Introducing The Cornflower Collection...

Hello there, and hope all is going really well for you.

As promised in last week's post, today marks the proper unveiling of all the designs inspired by our, "cornflower encounter". For example...

This throw pillow in the 
"Completely Cornflowers" Pattern

This apron, in the "Scattered Cornflowers" design

This phone wallet from the
"Cornflower Lattice" design...

And imagine showering with these cornflower blue
polka dots all round you...

There are many more items featuring these patterns, which you can find featured here, here, here and here.

Have a browse-there's still plenty of time to make them part of your summer.

And speaking of summer...

And speaking of summer, I'm taking a break from the blog for the rest of the summer, and will be back here in or around the second week of September.

As well as taking much needed time to have a holiday and gathering all the inspiration therein, I'll also be planning,  catching up with friends, and  attending a couple of summer school courses.

So, in the meantime, thanks so much for being here, and have a happy rest-of-the-summer.

See you soon.

PS. Update: Cornflowers have now made it onto tissue paper and fabric:

Charming Blue and White Cornflower Pattern Design Fabric
by BoundingSquirrel

Guess Where We Found Cornflowers...

"Happy Blue Cornflowers," by Clare Walker

Hello there, and hope all is well for you.

And yes, as you'll most likely have guessed, this post is all ,about how the cornflower illustration above came to be.

The inspiration

They were inspired by these  beauties...

Photo of Cornflowers and Bee by Jim Fernbank

(And though The Computer Man's photo is wonderful as always (thanks Jim!) even this doesn't really do justice to how bright these flowers were (despite having been a little beaten around by the rain)).

So naturally, I set about giving them all that extra vibrancy in art-and-digital-land. After all, one of the reasons I paint and design is to highlight all that is brightest, happiest and best in the world at large, and nature especially.

The really surprising thing...

The really surprising thing though, is where we found both the large and happy clump of cornflowers, and the selection of (equally happy sounding) bumble bees...

 Next to a bucolic cornfield? No.

By a quiet country lane? Great guess, but, no again.

These flowers were right next to our local covered reservoir, intertwined with the very sturdy metal bars that keep people from tampering with said reservoir...As you can see from this photo (thanks again, Jim)...

Photo by Jim Fernbank

Yes, people do usually go up there for a view of the London skyline. But so mesmerised and surprised  was I by the cornflowers instead, that I've generated more art as a result than I can talk about in one blog post.

So the second instalment will be next week (though there is a  downloadable background here, and even a card design if you want to see what became of the illustration at the top of this post right this minute...)

Which just goes to show...

Which goes to show that if you keep an open mind, it really is possible to find inspiration literally anywhere.

And on that note, will leave you to your day, but will be back next week to show you more.

Thanks so much for being here, and for reading down this far.

More soon.

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Roses, Lilies, and Christmas in July...

Hello there

Just popping in quickly, as know that lots of people are busy with all things summer right now.

"Roses and Lilies"

Firstly, thought you'd enjoy this sketch of roses and lilies. It came from some flowers that *felt* like they flew in through magical means.

 Yes, OK, though unexpected, these flowers arrived by a very human-and kind-route outside our door. But still, it felt pretty magical on a wet Saturday afternoon. (Especially as I had just been thinking..."It's a shame my birthday flowers are finishing...and I need something new to paint...," but hadn't shared that thought with *anyone*.).

The original flowers

And just in case you're thinking, "No vase would match flowers like that," here is a photo of the flowers on the day they went into the jug (please excuse the dust-art comes first!):

Photo of roses and lilies in a jug, by Jim Fernbank

(Confession: I'd been waiting *30 years* since buying that vase for some flowers to come along that would match it quite as well as that ;-) ).

Christmas in July

And yes, though the festive red, white and green did catch my eye, though for later in the year. 

Which reminds me, that if you're a crafter, I'm running a Christmas in July sale on all my sheets and kits from July 28th 2023-July 31st 2023 inclusive. Click or tap this link to see it.

And...

But whether you're a crafter already making items for later in the year, or just enjoying all the beauty and flowers of summer (or cool of winter, elsewhere in the world)...Thank you so much, both for being here, and for reading down this far.

Have a lovely weekend, and more soon.

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Lupins in a Cottage Garden

Hello there

Hope you're well and thriving OK (sending thoughts of calm, cool breezes and rain to everyone who might want this in various parts of the world).

Click or tap here for more info...

Keeping things calm, just thought I'd pop in to share these lupins, (available as prints and on various other lovely things in the shop). They're a digital watercolour, painted stroke by stroke (in a *lot* of layers-22, I think...) in the Krita 5 digital painting app/software.

May they bring you happiness, peace, calm, and a joyful sense of summer, whenever and wherever you're reading this.

More soon.

PS. If you're a crafter, click or tap here to see this painting adapted into a printable patterned background.

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And Now for Something Happy, Fun, and Completely Different...

Update on July 19th 2023 

I'm re-writing this post, to offer you this design in a way that (from feedback) seems to be more popular and workable for people.

If you never read the original post, then, in a nutshell, it was a result of my having done more digital art journaling of late, such as this:

Click here to see this on journals,
magnets and more...

This is available on Redbubble at the moment, and perhaps on other sites soon.

Sorry for any confusion caused!

More soon.
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