The Toucan Returns...

Please vote for this design at Spoonflower

Hello there

One day, I promise I'll design something that doesn't involve our toucan friend. This isn't that day.

Note, if you're in a hurry, the upshot here is: please vote for my Lilies, Toucans and Bird of Paradise tropical floral design in the latest Spoonflower competition.

And yes...

The theme of the competition is "hot house flowers". So, I diligently drew all my lilies, found little-used (!) bird of paradise motifs on my hard drive, and spent a whole afternoon on banana and other types of palm leaf.

A peek at some of the "work whilst it was in progress,"
for this tropical floral project.

Then I noticed that the more fulsome instructions for designers said, "Consider including tropical animals."

So obviously, our extrovert toucan friend from a few weeks ago was a shoe-in for a spot of tweaking and inclusion.

And whether or not this design wins amongst the many other simply amazing ones (if you're reading this during the competition window, you'll have a lush and exotic time just looking at all the gorgeous entries, I promise).

The new "maximalist", style in the air at the moment might not be to everyone's taste, but I'm loving the colours, the richness and the joy of it.

Plus...

Even if you're reading this way after the competition (which closes around May 5th 2026, I believe), this is a surprisingly livable design, even at scale, despite all those bright and tropical colours. Eg, if we had stairs, I think I'd enjoy seeing the design beside them.

Find this design on wallpaper at Spoonflower

Finally...

Whether or not you vote in this, thanks so much for reading down this far, and for being here. It means the world.

The next newsletter is more likely to come out around the beginning of May. But there will be...

More soon.

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