Swooning over Spoonflower

Technology can just be too much fun. Really, there are some gadgets, gizmos and whatchamacallits that are plain fun to doodle with and let your imagination run wild. Sometimes, my computer is like that - when it is working and all the tech stars are in alignment. I like to goof around with Adobe Photo Elements and play with all the different ways to change photos, drawings and the like. Typically, these masterpieces of mayhem just hang out in a folder on my harddrive, never seeing the light of day.

But now, courtesy of another technological whirligig, my jpegs can become fabric. Spoonflower is a beta site that lets people register for their turn to take doodles, photos, artwork of all kinds and transform them into fabric. What's the point of that, says the uncrafty among us. Well, what about curtains for a kids bedroom featuring their own artwork? Favorite family photos transformed into wearable art or reupholstered pillows featuring your sketches or favorite quotes. Get where I am going with this? Nifty in a big way.

I finally got my invitation to join (I signed up earlier in the summer). There is no cost to register and once you get the golden email, you can just upload your jpegs and select the size fabric you want to purchase (from swatches to yards). The shipping is dirt cheap (one dollar) and the fabric prices aren't bad considering it is custom work. Until my own swatch arrives, I won't be able to comment on the quality, but I have a good feeling that the end results will be true to the visual.

Once my treasures arrive and I actually take the plunge and do something with them, I'll be sure to post photos so you can check out the results. I went crazy with a Russian nesting dolls theme-meets-Andy Warhol-Pop-Art-Wannabe so I'm anxious to see the finished fabric.

Whee! I love technology. Mostly.