph brief. You can see the winning designs here and, although mine isn't among them, I was happy with it. It was the first time I'd used vector graphics and really enjoyed learning on this design but was never satisfied with the blue background (put in at the last minute as a bit of a rush job) so I've updated it to something more me: 

A la Carte on Wood.

I think it makes the fruit and veg colours stand out much better and looks more in context laid out on the chopping board, although it's a weird old mix of photo and vector; still, I like it! Especially the new shadows, which you can see better in the details below. It's a happy coincidence that the crack in the board ended up pretty much on the date line :)

Click for detailed view.

I'm sure I can use it for something kitchen related. I was thinking a calendar or placemats; anyone got any other ideas?

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And best of all ... it's free!

All these designs are available on a free swatch from now until noon tomorrow EST (5pm London time, 6pm Amsterdam time) including free delivery! The swatches are 20 cm x 20 cm (8" x 8"), so big enough to do something useful with. Read more about it here!

Free Swatches at Forest & Sea! Click for larger image.

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Arabica Cherry..



Arabica Cherry in Smoky and Mineral Blue

.. available here now too!

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Also New..

.. and available at Forest & Sea on Spoonflower:

Scatter! Shown here on Linen-Cotton Canvas.

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Update 2014: See the new version of the sea lions here!

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Forest & Sea ▪ www.etsy.com/shop/ForestAndSea

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Forest & Sea @ Spoonflower

Now available at Forest & Sea on Spoonflower:

Palace Garden in Peacock Blue, Lime and Jaipur Pink

Palace Garden in Indigo and Pomegranate

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`Apapanes and `Ōhi'a Lehua Blossom

`Apapanes and `Ōhi'a Lehua Blossom for this week's contest at Spoonflower.

`Ōhi'a Lehua trees are amazing: they grow right out of the bare lava on the Hawaiian islands. They're also the main nectar source for `Apapane birds, a type of honeycreeper whose feathers match the colour of the tree's flowers exactly. In this design the grey background represents the lava plain and the top and bottom borders are for the volcanoes and famous ocean surf of Hawaii.

This was made for the Hawaiian contest at Spoonflower that was palette limited to just 3 colours (+ white). You can have a look at all the entries and vote for your favourites here, read more about the birds here or visit the Forest & Sea page on Spoonflower here! I hope everyone's having a good week.

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Taoyuan, Taiwan!

Google Street View is such a great tool but it never occurred to me to paint from it before I found this ingenious contest.

Taoyuan County, Taiwan. Click for larger image.

I came across some amazing views and finally chose this one; it's the Dahan River Valley in Taoyuan County, Taiwan. What cinched it for me was the cloud fall over the mountains (top left) and terraced fields (left bank). The Chinese characters say Taiwan.

Have a look at some amazing entries and leave a comment for your favourites right here!

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For Sale...

... never-ending yards of Palace Garden in Peacock Blue! Available at Forest&Sea on Spoonflower.

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

IF - Perennial

Arabica Cherry in Red.

Arabica Cherry Details (in Smoky Blue, Warm Grey and Mineral Blue).
Click to view larger.

Arabica coffee: a perennial breakfast favourite and perennial flowering tree.

Have a look at some truly wonderful perennial illustrations here.
Peruse and vote for your favourite coffee designs here.
Read about bird-friendly, shade-grown and organic coffees here.

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Coffee - Kahvi - Kaffe - Koffie - Café...

.. takes centre stage next week at Spoonflower.

Below are my sketches from Google image search. The idea is to tie my entry in with the Vanilla Bean and Cocoa Pod (as yet unfinished) designs to make a sumptuous group of the world's most popular flavours.

N.B. I'd never have thought it but Europeans drink the most coffee per capita in the world. This post's title is 'coffee' in the languages of the countries topping the list - according to Google translate that is :)

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