Spoonflower fabric design contest

Well I am very pleased and proud to announce that I managed to enter the Spoonflower fabric design contest on the theme of FISHING.

Very pleased by the fact that I managed to upload my design and edit it (a bit anyway). Although I'm not entirely pleased with the swatch size which will be shown on the voting page, I twiddled and twiddled but could'nt get it exactly as I had imagined.

I am very proud of my design - I like it (which is a good start) and my ambitious large scale print is perfectly repeatable on the fabic size I chose. The landscape is stark in black and white with lovely trees and flowers. In contrast the my fishes are very bright and coloured. The little fishes are hiding in the lakes from the fishermen (which is the least I could do), I just hope they stick it out and the fishermen get fed up and go home.

If you have a Spoonflower account you could vote for me in the contest, however I don't think 4 points would be enough to swing the vote in my favour. Just let me know if you like my design.

Bicycle Clip page markers

Today the postman delivered these lovely Bicycle Clip page markers. They are a present from a very dear friend who knows we are bicycle mad in our house. Not only do I adore them but I can't help but post them on my blog as they are just the thing I am looking out for all the time. The design is great, the packaging too and they are just a "fun" object to have around.

On the back of the pack I found this web address so you can order them online here at NPS - Gifts for all. Have a look in the stationery bit... they also have some moustache clips, which would be great if you know someone with a moustache!

So my bicycle clips will be put to good use as from immediately, who knows they may help me keep my studio a bit tidier... ha ha. Its a shame that in this household there is someone else who loves bikes so I have ended up with the yellow one and the black one... never mind.

P.S. Super thanks to my friend who sent them to me as a gift. There were also other things in the package so thanks for those too.

Kill two birds with one stone

This is a double NICE post. LAGOM DESIGN e HELEN DARDIK.

I realised yesterday that LAGOM Design was not in my list of Web Niceties. You must go and have a browse. It is a lovely, lovely, LOVELY "Modern Design and Paper Shop" where you can buy online. It offers the most wonderful items, lots of greetings card designs and much more as well.

So now to my second nicety, Tuileries. A gorgeous set of 12 greetings cards by the talented Helen Dardik designed exclusively for Lagom of course. At a mere £1.88 each I might have to buy the whole lot! I have chosen 2 to show you. The designs are wonderful and the colours even nicer.

Fabric owls - bits and pieces

These are two of my fabric designs which I hope will form part of my first collection which I intend to sell on Spoonflower. I could'nt resist posting them already as I am enjoying myself so much designing owl fabrics. I should'nt really post them now as maybe the final result will be quite different from what you see here. However, I intend to do a professional job and produce at least four designs in the series and maybe a couple of colour ways.
The fabrics are inspired by my own designs which I used for my T t'owl (see March 2011 post), they are evolving and already have flowers for eyes which is very 70's (also inspired by another post see November 2010), so maybe I should go for a more 70,s colour scheme? I am very pleased with the results so far, will keep you posted.

WORLD LUPUS DAY

Tomorrow 10th May is WORLD LUPUS DAY.
The following is a phrase taken from the World Lupus internet site and explains a little bit about this rare disease called Lupus or SLE.

"Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years. In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs ("foreign invaders," like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues ("auto" means "self") and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body. Every day, more than 5 million people worldwide struggle with the often debilitating health consequences of lupus, a potentially fatal autoimmune disease capable of damaging virtually any part of the body, including the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain."

Lupus is still classified as a rare disease even though it is becoming one of the most commom rare diseases to be diagnosed. Remember that 90% of the people suffering from Lupus are female and that it can also develop in males and small children. A few years ago nobody had even heard of the disease, now I hear people saying "Oh yes, I've heard of that", or maybe, "A friend of mine knew someone with that, but shes ok now". I'm sure that she is not "ok" as Lupus is a thing you have everyday for the rest of your life...Please take a look at one of the sites using the links below, and spend a few minutes thinking about this disease. It is important that we begin to understand more about Lupus, the fact that a disease is "rare" can often mean it gets overlooked in research programmes. There are also ways you can give concrete help by fund raising or supporting local Lupus groups.
www.worldlupusday.orgwww.lupusuk.org.ukwww.lupus.it
www.lupus-europe.org
The symbol of a butterfly is often chosen to represent the disease in the form of a logo. This is because a number of patients have the malar rash across the cheeks and on the bridge of the nose and this is said to resemble the shape of a butterfly. I have been designing some butterflies for a Spoonflower project I am working on, so I have decided to post one of them to celebrate World Lupus Day.

Giro d'Italia

To celebrate the unification of Italy which took place 150 years ago the Giro d'Italia is starting from Turin which was the first Italian Capital. The first cycle stage will be a team time trial starting and ending in Turin. 

So Turin has been making space for the "Corsa Rosa". Everything has been prepared and everywhere decked out in the shocking pink which is the traditional colour of the winning jersey. Turin has also prepared her monuments: Palazzo Carignano (the first Italian Parliment) has been restored to its former glory; the Mole Antonelliana has a Red, White and Green collar on the spire; and the Reggia di Veneria is hosting the start from the gigantic palace courtyard (a wonderful setting). A good chance to show off the city Turin.

Everybody has gone cycling mad and you find bikes in the most surprising places, like hanging on the outside wall of a Hotel, or a topiary cyclist in the middle of a roundabout to name a couple. I'm sure there are hundreds more, every shop window has a bike in it, or a jersey, a cycling trophy or a poster of a famous Italian cycling champion, the whole city has gone cycling mad!

Being a person who loves cycling and bikes, I'm finding the whole thing quite yummy.