Design Challenge

Announcing the Winners of the Paper Cut Florals Design Challenge

April 13, 2017

Cut Flowers – Floral Collage design by Heather Dutton is the winner of this week’s Design Challenge

The flowers must have been in full bloom this week for designer Heather Dutton, who took first place with her colorful paper-cut floral design! While we’d love to send her a bouquet of fresh flowers, Heather will be receiving the grand-prize of $200 in Spoonflower credit. The 2nd place winner, Rocsanne Putri will receive $100 in Spoondollars. The 3rd place winner, Jody Mcmullen will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. See all the top 10 winners.

1. 266 votes for Cut Flowers – Floral Collage by heatherdutton
2. 251 votes for Spoonflower_PaperCut_RocsannePutri by rocsanne_putri
3. 240 votes for Paper Florals by jody_mcmullen
4. 238 votes for Paper Meadow by mariaspeyer
5. 222 votes for Purple Paper Anemone Collage by micklyn
6. 220 votes for cutflower_poppy by torysevas
7. 217 votes for Spring Paper-Cut Bouquet by cherishedminky
8. 216 votes for paper florals by marta_strausa
9. 201 votes for Matisse’s Garden by gracedesign
10. 198 votes for ranunculas by wingmade
[Read more…] about Announcing the Winners of the Paper Cut Florals Design Challenge

Announcing May’s Design Challenge Themes

April 12, 2017

We are so excited to announce this month’s Challenges sponsored by Skillshare! Skillshare is an amazing e-learning platform with video classes covering a wide range of creative categories. The top winners each week will take home Spoonflower credit and a Skillshare Premium subscription to start learning everything from how to create a surface design using motifs (taught by Spoonflower community favorite SammyK) to “The Basics of Photoshop”, “Hand Lettering” and so much more! And, for the first time ever, all submissions into May’s design challenges are automatically entered to win the grand prize full of design goodies worth over $1000! Ready to get started? Then dust off your watercolors because this month’s themes are all about using this soft, painterly medium to create motifs and surface patterns. If you’re more of a digital kinda person, there are plenty of great watercolor Photoshop brush packs out there to give you a similar effect that are a lot of fun to play with. We can’t wait to see what you create!

New to watercolor and need some help getting started? Check out our post from renowned Spoonflower watercolor designer, Emily Sanford to help guide you!

Whimsical Watercolor: Fantasy Creatures | Results Announced May 4

We couldn’t decide which mythical fantasy creature we loved best — fairies, mermaids, yetis, dragons, unicorns — they all capture our hearts and our imaginations. Use watercolors (or digital watercolor brushes) to create a whimsical surface patterns inspired by fantasy creature motifs. Entries will be previewed at the fat quarter size: 21″ x 18.” Submissions close April 25, 2017 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Voting begins April 27, 2017. See official rules.

Whimsical Watercolor: Abstract | Results Announced May 11

Big bold brushstrokes, paint drips, and gestural, broad swaths of color and shapes. The best abstract designs can change your mood and lift your spirits — and they just happen to be some of our favorite designs for garment sewing and wall art alike. Whip out the watercolors and give us your take on an abstract surface design! Entries will be previewed at the fat quarter size: 21″ x 18.” Submissions close May 2, 2017 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Voting begins May 11, 2017. See official rules.

Whimsical Watercolor: Fruit | Results Announced May 18

Sometimes we like to get our recommended 2 to 3 services of fruit in the form of a surface design. Nothing says spring and summer fun like a whimsical watercolor fruit pattern! Entries will be previewed at the fat quarter size: 21″ x 18.” Submissions close May 9, 2017 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Voting begins May 11, 2017. See official rules.

Whimsical Watercolor: Insects | Results Announced May 25

Creepy, crawly, and in some cases — surprisingly beautiful. Get inspired by your favorite backyard bugs (…or at least maybe just the ones that don’t totally freak you out!) and create a watercolor design worthy of collecting and saving forever in a shadow box! Entries will be previewed at the fat quarter size: 21″ x 18.” Submissions close May 16, 2017 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Voting begins May 18, 2017. See official rules.

Whimsical Watercolor: Cityscapes | Results Announced June 1

We were so inspired by our friend SammyK’s Skillshare class about creating motifs inspired by your city, that we knew we had to turn this theme over to our community! “Throw down for your home town” and create a watercolor design inspired by your locale or one of your favorite cities. Entries will be previewed at the fat quarter size: 21″ x 18.” Submissions close May 23, 2017 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Voting begins May 25, 2017. See official rules.

First Place

The 1st place winner will receive a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription (valued at $96) and $200 in Spoonflower credit. Winner will also receive additional exposure in our email newsletters, professional photography of their printed designs, and social media mentions, the extent of which shall be in Spoonflower’s sole discretion.

Second Place

The 2nd place winner will receive a 6-month Skillshare Premium subscription (valued at $72) and $100 in Spoonflower credit.

Third Place

The 3rd place winner will receive a 6-month Skillshare Premium subscription (valued at $72) and $50 in Spoonflower credit.

The rest of the top 10

4th through 10th place winners will receive a $20 Spoondollar credit.

All of the top 25

Each of the top 25 entries, determined as set forth above, not receiving one of the foregoing prizes will be automatically proofed and made available for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace (approximately a $5 value) (the “Runner Up Prize”) if Winners are verified sellers.

Randomly Selected Giveaway:

All design challenge entries submitted during the Skillshare partner design challenges (04/12/17 – 05/23/17) will be entered into a drawing; one lucky contest entrant will be randomly selected by Spoonflower for the Grand Prize on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. The grand prize winner will receive a 1-year Spoonflower PRO membership (valued at $249), a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription (valued at $96), one Wacom Intuos Pro Pen and Touch Small Tablet (valued at $218) and a 1-year Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud subscription (valued at $240). The grand prize winner will be announced Thursday, June 1, 2017.

Good luck, designers! We can’t wait to see what you come up with! See the current top 10 winners.

Announcing the Opposites Attract Employee Design Challenge Winners

April 6, 2017

Lines Meet Curves by Alexis P is this week’s winner!

This week, the roles were reversed and Spoonflower staffers put on our design hats and competed in our Annual Employee Design Challenge! Our hats are off to Alexis P, Spoonflower’s own Senior Graphic Designer who scored first place with her geometrically contradictory design: Lines Meet Curves. Brava, Alexis! Alexis will be crowned with a Near & Dear Unicorn Wall Mount covered in her winning design and a $50 Etsy gift card. Congrats are also in order for Sprout Patterns Creative Director Caroline and her Sea and Sky design which earned her 2nd place and $100 in Spoondollars! The 3rd place goes to Social Media Manager Theresa, who will receive $50 in Spoondollars for her design, Inhale // Exhale. The remaining top 15 popularly voted designs will receive local North Carolina treats and designs will be automatically made available for sale (provided the designers are already verified sellers) in the Marketplace where they will receive 10% commission on every sale — no $5.00 swatch required! Check out the winner’s circle.

1. 404 votes for Lines Meet Curves by alexispdesigns
2. 374 votes for Sea and Sky Opposites Attract by brainsarepretty
3. 352 votes for inhale // exhale by trizzuto
4. 318 votes for Lines “Drawn to” Circles – Black & White by suz_pozzo
5. 264 votes for Night and Day Mudcloth by joe_w
6. 220 votes for Opposites: Venn Diagram by jennifer_spanos
7. 204 votes for Opposites Attract by bmunson
8. 194 votes for Opposites Attract – Vanilla and Chocolate by cdmackeyfree
9. 193 votes for Element of Life – Positive and Negative by kellyw
10. 190 votes for Black and White Botanicals by atate [Read more…] about Announcing the Opposites Attract Employee Design Challenge Winners

It’s time for the 2017 Employee Design Challenge!

March 31, 2017

Every week, Spoonflower employees watch from the sidelines as you, our creative community, participate in the weekly design challenges. For one week out of the year, the roles are reversed and employees step off the sidelines and onto the design field to create a design for the annual employee design challenge. This year, employees were tasked with creating a design inspired by the theme Opposites Attract. From organic to geometric and sea to sky, our talented staff got right to work creating their design challenge entries. Want to learn more about the designs for this year’s challenge? Read on to see how four team members created their designs and don’t forget to vote for your favorite designs by Tuesday at 3pm EDT!

Announcing the Winners of our Hexagon Design Challenge

March 30, 2017

Honey Bee Hexagon by Tiffany Heiger is this week’s grand prize winner!

Honey Bee Hexagon by Tiffany Heiger

Everybody’s been buzzing about Tiffany Heiger’s winning design: Honey Bee Hexagon! Tiffany hails from Delaware, USA, and this is her second Design Challenge win. Tiffany will receive $200 in Spoonflower credit. The 2nd place winner, Groovity, will receive $100 in Spoondollars. The 3rd place winner, Scrummy, will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. The top 25 popularly voted designs (provided the designers are already verified sellers) will be automatically made available for sale in the Marketplace where they will receive 10% commission on every sale — no $5.00 swatch required! Next week, designers get to take a break as we run our annual tradition of a Spoonflower Employee Design Challenge! Vote now. [Read more…] about Announcing the Winners of our Hexagon Design Challenge

Announcing the Winners of our Tangram Design Challenge!

March 23, 2017

Calliope – Geometric Floral Aqua Pink & Gold by heatherdutton is the winner of this week’s Design Challenge

A big round of applause is in order for Heather Dutton who earned first place this week with her gorgeous springtime tangram design. Heather gets to take home the grand-prize of $200 in Spoonflower credit. The 2nd place winner, Sarah Treu will receive $100 in Spoondollars. The 3rd place winner, Elena Naylor will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. See all the top 10 winners.

1. 278 votes for Calliope – Geometric Floral Aqua Pink & Gold by heatherdutton
2. 252 votes for Tangram Kites and Puppies by sarah_treu
3. 239 votes for Tangram goldfish and water lillies by elena_naylor
4. 237 votes for Modernist Owls Warm Tones Large by pinkowlet
5. 233 votes for Tropical Tangrams by designs_by_lisa_k
6. 231 votes for A shoal of tangram fish by ebygomm
7. 210 votes for Boxy Foxy by jenimp
8. 167 votes for Tangram Geishas by juliesfabrics
9. 165 votes for people puzzled by abstracthands
10. 161 votes for tangram town by scrummy [Read more…] about Announcing the Winners of our Tangram Design Challenge!

Announcing April’s Fresh New Design Challenges

March 17, 2017

April showers bring floral design challenges! After you take a short break during the Annual Employee Design Challenge, that is. That’s right folks, for the first week of April the tables will turn and Spoonflower staff members get to put on our designer-hats to face off in a beloved annual tradition. Inspired by the constant strive for balance, this year’s theme is Opposites Attract. Employees submit designs, and the community votes on a favorite. Take that week to visit some gardens and gather inspiration, because the rest of the month is dedicated to floral designs with a twist. Read on to find out more.

Employee Design Challenge: “Opposites” | Results Announced April 6

It would be an understatement to say the team working behind the scenes at the Spoonflower HQ is a creative bunch. Whether we’re sewing up sample projects to test new fabrics or creating designs for our personal Spoonflower or Etsy shops, the creative juices are always flowing! However, as many of you may already know, Spoonflower employees must hang up our weekly Design Challenge hat once we start working here, as employees are not eligible to enter contests. Enter the annual Staff Challenge! The tables will turn, as designers get to sit back and take a week off while Spoonflower employees go head to head in a creative battle! The theme of our Staff Challenge this year is “Opposites Attract.” The twist is that each employee submits a theme inspired by opposites, then the themes will get scrambled up and distributed out, so each participant is given an Opposites theme that was submitted by someone else. Employees will be given a week to create our designs, then the community (that’s you!) gets to vote as normal. We’re super excited about our grand prize this year, the employee with the most votes will get to have their design printed and turned into a Unicorn bust from Near&Deer! Submissions close March 28, 2017 at 3 p.m. Eastern. Voting begins March 30, 2017. See official rules. [Read more…] about Announcing April’s Fresh New Design Challenges

Announcing the Winners of our Mandalas Design Challenge

March 16, 2017

Mandala Daze by Julistyle is the winner of our Design Challenge this week!

Mandala Daze by Julistyle, printed on Silky Faille

In Sanskrit, the word “mandala” simply means circle. It is known as a spiritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. One of the most well known examples is the sand Mandala – a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand. This week’s winner, Julie Goonan of Julistyle captured the colorful joy and spirit of mandalas beautifully with her Mandala Daze design, which took home first place! Julie will receive $200 in Spoonflower credit. The 2nd place winner, Svetlana Prikhenko will receive $100 in Spoondollars, and the 3rd place winner, thirdhalfstudios will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit, and all of the top 25 have been made for sale automatically. See and shop all of the top 10 here.

1. 283 votes for mandala-daze by julistyle
2. 277 votes for Lion Mandala by svetlana_prikhnenko
3. 260 votes for Ani-mandala by thirdhalfstudios
4. 256 votes for Mandala color by camcreative
5. 252 votes for Folk_Art_Mandala by j9design
6. 250 votes for moon and sung (blue) by analinea
7. 245 votes for mandala cirque indigo cream by scrummy
8. 234 votes for Zen Garden by robyriker
9. 216 votes for springtime mandala by vo_aka_virginiao
10. 212 votes for Granny’s Crazy Patchwork Quilt by groovity [Read more…] about Announcing the Winners of our Mandalas Design Challenge

Announcing the Winners of our Geodesic Design Challenge!

March 9, 2017

Geodesic Skies by Juliesfabrics is the winner of this week’s Design Challenge!

the community voted Geodesic Skies to the top this week

Congrats are in order for Julies Fabrics, who will be taking home the grand prize this week! Julie will receive $200 in Spoonflower credit. The 2nd place winner, Camcreative, will receive $100 in Spoondollars. The 3rd place winner, Virginia O, will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. Give them all a round of applause, and shop them here!

1. 314 votes for Geodesic Skies by juliesfabrics
2. 308 votes for Geodesic dome pattern by camcreative
3. 246 votes for Save Our Geodesic Polar Bears! by vo_aka_virginiao
4. 241 votes for geodesic scallop – glass by katielee
5. 234 votes for Geodesic Artichokes by sarah_treu
6. 224 votes for dreamsphere by scrummy
7. 219 votes for SOON! Geodesic in Slate Blue by Friztin by friztin
8. 216 votes for Abstract Geodesic Pink Rose Lattice by micklyn
9. 183 votes for Geodesic Terrariums by irishvikingdesigns
10. 175 votes for Geometric Trompe-l’œil by meowandcraft [Read more…] about Announcing the Winners of our Geodesic Design Challenge!

Announcing the Mosaic Design Challenge Winners

March 2, 2017

Blossoms and Butterflies by by sarah_treu is the winner of this week’s Design Challenge – “Mosaics!”

Bright and colorful “Blossoms and Butterflies Mosaic”

See and shop all of the top 10

We always love it when we get to congratulate FIRST-TIME winners! Hip hip hooray for Sarah Treu of Utah! Sarah is an illustrator who specializes in surface design and children’s books. She loves creating, writing, crafting, sunshine and trails. Congratulations, Sarah! Her bright and colorful Blossoms and Butterflies Mosaics stole your hearts with 461 votes in total. Sarah will receive $200 in Spoonflower credit. Our 2nd place winner, Lisa K, will receive $100, and the 3rd place winner, Weavingmajor, will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. The top 25 popularly voted designs (provided the designers are already verified sellers) will be automatically made available for sale in the Marketplace where they will receive 10% commission on every sale — no $5.00 swatch required. Congrats again to all! See the entire top 10 here.

1. 461 votes for Blossoms and Butterflies Mosaic by sarah_treu
2. 451 votes for Orange Blossom Mosaic by designs_by_lisa_k
3. 407 votes for wave mosaic – navy, teal, white by weavingmajor
4. 397 votes for Koi Fish by torysevas
5. 376 votes for The Lemon Tree by mag-o
6. 355 votes for sea mosaic by vo_aka_virginiao
7. 327 votes for Mosaic Cranes by hollybender
8. 314 votes for mosaic spirits by gaiamarfurt
9. 309 votes for Peacock by chicca_besso
[Read more…] about Announcing the Mosaic Design Challenge Winners