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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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 :)

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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!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Summertime

This is an old sketch, one of the ones I hadn't got around to painting, but this week's Illustration Friday is Midsummer Night and so a great time to get this one finished :)

Riverbank

Riverbank Details - click for larger view.

The little beastie on the rock is an Alpine Newt. They live nocturnally in forested areas next to ponds or streams - perfect for this evening riverbank scene.

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Scatter!

Spoonflower entries this week are all based on fishing. I don't think I'm alone in chosing a nature theme rather than the human sort:

Scatter!

This repeat design is put together from sketches I made of Galápagos Sea Lions seen on a beautiful documentary about the Pacific Ocean. As ever, I'd appreciate your vote if you have time :)

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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

miki.o

I received this splendid package in the post this morning, from the very sweet Bianca, all the way from Melbourne:


I started reading her blog a couple of years ago when she was setting up Ink and Spindle, a screen printing studio, and producing gorgeous things such as this:


Now she's busy with miki.o, designing and selling beautiful paper goods. Visit her at her blog or have a look at the miki.o shop to see more!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Java Sea

Illustration Friday: Soaked

Java Sea I

Java Sea II

This inter-island area of the Pacific was flooded at the end of the last ice age and now its warm, shallow waters support an estimated three thousand species of marine life. I'll admit, I often sketch from the telly, mainly nature and travel programs, and these drawings were taken from film of the rich volcanic waters off Krakatau (Globe Trekker on the Travel Channel).

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Folk Tales of India

A new Spoonflower contest entry based on the palace gardens and jungles of India:


Palace Garden in Peacock Blue

Clockwise: Palace Garden in Indigo, Lime, Jaipur Pink and Pomegranate.

Palace Garden Details (click for larger view).

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NEW: See the new colours for this pattern here and the repeat version here!

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Illustration Friday: Beginning

I've really enjoyed the weekly Illustration Friday challenge since I started participating in January; it has brought out ideas that I would otherwise never have had and it's been so interesting to see everyone else's interpretations of the themes. I've been looking to see if there are other projects out there I would love to join in with and came across Spoonflower, a website where you can order prints of your own textile designs that also holds a weekly design contest. I specialised in textiles at college and have been thinking for a while now that I'd like to get into it again so, to begin, I've entered the design below into this week's contest. If you like it please click through and vote for me!

Vanilla Bean

Vanilla Bean Details

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

The book of Enzo.

I've just finished this book:

It's one of the best I've ever read in which Enzo, a canine philosopher, examines and recounts his life's experiences on the eve of his death. Anyone who loves animals and thinking about the larger picture should try this book but, whatever you do, don't read the end in public...

A fitting reminder, especially today, of all the beautiful beings we coexist with on our planet!


All Creatures Great and Small, by Julia Cairns.

Do something to help your fellow earthlings on this Earth Day! I think I'll donate to Fauna & Flora International, a wide-reaching charity working to conserve threatened species and ecosystems around the globe.

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

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware