Category Archives: Patterns

Chili Tattoos For Spoonflower

Sun, Sand & Chili, Duvet. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

This week, the Spoonflower design challenge is Flash tattoo sheets. They are collections of tattoo designs. It is how the artist displays ideas for those who do not have a custom design in mind. Yeah, I didn’t know that either.

I found the expected while researching. Bikers themes, skulls, spiders, hearts with thorns. Military and the occult. I was stuck for a bit. Thought of flowers, then settled on a desert theme. Duh, Sheila.

Sun, Sand & Chili, sample. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Sun, Sand & Chili, Tablecloth. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Sun, Sand & Chili, Wall Paper. © 2022 Sheila Delgado. — Sun, Sand & Chili, Tablecloth. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

I recycled some native symbols from one of my first designs (2014). But this time I created them from scratch. I used the pen tool in Photoshop to make the cacti, and the chilies. And basic shapes to make the sun. I added thorns to the cacti, but they are not as visible in the low res images here.

Sun, Sand & Chili, Tea Towel. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Sun, Sand & Chili, Napkins. © 2022 Sheila Delgado. — Sun, Sand & Chili, Tea Towel. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Voting is now open, until the 8th. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 😆

Biscuits & Bones. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Biscuits & Bones placed at 284 of 628 entries with 43 votes. That is 45.2%. I made some changes to the original, using suggestions from Laurelle Cidoncha. Thank you Laurelle! 🙂 I flipped some of the words around.

I’m so grateful for your time, voters! Thank you! These challenges wouldn’t be nearly as fun without the curious wondering and waiting. 😆🤔😉

We had snow briefly early this morning. Sun comes and goes, and it is cold and windy. We were supposed to have rain most of the day, but it has yet to start. Fingers crossed.

Happy day to you! 😉

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What draws us into the desert is the search
for something intimate in the remote.
Edward Abbey

I left a piece of my soul that will always
rightfully belong in the desert.
M.B. Dallocchio

If seeds waited for perfect conditions to grow,
there would be no plants in the desert.
Matshona Dhliwayo

Biscuits and Bones

6 Replies

Babe's New Digs. SMdelgado — Babe’s New Digs

Growing up, we had a husky mix as the family pet. My dad Pete rescued her from a drunk old farmer, who was shooting at the mama and her young pups. Babe ran across a field and onto the dirt road. He almost ran her over. She was shaking, scared. He brought her home that day.

Tug of War, Babe and Pete. SMDelgado — Tug of War, Babe and Pete.

We had just moved into a new house. After waiting all summer for it to be finished. New town, new school. Junior high. Nothing but dirt in the back yard, and beyond that a field and ditch. I learned to drive a stick shift on the road you can see in the distance. But that was several years later.

Babe on her chair, that she is not supposed to be on.

Pete found a dog house that had been tossed out. He fixed it up to look like our house. Little by little we got grass, then the fence. Soon she had her own dog run. She was a happy dog, and she loved us as much as we loved her.

That was the inspiration for my Spoonflower Design Challenge entry. Barkitecture. I had a request for a pink version. I thought red might be popular as well. Voting is open now, until November 1st. There are 627 entries.

Biscuits & Bones Fabric Collection. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Dad Joke Wall Hanging. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

My Dad Joke wall hanging placed at 147 out of 292, with 48 votes. That puts it at just over the 50% mark. 50.3. Woo Whoo! I’m so grateful, really. To everyone that takes the time to vote. Thank you. Many of you really liked this one. It even received an awesome comment from a designer I really admire. I was stoked. Thank you, Tina! I am going to turn this into a repeating pattern.

The poor dog, in life the firmest friend.
The first to welcome, foremost to defend.
Lord Byron, poet of Epitaph to a Dog

If a man aspires towards a righteous life,
his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.
Albert Einstein

I have found that when you are deeply troubled,
there are things you get from the
silent devoted companionship of a dog
that you can get from no other source.
Doris Day

Unexpected Still Life for Spoonflower

6 Replies

Unexpected Still Life Wall Hanging. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Unexpected Still Life Tea Towel. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

I started with the original painting as inspiration. Problems with Photoshop used up several days of my design time. A revamp was quicker than creating from scratch. What you see here, is all that is left from the original. I noticed several mistakes in the yellow blooms, so I eliminated them. I added digital outlines using the pen tool, for nice crisp edges.

I cleaned up the white blooms. The blue background was visible and made them look a bit dirty. The grey is the template that Spoonflower provides. The darkest, inner rectangle is all that will be visible when the design is printed.

I added color blocks and considered using them for the final piece. But they were too flat, and I thought a pattern in the background would be too much. I placed the plaid to find the right scale.

Day 20, CG 9 22. 8 x 8 inch. Watercolor, digital collage. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

I decided to paint paper with three colors. Yellow, blue, and green. I scanned them in to get the texture and uneven color tones. The variations are less obvious, than in the original painting. But I think it “warms” the design, by having a hand made, imperfect quality.

The design brief really called for wacky, or strange. They showed a tennis ball cut in half to reveal a lemon interior. This may not be wacky, but it will be unexpected to some.

I am really starting to feel comfortable using the pen tool in Photoshop. I never thought I would say that. There were only three connections I had to smooth out. Just slightly. I am so stoked about that. And so grateful. Whew! 🤓

Voting is now open, until October 18th. Voting is easier on a computer or larger screen like a tablet. If you are using your phone, you need to scroll slowly, it can only load so many images at a time and you may miss seeing images without knowing it. There are only 484 entries, roughly a third of the usual.

Your votes help give me the chance to win cash prizes. Money I can use towards printing samples of my designs, which is a requirement to making them available for sale in my shop.

1st place winner will receive a $200 Spoonflower credit.
2nd place winner will receive a $100 Spoonflower credit.
3rd place winner will receive a $50 Spoonflower credit.
Remaining top 10 designs will receive a $20 Spoonflower credit.
The top 50 popularly-voted designs from each theme will be
automatically made available for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace,
no $5 swatch required.