Showing posts with label owl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label owl. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

How to easily design your own fabric on Spoonflower


I should probably say I am not affiliated with Spoonflower and don't make any money by promoting their website. I just really enjoy designing my own fabric there, and want to share how easy it is!

But first I do have a link you can go to which will take you to a sweepstakes at Spoonflower in coordination with Plum Print..... You can win a custom hardcover 13x11 art book with up to 30 pieces of your child's or your artwork plus $100 in spoonflower credit!
Just click here to enter! 

There are so many ways to design fabric using the tools on Spoonflower website but I believe this one is the easiest by far. You don't need photoshop or any special art tools!


Start with a tiny notebook or an index card.
With any type or color pen draw a small figure. Think cute animals, faces, flowers, fruit, bugs or geometric shapes.......
Go over some of your lines to darken them in a little.
You might even be able to use an image you already have in your sketchbook.


Take a photo of it as close up as possible, or scan your image. (If you are using a camera then try to take your photo in bright, even, natural light, so your background appears all white and not gray on one side and lighter on the other, and hold your camera as level as possible.
If you didn't take your photo with your IPad or iPod or iPhone, and it is not already in whatever device you will use to upload it to the Spoonflower website, then download your image now to your computer using the camera card. 
Crop if needed to remove any edges of the card or notebook that show and to have less white space around you image.


Log into spoonflower.com
Upload your image to spoonflower by clicking on 'add a design'
Click on 'change colors' on the left of your uploaded design.
Click on 'advanced changes' then on '2 colors'
Once the site has broken your image down into just two colors you can change the color of the lines and/or the background by clicking on the square box of color you want to change, and then click on the color from the color choices that you want it to be. For example change your white background to a light blue or peach. Leave you lines the color they were drawn in or change them to a darker black or any other color. You could even make the lines white if you made the background color dark enough. You can easily experiment because if you don't like it, just hit cancel.
Once you are satisfied, Click 'save'


You will be directed back to your design page in your design library. There you can alter it further with the tools at the right of your image........
1. by choosing design size (there is a ruler at the top of your design to show you how big it is. Pay attention to this as it is easy to misjudge the size.)
2. by changing the repeat. There are 5 types. I used half drop. Just click on each one to see how they change the look of the image.
3. by changing the fabric type.
4. by changing the fabric size for your order. I like to change this to swatch size to see how the image will look close up at 8x8 inches.
And 5. Below the image are extras.....You can name your design, add tags, make it public (if you want to either sell it once you have previewed it or if you want to have household items created for you from your design etc.)
You are ready to order!


Or ......
You can now go to roostery.com, which is a site that is connected to spoonflower that sells housewares sewn with spoonflower designs, yours or other designers.  You can get there from the "shop" tab in spoonflower, then click on rookery, the sign in using your spoonflower usernames. Once there you automatically have your own "shop" if you have any public designs in spoonflower, to see it click on "my designs".
You can preview your designs on napkins, pillows, linen towels etc. and order them there so that someone else will do the sewing for you!



I didn't include any photos but you can also order your fabric printed on clothes patterns at the site 'Sprout.com' by clicking on sprout under the shop tab. They also have a program where they will sew the pattern up for you as well. So cool!

Of course, if you want my designs on the pillows above instead of creating your own you can get to my roostery account here, or you can go to my spoonflower account from the links on the right of my blog.

Thanks for visiting! 
And last week i said i may stop linking up to paintpartyfriday because i just don't get around to visiting everyone there, and i felt guilty linking and running. I really didn't say it just to get people to tell me not to go, but since some if you did tell me not to go, here I am again this week... Happy PPF!




Friday, February 26, 2016

5 random things

1. I have added so much to my charm quilt pinterest board that I needed to make another one... called english paper piecing. They are my most popular boards. One thing from it I would love to try is making this fabric scrap twine....
Or to make these with scrap fabric instead of scrap paper...
Or buy this book... 

2. I have put no effort into my cafe press shop in over a year but I have had one thing continue to sell regularly....
This peacock mandala on wall clocks, throw blankets and magnets.  
I really don't make much per sale but it is really great knowing people out there in the world have a clock with an image I painted!
3. Another thing that seems to sell with no help from me anymore is the 8x8 swatch of fabric for the Bee Queen doll on my spoonflower account....
I love thinking a little girl (or adult) has a little Bee Queen doll on her shelf or in her pocket!
I keep telling myself to get the picture book done. 
Technically the art is done and it has been all completed in book form on blurb except for the last page. All I have to do is add the artwork to the page and finish the back book cover and click "done". It has been 3-4 months since I finished the art work yet I cannot get myself to click done. What am I waiting for? why am I procrastinating?
Am I afraid of failure once it is out there?
sometimes i think I should redo the art as it's not quite right...
I just don't know.
Maybe saying this "out loud" on here will force me to get with it and finish it.....
we shall see!?!

4. I have been painting daily again!
But i don't have them photographed to show yet, except this little guy...
My latest addition to my etsy shop is here.
I painted this little owl named Worsted a year ago and kept him in the box with the other painted stones but I never photographed him or listed him. He's been biding his time in the dark but now he needs to go out into the world. Maybe he was just a slow learner or maybe he had failure to launch but I think he is finally ready now. 



5. The winter here in the Fingerlakes region of NY has been very mild but we did get a storm recently.
The roads were really bad but it was beautiful.
My photos don't do it justice at all. The best parts of the road are too dangerous to stop for a photograph because there's no place to pull over on the side. These were taken a day after the storm and bad roads...
It was like driving through a glass forest with bright sun shining through it. and then snow on top of that!
so pretty....










Thursday, November 13, 2014

Day 13

Another day of Art Every Day Month. 
I sketched quick little drawings of animals from internet photos.
The Giraffes and deer were fun...
 i also sketched two tigers but they turned out so bad i cant even show you...really bad.
The one crooked deer was a blind contour (not looking at what you are drawing) and another two are one lines  (not picking the pen up off the page while you draw)....





Friday, August 22, 2014

adventures and autism

I don't usually say too much about my son or autism,,,
well, at least I don't think I do, but today I wanted to share a bit of what it's like traveling with autism...

Travel is hard for my son. 
New things make him very anxious.
 But he did very well on our week away a little while ago. 

He panicked for a few days before,
 so much that we thought he had an infection or something,  as he spent his whole day in the bathroom and in tears off and on. After a quick trip to the lab for a  sample it turns out there was nothing wrong. I am still glad we had him tested other wise I would have spent the whole time wondering if he was sick.
 It's very hard to know, as he has a very high pain tolerance and he doesn't answer questions, not even with a yes or no usually.

 He says "no thank you" if he doesn't want something, but if you ask " does it hurt?" or "Do you have a belly ache?" He'll answer "YES.........or no".
 So like in a pet or a toddler, we use body language to understand most of his wants and needs. 



But after the first few hours at the cabin we rented in Hills Creek State Park in Pennsylvania, and once he saw most of his stuff had made the trip,  he calmed down and had a good time.

 
 We took along a hammock, which turned out to be a great idea. 


When he is nervous he likes to walk
 or ride.
Especially on vacation....
 He says simply "sad people walk" and so off we go.
We hiked all the trails around the lake and through the woods, at least 3 times a day.
  It's a beautiful park. The weather was too cold for swimming most days and the water was not wonderful for swimming either so mostly we hiked and relaxed and sat around the bonfire.
(we did find a wonderful fairy shop in Wellsboro that I'll show you next week... )
The wildlife was very comfortable with us and so I was able to get some good photos, except for the little junco that kept visiting us, he was just too quick.















We watched this guy fishing in the rain one afternoon....






 
Sparkling lilly pads
home to green water selkies,
grindylows and sprites





I didn't sketch at all while I was there.... 
I just felt like filling myself up... 
i didn't feel the need to spill it all out yet. 
But once I was home I made a few really quick sketches in my book from photos...


Jace gets nervous about coming home as well.
 He started to panic again as we packed our things. The look on his face when he tried to get me to take their kitchen table with us, was just too sad. He pulled at the table and looked at me, like 
"you can't possibly be leaving this!!!!!" 
But he managed to get in the car without it.
 And he seems to get better and better at dealing with things like this. 

You just can't help but think he is the sweetest child in the world,
 (honestly, it's not just me)
And as a few people have reminded me recently... 
it is so interesting to look at the world through his eyes. 
To see the different way his mind works and processes his world.
Smell and sound and texture take on new levels...
If it weren't so hard at times, I would think Autism was a grand adventure. 

So, I am reminding myself it IS an adventure, 
and learning with Jace has made us a better family,
 and me a better mom.

Our trip was all over way too quick,
 so now I will just start dreaming about next year.
And planning smaller adventures to take with Jace in the meantime...




I realize this post has less art than my usual ones so if you wanted to see a finished piece of art that I posted on monday, click on this photo....

http://fallingladies-fallingladies.blogspot.com/2014/08/sweetness-and-light.html

Sunday, June 22, 2014

favorite stuff on ETSY

I have been been enjoying searching the cute critters of etsy...


Just click on the link below to get to their shops!

1. Atelierpompadour's pocket fox

2. Gingermelon's instant download pattern:

3. Ohalbatross's handmade bear

4. My daughter, Brandy, has a shop: Barefootbanana's quirky stuffed creatures

5. Hannakin's wool felt brooch

6.MyffinDor's plant critter