Saturday, May 14, 2016

Surtex 2016!

This week some of my work will be at the Surtex Show in New York, NY!! (Represented by Figgy Pudding Designs, stop by and say hi to Shelley and see some great art!!!)
'Retro Christmas - Snow globe pattern'
©2016 Patty Rybolt Designs

'Lemonade - Pitchers'
©2016 Patty Rybolt Designs

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Ringing in the New Year with... Peace, Love + Paper Party Hats!

Peace, Love + Paper Party Hats!
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs. All Rights Reserved.

Designers were asked to celebrate their New Year traditions in this week's Design Challenge! With everything happening in the world today I thought that spreading some peace and love as my holiday tradition would be a great way to ring in the new year!

Happy New Year everyone!

Voting will open Thursday, December 17th, 2015 and stay open for two weeks instead of one (Spoonflower is skipping a contest in observance of Christmas). Please Vote Here!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Knit + Purl


Knit + Purl ©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs. All Rights Reserved.


The Spoonflower designers were asked to... 'Create a knitting-inspired design just in time for the cozy holiday season'.
A handmade 'I love you' stitched from the heart!

I was so excited to squeeze this design in this week, it was such a fun design topic! 
Voting will open Thursday, December 10th, 2015. Please VOTE HERE!

Friday, October 23, 2015

2016 Tea Towel Calendars!

It's that time of year again!
2016 'flea market finds' calendar (white)
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs. All Rights Reserved.
2016 'flea market finds' calendar (avocado)
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs. All Rights Reserved.
2016 'choose happy' calendar
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs. All Rights Reserved.
Spoonflower is hosting it's annual design contest for tea towel calendars.
I have re-issued my 'farm friends' calendar for 2016, and added 2 other new calendars (in 2 color ways) as well! (Previewed at the scale of a linen/cotton fat quarter (27" x 18" oriented horizontally).

I have until Tuesday the 27th of October to decide which calendar to enter into the contest, so if anyone has a preference - let me know! All 4 Calendars are currently available for purchase at Spoonflower. (Great holiday gift - just hem + give!)

Voting starts on Thursday, October 29th, 2015. Vote Here!

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Silly Squid + Cephalopods

My first design entry in a few months after moving from Florida celebrates these fascinating undersea creatures. Cephalopods are the classification that includes the squid, nautilus, octopus and cuttlefish!
Silly Squid
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs.
All Rights Reserved.

 
Silly Squid + Cephalopods
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs.
All Rights Reserved.

Aspergillus Fumigatus
©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs.
All Rights Reserved. 

This week Spoonflower asked designer to create a pattern using microorganisms. This is my artistic interpretation of the fungi that causes an eye infection! Weird, but true!!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

My Life Reboot!

Here I sit, in an apartment on the 32nd floor overlooking the beautiful skyline of Toronto. Looking at house listings in Boston and trying to get a handle on what the hell happened since Hanna's Graduation.
Hanna's grad pic!

Since my last post there have been many changes in my family.
Midnight loved a car ride!

After Hanna graduated from High School, we put our house of 15 years (in Florida) on the market and it sold really fast. We moved out and put our stuff in storage while we look for a new house in the Boston area (1200 miles away).

In the process of packing up the house our 14 year old black lab 'Midnight' passed away. He is sorely missed.

We packed up our older daughter Olivia and moved her into her dorm at Boston College,
Livi with us at Boston College!
 then my husband and I packed up our younger daughter Hanna and moved her into her dorm at the University of St. Andrews... in Scotland!

Empty nesters without a nest.
Hanna at St Andrews
in Scotland!

I am so proud of our girls! They are getting settled into school now... Olivia just got moved up to copy editor at her school paper and Hanna is going out for the Crew team. I just can't believe how quickly time flew by, they were just babies, it all went by in a flash.

Our silly girls!
My sister and her husband are kind enough to lend their guest room to us when we're in Boston to search for a house. Did I mention that my husband has been commuting from Florida to Toronto for the past two years. We didn't want to move the girls in their third and fourth years of high school so yes, he commuted to Canada for the past two years.

My studio mate and best dog in the world isn't here to keep me company anymore, but I know he is happy and free of pain wherever he is, (hopefully catching a ride in the backseat!)

...and I don't have a place to call home,

yet.

I guess chapter two is just beginning... its a life reboot.
After two years T and I can finally be together.
Soon we'll find a new house.
We'll welcome a new puppy.
And, our girls will come to our new home for Christmas!
Me and T at the old course
in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Everglades Alligators!

National Parks are the focus of this weeks challenge.
Everglades Alligators ©2015 Patty Rybolt Designs. All Rights Reserved.

Designers were asked to create a pattern to represent a national park close to them. I live in south Florida and am closest to the Everglades National Park. I chose to focus on my favorite Everglades creatures... alligators, and of course some birds including egrets and the great blue heron! I finished the pattern by adding some water snakes and tropical greenery like sea grape leaves, water lilies and palm fronds.

Voting for this design contest will open Thursday, July 23rd, 2015, and continue until Thursday July 30th! Vote Here!

While living in Florida over the past 15 years my family and I have encountered alligators from time to time in our own back yard. (I took these photos of alligators on the golf course behind our house from my patio!)

We see large alligators like this one fairly regularly.
I took this photo behind my house on the golf course.
Every once in a while an alligator has to be removed
if he's considered a 'nuisance alligator' and he's over 8' long!

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Commission sent out Trapper Nick
to move this guy out to the everglades.


Out for a stroll...