Books

Liven Up Your Classroom with This Budget-Friendly DIY

July 9, 2018

School might be out for the summer, but for Ashley Bible, the English literature teacher behind the blog Building Book Love, you can still find her in the classroom. Swapping out her grade book for gift wrap*, Ashley transformed her classroom with a DIY project you’ll want to… check out. “I’m a strong believer that your environment, whether that be your home or your classroom, can influence your daily energy, imagination, and joy.”

*While Spoonflower’s gift wrap has since been retired, our removable, renter-friendly wallpaper is a great alternative for this project.

Ashley: During the school year my students and I spend almost as many waking hours in our classroom as we do in our homes. Because of this, I set out to create an imaginative, inspiring, and welcoming space in which to spend our days learning. Since I’m a high school English teacher, I wanted my classroom design to reflect and encourage a love of reading and writing. As I was brainstorming what this design might look like, I came across this stunning book pattern by Magenta Rose Designs on Spoonflower.

Liven Up Your Classroom with This Budget-Friendly DIY | Spoonflower Blog

Antique Books by magentarosedesigns

Hit the Books with This Week’s Top 10!

August 27, 2015

Ahh, the smell of brand new textbooks…the sound of binders clicking open and closed. Must be time for back-to-school! Congratulations to this week's Design Challenge champion, Julie Lynch (cjldesigns) for her winning design, "Notebooks Journals and Diaries." See how the rest of the top 10 stack up and don't forget to visit our Facebook page for photos of all the top 10 printed out and looking their best on Silky Faille!

1. 588 votes for notebooks journals and diaries by cjldesigns
2. 462 votes for Little Library boy by heleen_vd_thillart
3. 417 votes for ModernBookshelf by nethery
4. 385 votes for books2 by gaiamarfurt
5. 379 votes for Read More Books by sheri_mcculley
6. 376 votes for Between The Lines by seesawboomerang
7. 373 votes for School Books N Stuff by creativetaylor
8. 361 votes for book joy by scrummy
9. 357 votes for pile of books___ by caro-nika
10. 329 votes for Jolly Journals Collection by paula's_designs

Vote for Your Favorite Book-Inspired Fabrics!

August 21, 2015

Whether reading for fun or studying for a class, books are universally important tools for education and understanding. Do you have a favorite reading nook or enjoy the smell of your local library? If yes, then it's time to browse all the book-centric designs and vote on your favorites in this week's contest!

VOTE NOW!

Renter Dec: Project Inspiration Books Giveaway

May 8, 2013

This week we are giving away two books with beautiful fully removable home decor projects perfectly suited for rented spaces, just like those we're sharing all this month in our Renter Dec series.

The two books included in this week's book bundle are:

Living in a Nutshell: Posh and Portable Decorating Ideas for Small Spaces. A one-of-a-kind DIY decorating guide with fresh ideas to fool the eye into seeing—and believing—that even the most cramped little lair can hold more space and glamor than just the sum its of four walls.
Wallpaper Projects: 50 Craft and Design Ideas for Your Home, from Accents to Art. Like a roll of wallpaper, this home decor book is both lovely to look at and entirely practical to use. It showcases contemporary and vintage patterns, plus instructions for over 50 wallpaper projects ranging from quick scrap crafts (book covers) to more involved design upgrades (headboards) to big impact makeovers (walls, window shades).

Enter any time between now and Tuesday, May 14th, 2013, for a chance to win. We'll announce the winner on the Spoonflower blog on May 15th. Good luck!

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN

Last week's winner of 15 wallpaper swatches is Sybilla Fabrizio. Congratulations, Sybilla!

Living In A Jane Austen Novel Fabric Contest Winners

April 4, 2013

We asked the community to submit fabric designs inspired by the idea of living in a Jane Austen novel and they came up with a broad array of styles and interpretations that turned out to be a lot of fun to peruse. The top spot goes to Jean Maze, a first-time winner who put together a design based on quotes from the novels paired with objects from Jane Austen's era of history. Congrats to Jean and to the rest of the top ten!

The final votes:

1. 719 votes for Jane Austen's NOTIONS by amazinart
2. 649 votes for Elinor Dashwood's London wardrobe by cjldesigns
3. 639 votes for Lizzie's Walk by kate_legge
4. 597 votes for Pride and Prejudice Fabric by mag-o
5. 488 votes for Jane Austen's Garden by jan_harbon
6. 486 votes for Pemberley Print by jenimp
7. 480 votes for Jane Austen's ChalkBoard by juliesfabrics
8. 475 votes for Daydream in a Regency Garden by wiccked
9. 384 votes for Pride and Residences by ceanirminger
10. 344 votes for Bonnets, Books and Bows…Jane Austen by joojoostrees

Handmade Wedding Book Bundle Giveaway!

April 3, 2013

To kick off our DIY Wedding theme this month, this week we're giving away three books highlighting inspiring handmade projects to help you plan your own wedding or to help a friend plan hers! Anyone who has tried to plan a DIY wedding will tell you that deciding what handmade projects to tackle, and how best to execute them, can be exhausting. Hours can be spent browsing wedding blogs and days can be lost in the depths of Pinterest. We hope these three books will inspire and guide you to create your perfect wedding day! Fill out our entry form any time between now and Tuesday, April 9th and we'll announce a winner on Wednesday the 10th. Good luck!

ENTER TO WIN

The three titles in our handmade wedding book bundle are:

The DIY Wedding: Celebrate Your Day Your Way. Goodbye, caterers. So long, wedding coordinators. Here is the bride's guide to thinking outside that robin's egg blue wedding-industry box. You'll find everything you need to pull off a personalized celebration.
Handmade Weddings: More Than 50 Crafts to Personalize Your Big Day. Handcrafted details are at the heart of a beautiful wedding, adding charm, meaning, and style. In this delightful book, Eunice and Sabrina Moyle, the founders of Hello! Lucky, join forces with stylist Shana Faust to bring you over 50 gorgeous projects. Whether you favor a modern, classic look or a retro, homespun flavor, you'll find plenty of crafts and inspiration suited to your taste, from vintage-key save-the-dates to delicate paper wreaths to silhouette bride and groom signs.
Vintage Wedding Style: More than 25 Simple Projects and Endless Inspiration for Designing Your Big Day. For every bride who dreams of making her special day exactly that—hers—this gorgeous book shows how to mix personal touches with vintage style for a truly meaningful celebration. From flea market chic to Great Gatsby grandeur, each chapter from wedding stylist Elizabeth Demos features photographs from real weddings and easy-to-follow instructions for achieving the look.

Last week's winner of an E-Course learning how to make money from your craft blog from Sister Diane of CraftyPod is Shelly Spahlinger-Kugler. Congratulations, Shelly!

Business Books For Creatives Giveaway

March 13, 2013

Keeping to our Market Yourself March theme, this week we'll hold a drawing to award one winner a bundle of three business books for creatives. As anyone who has tried to run a business can tell you, one of the key challenges you face is getting your work out there. Artists in particular have a tendency to focus on the process and on the product itself, which is the fun part. Selling yourself and getting known are, for many, the hard parts. The good news is that social media provides individual artists with a whole arsenal of free tools for promoting their work. The bad news, of course, is that the same set of tools is available to thousands and thousands of your fellow artists who are hoping to do the same thing. How do you stand out? How do you get noticed? The business books we're giving away this week can give you a great start in tackling the challenge. Fill out our entry form any time between now and Tuesday, March 19th and we'll announce a winner on Wednesday the 20th. Good luck!

This week we're giving away three great books to help you grow your creative business. They are:

Grow Your Handmade Business: How to Envision, Develop, and Sustain a Successful Creative Business by Kari Chapin. Applying her trademark "you-can-do-it" coaching style to the nuts and bolts of business planning, Kari Chapin covers all of the issues involved in turning your creative hobby into a successful business–from mapping out a business plan to expanding production and distribution, finding funding, and addressing legal matters. With this definitive guide, you'll discover how to grow your business beyond the dining room table and finally quit your day job.
Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business by Joy Deangdeelert Cho and Meg Mateo Ilasco. As the hipster classic Craft, Inc. did for crafters, this book will teach all types of creatives illustrators, photographers, graphic designers, animators, and more how to build a successful business doing what they love. Accessible, spunky, and packed with practical advice, Creative, Inc. is an essential for anyone ready to strike out on their own.
Blogging for Creatives: How designers, artists, crafters and writers can blog to make contacts, win business and build success by Robin Houghton. Of the billions of internet users worldwide, a massive 80% are visiting blogs. The blogosphere has become a huge platform for individuals and businesses alike. Blogging for Creatives is the first approachable, non-techie guide to the blogosphere, complete with hundreds of tips, tricks and motivational stories from artistic bloggers who have started from scratch.

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN

Last week's winner of the amazing bundle of prizes from The Makerie Sewing Retreat was Stephanie Basden. Congratulations, Stephanie!

12 Days of Giveaways: Day TWO – Win A Modern Quilting Library

December 8, 2012

Day two of the 12 Days of Giveaways is an exciting one for us quilters in the office. We find quilting inspiration all over the place–on the web, from each other, at our local fabric shops, and of course, whenever we look over and see what’s coming off our own printers. But sometimes it’s nice to have concentrated inspiration right at your fingertips between the covers of a good quilting book. That’s why today we’re giving away a small library of modern quilting books today to provide you with plenty of fresh ideas for your quilts in 2013. Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen, Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman, and Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal are sure to get your creative synapses firing!

Yesterday's winners (from our Day 1 giveaway) were Audrey Clayton, Yuki McNeil and Christa McMillen. We'll be sending them emails shortly!

Enter this giveaway between now and 8:00 am EST tomorrow morning for a chance to win these lovely books. Good luck to you all, and do check back with us tomorrow for day three’s giveaway and for the announcement of the modern quilting library winner!

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN

The Color Revolution Book Giveaway

October 3, 2012

Each year, with the announcement of Pantone's Color of the Year, I wonder, "How in the world do they decide?" and harumph, "Who made them the color boss?" According to The Color Revolution by historian Regina Lee Blaszczyk, such announcements aren't, as I cynically half-suspected, decreed by a "secretive cabal" of fashion, home-dec, and consumer product executives but rather, the result of a "careful reading of cultural trends and consumer taste," and a sort of organic next step in an unfolding history of consumer color choices and preferences. I've got to admit that I never thought about it that way!

If you're curious to read more about the fascinating history of color and consumer trends, you'll want to enter our drawing for a copy of The Color Revolution. Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this book is certain to deepen your appreciation for the role of color in the things that you see, buy, and use every day. To enter our drawing, just enter your comment below or on the corresponding Facebook post and do include your Spoonflower screen name or some other means of contacting you in case you're our winner. Entries will close next Tuesday, 10/9 at 7pm EST and we'll announce a winner on 10/10. Good luck to you all!

Last week, we gave away no fewer than five prizes to celebrate the launch of Spoonflower's new wallpaper and wall decals. The five winners of a large-size wall decal were Kirablossoms in Colorado, SEF in the UK, Voxwoman in New Jersey, Tara McGowan/Art Tree Designs in Texas, and Hanahula in (presumably) Hawaii. Congratulations to you all, and we'll be in touch shortly!

Blogging for Creatives book giveaway

August 1, 2012

We often give away sewing related items for the Spoonflower weekly giveaway, and we sometimes give away design related items. Then occasionally, we give away stuff that is tangential to both sewing and fabric design but, we hope, still of interest to you all. This week's book jumped out at me as something that the Spoonflower community would probably find pretty interesting. Blogging for Creatives, written this year by Robin Houghton, is a book crammed full of tips for the creative person on getting started blogging, or on improving your blog if you already have one. Her tips start at the super-basic for the complete newbie. "In a nutshell…this is essentially what you do: 1. Login to the admin pages of your blog, 2. Write your post and upload whatever content you like, 3. Press the publish button." She goes on to describe various blogging platforms and their pros and cons, gives pointers on posts that work well, explains how to connect effectively with others, how to analyze your traffic, promote, advertise, and more, all with liberal examples of bloggers that are doing it well.

In short, this book is a great and up-to-date blogging resource, and it could be yours in this week's giveaway! Just leave your comment here or on the corresponding Facebook post, and do include your Spoonflower screen name or other means of tracking you down in case you're our winner. If you've already got a blog, please leave us a link in your comment and tell us what you're blogging about! And if you don't yet have one but are thinking about it, we'd love to hear about that, too. Entries close next Tuesday, 8/7 and we'll announce a winner on 8/8. Good luck to you all!

Last week we offered a sewing related giveaway, a copy of the gorgeously photographed Sewing Made Simple from Chronicle Books. The winner was Caitlin Rose of Minneapolis. Congratulations Caitlin, and I hope you think the books is as lovely as we do!