Burlap & Azure

Also proofed and in the shop are the new colours for Arabica Cherry: Burlap and Azure!

This repeat design was made using botanical drawings of the Arabica coffee bush - my favourite bean. So if you're like me and love a strong, aromatic brew to get you going in the morning, then you can find this pattern in my spoonflower shop!

Arabica Cherry - in Burlap and Azure - printed on heavy cotton twill at spoonflower.

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Sundance

Poppyfield and Sundance

Hi, have you had a good start to your weekend? I've been sorting out these new designs. On the left here is a new version of Poppyfield with updated, brighter colours and a smaller repeat. To the right is a new pattern which I've based on it and I'm so happy with how the colours have printed - they're so fresh and bright. It's called Sundance after the flowers I'd never heard of and only happened to come across after designing this pattern - meant to be?! I hope you like them too; if you do, you can find them in my Spoonflower shop!

Have a good Sunday lovely peeps :)

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Summer Doves

Summer Doves; a summery counterpart to the Snow Doves. You can find them over here!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Forest Garden

I ordered some proof swatches from spoonflower a while ago - for some reason it takes weeks and weeks for the post to get to Europe from North Carolina but they're finally here. First up in the shop, as requested, Forest Garden!

Forest Garden

This one's based loosely on the deciduous forests of Asia and I've decided to donate 10% of all commission earned on this design to BirdLife International. They work with local charities all over the world preserving bird habitats and thereby improving global biodiversity. Forest Garden is available on 10 different fabrics here!

I hope everyone's enjoying their last little bit of summer in the northern hemisphere. Wouldn't it be great to have a house in both hemispheres so you could have summer all year round?

Forest Garden sample on cotton.

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Starburst

I had a lot of fun designing the pattern for this week's Spoonflower contest. The brief was to design a mid-century print for the Carey Players' upcoming production of 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying', set in the early 50s.

Starburst

There are some subtle textures on this one - click to view larger details.

In one of the scenes, Rosemary is hoping to impress with her new 'Paris Original' cocktail dress, only to find that she's not the only one...

These mock-ups show the dress that will be used (a Butterick) with the Starburst pattern. I really enjoyed doing these; it was great seeing it come to life like that! I've already seen there are some amazing designs over there so vote for me if you have a minute. Whichever pattern you choose Carey Players, I hope you have a great production - wish I could be there!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Pomegranate Trees

If I had a time machine, one of the places I'd want to visit would be Henry VIII's court. I'd have to be wearing an invisibility cloak or I'm sure it wouldn't end well - back then you were beheaded, boiled to death or subjected to some other imaginative and painful demise if you didn't fit in - but I love learning about the customs of other times. Comparing them to our own reveals a lot about what's human, what's just custom and often about how good a lot of us have it today, don't you think?

Anyway, when pomegranates were mentioned over here, one of the first things I thought of was Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife's, family emblem. So my design of birds and pomegranate trees uses the faded colours of a tapestry from that time:

Tudor Tapestry

Where would you go if you could time travel?

Update:
If you like this design, you can order it on fabric, decal, wallpaper or wrapping paper here!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Semifinals!

You may have already heard that the lovely peeps over at Spoonflower have teamed up with Robert Kaufman Fabrics on their latest contest with a pen & ink / watercolour theme. The judges have been working hard this week on narrowing down over 750 entries to just 100 semifinalists and I was so happy to find out that my design got through!

I would really, really appreciate your vote if you have a minute or two :) Click here!

Forest Garden

11th May:
Thanks to everyone who voted and congratulations to the finalists, whose beautiful winning designs you can see here!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Celandine

Celandine

A member of the buttercup family, apparently these sunny flowers are named from the Greek for Swallow (chelidon), blooming as the swallows return for the summer. If you feel like making something sunny, this design is up in my spoonflower shop and available in 9 different kinds of cloth!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Bees & Blooms

Bees & Blooms - Medieval Woodcut

What says summer better than lying in the grass hearing bees going about their work? As you've probably read, these indispensable pollinators have mysteriously been in trouble for the last few years. A couple of new studies published this week have helped to establish that a certain group of nerve agent pesticides are a large part of that puzzle but there are things that we can do to help! Buzz About Bees have a list of 10 simple things you can do, even if it's just buying local honey and scattering a few wildflower seeds on your lawn.

The bees shown here are adapted from my Medieval Woodcut design. I've made a repeat pattern with them which you can find on fabric, wrapping paper and wallpaper here!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

I, Robot

I'd just finished reading I, Robot by Isaac Asimov when spoonflower posted their upcoming robot contest. My design is based on the first of the short stories in the book and features Robbie, the nanny robot. It was published in 1950, so I've used mid-century patterns throughout and the Peanuts comic strip was first published in the same year so I've tried to base the kid's faces a bit on Charles M. Schultz's brilliant characters.

I, Robot.

I was well out of my comfort zone for this one. Firstly, it's a design for a cheater quilt and I've never made one and secondly there are people featured, which I've always found tricky but I think I like. You really have to see the details below though because the yumtious textures are definitely the best bit:


I, Robot Details - close ups and textures.

I, Robot Details - fifties prints and cog flowers. Click to view larger.

 If you fancy a look at all the other robot fabric and want to vote for your favourites, click here!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Medieval Woodcuts

I've got a bit behind with posting here! I'm hoping to do a few catch up posts soon but here's what's been keeping me busy this week:

Inspiration: Woodcut images from early printed works.

Medieval Woodcut Toile for this contest.

Toile Details - click for larger view.

I was thinking of adding a stamp-y, block print-y kind of texture to give it more of a woodcut feel but, in the end, the clear indigo looked better on a large repeat. It's definitely something to come back to though - it looks great on the individual elements!

Have a great weekend blog friends, I hope you'll be doing something you love!

............................................................................................................................................

Update: This pattern won the contest! It's available to order on fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap here!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

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!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

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!#

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

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!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

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.

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

Arabica Cherry..



Arabica Cherry in Smoky and Mineral Blue

.. available here now too!

................................................................................

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

  

`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.

_________________________________________________

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

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.

_________________________________________________

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

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 :)

_________________________________________________

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Love your weeds!

Butterflies is the subject for the new Spoonflower contest with a palette limited to just these six colours (I missed yellow!):



It did show me though how habitual my colour use has become and that's the whole idea right? I quite like that it's a pattern that would never have come about if left entirely to me! If you have a spare second, please click through and vote for it :)

Tree-hugger's Lawn

Tree-hugger's Lawn Details - click for larger view.

This weedy design was inspired by the idea of leaving a bit of your garden for wild, native plants to grow.If you're not a lover of weeds but would like to attract more butterflies to your outside space, there are loads of websites about which flowers butterflies will be attracted to - either for nectar or as a food source for their caterpillars. These small, natural areas add up fast to increase the available habitat for local wildlife!

_________________________________________________

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware