The cloud breaks + shop promotion

Most of these cushions/throw pillows are from photos I took in LA 2008, some combined with older patterns from my archives. They really express what living in Venice felt like to me creatively, it was a whole new world of colour and light and pattern. Memories of that sunlight and Ocean living really perked me up this week when we were mired under low grey cloud and cold fog for 8 days.  
Somewhat bad timing because the front Cherry Blossom, Prunus Cerasifera 'Nigra', had opened during the previous week and was doing it's best to cheer up the view in the absence of sunshine (taken when things lightened up enough to actually get a photo)...

The Forsythia can always be relied upon to brighten even the darkest day...

Luckily the cloud and fog have lifted this weekend and we finally had a sunset...

Today I finally got my fix of some much needed sunshine and Cherry Blossom in the garden. Hard to photograph though because the sun returned with it's near constant companion these days - strong wind! It's been so hard to photograph anything in the garden in the last 3 years because it is nearly always jiving around like 50's teenager...

In a very brief moment of stillness and extremely bright sun I spotted this little ladybird exploring the flowers of Pieris 'Debutante' which have been really abundant this year. It's a very compact little Pieris and it's leaves keep a fairly consistent green in all seasons, good for small spaces and places where you don't want any unexpected colour clashes from changing leaf colour...

And finally the deeper toned flowers of the larger and more seasonally varied Pieris 'Mountain Flame'...

New Clocks and free shipping weekend

I totally forgot to update that my designs on Society 6 are now available as clocks. Each clock has the option for black, white or natural frame colour, and for black or white hands. And there's free worldwide shipping if you use this link until Sunday at Midnight Pacific Time.
*Offer excludes Framed Art Prints, Stretched Canvases and Throw Pillows with insert.

I think this is going to involve some updating because a lot my my pattern make it hard to read the clock, so I rummaged through my old sketchbooks for some pieces that would better suit a round face and decided this Fjorn pattern (above) was perfect for the job, with a few edits to make it more circular. I love it in clock format, but it also looks good on the other products too. It is also comes in a red on white option.

Now I'd better get back to updating the clock section for all my previous designs to they will work better. I'm thinking single colours may be the way to go initially.

More free shipping on Society 6

Another free shipping deal on most Cally Creates Society 6 products including iPhone/iPad skins and cases, from now through Monday (cyber Monday for those of you that call it that).

Antalis Calenclock by Ken Lo

Antalis Calenclock 2012 by Ken Lo via Behance Network

Great idea to have your clock and calendar integrated into one item with the pages tearing off each month. I bet we'll see lots of clocks and calendars inspired by this in future. It certainly has my head buzzing with ideas now.

Designer tents

I don't need a tent, but I do love this one's from Field Candy. Not that I would spent so much money on a tent even if I did need one Animal Farm is £449 and Men Only is £555 - ouch!

I wouldn't want to be in a tent just now, the gales have returned after a brief partial easing over the last few weeks. Hard to believe that this time last year we'd had 1/2 a metre of snow already. There was a little sleet the other day but it's been pretty mild for November and it's only now that the cold is becoming sharper. Snow predicted for Monday.