​I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a hard time these last few days trying to get any work done, the news has been terrible...So my solution today (after a head-clearing morning wander/hike up a local mountain) was to just sit down and work directly on the computer and just play around with colour and vector shapes, no pre-drawing, no laying out compositions, not thinking about collections or briefs, no goals, no “work”...And you know what? It helped! Here is the result, as you can see I just really fooled around with colours and shapes, no over-thinking. How do you design when you’re feeling a bit bummed out?! Or maybe you just take a day off?

I thought my “Lora” design would be perfect for this week’s Spoonflower “Midsummer Festival” Design Challenge (esp as they celebrate the new season in Sweden) because this mid-century modern floral was inspired by Scandinavian design...What do you think? Does it make you think Summer in Sweden?! This design is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on fabric, wallpaper and home decor! And check out all the gorgeous designs at the Voting Page.

Very excited to announce that my New Shop is now OPEN! Go check out what's available! You can find my “Snake in the Grass” Collection which includes art prints featuring cheeky snakes in fresh colours, with coordinating floral- and abstract-patterned throw pillows. And I couldn’t resist, I added tote bags and all-over print Ts too! If you sign up for my Newsletter you can get 10% OFF your first order!

​For this week’s Spoonflower “Off the Wall Toile” Design Challenge I thought my “Edo” design would be perfect! And it made me nostalgic for the family trip we took to Japan in 2018...what a different world we live in now.
If you want to see all the entries, check out the Voting Page!

Did you know that pineconefish (aka pineapplefish) have light-producing organs on each side of their head, called photophores, that produce a symbiotic bacteria that makes light visible? I didn’t until I started doing a little research for this week’s Spoonflower “Bioluminescence” Design Challenge. So here is my “Pinecone Fish” design entry . Do you think they look like pine cones (or pineapples)? Check out all the entries at the Voting Page!

For this week's Spoonflower "East Fork" Design Challenge, Spoonflower paired with gorgeous ceramic maker East Fork Pottery. The challenge was to create a pattern design using at least one of East Fork's new collection colours Malibu and Tequila Sunrise (I used both)! Here is my "Tami" pattern design, one of a series of new mid-century-modern-influenced (!) designs named for popular girls names of the 50s and 60s. This one is now available in my Spoonflower Shop. And you can vote in the Design Challenge at the Voting Page!

The idea behind this week’s Spoonflower “Pastel Cafe” Design Challenge is to “evoke the aesthetics and atmosphere of a typical Italian or French cafe one might find in the 1950s and ‘60s”! So here is my “Party Time!” entry! What do you think? Does it make you imagine Audrey Hepburn having a romantic birthday luncheon (with martinis, of course)?! Check out the Voting Page to see all the entries! It is also available for sale now in my Spoonflower Shop!

“GO BANANAS!” This is what I named my entry for this week’s Spoonflower “Line Art Safari Wallpaper” Design Challenge!
And I hope you’re not literally going bananas after a month of staying home...
If you would like to see all the entries, check out the Voting Page!
And this fun design is now available to purchase in my Spoonflower Shop on all kinds of fabrics, wallpaper and home decor!

Skillshare (as you probably know) is an online learning community with thousands of classes for creative and curious people (like you and me!) I have a Skillshare Premium Membership and have learned so many useful skills from top teachers. I also save lots of amazing-looking classes “to do later”, “when I have more time”…
Well, yesterday I just decided I to start working through my loooong Saved Classes list and chose Cat Coquillette’s “Design Top-Selling Product Mockups with Your Art” Class.
Here is my wallpaper class project with my brand new “Mod Floral” pattern design on wallpaper! EVEN BETTER, this class comes with 10 FREE MOCKUPS (including this one, all worth $155!) created by Creatsy! REALLY!
If you want to access some new learning during this time of self-isolation, I highly recommend Skillshare! If you sign up using MY LINK you can get 2 FREE MONTHS of Skillshare Premium (free mockups anyone?!)…If you do sign up for a Skillshare Premium Membership I will also get a free month too, yay! Happy getting lost in learning, new ideas and inspiration!!

If you have a minute today, check out today's Spoonflower Blog (April 12 2020) where I've been featured along with 7 other artists in their "Spoonflower Spotlight: 8 Artists to Keep an Eye on This Month" Post! Check out the Blog Post to read some fun facts about all of us! Thanks so much to Spoonflower for including me in this Spotlight!

One of our favourite family recipes of all time is “Pasta Con Mollica di Pane” (or Pasta with Bread Crumbs). It’s a quick, easy, uncomplicated pasta sauce recipe with tomatoes, anchovies, garlic and parsley, sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs and it is YUMMY! We make it all the time! I originally created an illustrated recipe for this dish and posted it to the They Draw and Cook website where it was noticed and found its way into a 2020 They Draw and Cook Wall Calendar published by Amber Lotus Publishing! I also turned the illustration into this repeat pattern and entered it in this week’s Spoonflower “Noodle Bowl” Design Challenge (I think it makes fun sheets!) Check out the Voting Page here (voting ends April 14) to see all the entries!
HINT: If you want to make this dish yourself (I suggest you do!), check out the illustrated recipe in my Portfolio or at my Illustrator Page on the They Draw and Cook website!

The Nugget Play Couch created by nuggetcomfort.com is a kid’s play couch that is “Part-furniture, part-toy, and all-around the best thing to happen to playtime since, well, ever!" Sounds like my kinda furniture! This week Nugget partnered with Spoonflower for this week’s “Nugget Couch" Design Challenge: to create a pattern to be used on a limited-edition Nugget to come out later this year. Some of the design elements they requested: colour-blocking, non-directional, bright colours (max 8), geometric, fitting into multiple room styles, design for stylish parents who might lean to minimalist style. And also remembering when my kids were younger we read endless books about shapes, sizes and colours, and played with building toys endlessly (I think we had every building toy out there), plus keeping older kids and "stylish” parents in mind, here is my entry which I call, not surprisingly, "Shapes Sizes Colours” (which I also quite like on bedding, pillows, table linens and wallpaper too!) This challenge is a FUN one, so I would be grateful for your VOTE on this one! Have a look at all the entries at the Voting Page!

Hey, I just noticed that I have been featured on the wonderful and world-renowned Print & Pattern Blog (March 2 2020)! The post features my newest "Snake in the Grass" and "Flat Lay Florals" Collections and talks a bit about me and these new designs. I invite you to check out the POST! With thanks to Marie Perkins!