Year of the Snake (Fabric)

2013 is the Chinese Year of the Snake, and this week's Spoonflower Fabric of the Week Contest called for designs inspired by snakes. I originally wasn't going to enter this contest since snakes scare me a little. Then I did a bit of research on various snake breeds, and found the yellow-lipped and blue-lipped sea kraits. They look like something straight out of a Tim Burton film, and the yellow-lipped sea kraits reminded me of sandworms from Beetlejuice. These graphic sea snakes were the perfect inspiration for a fun design with some pop. Below is my entry, Sea of Swirly Snakes.

Sea of Swirly Snakes, shown at fat quarter 21"x18" view. Click on image to see repeat in yardage.

I created stylized versions of the sea kraits, and placed them on a teal background so that the blue-lipped sea kraits would almost blend in and the yellow-lipped sea kraits would give a graphic pop. The end result is a print that is fun and works well as a fabric. I think it would make fantastic clothing that people would possibly find pretty and terrifying. For some strange reason, that thought makes me happy.

You can vote for your favorite designs for Year of the Snake here at Spoonflower until Wednesday. There are not as many entries as there have been in previous weeks, but there is still a wide variety of styles in the contest.

*Past Contest Result*
-Snowflakes: Space Age Snowflakes 241/320

New Year, New Designs!

Happy New Year! I won't be making any resolutions, since I already fail at seemingly easy tasks (ahem, Twitter, and as of recently, blogging). I do however want to try to blog every week. I think I can make that happen. I've been wanting to do that for a while, but got sidetracked. First with moving, and recently with the holidays and being sick. Instead of blogging, I've been playing games. And I haven't done much of that lately, either. New goal: one blog post equals video game time. No playing until it's published. That way I can update my blog and have fun. Win win.

I did promise some sewing posts, which will still happen. I actually finished a new project yesterday, so will include it in the post, or give it its own. I still need to finish one sewing project up, and photograph them all

I have been designing, though not as much lately. Here is a recent fabric design, perfect for an after holidays sweet tooth:

Sugar Rush Dotted, shown at swatch 8"x8" view. Click image to see repeat in yardage.

I entered Sugar Rush Dotted into the Sweets Contest on Spoonflower. It placed 26th out of 207 entries. This design makes me happy looking at it. I have plans to do some coordinating prints using the candy pieces. I have also done a Halloween version, and will do a Christmas version for next year. Here is the Halloween version:

Halloween Sugar Rush, shown at fat quarter 21"x18" view. Click image to see fabric page.

The current Spoonflower Fabric of the Week Contest called for designs with a snowflake theme. I went a bit stylized and futuristic with my design:

Space Age Snowflakes, shown at fat quarter 21"x18" view. Click image to see fabric page.

I was making homemade Christmas cards when I came up with the idea of creating larger snowflakes out of smaller ones. But then I found my inspiration for this design when looking at images of 1960s space age fashions. One dress had a lace/mesh overlay that looked like stars. I liked the idea, and decided to create simple and stylized snowflakes for the design, changing the colors for the larger snowflake shapes. The design has a sort of shimmer to it, with the colors used.

Voting for the Snowflakes contest is longer than normal, and ends tomorrow, Wednesday. You can vote for your favorite snowflake inspired fabric designs here until then.

I'm going to stay warm, finish up on a sewing project, photograph projects, and play some video games today. I will try to have another post up before Sunday, when I will have a post for a new contest entry.

*Past Contest Entry*
-Nasher/Matisse: Squiggle Stripe 132/303