In the Shop

From Photo to Sketch to Pattern

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There were so many mushrooms in the woods that I explored this year. I took a ton of photos of all the varying shapes, sizes, and colors.

When I got home, I used my photos as references for sketches and collage elements in my art journal

I then used all these references to create a mushroom pattern for a creative exercise in Module 2 by Make it in Design. Below you can see the motifs I drew and the color palette I chose.

Then I scanned the motifs on to my computer, cleaned them up in Adobe Photoshop, and traced them, added color, and laid out the pattern in Adobe Illustrator.

And finally, I named the pattern Mushroom Meadow and uploaded it to my Redbubble shop on all kinds of products.

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Give My Designs This Holiday Season

Are you looking for unique gifts this holiday season? Check out my Redbubble shop for products with my whimsical patterns, designed with passion and wonder. Keep scrolling for some of my favorites.

Mouse Pads

Posters

Travel Mugs

Coasters

Zippered Pouches

Mugs

Jigsaw Puzzles

Phone Cases

Creating My Doodle Design

One of the design collections that I’m creating for my shop is called Express Yourself! These designs have words and images that let people show the world what they love.

I decided to use this art journal spread as inspiration for a Doodle design.

I recreated the doodle pattern using a black Pitt Artist Pen on white paper. Then I scanned it, cleaned it up in Adobe Photoshop, and traced it in Illustrator. I pulled the colors palette from the art journal spread and added them to the pattern.

Next, I arranged the doodle pattern on the page and added the text.

I made a portrait and a landscape version so it would fit on various types of products.

I added the design to my shop on lots of different types of products. It’s also available as a printable download.

Creating My Yellow, Coral, and Gray Floral Designs

Creating My Yellow, Coral, and Gray Floral Pattern

My Yellow, Gray, & Floral designs started as an exercise in Module 2 from Make it in Design. The brief was to create elegant coordinated patterns for a stationery collection.

I decided to use this stylized flower I had sketched in my art journal as the basis for the designs.

Color palette and motifs for my yellow, coral, and gray floral pattern

For the color palette, I started with one of my favorite color combinations: yellow and gray, and then added the coral. I hand-drew the flowers, scanned them, and traced them in Adobe Illustrator. I use the rectangle tool to create the diamond shapes.

Concept board for my yellow, coral, and gray floral pattern on stationery

I added color to the floral motifs and used them and the diamonds in different combinations on each piece of the collection.

The yellow, coral, and gray floral pattern

For my Redbubble shop, I changed the name of the collection to Yellow, Coral, and Gray Floral Designs. In addition, I tweaked the designs from the stationary to fit the products better.

These designs are available on wall art, phone cases, home decor, stickers, magnets, and more.

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Creating My Folk Art Pattern

One of the creative exercises in Module 2 by Make it in Design was to look to our own culture and use its influence in a design of our own. I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch Country and even have some Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. I have never been particularly drawn to Pa Dutch folk art but was surprised when I researched it to find many similarities with my own drawing style. I created a pattern that uses colors and motifs influenced by Pa Dutch folk art while adding my own flair.

I created a mood board with some of the Pa Dutch folk art I found in my research.

Then I drew some motifs, scanned them, and traced them in Adobe Illustrator. I chose colors from the designs on my mood board.

This is the final pattern that I created. While it has the same colors and similar motifs to the images on the mood board, it looks very different because I added my own flair and style.

Finally I uploaded the pattern to my Redbubble shop and added it all sorts of products.

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