Autumn botanicals tableware

 I'm loving this autumn botanical print that I designed a while ago. The rich teal background sets off the colour palette of coral and mustard and I've included decorative leaves such as oak leaves and acorn leaves amongst mushrooms, berries and acorns.

This print looks great on a variety of tableware options, available in my Spoonflower shop. And it's a perfect way of elevating an autumnal dinner party.

The napkins come in two sizes (cocktail napkins and dinner napkins) and are made from a cotton sateen fabric. The cocktail napkins come as a set of four, the dinner napkins come as a set of two.

The placemats are hemmed, topstitched and come with mitred corners. They are available in two types of cotton canvas fabric or in a cotton sateen fabric.

The tablecloths come as a rectangle, square or oval shape and each shape has a variety of sizes. These are made from a wide cotton sateen fabric.

The table runners come in three size options and are also made from cotton sateen.

Autumn colours

 I love this time of year, the leaves are changing colour and there is a nip in the air. I was inspired to create this autumnal leaf design inspired by woodblock prints. 

You can buy this print on a variety of fabrics in my Spoonflower shop or as ready-made items. It looks great on this square throw pillow cover.

Or as a lovely textured autumn leaves wallpaper.

Use it as a an autumn leaves table cloth for autumn gatherings or Thanksgiving celebrations. This one is circular but you can also buy it as a rectangle.

Alternatively you can buy it as a set of four autumn leaves place mats.

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Woodland adventures

 This week's Spoonflower design challenge is called Adventure Block Prints. The only adventures I'm having right now is forest adventures on local walks, so I thought I'd take my inspiration from the leaf shapes I found on my meanderings. Leaves come in many pretty forms and are perfect for creating a woodblock-inspired print. This one uses shades of terracotta, mustard and purple and co-ordinates perfectly with other prints in my Spoonflower shop.

Autumn colours

 Embrace autumn with this fabulous seasonal pencil case. Leaves, mushrooms, acorns and berries come in shades of rust, mustard, purple and pink and a dark brown background.

The pouch is lightly padded and comes with a pink and white polka dot lining and a brown zipper closure. It would make a great Thanksgiving gift or for an October birthday girl.

Use it as a handbag organiser for storing phone, keys and sunglasses in.

It's the perfect pie for carrying cosmetics in or for using as a makeup brush pouch.

Look up close and you'll see that each leaf contains veins and spots detailing in a contrasting colour.

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Autumn delights

I love this time of year. The leaves are changing colour and the weather is beginning to turn a little colder. To celebrate this I decided to add some autumn-inspired items to my store which include sweet apple designs and bright leaves in lovely fall colours. The leaf fabric is a cotton furoshiki that I bought in Japan. Furoshiki is a traditional fabric used for wrapping presents and they come in many interesting varieties. When I first moved to Japan I was intrigued by the choice of colours and patterns on offer and bought many of them for my fabric stash.

With the apple fabric I made a coin purse and card case combo. The red and white polka dot fabric was the perfect lining for both items.

The leaf fabric is a bold orange and beige colour and I decided to make a fab little tissue holder and glasses case. The perfect lining for these items was a brown and beige leaf fabric from Liberty.

Fabric Friday

For this Friday's fabric choice, I decided to carry on the maple leaf theme and selected a beautiful kimono piece that I have in my collection. It is made from a very fine silk and has a simple design of green maple leaves and branches on a cream ground. I love the freshness of the colour and the simplicity of the design, mixed with a pretty, soft watercolour effect in the background.

Japanese maple trees are considered a symbol of grace and are associated with peace, serenity and calm. I need some of that! 

A while ago I used some of this kimono fabric to make a clutch bag and teamed it with a matching green Japanese obi fabric. It has a deep teal cotton lining to compliment the outside. My favourite part of making my bags is choosing which combinations of fabrics to use. The lining fabric is just as important as the outer fabric and I love to add a flash of colour to the inside. The teal colour was a perfect match.

You can find the clutch bag in my store here.

Autumn leaves

I love this time of year! The foliage is starting to change colour, the days are getting crisper and it's my birthday month! The natural colour of the changing leaves is very uplifting and inspired me to make another clutch bag using this wonderful vintage Japanese obi fabric. The obi is the 'belt' that goes round the kimono. 

Its design consists of an array of orange and green Japanese maple leaves sprinkled across a cream ground and I can only imagine how stunning it would have looked as an obi teamed with a rust silk kimono. This time I decided to echo the green of the leaves and give the clutch a vibrant green lining. You can find it in my store here.

A lot of Japanese artwork depicts the maple leaf and these are just two of a selection I have. In both cases the images are simple and graphic and have been screen printed onto thick handmade paper. The image on the left is a beautiful calendar I brought back from Tokyo with me last year. I'm pretty sure the large round object is a sake ball. The sake ball is made of tightly packed cedar twigs and hangs over the door of sake breweries to let customers know that the season's sake is ready to purchase and drink.

When we lived in Japan, the autumn leaves were always stunning. One of my favourites were the Japanese maple leaves that look so delicate. They create a lace effect when seen from below.

An orange day

My recently listed cosmetic bag was featured in this fabulously bright 'Clock Orange' Etsy treasury by Pti4kaneveli4ka. Click on any image to find out more.

RomeoShop $15.00	thebigharumph $22.00	MiracleFromThr... $12.00	BigBadWolfDesi... $24.50
designML $20.00	FancyfeltShop $35.00	BrightWall $50.00	burstsofcreati... $4.00
ResaleReligion $22.10	alery $25.00	ArtmaVintage $62.00	YarnStories $18.00
EuroVintage $29.00	cheekyleopard $28.00	Parisxox $144.00	JustColor $55.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

White pumpkins

My coin purse was recently featured in this beautifully subtle 'White Pumpkins' Etsy treasury by LittleRedPolkaDots. Click on any image to find out more.

TheSSSeamstres... $42.00	WoodlandHoney $22.00	SENNURSASA $19.00	funkyshique $12.00
Luncheonettevi... $33.00	cheekyleopard $14.00	susantique $75.00	aykelila $42.00
zolayka $59.00	SeasideRoseCre... $14.00	bleuherron $20.00	paulajeansgard... $25.00
Behindtheshed $28.00	KellinaDesigns $20.99	WoodenNickelsJ... $19.00	PrivetSoviet $10.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house