Playing with the lovelies An orchestra of pattern Pulling you in on one path and out an unexpected route. And these from the Paper Source To make this A photo of the lovebirds to be added on the cover

Registration for 21 Secrets opens today! Class opens on April 1 (no fooling). My Secret this year is to provide you with 2 art journaling games: Prompt Me and List 5. These are games that I play in my classes and on my own that provide loads of journal starters. The card games are presented ...

Amidst the logistics of planning my daughter's wedding is some straight on fun. The bridesmaids had their hearts set on fascinators and when I found this tutorial on making chiffon flowers, the deal was done. The edges of the fabric curl when held over (ahem, not IN) a candle. A trip to Fabri...

These pieces were included in the Begin portion of One Year. Quilty, hand(led), stitched. They feel personal. Holding the art while making it. With both hands, front and back.

We often give away sewing related items for the Spoonflower weekly giveaway, and we sometimes give away design related items. Then occasionally, we give away stuff that is tangential to both sewing and fabric design but, we hope, still of interest to you all. This week's book jumped out at me ...

A bit of watercolor on Yupo paper. I love the way the colors ebb and flow with a life of their own on this paper. It is also very easy to erase. You can wipe color off very easily to get back to the white. It isn't really paper but slick and kind of plastic-y. Yupo is actually polypropelene. ...

Waking to four sets of church bells ringing and birds (tweet-a, tweet-a ... the birds sing in Italian), cappucino, and up the hill. Past this guy on the left. The air is filled with the sweet smell of the flowering trilia - a tree. There is something magical about textiles, no matter how si...

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing licensed fabric designer, Laurie Wisbrun. Laurie has been with Spoonflower since practically our very beginning, and we've been thrilled bystanders as she has evolved from life on the "corporate hamster wheel" to success as a popular fabric designer. ...

Helpless, Diana Trout, 2010 Scroll down for yesterday's blog post on The Artist Pulse by Seth Aptar and my painting "Tethered." The picture above is about vulnerability. Another deeply personal work - although this one is not in The Pulse. I am sharing it with you because it has to do with tam...

Do you know what cranky check fabric is? Ever heard of either monk's cloth or nun's veiling? Would you like to read more about these and 600 other fabric types? (Do you need proof that there really are 600+ fabric types? Apparently there are!) If you want to completely geek out on fabrics ...

Does anyone else besides me enjoy taking the holiday decorations down almost as much as putting them up? It's probably pretty grinchy of me to admit, but I've always enjoyed a good de-cluttering session, and the post-holiday one is the grandaddy of them all. After hauling the tree to the curb...

With Christmas chaos behind us at Spoonflower, we're finally getting to catch our breath, slow down, and consider our own creative projects again. I love this time of year actually, when everything seems to come to a sudden halt compared to the previous week's frenetic pace. (But don't worry...

I just posted at The Sketchbook Challenge.This month's theme is Imaginary Creatures from Carla Sonheim. Read all about it here! Have you checked out The SketchbookChallenge EZine? No?! Oh go take a look, it is filled with great tutes and inspiration. Scroll down to read my first post today, B...

Watercolor splash, ink, sticker words and Haiku. I like my bamboo pen/quill. A bit of washi tape, wrapped around a rock-shaped bit of cardboard, watercolors, a white paint pen (Sharpie). Will I write some with that white pen? This page feels zen-like. Happy September