I channeled a farmstead in the Wild West for my entry into this week’s Spoonflower challenge, Home on the Range

Yeewhaw Out West is a tessellation of all things cowboy from cattle, guns, boots and booze to chickens, horseshoes and cactus. Yeehaw!

So I have created two entries for this Spoonflower challenge and I am really torn on which one to enter.

My first features whimsical little green men and their out of space plants “Friendly Little Green Men”

A fun design for kids.

For my second I took to my watercolor paint and produced a number of nebulae paintings, throwing salt of my wet paper to make beautiful textures and building up layer after layer of pigment. They were fun to paint and after a bit of photoshop magic, stitched together to make a half drop seamless pattern. I have called it Space Dust

Can you see my dilemma?

I actually posted both designs to a Facebook group and Space dust won the popular vote so Space dust it is!

There is nothing better than an expanse of wild grasses and is something quite close to my heart. I have been volunteering for over 2 years now in restoring an Illinois prairie, back to it’s natural state. The work inspired one of my first collections “Prairie Beauty”

Biological diversity is the name of the game and it was this that I had in mind as I created Blue Meadow for the wild grasses Spoonflower challenge.

I borrowed some design elements and the color palette from one of my other recent creations “Down the garden path” A collection is in the works for this look!

I have moved away from the geometric approach used for the last two challenges ( here and here) and this week gone for a more literal picture look. A bit like I did for the 2020 Halloween challenge.

The prompt this week is From my Window but my Chicago garden is very bleak and lacking life at the moment. So I decided to create my ideal view, a garden path meandering down past an apple tree to a gate with rolling hills beyond. A garden gate with adventure on my doorstep. If only…

I went with a rich lively color palette.. probably because everything here is still so drab and brown! Roll on Spring.

Down the Garden Path

The design makes a fun tea towel

Creatures that are rumored to exist, Cryptozoology and the prompt for this week’s Spoonflower challenge.

I went for a monster of the deep… a Loch Monster. My design process was inspired by pixelated images that have been “captured” over the years. A good addition to my fantastic animals collection!

I was lucky enough to grow up very close to the sea and one summer I spent everyday honing my bogie board skills. Now this was the in Wales (UK) and the temperature of the sea was a bit on the YIKES side but I can still remember the thrill of catching and riding the waves.

My entry for the Boardsports challenge celebrates that thrill.

To Catch a Wave

I can see this pattern on a beautiful four poster bed in some country mansion on stunning grounds with peacocks strutting their stuff around. This week’s Spoonflower challenge is Rococo and here is my take.

Softly Goes Rococo

Update

Stunned to win this challenge, thank you for all your lovely votes XXX

There is something about old keys I find fascinating and they were my inspiration for the Talisman Challenge where the prompt this week was to design a repeat pattern with an object with magical powers to bring good luck.

This is what I rustled up Oh Lucky Keys and I have added it to my It’s My Life collection ( lets face it anything which is a bit out there ends up there!)

Lets hope My Lucky Keys unlock the secret to winning the challenge …hahahah. Gosh that is so corny I am embarrassed to have typed it!

Now I have exposed myself …. go on… humor me with a vote!