Doodlin' Around...

Just thought I would share a little fun I have been havin' today....fun with doodles and circles.  Feelin' a bit geometric.  :)  Happy Saturday!

More Designs Inspired by Ireland

I was doing a great deal of research about Ireland while developing my design for the REPEAT(ed) competition.  My design kept evolving as I played around with various elements that I thought represented Ireland.  My designs were influenced by the beautiful landscape, culture and history, as well as the people of Ireland.  Here are a few of the designs that I created but did not enter.  Hope you like them.  :)

"Emerald Isle"

"Land and Sea"
These designs were inspired by the beautiful hills of Ireland and sea as far as the eye can see.

"Heart of Ireland"
This design (shown in three colorways) used elements of Irish lace, Ireland's Snow Drop Flower, Celtic Knots, and the petals of the Shamrock represented by the heart.

Design Challenge One...Follow your Wanderlust

Here it is....finally!!!  I was so excited for the theme of our first challenge for the REPEAT(ed) competition from The Printed Bolt!!  For my inspiration, I decided to let my design take me to Ireland!  I have always wanted to go and travel around Ireland.  I can almost smell the damp mossy fields and sea salt in the air! Ahhhh!!!  My design was greatly influenced by the many beautiful stone castles scattered around Ireland's emerald green rolling hills.  The name of my pattern is called Emerald Kingdom.  Please visit The Printed Bolt website to read all about my design process, as well as view the wonderful designs from the other 9 contestants.  Please vote for my design if you feel it deserves the Reader's Choice Award.  Thank you for visiting!!

Emerald Kingdom

Emerald Kingdom Close-Up

Emerald Kingdom Close-up 2

Emerald Kingdom Coordinates

More Amazing REPEAT(ed) Designers

Forgive my tardiness...I have been working like a mad woman with Design Challenge #1!  Please check out the other five designers in the REPEAT(ed) competition.  They are wonderfully talented and are totally inspiring!  Click on the links below to be redirected to their bios.

February 11, 2013, Kate Austin
February 12. 2013, MaJo
February 13, 2013, Alice Murphy
February 14, 2013, Nicky Ovitt
February 15, 2013, Jessica Majers

In addition, please check the Printed Bolt's website daily for a glimpse at each designers studio!  WOW...they are creative and wonderful!!

More REPEAT(ed) Designer Bios...

I have not forgotten about the other talented designers in the REPEAT(ed) competition!  I have been running crazy organizing and gathering inspiration material to get ready for the start of the competition!  So far this week, five of the designers (myself included) have been showcased on The Printed Bolt.  Next week, the remaining five designers will have there bios introduced.  WHOO HOO!!  What a wonderful opportunity to learn a little background about each designer and hear about what inspires their work!  Included with each bio are two samples of the designers work...wonderful samples!  So check out the designers links and take a peek!!

Monday, Feb 4 - Me (Holly Helgeson)
Tuesday, Feb 5 - Janel Maske
Wednesday, Feb 6 - Kim Andersson
Thursday, Feb 7 - Rebecca Ng
Friday, Feb 8 - Taylour Beadling

My Bio Debut

Each day (Mon-Fri) over the next two weeks, The Printed Bolt will introduce a new designer from the REPEAT(ed) competition.  I was thrilled to find out that my bio made it's debut today!  WHOO HOO!!!   There are nine more extremely talented and experienced designers yet to be showcased over the next two weeks!  Make sure to check The Printed Bolt website each day to read their bios. I will also be blogging about the competition so please stay tuned!!

Here are the four designs that I entered into the competition.  Currently, Dandy Blue Flowers is available at my Society6 Store.  Miss Ruby, Deco Calla Lily and Reykjavik are all available in my Spoonflower Shop.  Miss Ruby and Reykjavik are shown with my bio at The Printed Bolt.

Dandy Blue Flowers

Miss Ruby

Deco Calla Lily

Reykjavik

I made it in the REPEAT(ed) Competition!!

It is such an honor for me to announce that I am one of ten designers chosen to compete in the REPEAT(ed) Design Competition with The Printed Bolt! This amazing competition will run from March through July with monthly design challenges and blog posts.  I am looking forward to learning all about the other 9 designers and seeing what inspires their design process.  I will be blogging all about the competition here as well as on theprintedbolt.com.  I am just so excited to be part of this competition with so many other talented designers!

Snowflakes and Cardinals

Over the Christmas week, Spoonflower held a contest for a snowflake design.  I wanted my design to reflect an outdoor scene, so I incorporated cardinals, pine cones, pine branches and snowflakes together into a repeat.  Instead of typical blue tones used in many snowflake patterns, I colored my design with a deep red.   Click on the link to see the entry I submitted.  The image below is a slightly more airy version of my entry.   

Snowflakes and Cardinals

One Fish, Two Fish, Bubbles & Blue Fish

Another recent contest from Spoonflower... "One Yard Wonders from Under the Sea"...was a fun challenge for me.  The contestants had to design a print for a kid's shirt.  I had to download the pattern for the Riviera Tee, and upload it to Spoonflower with my design on it.  I designed a girly theme of graphic fish and bubbles.  My daughter Ruby helped me pick out the colors...some of her favorite.  I named my design "One Fish, Two Fish, Bubbles & Blue Fish".  The name had a good ring to it...plus it fit the design well....could have possibly been inspired by Dr. Suess too.  ;)

My entry for the "One Yard Wonders from Under the Sea" contest for Spoonflower.

One Fish, Two Fish, Bubbles & Blue Fish

Penny Candy

I am sorry...I have really gotten behind on my blog posts!  I was so busy this holiday season and completely neglected my blog.  Well, I am trying to make up for lost time now and get back into the swing of things.  So, here is a design I did a couple of weeks back for the Spoonflower "Sweets" contest.  I really enjoyed this contest, and the design I created and named Penny Candy reminds me so much of my childhood.  I fondly remember walking down to the local store with my siblings....money just burning a hole in our pockets....ready to buy and consume sweet treats!

Penny Candy

Nasher/Matisse Contest

For the fabric design contest at Spoonflower this week, I had to create a design that Matisse could have painted for a tablecloth in one of his paintings.  The palette was limited to 4 specific colors.  I enjoyed trying out different styles and designs and finally settled on one.  Here is the final design that I submitted.  Final day of voting is tomorrow.  If you like my design, please click on the link and send a vote my way.  Thank you!

New Colorway for my Love Birds

Playing around with a new colorway for my Love Birds collection.  Decided to go with some pretty reds and pinks....just what my "Sweet Ruby" ordered.  Whatcha think....pink!   I will be adding this to my Spoonflower shop.

I love Photo Card Boutique Designer Templates!!!  This is where I took my color inspiration from for my new colorway for my Love Birds collection.  Check out this awesome site.  There are a years worth of color palettes!!!  An new inspiration each day!!  Whoo Hoo!!  

Love Birds Fabric Collection

 This week Spoonflower is having a contest for a bird or flight
related fabric design that is also palette-restricted.  All designs are limited to grey-707c7c, light teal-83c5ba, apple green-93d300, and pale yellow-F9ea62 (see diagram).  This contest is also sponsored by the wonderful UK craft magazine Mollie Makes.  The winning fabric design will be used in a photo shoot for the cover of their magazine!  I went a little crazy with this contest and designed some coordinating prints to go with the print I am entering.  I have combined them into my 'Love Birds' collection.

Prairie Christmas Cocktail Napkins

Complete design fits in a fat quarter (21"x18")

"Prairie Christmas" is my entry for the next contest on Spoonflower... a Holiday Cocktail Napkin Design.  The festive designs for my napkins are based on the Prairie style of design which I LOVE!  Originally my designs were created for Christmas cards, but when I heard about this contest I jumped at the opportunity to use them in a napkin layout.  Please stop by Spoonflower and vote for my design this week!  Thanks so much!

Close-up

Another close-up

Just Like My Hero

The contest theme for Spoonflower this week is "Be My Hero".  I decided not to go with a 'Super Hero' theme, and instead designed my entry as a tribute to all the men and women who risk their lives each and every day to keep our wonderful country safe and preserve our right to FREEDOM.  

Most children want to be just like their hero at some point in their lives. A hero can wear many hats and perform many different duties and rolls. When I asked my 9 and 12 year old boys who they thought some heroes in their lives were, they responded by listing just about every different military person they could think of. They also included firefighters and police officers in their list...with mom and dad thrown in too for good measure. :) I decided on a military (army) theme for my HERO design to honor our everyday SUPER HEROES.  Thank you for all you do!

Please check out Spoonflower if you get a chance, and VOTE for my design "Just Like My Hero"!  I greatly appreciate all of your support and encouragement!  Thank you!!

Close-up View

Got MY SAMPLES!!

I recently ordered swatches from Spoonflower for 30 of my fabric designs.  I was so excited to finally get my package!!  Here is one of the samples that I had printed.  It is the sample of my Vintage Indian Motorcycle fabric.  Did I mention how excited I am?  All of the designs that I ordered swatches of will soon be available for purchase on Spoonflower!!  YAY!!

FINALLY...found some time

Finally got the chance to enter another contest with Spoonflower. Please check out the link below and VOTE for my design! The winner will receive a one-year membership to Adobe Creative Cloud™!! WHOOHOO!!   The first design was the one I entered into the contest.  The second one was just for fun.  

http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/new?contest_id=162

Firefighter Nursery Theme

Today I finished some adorable little paintings for a very sweet little boy.  My dear friend Lynn asked me to paint some canvases....about six months ago...when she found out she was having a little boy.  She had a very cute quilt that she wanted me to use as inspiration for three canvases.  The theme...Firefighter.  Well...sweet little Gavin was born 2 months ago, and today I FINALLY finished his paintings!  Phew!  It has been one crazy, busy summer and I have been chasing the clock to get these canvases done.  I was so happy to find the last two hours to complete little Gavin's paintings today.  I feel so honored that Lynn asked me to paint these canvases for her sweet little boy.  I hope he enjoys them for years to come!

Life of a Pomegranate

Last week Spoonflower's contest theme was Pomegranate.  I LOVE POMEGRANATE!  I had a great time sketching and designing a few coordinating fabrics for the Pomegranate theme.  Here are the three designs that I developed.  I also had fun playing around with color and was able to come up with three different colorways for my collection, "Life of a Pomegranate".  Feel free to visit my Spoonflower shop to view all three colorways.  Thanks for looking!

Sweet Summer Days

Miss Ruby inspired this illustration.  Today was HOT!!  Oh yes...it is FINALLY SUMMER in Minnesota!  With almost 95 degrees outside today, I took a little break inside our air conditioned home to sketch up this sweet drawing.  Ruby is always in the water...the pool, the lake, the sprinkler...where ever there is water I will find Ruby!  She is my little mermaid girl!  And what a gorgeous day we had today!  A perfect day for relaxing at the beach for sure!

Mid-Century Cocktail Dress Print

I am particularly excited for one contest that Spoonflower is holding in the coming weeks.  It is a contest to find the best print to use in the creation of a Mid-century cocktail dress/costume.  A costume designer at a local theater is looking for a print to use for a vintage pattern cocktail dress in an upcoming production of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.  This is the design that I would like to enter into the contest.  What do you think?  Your comments are greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

CELEBRATE AMERICA

This week I designed a couple of fabrics for my "Celebrate America" fabric collection for Spoonflower.  The theme for the contest that starts tomorrow is "Stars and Stripes".  I geared my designs to be all about America...very Fourth of July feel to them.  I hand sketched these designs, scanned them into Photoshop and added color.  I wanted a very playful feel to the designs.  Let me know if you like them!  I would love to hear from you!  My "Stars and Stripes" design is entered into this weeks Spoonflower contest, so please stop by Spoonflower and vote for my design! Voting starts on Thursday.  Thank you for your support!

"Stars & Stripes"

"The American Way"

Fabric8 Finalist Profiles

Here is a link to all 8 of the Fabric8 Finalist from the Spoonflower & Robert Kaufman Fabrics contest.  These artists are AMAZING!  But don't just take my word for it....click on the link and check out their profiles and amazing work for yourself!  These wonderful women are truly and inspiration!