Gardening Cards And A Blog Background For Handmade Monday

Hi all, how are you enjoying Autumn so far? For me its brought on a spurt of enthusiastic weed removal in the garden (the enthusiasm is for the end result, not the process :)). There's something about the arrival of that Autumnal chill in the air that makes me want to start putting everything in order.

There's lots to be harvested from our allotment too, like these pretty borlotti beans which will be frozen for tasty bean stews in the winter months...

(such a pity they loose their beautiful ruby red stripes when cooked!)

The gardening theme continues with this week's makes - i have some gardening greetings cards to show you and also a sneaky peak at a recent commission for someone with very green fingers...

Gardening Greetings Cards

Those of you who popped by my blog last week will know that i have recently had some of my designs printed as greetings cards (thank you for your kind comments about them, as always your support and feedback is much appreciated).

Here's a peak at the gardening theme ones, i look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Herbs In Pots

Potting Shed

Flowery Watering Cans

These cards will be available singly, on my website and in my FSD Print And Paper Etsy shop soon, priced £1.85 (UK postage is 60p for the first card but free for any additional cards).

The sets of cards i showed you last week have already started to appear in my Etsy shop and website and the rest will follow shortly!

Blog Background Commission

I love commissions as they invariably get me out of my comfort zone and exploring new creative territory. I was recently asked to design a blog/website background for a lovely lady who wants to write about and sell books/magazines on tropical gardening. She wanted a formal (not cartoony) design with a jigsaw of outlined images - here's what i came up with.

Happily she likes the design. The website is not up and running yet but i'll be sure to give you a link when it is so you can see the design in situ and perhaps learn something interesting about growing tropical plants! :)

For anyone wondering about how pricing works with a commission like this, i offer two options - for an original design which is entirely exclusive to you the price is £30. Alternatively, for a design which is exclusive to you for online use (i.e. for your blog/website) but where i retain the option to use the design or elements of it for other products such as fabrics, cards and craft papers, the price is £15.

The above design was created with the second option deal, so expect to see more of this design in some form... i already have an idea of the adaptions i want to make before using on a range of Free Spirit Design products!

Handmade Monday

That's all from me for this week folks, so its time to put my feet up and take a stroll around the other Handmade Monday crafty blogs, its always so exciting to see what everyone's been up too!

Thanks for dropping by :) x

Cat Cushions, Tea Towels and Gardening Themed Hanging Hearts For Handmade Monday

This week's been all about making things with my latest fabrics... its been so exciting to see my designs in fabric form and immensely satisfying to see the items i envisioned when i first started working on them through to completion!

I have had so much kind support and generous comments from you folks about these designs in digital form (thank you!) and i really hope that you like what i've created with the fabrics... :)

Colourful Cat Cushions

Regular readers will recognise these colourful cats from recent posts about my cat fabrics and craft papers. I'm really happy with how this design turned out on the linen/cotton blend fabric from Spoonflower...

... and i'm also really with the finished cushion covers i made with it! (see photo at the top of this post)

I have used a double stitched french seam internally for strength and a neat finish and i've also added Free Spirit Designs labels which i'm really happy with too!

They will be listed in my shops soon priced £25.50 each.

Colourful Cat Tea Towel

I also made a tea towel from the colourful cat fabric - perfect for a cat lovers kitchen!

This will also be available in my shops soon, priced £12.50.

'Wash Day' Tea Towel

I had a lot of fun with my wash day design and i'm sooo pleased with how its turned out printed onto fabric - really cheery and fun just how i'd hoped!

So far i've made tea towels with it.

As with all my tea towels it comes with a handy handing hook on the reverse...

...and arrives tied up with pretty string and tag -perfect for pressies!

This tea towel is also priced £12.50 and will be available from all my shops soon!

I still have some of this fabric left over... any idea what you'd like to see it made into..? :)

Gardening Fabrics, Hanging Hearts

If you popped by my blog last week you may remember me mentioning that i'd received the sample swatches of my gardening fabrics. Again, i'm super pleased with how they turned out and i couldn't wait to start creating with them!

These two rustic style hanging hearts are what i've come up with so far...

They each have a hand embroidered panel on the front and are stuffed with wool and some dried lavender too for a lovely aroma!

I love the calm stillness of the garden, even though the plants are busily growing and flowering and insects are busily pollinating (and eating my seedlings!) everything is at peace and its such a relaxing environment to be in...

'Peas and Quiet' encapsulates this for me, i hope it makes you smile too :)

Everyone needs reminding to water the plants don't they, especially at this time of year when thirsty little seedlings quickly suffer without a drink. Well, here's just the thing to hang up as a reminder for yourself (or anyone else you've trusted this vital task with!)

They will both be popping up in my shops soon so keep a look out!

That's it from me for this week. Do join me in exploring all the fabulous Handmade Monday blogs over at Handmade Harbour, there's always lots of lovely things to see :)

Have a wonderful week x

Gardening Fabrics For Handmade Monday

A big thank you to all those who kindly left comments about my potting shed fabric last week - thanks to you i've had lots of ideas about how to develop further garden related designs and this week i'm going to share some of them with you!

Watering Can Fabrics

A lot of you seemed to like this image of watering can sprinkling some seedlings, and i like it too...

... so i went ahead and created this super cute design (for scale, this is equivalent to an 8x8inch fabric swatch).

I also created this colourful watering can design...

... and for something a bit different, this white silhouette one too. I am so in love with this gorgeous deep pink!!

Garden Tools Fabrics

If you popped by my blog last week you might remember these garden tools...

Well, this week i added a rake...

... and created this design. 

I was inspired by the number of people who showed an interest in fabrics that might work for men and i thought this might fit the bill!

Here's how it would look on an 18x22 inch piece of fabric.

And here it is with a pale olive green background - i love this colour and it won't show the dirt so much so is a good practical option too!

Seed Packet Fabric

Last week i showed you a few simple seed packets like this tomato one.

As a number of your commented favourably on these i went ahead with a few more, and lined them up to create a simple seed packet design.

Here's how it would look on an 18x22 inch piece of fabric...

I was a bit worried it could be too busy but my OH said its his favourite... i'll be interested to hear what you think of it :)

Herb Fabric

Last but not least... do you remember me showing you these rough herb pot sketches last week?

Well, this week i've been busy colour editing them into something prettier like this pot of chives...

...and this pot of basil,

So i could turn then into a fabric design... and here it is!

This is what a 16x18 inch piece of fabric would look like. I'm really happy that it turned out pretty close to the image i had in my head :)  I think its my favourite of this week's creations, i hope you like it too!

As always, i look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas. I'm also looking forward to having a happy wander around lots of other lovely Handmade Monday blogs, which is where i'm off to now!

Have a wonderful week x

Potting Shed Garden Fabric For Handmade Monday

Anyone else started some spring gardening this week? Now that it seems we can finally say goodbye to the snow blizzards i've felt brave enough to plant a few seeds...

There's nothing like a few rays of sunshine and the prospect of little baby plants to put a smile on my face :)  New life, however tiny, is so full of magic.

Like this little cutie :)

Potting Shed Fabric

Although i've always intended to create some garden inspired fabrics, i was spurred on by the latest Spoonflower fabric comp which has a 'garden tools' theme. Unfortunately i finished my potting shed design to late to enter it in the competition!

He he! :)  oh well, I'm pleased with the work i've done and i'm thinking that i might use some of the components in some more gardeny designs too... perhaps the seed packets could be part of a scattered seed design...

... or the watering can could come in a range of colours...

...and perhaps be sprinkling some seedlings in another.

As someone who generally enjoys using a fair bit of colour in my creative projects, the challenge with featuring so many tools in the potting shed design was to balance out all the necessary greys and browns...

...with enough colour to keep it looking cheery and fresh.

Here's the finished design... do you think i managed it?

This is how it would look on am 18x22 inch piece of fabric to give you a better idea of scale.

I'd love to know what your favourite bits are to help me decide what to develop into further designs in the range...  thank you in advance for all opinions shared! :)

In The Pipeline

In the works are more garden themed designs (you may have begun to gather by now that home growing is a bit of a passion of mine!)

One will be featuring veggies like these tomatoes and peas...

Another is going to to have lots of potted herbs. Here's a peak at the early design stages...

Before i get on with turning them into something a bit prettier i'm off for a wander around all the other Handmade Monday blogs. I can't wait to see what everyone has been up to... do join me if you have time, there are always lots of lovely things to see!

p.s. a big thank you goes out to all those who left lovely comments on my post last week! xxx

Showcase Saturday (54) Getting Busy In The Garden

Welcome welcome to another Saturday Showcase! I've got some lovely gardeny things to show with you today, perfect inspiration to start spending a bit more time outdoors enjoying beautiful spring time. As always i have selected three gorgeous treasuries to share, along with an item from each of the curator's shops!

* If you'd like to submit a treasury for consideration for next week's showcase, all the information you need, including what the theme will be, is at the end of this post.

Getting Busy In The Garden

Live With Passion Embroidery Hoop Art By Sweet Harvey

'Spring Growth' a treasury by sweetharvey

FrenchAtticFin... $24	Clementinyclot... $82	MeshuMaSH $34	ScultoriDiLuce $617.39
efans $45	theBeadAerie $170	becaruns $10.5	picturing $10.5
tribute212 $16	NightNight $20	PearlesPaintin... $44	ellemoss $15
funretro $35	LandMstudio $65	daisychestnut $30	everydaysaholi... $5

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Petite Antique Teaspoons Set Of Four By Little Kitten Village

'Eat Your Veggies' a treasury by littlekittenvintage

STUDIOPATRO $68	LupenGrainne $30	SweetMeas $26	FrenchAtticFin... $34
thewhitepepper $66.5	giardino $40	MandyBesek $25	FrenchGypsy $40
lovintagefinds $59	lahappy $23	MaLieb $99	PrettyPetalStu... $15
msjeannieology $11	photographybyk... $30	thevintagetree... $44.5	agoodhome $22

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Home Is Wherever I'm With You Print By Islays Terrace

'Grow It' a treasury by islaysterrace

WindandWillowH... $29	becaruns $12.5	fieldtrip $18	aromacandles $8
jamieshelman $24	ArtifactBags $175	kimfearheiley $30	PigeonToeCeram... $30
karmologyclini... $115	AppleWhite $10	themefragrance $14.5	MoonlightMicro... $45
giardino $12	FalconandFinch $8	regularhome $15	roughfusion $32

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

A big thank you goes out to their curator's for making such fine selections! Everything is clickable so do take a closer look at your favourites :)

The theme for next week's showcase will be "Flowers" - if you'd like to submit a treasury for consideration just send me a link via Etsy convo and i'll take a look (remember, if your treasury gets featured an item from your shop will be too!)

Have a wonderful weekend! x