This week’s Spoonflower design challenge mark the 500th challenge for them and this week there is no design prompt but they want designer to submit a design which showcases their artistic voice and their only guideline is “Be True to Yourself”

The prizes are bigger and juicier than usual so it is game on! Having had 6 top ten placements in the contests since April I am really out to get one of those coveted top three places!

So many of the patterns I create are inspired by nature and my habitat restoration volunteer work on a local Prairie has exposed me to the wonders of grasses and this time of year, drop dead gorgeous seed heads. There are always birds fluttering around pecking at the seeds.

Prairie Birds and Seed heads was born

The design really encompasses my artistic voice. It combines both natural and whimsical elements and tells a simple story.

I am a real sucker for a blue and white color palette so it was no surprise that for a design that completely embodies my artistic voice ended up as blue and white!

I can’t tell you how thrilled I would be if you give me a vote. There are likely to be more than a 1000 entries in this competition and finding a particular design on a page is quite a challenge. The designs are loaded in a random order but there is a little trick you can use to speed things up.

Once you visit the link below use Page Down on you keyboard or scroll away right to the very bottom of the page. Then use a Find on Page function which is ctrl F on a PC or Command+F on a Mac. If you are on a tablet of phone you can use a “Find on Page” function. Search for Creativeinchi and the design will pop right up!

Getting my head around baubles and fairy lights is quite something when it is still 90 deg F outside and I am wearing a flimsy summer dress but that’s part of the challenge right? This week’s Spoonflower challenge is Maximalist Holiday

This is what I have come up with: Wonderful Colorful Christmas

I worked in a bold color palette and combined ornately decorated Christmas ornaments with gifts and Christmas greenery.

The design works fabulously as a tablecloth or placemat

and a drop dead gorgeous wrapping paper

Voting starts tomorrow …and go on … you know you want to vote!

Gosh this was a fun fabric to design, Spooky Halloween Haunts

Perfect for ghouling up a Halloween table with a placemat!

Voting starts on Thursday and you know how much I appreciate anyone taking the time to give me a vote!

Update

Super excited to place 7th out of 666 entries receiving 295 votes. This is the 6th time I have got into the top 10 this year and I appreciate every one of those votes!

I am a sucker for blue and white and was drawn to create my entry for the Spoonflower climbing vines wallpaper challenge in a soft blues.

The design was formatted as a half drop repeat which I tend to favor for wallpaper designs, particularly when the design is organic … nobody wants to see those vines line up across a wall.

Voting starts Thursday 20th August … votes always appreciated!

Update!

Whoooop-dee-do, I placed 3rd … oh happy days!

I got 304 votes which is the most votes I have ever received in a Spoonflower challenge, so a big thank you to anyone who voted!

Mushrooms, Toadstools and Frogs … my entry for the Mushroom Spoonflower design challenge this week over at Spoonflower

Equally fun as a place mat …or if you want to be a fungus face how about a mask!

Voting starts on August 13, all love very much appreciated!

Update

I came in at 32 place out of 964 design and got 217 votes… Thanks for all your love!

This was a fun challenge and I decided to give some love to all those dental hygienists out there who help keep our teeth looking their best. I am not sure what all those scraping and prodding tools are called but who cares when they are modeled by sweet teeth!

The Dental Hygienist design is specifically scaled to be used for making face masks.

Voting starts on August 6th

I also created a simple uncolored version of the same pattern

One of my favorite outdoor leisure activities is to potter around my garden and the fruits of my labors are often inspiration for my designs as I shared with you last week. Tropical Surrealism Challenge

So this week for the Sports and Leisure design challenge I designed a pattern with thoughts of cultivating a flower garden – I love Gardening

Just imagine it on a throw pillow on a garden bench.

Voting starts July 30th

Update

Yay got a top 10 placement, rolling in at 7/484 with 222 votes!

My “I Love Gardening” pattern is available in two different sizes, a 12″ repeat and and a 4″ repeat, perfect for making face masks.

I am not a big fan of surrealism and there is nothing like a prompt outside of your comfort zone to push your design skills. I really wracked my brains this week on what to create for the Tropical Surrealism Wallpaper challenge and my epiphany came while wandering barefoot around my garden with my iphone, snapping photos of the flowers I have managed to grow this year.

My day lilies were looking rather fabulous and the Pistil part of the flower conjured up images of a hand reaching out from the petals.

My surreal concept was born!

I ended up creating two colorways and as usual had a dilemma over which one to enter.

Voting starts July 23rd