Spoonflower Blog | Design, Sell, & Shop Fabric, Wallpaper, & Gift Wrap

Meet the Maker: Yaling Hou Suzuki

June 5, 2017

We’re always impressed when a Spoonflower maker and small business owner also designs their own fabric. Our latest featured maker, Yaling, was born and raised in Taiwan and loved to draw and sew as a child. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English, she moved to California at age 21 to study design. She launched her small business, Flowie, after earning a BFA in applied textiles. Her store offers beautiful made-to-order bags and accessories featuring her charismatic watercolors, plus she recently opened a Spoonflower shop with never-before seen designs. Read on to get to know Yaling!

My day starts with:

“A cup of coffee, getting my son ready for school, taking him to school, and then checking emails.” [Read more…] about Meet the Maker: Yaling Hou Suzuki

Announcing July’s Design Challenge Themes

June 2, 2017

Circus elements designed by Jennifer Sbranti of Hostess with the Mostess

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up to the greatest design show on Earth! Grab your peanuts and cotton candy because we’re heading under the big top with our July design challenge partners, Operation Shower®! While there’s no limit to your creativity, this month’s challenges will highlight four different limited color palettes to coordinate with Operation Shower’s August circus inspired baby shower. As a big top bonus, all of the top 3 winners from each design challenge in July will automatically be in the running to be selected as a featured design at Operation’s Shower Under the Big Top baby shower during the PGA TOUR’s The Northern Trust tournament.

Get to know Operation Shower
Operation Shower hosts joyful group baby showers for military families across the country. The showers are an opportunity for military families to leave the stresses of deployment at home, come together and celebrate. Learn more about Operation Shower.

Sunshine safari baby shower tablescape by Operation Shower

With a baby shower theme like Sunshine Safari, we can just imagine what a bright and festive celebration it was! Photo by Jackie Culmer Photography

Operation Shower and their talented team use table decor to tell a story at an Operation Shower celebration. Photo by Uptown Girl Photography + Designs

So come one, come all – It’s time to head into the design ring for July’s weekly design challenges!

Announcing the Whimsical Watercolor Cityscapes Design Challenge Winners

June 1, 2017

“Holland in royal Delft blue watercolors” by heleen_vd_thillart is the winner in the Whimsical Watercolor Cityscapes design challenge!

After seeing all of the entries in this week’s design challenge sponsored by our friends at Skillshare, we had to call in a friend to help with judging because we caught the travel bug! Luckily, our special guest judge, Samarra Khaja, best known as SammyK in the Spoonflower community and city motif expert, was ready to help!

A big congratulations goes out to this week’s challenge winner, Heleen van den Thillart (aka heleen_vd_thillart) for her winning design, Holland in royal Delft blue watercolors! Inspired by the 9 years she spent in Delft, Holland, Heleen’s design has won her the grand-prize of $200 in Spoonflower credit and a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription. The 2nd place winner, sarah_treu, will receive $100 in Spoondollars and a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription. The 3rd place winner, torysevas, will receive $50 in Spoondollars and a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. See all the top 10 winners.

1. 376 votes for Holland in royal Delft blue watercolors by heleen_vd_thillart
2. 361 votes for Salt Lake City by sarah_treu
3. 358 votes for norden_city by torysevas
4. 356 votes for New York watercolor by scrummy
5. 315 votes for CITY by j9design
6. 292 votes for Pastel City by miranema
7. 242 votes for in the Spanish South coast by analinea
8. 239 votes for Once Upon A Time by ceciliamok
9. 227 votes for La Nuit Parisienne by susan_polston
10. 223 votes for City Life by Friztin by friztin

What’s Inside Our Biggest Design Challenge Prize Package Ever!

June 1, 2017

Picture yourself laying in a palm tree-shaded hammock, an umbrella cocktail in your hand and not a worry in sight. Thanks to the generous support of our June design challenge partners at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, your dream vacation to Waikiki’s only resort destination could become a reality! Take a closer look at the June weekly design challenge winner prize pack below, and don’t forget to visit our design challenge timeline for important entry deadlines. With our biggest prize package EVER, this is one design challenge you don’t want to miss. We can’t wait to see you in Hawaii!

A view from the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

Your entry in our June design challenges could send you here! Photo via Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

Spoonflower Hits the Road : A Recap of Our Trip To Surtex

May 31, 2017

Did you know Spoonflower is celebrating its 9th birthday this year? While we’re not quite at double digits, the community has grown to over 16,000 independent designers from all over the globe which means you can find exactly what you’re looking for when it comes to custom fabric, wallpaper and fabric. Looking for a llama design? No prob-llama. Need the perfect fabric for your donut themed party? Donut look anywhere else but our marketplace!

We love connecting with our design community in emails for our Meet the Designer series and a highlight of our day is seeing what you’re making with #spoonflower on our favorite social channels. However, it’s not often we get the chance to meet with our design community in person. So, when the opportunity came our way to meet some of our fabulous designers and chat about all of the new things we have been up to help grow their earnings with us (like new distribution strategies with Etsy and Ebay), we knew we couldn’t miss the chance! Follow along as Spoonflower’s President, Allison Sloan Polish, and Etsy Channel Manager + Designer Advocate, Tara ( aka Tarareed ), recap their trip to the 2017 Surtex show and say hello to the designer friends they met along the way!

Tara and Kelly Gilleran are a match made in foodie heaven with a food inspired ensemble!

Great Spoonflower minds think alike! Tara and Marketplace designer kellygilleran are feeling the red cardi and food inspired ensemble at Surtex!

“Waffle” by Kelly Gilleran

Spoonflower’s British Blog Hop

May 27, 2017

Can you believe it’s already been a year and a half since we opened our second factory in Berlin, Germany? For our European friends, we hope you’ve enjoyed the benefits of a closer factory such as faster turn-around times, placing your order in your country’s currency, and paying VAT upfront!

In celebration of this exciting year and a half, we’ve partnered with some of our favorite bloggers for our first ever Spoonflower British Blog Hop! Starting May 27, join us for a virtual trip to the UK to see what projects our friends across the pond are sewing up with their Spoonflower fabric (printed in our Berlin factory, of course). Be sure to check back each day as we update the blog tour schedule with links to the finished projects! [Read more…] about Spoonflower’s British Blog Hop

Announcing the Whimsical Watercolor Insects Design Challenge Winners

May 25, 2017

“Butterflies_and_bugs” by flyinglizard is the grand prize winner in the Whimsical Watercolor Insect design challenge!

This week’s challenge transformed some of our favorite ( and not so favorite!) creepy crawlies into beautiful watercolor renditions fit for any habitat! Three cheers for our FIRST-TIME design challenge winner, Cas Smirthwaite Walker ( aka Flyinglizard)! She fluttered into the winners circle with her design, Butterflies_and_bugs, and will be taking home the grand-prize of $200 in Spoonflower credit and a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription. The 2nd place winner, thestorysmith, will receive $100 in Spoondollars and a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription. The 3rd place winner, sarah_treu, will receive $50 in Spoondollars and a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. See all the top 10 winners.

1. 292 votes for Butterflies_and_bugs by flyinglizard
2. 290 votes for Catching Fireflies by thestorysmith
3. 261 votes for Sweet Dreams Caterpillars & Fireflies by sarah_treu
4. 255 votes for Insecta_Nocturnus by j9design
5. 242 votes for Dragonflies and tea roses by laurawrightstudio
6. 206 votes for Whimsical Watercolour Butterfly Whirl by stitchyrichie
7. 205 votes for Busy Bees – Watercolor by heatherdutton
8. 199 votes for Dragonflies in My Garden – Large Size by y_me_it’s_me
9. 198 votes for colorful butterflies by camcreative
10. 197 votes for watercolour bees on white by bethramsden [Read more…] about Announcing the Whimsical Watercolor Insects Design Challenge Winners

Handcrafted Fashion : Celebrating 16 Years of Art2Wear

May 22, 2017

The textile industry has always been a large part of what makes North Carolina rich in history. From the furniture market in Greensboro to North Carolina State University’s esteemed College of Design and Textiles, Spoonflower is proud to support the local makers who are helping shape the fashion industry. This year, Spoonflower and the talented local design community celebrated the 16th year of Art2Wear, a completely student run fashion show at North Carolina State University.

“Art2Wear provides the teaching and learning environments for handcrafted experiences blended with old and new technology, unfolding the magical epiphanies revealed through making.”
Chandra Cox – Head, Department of Art + Design

A model from the collection "Floral Street" by Grace Hallman walks the runway

Custom design “Palmy” printed on Sport Lycra captures the feel of urban beaches in Grace Hallman’s collection, Flora Street. Photo by Katelyn Auger.

A Closer Look Into June’s Design Challenge

May 19, 2017

Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort design challenge FAQs

Tropical Palms by fable_design

Aloha, design community! Earlier this month we shared exciting news about our upcoming June design challenge sponsored by Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. We hope you’re as inspired by the surroundings of the Hilton Hawaiian Village as we are! While you may already be sharpening those pencils, sketching your design ideas and dreaming of the sand between your toes, we’ve been rounding up a few FAQs regarding the official rules and prizes for our biggest design challenge yet!

Announcing the Winners of the Whimsical Watercolor Fruit Design Challenge

May 18, 2017

“watercolor pomegranate” by nadja_petremand is the grand prize winner of the Whimsical Watercolor Fruits design challenge!

Nothing says spring better than a big bowl of fresh fruit and beautiful textile designs to match! This week, we’re celebrating the sunny weather and our Whimsical Watercolor Fruits design challenge winner, Nadja Petremand (nadja_petremand), who took home first place with her delicious design, watercolor pomegranate! The fruits of her labor really paid off. Nadja will be taking home the grand-prize of $200 in Spoonflower credit and a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription. The 2nd place winner, alenkakarabanova, will receive $100 in Spoondollars and a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription. The 3rd place winner, holaholga, will receive $50 in Spoondollars and a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. See all the top 10 winners.

1. 361 votes for watercolor pomegranate by nadja_petremand
2. 360 votes for Fragrant peaches by alenkakarabanova
3. 331 votes for lemon by holaholga
4. 325 votes for Summer fruit by adenaj
5. 315 votes for blueberrybushes by ldpapers
6. 314 votes for vijgenblad by hanneke_binnen
7. 300 votes for _TK-Blueberry_Bird_Whimsical_Watercolor by doodledoer-teresakelly
8. 292 votes for watery watermelons by karismithdesigns
9. 272 votes for Watercolor plums by peachbloom
10. 258 votes for Summer Slices by digidivagraphics [Read more…] about Announcing the Winners of the Whimsical Watercolor Fruit Design Challenge