Pattern and colour...

This month, I have been going a bit boss-eyed with pattern and colour...!

My husband and kids will tell you (loudly and at length...) that I've spent the last few months doing nothing but staring at my laptop. It sounds hellish, but it hasn't been, because I've been turning polymer 'canes' into digital patterns.

One of the great joys of polymer 'caning' is also one of its biggest downsides; you create beautiful patterns in clay, and they're all unique, serendipitous creations - like the patterns inside a kaleidoscope.

But, like a kaleidoscope, you can’t reproduce the designs. Once the cane is used up, the pattern's gone too.

Now, I've discovered a way to make digital repeating patterns from my canes. And thanks to the advent of digital printing, I can now print my patterns onto almost anything… Some of the possibilities are:

• upholstery fabric and dress-making fabric

• cards

• lampshades

• wallpaper

• clothing and scarves

• wrapping paper

• mugs, coaster, trays...

I've written a tutorial for Etsy showing other polymer artists how to turn their canes (or even single slices of canes) into repeating patterns. I think the downloadable tutorial will be about £10 but if you're willing to be a beta tester, please get in touch!

Anyway, my first ever notecards and greetings cards are at the printers. I can't wait to see the proofs, and you lovely people have started pre-ordering them already! I've also had some silk and cotton printed at British fabric printing company Lacuna Press, and I'm working out how to turn it into beautiful scarves and other items. I am totally not a seamstress, so I'm probably going to farm out the delicate, precision bits of the job to a friend.

I'm hoping to be in the artists marquee at the Reigate Community Festival on the 2nd July 2016, and it'd be the perfect place to launch a new range of cards and fabric - but the timing's a bit scary!