For the month of March, we're bringing you encouragement and advice from creative business folks to help you get the word out about your creative endeavor. Today freelance writer, editor and stylist Amy Flurry shares a crash course in DIY PR, along with an excerpt from her book, Recipe for Pre...

Things are really hopping in the Spoonflower shop these days! The printing and shipping crews are working almost non-stop to get orders out the door before our shipping deadlines. Then it's home to work on hand-made gifts with the whirr of sewing machines and the click of knitting needles re...

Just this morning, I was making out a list of gifts I wanted to give to friends and realized that I'll need to get cracking at this point if I hope to hand-make presents. If you find that you've been similarly sluggish about your hand-making thus far and need some ideas, you may be pleased t...

I have a dear friend who about this time every year begins gloating that not only does she have all her Christmas shopping done, she's made major headway wrapping everything, too. She is one crazy organized individual but perhaps with Halloween behind us, it really is time to start wrapping ...

I have a dear friend who about this time every year begins gloating that not only does she have all her Christmas shopping done, she's made major headway wrapping everything, too. She is one crazy organized individual but perhaps with Halloween behind us, it really is time to start wrapping ...

Here in NC, things are starting to look and feel downright cozy lately. The leaves are turning colors, temperatures are dropping to extra-blanket-at-night levels, and curling up on the sofa with a quilt to hand-stitch is becoming my preferred activity after the kids have gone to bed. With t...

The Spoonflower blog has been graced lately by virtual visits from some extremely talented guest posters. Among them, and up this week, is Dana Willard of the Made blog and author of Fabrics A to Z (called The Fabric Selector if you're UK-based). Dana has kindly offered to share her experie...

We're pretty thrilled to have rolled out our new wallpaper and wall decals this week and given that this giant step for Spoonflower happened only yesterday, it seems appropriate for this week's giveaway should be wall decals! If you'd like to be entered into the drawing for this week's prize ...

The kids are back in school this week and while I haven't been counting down the hours 'til the kids go back to school, I have to admit that I have a lot more time to think all of a sudden. And when I have time to think, I often think about projects I'd like to make for myself that maybe I p...

This week, we're really pleased to be bringing you a virtual chat with Spoonflower designer, Virginia Odien, also known as Vo_aka_VirginiaO. Viginia's been with Spoonflower since almost the very beginning, has nearly 200 designs available in her Spoonflower shop on which to feast your eyes, an...

We're absolutely thrilled to have collaborated this week with fellow North Carolina resident, pattern designer, blogger, and author Meg McElwee to bring you a great giveaway. For those of you who aren't familiar with this talented sewist, Meg has written two very popular sewing books, Sew Libe...

As an unapologetic lover of pretty dresses, I was really intrigued to have a copy of Famous Frocks land on my desk recently, courtesy of the kind folks at Chronicle Books. In this book, authors Sara Alm and Hannah McDevitt have curated a collection of 20 dresses ranging from the 1930's (Bette...

I've often joked to my more sporty friends that summer is my indoor season here in sunny and humid North Carolina. It's hard for me to get motivated to even open the front door when temperatures are in the upper 90's and 100's as they have been lately. The garden gets super weedy for a couple ...

Happy Fourth of July to all our American peeps! This week's giveaway is being brought to you from the beautiful Smoky Mountains in Tennesse where Stephen and I are visiting family this week. Despite record-breaking hot temperatures (and no air-conditioning!) we've been keeping cool in an ic...

Gingher 7-1/2-Inch Pinking Shears, 8-Inch Knife Edge Dressmaker's Shears & 4-Inch Featherweight Thread Clippers We're big fans of quality sewing tools around here. There's nothing more ruinous to the happy experience of creating something you're excited about than working with shoddy tools --...

Voting in the final round of the Fabric8 contest, a competition from Spoonflower and Robert Kaufman Fabrics to discover a handful of the world's best amateur textile designers, is pretty much wrapped up. We'll announce the winner on Thursday. If you'd like a closer look at the seven coordinates...

My daughters and I recently drew up a poster of things to do this summer and hung it on the fridge. I tried to only add things that I knew all of us would enjoy: "Pick peaches," for example, and "Invite friends on a picnic." I made an effort not to write anything down that was just for me t...

Photography has never been my strong suit so I'm often stopped in my tracks whenever I'm cruising around Etsy. How did all these people who are clearly so talented at making stuff--purses, knitted shrugs, pendant necklaces, paintings, or what have you--also get blessed with crazy photography sk...

Browsing all the amazing hand-drawn fabric designs for this week's contest--not to mention the pen, ink, and watercolor renderings for the Fabric8 contest--has gotten us pretty excited lately about designs created by hand. To my eye, there's something so organic, approachable, and just plain h...

People get married anytime of year of course, but it sure seems like I can hardly visit my favorite crafting and design sites lately without reading a new wedding project idea or wedding photo slideshow from someone's lovely nuptials. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. My wedding day came an...

We're big fans of Liesl Gibson's Oliver + S clothing patterns around here. Cute kids' clothes with interesting construction details that are practical and not too frou-frou--what's not to love? Three new patterns have been added to their line-up this spring, the Croquet Dress, the Secret Age...

Back when I was learning how to bake in a professional kitchen, I had a chef say to me, "A good chef never blames the equipment for her mistakes." I agree with her that solid skills can usually overcome any deficiency in the equipment you might have to work with but on the other hand, don't h...

I've been a big fan of Rashida Coleman-Hale for quite awhile. Writer of the iheartlinen blog, Rashida has a clean aesthetic and a clever project sensibility that I just love. Rashida recently released her Washi fabric collection through Timeless Treasures, and sells other charming fabrics thr...

Victory that you have conquered French seams, zipper installation, and perfect buttonholes! Victory that you've gotten this far into the day and have already eaten all your recommended servings of fruits and vegetables! Victory that you can create seamless design repeats practically in your ...

In the same upping-your-online-game spirit as last week's "Craft Blog Tune-up" course giveaway from Sister Diane of Craftypod, this week we're giving away two books on how to turn your crafting passion into a business. The two titles are Kari Chapin's Handmade Marketplace and Meg Mateo Ilas...