KNITTING | Simple Coffee Table Mat

I just finished a knitted mat for my coffee table. It came out great and didn't take too long to do. I used 6.5mm Bamboo knitting needles to knit with a purl stitch of 65 stitches across and 67 rows of some of my favorite colors. Then, I finished it off with 2 rows of a single crochet stitches. These tighter stitches gave the overall piece a little more structure. 

DSDLAB | Project: Creating Cherry Blossoms Gift Wrap Paper

I recently wrote about my love of cherry blossoms in a previous post on cherry blossoms. I loved the cherry blossoms image so much that I decided to work it in PhotoShop and turn it into a gift wrap paper!  

My idea was that a line drawing of the cherry blossoms would give me an image that was light, airy and very stylish.

I then used Photoshop to convert the image into a gift wrap pattern that I uploaded and repeated in my account in Spoonflower. See how I went from the above image to these repeat patterns - 

DESIGN | MAKING OF THE QUILT: The Helix Tango

The Helix Tango was a quilt I completed in 2008. It was my first wholecloth piece that was inspired by my love of the tango. My vision for The Helix Tango is "life, love, and passion" - actually what the Tango dance embodies. 

First, I started by researching some images of dancers doing the Tango. I traced the basic shapes to arrive at the set of drawings below. 

DSDLAB | Tutorial - How to Create Mosaic Textures in Photoshop

Mosaic textures are a great way to add a gridded, 3D effect onto your digital designs. I recently tried this effect on an image of a sunflower that I silk painted and subsequently printed as fabric. I'll write about this project soon!

Download the tutorial HERE.

DESIGN | INSPIRATION: Cherry Blossoms

While late March is technically the beginning of Spring, April is the beginning of blooming season for many flowers. In my cul-de-sac, I have several cherry blossom trees that start to reveal their beautiful white and pink colors.