Cava-ing

Cava / champagne corks are one of the things I have trouble throwing away if we've been celebrating - they just seem too well made to be disposable packaging and the hoarder in me always thinks that there must be a good use for it. This one, from our New Year's celebrations, escaped the bin and got used for some carving; also known as cava-ing :D

Planning and cava-ing!

Printed cotton and the final zip case!

I really enjoyed this project - a great excuse to be keeping Cava corks in the future! What do you find difficult to chuck?

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Nilofar

I'm getting better with the sewing machine and it feels really good to learn something new. I thought the panels I printed recently went great with this old denim and so used them to make a toiletries bag:

I was also testing out an idea for some snap wallets this week; the second turned out better than the first but it was very satisfying figuring out a good pattern:

I've made a digital version of this print if you'd like to try it. It's called Nilofar, which means lotus or waterlily and it's available HERE on all sorts of fabric, decal and wallpaper!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Beginning of Summer

Some pictures of sunny greenery from Instagram to celebrate the beginning of summer, a tradition on the 1st of May for thousands of years. Have a good May Day and a lovely summer!

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Block Printing

I've been finding time to expand on my first attempt at block printing. I like the simple repeat I got with the asian-esque sort of flower but I also wanted to try it out with an extra element:

This block is even smaller than the first - less than 2cm - teeny weeny!

Now to make something good with these panels :)

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Linocuts

I've been wanting to try block carving and printing for a long time. Here is my first attempt, and a couple of images of that attempt printed onto cotton:

In the process of cutting my first small block - it's a bit less than 3 cm (about an inch)

A lot more lino than I thought needs to be taken away for a clear print on fabric.

A close up of the first repeat print in red..

.. and a repeat in blue.

I'm looking forward to trying my hand at a lot more of this :) I hope everyone had a good bank holiday weekend!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Linen Washi Tape

A new phone case I made this week out of linen scraps and a new washi tape design; it's great for borders or to add just a bit of decorative pattern:

Phone case using the blue strip.

The multicolour version is available here if you'd like some on fabric, paper or peel and stick decals in all these colours:

It's been a while since I posted - I hope everyone's having a great summer!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Nasher Museum of Art

This week the Nasher Museum of Art is holding a contest with Spoonflower to celebrate their exhibition of works by Matisse, Picasso and Gauguin among others. Matisse had a huge and varied collection of textiles that he often featured in his paintings and the brief is to design a textile that would be at home in one. The top ten designs will be displayed at their Art for All event on December the 6th! The design is restricted to four colours plus white (see below).

Au Jardin

Au Jardin with specified colours

I'd love it if you'd take a couple of minutes to vote for me and have a look at all the amazing designs people came up with - click here!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware