Glue Batik Redo

I had tried a glue batik tutorial with less than stellar results but I decided to try it again with a lighter colored shirt this time.  My daughter had spilled chocolate on one of her favorite shirts and it went through the dryer (setting in the stain for life) before I noticed it.  One of the best candidates for dying, IMO, is a shirt with a stain.  Also, last time I used acrylic paint mixed with a textile medium.  This time I used actual dye.

This is the result and it was much better than my previous attempt.

Front Page Treasury!

I was on the front page of Etsy this afternoon along with some other very talented crafty people and artists! Thanks to Eva Miller of KapKa Design who included my Twirly Orange drawing in her Jelly Fish Party Treasury.

Ahhhh!

Just a little escape that I drew for myself.  A portal to a paisley ocean.

Paisley of the Week! Aqua Perfection

Usually I do Paisley of the Week! on Monday but I've been late the past couple of weeks and I was very excited about this week's edition so I decided not to wait.  This gorgeous embroidered bag by Stephanie of Novasblossoms makes me daydream about Carribean water, brightly colored tropical fish and possibly finding treasure there on the ocean floor.  Stephanie is a true artisan and, if you check out her blog, you'll she's always got a project going from fabulous quilts to funky bras. 

Paisley of the Week! Palatable Platter

I recently stumbled upon French Bull which sells uber-fun melamine plates among other housewares and accessories.  Their designs are so scrumptious to the eyes.  Not only do I want to buy half of their stock, but I'm going to see about :ahem: licensing too.  Really, take a sec and look there, it's a fun colorful place and you'll be glad you did!

Paisley of the Week! Turquoise Batik

Gah!  It's Wednesday already and I'm late doing Paisley of the Week!  Let me 'splain.  I have a fave turquiose paisley tee shirt that I was going to do as Paisley of the Week! but then I spilled chocolate on it.  And I've been remiss in doing my laundry this week as well...So enough excuses.

  This week's Paisley of the Week! is this gorgeous aqua batik from E-Quilter.  It reminds me of the beaches in Cancun where I went on my honeymoon.  Nothing but turquoise as far as you can see.  I can imagine capri pants, or a little girl's dress, or a short summer robe or a cute sleeveless blouse.  Lots of possiblities with such a pretty color!

Petals

Most of the trees have dropped their petals and we're seeing more green now.  Aqua, in its many shades, is a big color this year.  I would actually love an aqua,  polka-dotted sundress with a white sash.   And a big old pink flower tree too, for that matter.

Free Wallpaper for your Twitter or Desktop

As promised, ages ago, here are some free wallpapers for your desktop or Twitter background.  You can probably use them with MySpace as well.  Simply click the paper you want to enlarge, then either save it to your desktop or choose 'set as desktop background.'  It will tile seamlessly for you if you choose the tiling option. The title of this design is "Glorious." For personal use only, reproducing or redistributing is not allowed.  Leave me a comment as to which one you like best!  Enjoy!

Daffodils

Spring is almost here!  To celebrate, Spoonflower has made Daffodils this week's Fabric of the Week Theme.  This is my entry, an ogee with an art nouveau/zen flavor.  Well, if that sounds a bit pretentious, it's still an ogee.  It's amazing (and intimidating) how many talented designers enter Spoonflower's contests.  If you get a sec, go and vote for my daffodils :)

Vote for "Girly Mermaids"!

Once again, I have entered one of my fabric designs for Spoonflower's Fabric of the Week contest.  I'm really proud of these cute mermaids.  I designed them with the idea of having them printed to make something for my daughter.  It was her idea to add the anemone.  The theme of the contest, in case you hadn't guessed, is "Mythical Creatures."  Most little girls, mine included, love mermaids.  It was for this reason that I liked the idea of a girlish and playful mermaid rather than the sexy bikini clad kind.  If you have a moment to go and vote for my Girly Mermaids--please do!

Textile Ramblings

I have periods of fascination with Spoonflower and then I don't go for a while. Being a textile designer is something I've been focusing on a lot lately so Spoonflower has seen a lot of me lately! Spoonflower makes it easy for the common person to design and print their own fabric. My biggest obstacle is deciding which of my designs I'm going to have printed. As of yet I haven't made that step. At $18 a yard, it's kind of spendy. (The 3 designs above are my top 3 contenders.) On the other hand you could brag that your design costs at least as much as a Waverly.

The most exciting feature of Spoonflower is that it has the technology to show you what your design is going to look like repeated. Often this means returning to the drawing board because there will be holes in your design that you haven't anticipated. Or you haven't gotten it to line up exactly so that the repeat isn't broken or wonky. I've discovered using the grid setting in Photoshop makes that a bit easier. My Mom just sent me a link to a very cool blog The Textile Blog which is like a weekly textiles class. Textiles was one of my favorite courses in college.

If you have a moment to comment, let me know which of these designs you like most!