Blue Rhapsody - my latest submission to a Spoonflower competition

This is the allover repeat textile pattern I just submitted to the latest competition at Spooflower - a competition called "Hand Drawn" - at first I wasn't sure if my design was eligible as I think of hand drawn as drawn with pencils or pen and ink so I clarified with Spoonflower and indeed hand painted was more than OK to enter the competition.
Would you please consider voting for my design HERE - there are quite a few pages of designs to scroll through but it does go quite quickly and the designs get constantly shuffled so I can't tell you which page my design will be on - you can vote for as many fabrics as you like, there's some very nice ones in there. My thanks in advance for voting for me!!

Below is the original design which I hand painted in watercolour on paper. I scanned the design and reworked it into the design above which is a pattern in repeat available for purchase as soon as I approve a sample swatch now on order from Spoonflower - a print on demand textile company based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I have already created other items in this pattern at CafePress - I decided to do those on a white ground or the colour ground as provided by the item itself - as in the iPhone cover.

A Kindle cover available HERE

A laptop skin available HERE oddly enough I sold the first laptop skin in this design the same day I uploaded the design to the Spoonflower competition - interesting......

An iPhone cover available HERE

Below are two items I have added to my Envelop store (they have not been approved yet but should be up in the next couple of days) - a print on demand company based in Antwerp, Belgium who provide lovely home textiles and have free shipping worldwide BUT for my US customers I caution that custom duties may apply for items coming into the US.

Before I started the design for this competition I made myself commit to doing it by asking on my Facebook page which of the 3 following designs my audience thought I should create into an allover print. As the deadline rapidly drew near I realized I was being too ambitious with any of these 3 and decided to enter "Blue Rhapsody" as I had almost finished the repeat a few months ago and more than half the work was already done. I shall however be working on the Strawberries and Cream design soon ready for summer, the grapes I will do in time for Autumn and I think the Gilding the Lily design might be more appropriate for a Winter debut.

Cool new products at CafePress...please take a look see.

What I love best about having a CafePress store is that I am free to do more designing whilst they take the unenviable (at least for me) responsibility of applying my uploaded designs to their products, shipping, gift wrapping, payments and returns...plus everything is done by 'print on demand' ie a product is only created when an order has been placed - each order is made custom - so I have no inventories to worry about and no upfront costs for products which may or may not sell.

The only hard thing for me is to figure how to get people to my store - thankfully social media is helping me do that (this blog, Facebook, Twitter)  and for free - the only currency I am using right now is my time. YEA!!!

Just recently CafePress has added quite a few new, cool products to their range so here is an overview of the ones I like best.

The Sack Pack has a draw string top opening and you can wear on either shoulder or on your back - the Field Bag is a one shoulder or an across the chest deal - both nice and roomy with extra pockets.

A Sippy Cup made from stainless steel so no BPA worries for your wee baby and a Tea Tumbler with a built in strainer and keeps your tea hot or cold - how does it know?

Reusable shopping bags durable enough to carry 50lbs of shopping yet small enough to roll up and pop in your pocket.

iPad2 covers by Brenthaven is a top-of-the line iPad 2 folio with a PU Leather exterior and faux-suede liner in a slim and sleek design and iPad2 cases which are made from hard plastic and help protect your iPad from scratches whilst looking really cool decorated with one of my designs!!

iPad sleeves, Kindle sleeves and Nook sleeves all made from soft, double backed Neoprene.

Protective hard covers for your 3G iPhone (this quilt design is by far my most popular design at this point) and also your 4 or 4S iPhone slider.

iTouch2 and iTouch 4/4S pod hard, protective cases

Laptop skins for a variety of different laptops: PCs (Toshiba, Acer, Dell, HP & Asus), Apple Macbook and netbooks (Acer, Asus, HP Mini & Dell Mini).

Swanky Shoulder Bags in red, taupe or black

...and a Messenger Bag to run around the City with...

Each of these products is available in each of the sections of my CafePress store - unless, of course, it is a dedicated sections like Just Shoulder Bags - :)

Thanks for taking a look, Patricia

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Now THIS is a blackberry and a Bramble Shaker Quaker Pudding!!

Isn't this a thing of beauty? A truly ripe blackberry waiting to be picked in my neighbours garden across the street. The last time I had blackberries this good was when I was about 11 years old and went blackberrying with my friend, Helen, near the Twelve Pins Mountains in Galway, Ireland. We wandered through the hedgerows for hours covering ourselves with burs and bites and the juice from a thousand delicious blackberries. We then brought our bounty back to the caravan where we were staying and attempted to make jam...I say attempted because I don't think we knew what we were doing other than attracting huge amounts of wasps and annoying my poor Mother by covering everything in sight with blackberry stickiness....ah - those were wonderful days!!

 

There is a great fondness for blackberries in the UK not only as something delicious to eat but also as an object to be replicated in charming illustrations and my friend Valerie Greeley certainly does know how to illustrate blackberries as evidenced by the beautiful images below.

"Bunny and Blackberries" by Valerie Greeley

"Dormouse and Blackberries" by Valerie Greeley

"Jellies and British Puddings" by Valerie Greeley

and on that note should we indulge in a dessert made with blackberries (although I have to be absolutely honest here and say if your blackberries are as good as my neighbours eat them plain as nothing on earth can improve them!)...but if you must perhaps you'd like to indulge in Bramble Shaker-Quaker....a simple little ditty, a Yorkshire speciality batter pudding with blackberries. After I had made it I realized it is just a puffy version of the divine French Cherry Clafouti...maybe we should call it Blackberry ClaPOUFi.

So simple: Pre heat your oven to 375F

1. Heavily butter a shallow gratin type dish. I used 4 of the size above.

2. Scatter your berries as ye may...you will notice I added a couple of gorgeous cherries to mine because I happened to have them on hand.

3. Avail yourself of the following ingredients:

3 room temperature eggs separated

2oz / 1/4 cup sugar

2oz /1/3 cup flour

1 3/4 cups/14 fluid ounces whole milk

4. Beat egg yolks lightly with a fork.

5. Mix yolks with milk.

7. Mix flour and sugar together in a bowl.

8. Put liquid into a blender, add dry ingredients and whizz until smooth batter emerges.

9. Whisk egg whites to fluffy peaks.

10. Pour blender ingredients gently into whisked whites and blend timidly until well mixed...do not worry too much if there are some lumpy bits...better to not deflate than overmix.

11. Pour batter over blackberries and then spoon floaty egg whitey stuff over any holes where fruit is peaking through - see below.

Now pop into your nice hot oven and bake for about 35 minutes until beautifully browned as below

The recipe (from an old British Country Living magazine...my favourite magazine EVER) says to eat hot or warm...I actually preferred it cool for when it's hot it's HOT...those blackberries hold the heat!! You can put a dollop of cream or vanilla ice cream on there and I really

don't think it would hurt!!

And now for a bit of blackberry frivolity:

Available at my CafePress store

and a charming and very funny English video that involves said fruit.

Why it's a sweetpea in my onesie!!

Welcome to planet Earth Little Maddie!!

This is a picture of my friend Elizabeths' niece's daughter, Maddie, jauntily sporting one of my 'Freshly Baked' onesies, organic no less!! Well done Maddie, you have great taste you little sausage you!!
BTW 'Little sausage' is Brit speak for anyone or anything that is very cute and adorable!!
To buy this and other fantabulous 'Freshly Baked' gifts for the newly arrived Sweetpea in your life please click here! Thank you!!

Bid on my items at the Maine Public Broadcasting Online Auction!

My pink cupcake on a tote bag, framed tile, mug and a pack of 10 greetings cards, plus.........
...........a BBQ apron

You can bid for the whole kit and kaboodle at the online auction for MPBN