Sunshine

It's been a long time coming but we've had some lovely weather this week and lots of sunshine! It's great to have the windows open, everything smells so great. We're finally getting plenty of leaves on the trees and I've been working on this this week..

Black Bird, Silver Birch

Black Bird, Silver Birch details; click for larger view.

I thought it would be good on a small scale for lots of uses so I've uploaded it as a swatch to the Spoonflower shop where you can order it on linen, silk, cotton or wall decal!

Fox Cubs

The eagle pair I posted pictures of at about this time last year have moved their nesting site. To avoid disturbing the new nest, cameras will be set up in the autumn after this year's chicks have flown but in the meantime, my boyfriend came across this yesterday:

Fox cubs born on the 27th of March

Filming these foxes is part of a great Dutch project set up in the Oostvaardersplassen, a dry and wetland nature reserve and example of rewilding. The habitat is relatively new and the ultimate goal is to have wildlife corridors between this reserve and others of it's kind well into France and Germany! See more videos of the newborn cubs and find out more at Volg De Vos (Follow the Fox)!

The Moon

It feels like such a long time since I've written here but I've been busy all the same with future projects! I'll have to wait a while before I can post about those but here's something I've been working on last week:

Love, Luck & Happiness Decal Mural

I had a brilliant request from a lovely person through Spoonflower to adapt the Love, Luck & Happiness calendar for a mural. It was pretty tricky working out all the elements into this format but I love how it's turned out! The measurements left a space at the top of the three 30 inch decals which I filled with another design (of her choice) to cut off and use in another project:

Woodland Mural

This was also originally a calendar and I really enjoyed playing around with the elements to fit the space.

Patrice A. is hosting a drawing challenge over on her blog this week; subject: the moon, so I'm submitting the mural image above. I first came across her work on V's brilliant advent calendar and absolutely love her owl cushion - click through for the links to all contributed moon pictures!

Illustration Friday: Wings

Misty mountains for this week's Illustration Friday. To see all the other 'wings' illustrations, have a look over here :)

Man!

MAN from Steve Cutts on Vimeo.

We choose not to have a car - we're lucky enough to live somewhere you really don't need one if you don't mind walking or cycling. On a busy road, breathing everyone else's fumes, this video illustrates how I sometimes feel about humanity and I feel ashamed that there are things I do which are also part of the problem. I really recommend you watch this; it's a brilliant animation!

Edit 29th of March:
Michael McCarthy, the Independent's Environment Editor, expresses this brilliantly in his valedictory article.

Walrus

I think this is probably the most gorgeous bit of nature footage I've seen:

 

From this film.

This year's Christmas.

These are the Christmas cards we sent out this year and I couldn't forget you, lovely blog (and all who read you of course!) I hope everyone has a really great festive season and that 2013 will be happy for you :)

Snow Doves Gift Tags

Snow Doves with stars and mistletoe.

Zoom!

Snow Doves Gift Tags - details.

Hello! This is a new version of Snow Doves with brown paper, stars and mistletoe for Spoonflower's gift tags contest. To see some excellent gift tag designs and vote, click here!

Antidote for wintery symptoms.

Icy drizzle, low clouds and grey skies - all the symptoms of an oncoming winter! Here's an antidote I've been working on this week for this contest:

Lagoon details: threadfin butterflyfish, flame angelfish and sergeant major fish.

Lagoon details: anthias, clownfish and flame angelfish.

See other t-shirt designs and vote here or read about how I made the water texture here!

Lagoon on a Riviera Tee

Lagoon on a Riviera Tee - the pattern is from One-Yard Wonders.

Sumerian Triangles

I liked the look of the stamped triangles in my last design and thought they deserved one all on their own:

Sumerian Triangles

They remind me a lot of the marks made in cuneiform so the pattern's named after the people who invented it.

Nasher Museum of Art

This week the Nasher Museum of Art is holding a contest with Spoonflower to celebrate their exhibition of works by Matisse, Picasso and Gauguin among others. Matisse had a huge and varied collection of textiles that he often featured in his paintings and the brief is to design a textile that would be at home in one. The top ten designs will be displayed at their Art for All event on December the 6th! The design is restricted to four colours plus white (see below).

Au Jardin

Au Jardin with specified colours

I'd love it if you'd take a couple of minutes to vote for me and have a look at all the amazing designs people came up with - click here!

Get stuff sent for free :)

Hello! If you were thinking of making some luverly stuff for the festive season this year, or if you're like me and just like a bargain, then head on over to the shop and you can get stuff sent for free!!

Free shipping at spoonflower is from 12pm, Thursday November 15th - 12pm Friday November 16th EST (if you're in the UK that's 5pm today until 5pm tomorrow).