Ruth Ellen Parlour's Blog

I have added a new collection of patterns to my online Spoonflower Shop!

This collection, Morning Dahlia, is inspired by the bright colours of a summer’s sunrise. Dahlia’s are my favourite flowers and feature heavily in my design work.

Sometimes I draw a flower just for fun. I keep all my artwork and sometimes when a project comes along, a picture I previously drew might just fit perfectly with a new theme.

The collection is made up of five designs; there’s the main Hero print featuring the main Dahlia motif layered alongside leaves and dots. There are four complimenting patterns of blue and mustard.

The Dahlia is one I grew in my own garden from a plant I bought at my local Morrison’s supermarket. I tend to pick up plants from all over the place to add to my collection. The dahlia is now at least 4 years old and she blooms every year. You have to keep them safe from slugs and snails though otherwise they get devoured.

The sketch was done using a uni pin pen (my favourite medium) I uploaded it to the computer and used Illustrator’s image trace tool to convert it into vectors. From there I can change the colours and add layers.

My Shop

These patterns can be purchased as fabric or on a variety of soft home furnishings;

cushions, curtains, bedding, table cloth, blanket, table mats, napkins, table runners, and wallpaper.

It’s a print on demand site so it would take a while to receive your item but it would be one in a million!

You can visit my Spoonflower shop HERE

****Please note that Ruth Ellen Parlour Art and Design is a member of ACID Anti Copyright in Design. All images and words are the lawful property of Ruth Ellen Parlour. Do not duplicate for any purposes the images without prior consent from the author. Copyright Ruth Ellen Parlour 2021.****

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It’s that time again where I enter the Wraptious Artist competition!

Wraptious is a very ethical company, using sustainable resources, eco-conscious packaging and working to end modern slavery. They also plant 3 trees with every purchase! The quality of their products is amazing, I bought some of the cushions myself, and so has my friends and family!

This time round I’ve decided to enter 5 designs from my Swans and Roses collection.

They can be purchased for a limited time on cushions, prints and canvases direct from my Wraptious Page.

It is a beautifully curated collection of pattern designs, made up of quirky bright yellow roses with an eclectic mix-media styles of hand drawn motifs and photography. Roses and Swans become one for an interesting and unique motif idea. The colourful characters are enhanced with the addition of cygnets (baby swans) some of which are hiding in the roses, and some are swimming freely across the design.

For every like, comment, and share from the original Facebook Post on the Wraptious page, I get 1 vote towards my entry! With every purchase, I get 50 points! To make it fair, they also have a panel of judges who pick out their favourites as they understand that not everyone has a large online following. It’s not just a popularity competition.

All of the rose motifs were drawn or photographed from the rose bush that I planted and grew in my own back garden. I am a keen gardener and the best inspiration is definitely first hand inspiration. The Rose is called, Poet’s Wife, and I bought it as a bare root plant from David Austin Roses. I would definitely recommend the roses from there, it’s a beautiful plant with stunning blooms with a long flowering period.

I’m also planning to add this collection as fabric designs to my Spoonflower shop in the near future. So if you love them and want them in your own craft projects at home, stay tuned. You’ll hear all news first on my Instagram account.

The post Artist Competition Now Open first appeared on Ruth Ellen Parlour.

Drum roll please!

I am so excited to announce that my Spoonflower shop is now open!

My Daisy Dreams collection is available to buy as fabric for your crafty projects. Which do you like best?

I ordered some samples and simply love the satin and chiffon fabrics. The cotton poplin is lovely too and would be very easy to sew into craft projects. My iron is a bit rubbish but I managed to get out the creases.

I would totally wear a blouse from these designs but my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired, I end up getting frustrated and doing a rubbish job! I’ll stick with the designing and leave the sewing well alone. I hope I get to see what people make from this lush collection.

The main motif is drawn by hand, I actually drew 3 versions; one in pencil, one in pen, and one in coloured pencil. On the computer, using Photoshop, I layered them up and enhanced the vibrancy to create a motif with lovely depth and colour.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I converted the pen version to a vector based line drawing. This technique simplifies and cleans up the line drawing and I can use the vector motif as a background idea, or a motif in it’s own pattern, easily changing the colours.

I love creating art that has the hand drawn feel, I don’t like to make images that are too clean and vectorised, not that it doesn’t look good it’s simply not my signature style. Hand drawn art makes my heart sing.

The Daisy Dreams collection was inspired by a plant I bought for my first garden when I lived in a cottage on a farm. African Daisy or Osteopermum. Unfortunately they don’t like our winters and the plant did not survive but the inspiration stayed with me. These beautiful flowers are so pure and perfect it lends itself very well to a drawing with coloured pencil.

The Daisy Dreams collection is meant to lift the soul, be carefree and remind us of soft summer days at play. Enjoy.

Watch this space as I’m currently working on more designs to make available on my Spoonflower shop.

Bye for now!

Please note that Ruth Ellen Parlour Art and Design is a member of ACID anti copyright in design. All images and words are the lawful property of Ruth Ellen Parlour. Do not duplicate for any purposes the images without prior consent from the author. Copyright Ruth Ellen Parlour 2021.

The post Open For Business first appeared on Ruth Ellen Parlour.

New for 2021, this was my first project in lock-down Part III and I’m so pleased with the result. Don’t ask me where the idea of swans and roses together came from, it just popped into my head one day! I’ve created two colourways, one using Pantone’s colours of the year 2021, Illuminating (yellow) and ultimate grey, and the second colourway is yellow and blue/navy. There are 10 patterns per colourway. Both versions are available for sale or licensing. Please use the ‘contact’ page if you have any queries. Thanks for checking these out!

Copyright © Ruth Ellen Parlour all rights reserved

All the illustrations are done by hand using a mix of pen outline, and illustrator marker pens. I used photography from flowers I grew in my own garden as motifs in several of the patterns. The blender patterns were created entirely digitally. I use Photoshop and Illustrator to enhance the colour the original illustrations. Bright, fresh, crisp and imaginative, these collections would work great for stationary, home, gift and greetings. Working with florals is always my go-to for artwork and patterns, I simple love how versatile they are, never failing to capture my imagination. Majestic birds are quickly becoming a new favourite feature in my artwork too! I feel these patterns are bright and elegant with a warm comforting feel.

**Please note that all designs are the property of Ruth Ellen Parlour and subject to copyright law. Please to not distribute or replicate these designs without permission from the author**

Copyright © Ruth Ellen Parlour all rights reserved

The post Swans and Roses New Pattern Collection first appeared on Ruth Ellen Parlour.

[image error]For Autumn/Winter 2020 I’ve decided to enter the designer’s competition on Wraptious. I get to submit 5 designs which are available to purchase during the competition as cushions, prints, or canvasses, until the end of December 2020. I’ve submitted 5 of my floral designs and they look amazing on the mock-ups! I can’t decide which I like best!

To find them on Wraptious follow this link Wraptious Submission Ruth Ellen Parlour

Or share my post on Facebook!

Check them out!

With a stunning combination of turquoise and pink, this pattern was inspired by African Daisies (Osteopermum) which I grew in my own garden. The motifs were created by hand and digitally edited and composed.

This ethereal design was inspired by one of the Make it in Design Summer School briefs, ‘Sundown.’ I decided to incorporate a pencil sketch of a hydrangea ball as if it were a cloud in a sunset sky.

Another one from Summer School, ‘Free Spirit’, inspired by 60s floral motifs and pallette. The hand drawn motifs were arranged using Photoshop. I love the bright pops of colour on this one.

A visually stunning twilight palette was used to inspire this dark coloured pattern with pops of bright colour. Dahlia’s are one of my favourite plants to draw, their petals never cease to inspire me!

Good Morning! Another Dahlia design with a bright fresh palette of blue and yellow to brighten up any space. I can’t help but feel happy just looking at this one! Another hand drawn motif from one of my home grown Dahlias.

I’m a big fan of taking part in the Summer (and Winter) school with Make it in Design. It is a great opportunity to gush over some glorious briefs and have a go at designing something that I might not otherwise have thought to think about by myself. With everything going on this year, getting to design has given me a welcome mental break from the stress of life! Here are my designs (two for each track; Beginner, Intermediate, and Advance.)

© Ruth Ellen Parlour

So you’ve got an urge to write a story, to spill your thoughts, ideas, emotions, and the essence of your very soul onto the page. If you don’t do this there is something missing from your life that niggles and eats away at you whispering, ‘You will never be truly happy if you ignore your passion, your calling’.

And so you start a new project, a new story, a new piece of your heart and soul. Where do you start? Do you just dive in and see where the current takes you? Do you plot and plan every detail? Do you sign up to courses to learn how to master the craft correctly before ever writing a single creative word?

No really, I’m asking… for a friend.

Ok stop. Take a breath.

You can’t do all of the things all at once and Rome wasn’t built in a day. Writing a novel is a looooong game, no matter how keen or excited you are to write 10k a day of perfect prose straight off the bat and get it viewed by your readers. So what’s the rush? Sit back and enjoy the process. Take your time, enjoy the view and take the scenic route.

Seriously, this is advice for myself more than anything else.

If there’s too much floating around in your head, or you’re feeling overwhelmed, then make a to-do list of the steps you want to take, in the order you want to take them in order to progress with your work. To-do lists are a tool I use all the time to combat stress and anxiety. It WORKS. I just need to follow them!

I’m writing my new novel for myself, to fulfil the creative yearning I have, with no intention of rushing, or of getting it on front of readers, or even getting it published. At least not YET.

Because when I take the pressure to produce off my shoulders then I can really let the magic happen, and this is when I produce some of my best works, both in literature and art.

Good luck and let me know how you get on!

Creative Writing. It’s something I’ve put on the back burner in recent years as self-doubt got the better of me. It’s not productive, I’ll never be good enough, I’ll never be a published writer etc etc… any fellow writers out there, or in fact, anyone who has ever had a dream will know exactly how it goes.

But without creative writing, working on a story, getting to know characters, typing, reading, editing, CREATING… I feel there is something missing in my life, a hole that needs to be filled. I’ve buried the need deep within my subconscious but it comes back to me in my dreams. I dream about new story ideas where I see things being played out before my eyes in fantastical scenes and wonderfully quirky characters and my mind thinks, that’s a great story idea I need to write this down! Of course when I wake up, the dreamt ideas are complete garbage but it leaves with me a taste for the passion I have long since buried.

Some of my best ideas and artwork has come from not putting pressure on myself to actually produce something good, but instead, to allow myself to do something “just for the fun of it.” There’s a lot less pressure and I can explore without constraints.

And so after this dream I sat down with a note book and some ideas came to me for a story. I’ve decided for the first time in a few years, that I’m going to write again. This time it is for me, for the sake of my soul and buried passion. It doesn’t matter if only I enjoy it, or one other person. The benefits of creativity to my own mental health outweigh anything else, especially my self-doubt and fears of failure.

Stay tuned for more adventures and maybe even… the return of #FridaySnippets? I’m making no promises though, once I come off furlough and I’m back to work time seems to run away with me.

Has anyone else out there had these feelings or even these weird creativity inspired dreams?

Since being on furlough during lock down I’ve had a lot of time to get back to doing what I love – creating. I would like to share with you a few sample snippets of my work so far. To view the full pieces on my portfolio page, please request a password via the contact page. Thanks very much.

© Copyright Ruth Ellen Parlour 2020

It’s that time of year again. I always try and take part in the MIID Schools, not just because I love seeing some cool new trends, but it gives me more inspiration to design pattern collections that I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise!

This year I didn’t have time to take all 3 tracks so I took Intermediate and Advanced, I hope you enjoy viewing my submissions!

**Please note that all designs are the property of Ruth Ellen Parlour and subject to copyright law. Please to not distribute or replicate these designs without permission from the author**

Copyright © Ruth Ellen Parlour all rights reserved. All designs are available of purchase or license

Copyright © Ruth Ellen Parlour all rights reserved.