Graceful Gathering

Graceful Gathering. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Graceful Gathering. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Doodle Bugs was our Spoonflower assignment this week. I am not a fan of bugs in general. I wouldn’t choose to draw them. I do admire bugs that other artists create. And I have to admit, I was surprised at how many colorful, pretty bugs there are. I had a hard time narrowing it down.

The brief called for hand drawn or painted bugs. My Talens Angora watercolor palette came to mind. Warm desert tones. (Their skin tone collection.) And I decided on Moths. There are so many pretty ones. Some are neon pink and yellow. There were lots of yellows, in the images I researched. And warm earthy rusts and salmons.

Snouted Tiger Moth

I created the bodies and details using the pen tool in Photoshop. I wanted nice crisp lines. I painted blobs, trying to get some bleeds and blooms. I wasn’t as successful with that, but I did end up with a few that were usable. I trimmed them digitally to fit the moth bodies.

I have never considered painting a butterfly. Always felt it was beyond my abilities. But I surprised myself. I am learning to think in pen tool. Haha. 🙂 No way would I be able to draw them by hand though.

Graceful Gathering details. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Graceful Gathering details. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

I am really happy with how this turned out. Happy with the hues.
Happy with my little taught-me-so-much doodle bugs. 😉
Voting is open until next Tuesday, the 25th.

Graceful Gathering Collection. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Graceful Gathering Collection. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Last week I received notice that Spoonflower was making changes in the challenge voting. They have already changed the main challenge page, and WOW! I am looking forward to seeing what changes they made on the voting page. Fingers crossed.

I just read in a Facebook Spoonflower group, that the voting is messy and takes you through 21 pages. BUT, it does allow you to exit and come back to it. It saves your votes, but shows the designs in random order. So you may see some designs more than once, if you re enter. Sounds like they need to work out some glitches.

It will take people using it, for them to gather info for improvements. And if you do consider voting, I am very interested in hearing your opinions, so I can pass them on to Spoonflower.

They did mention, that there would be two columns instead of one, on the phone app. That is a huge change. And will help make voting a little faster. They will also be verifying that designs meet the requirements, and are repeating designs. One key to voting on the phone, is to open the page, and give it a few seconds to load the images.

WOO WHO!!!

Spoonflower calculates the counts now! Awesome! I don’t have to search through the entries now, to find my placement. Thank you Spoonflower! 🙂

Rugged Line placement in the Miniature Dollhouse Wallpaper challenge.
Rugged Line - Pink. Miniature Dollhouse Wallpaper. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Rugged Line – Pink. Miniature Dollhouse Wallpaper. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Woo Whoo! 176!! That is the top 10.45 %. (If the online calculator is correct. LOL)

You can see the top 65, here. I would have needed only 30 more votes to make the top 65. WOWzers! 🙂 This simple design is one of my favorites. So nice that so many others like it too. 🙂

Sending out a huge cup of appreciation, to all of you who voted & to those of you taking the time to vote this week. 🙂 And to all of my followers. I am so grateful. 🙂

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

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14 thoughts on “Graceful Gathering

  1. Laurelle

    The pages are constantly shifting the order of the selections because I found your entry on page 13. I think it was very clever to add a flower to your bugs, softening a bit their “bug-iness.” It is perfectly titled as the moth/butterflies have lovely gentle wings.

    Reply
    1. Sheila Post author

      Thanks for letting me know Laurelle, I will pass it on.
      So glad you like the design, and the name. Thanks so much for taking the time to vote. 🙂
      Have a super week, happy creating, my friend! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Val van der Poel

    I like the general design and I like it best with the pinkish backgrounds. I tried to vote but it kept getting denied when I tried to go to the voting page. I hope they get the ‘bugs’ fixed soon – lol.

    Reply
    1. Sheila Post author

      Haha! ;o) Thanks so much for trying Val, I will pass along your info. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
      So glad you liked it. 🙂

      Reply
    1. Sheila Post author

      Right, Lana? Haha! I forced myself to look at bugs. I searched “pretty” and “colorful” bugs.
      And I got lucky. Only a couple of spiders showed up, and they were surprisingly pretty. Almost.
      (There was one that was bright cobalt blue!)
      So glad you like them Lana. I love your patterns, and I am looking forward to seeing your entry. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Dorothy H Seiter

    feedback re voting:
    • i like that the pages on my computer contain 3 images across instead of 2 (it was previously only 2, yes?)
    • i like that the images are on discrete pages at the bottom of which pagination is displayed so, for example, today i knew there were 21 pages and knew how many pages i’d scrolled at any given moment
    • i like that YOUR design was on page 3 today!
    • i do NOT like that i have to vote for a minimum of three designs before i can submit my vote for you

    Reply
    1. Sheila Post author

      WOW, thanks so much for all of the details. I had no idea there would be a minimum. Hmmm…. does not seem democratic to me…
      Telling someone they have to. Thanks So much Dotty! For taking the time, and for also taking time to let me know. 🙂 I will pass on your observations. 🙂
      You got lucky… page 3. For me, I m always at the bottom. LOL.

      Reply
  4. Dorothy H Seiter

    Sheila, congrats on your voter success with the miniature dollhouse wallpaper!

    Your current designs delights my eye—the layering of solid figures on top of outlined shapes is super.

    Reply

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