Mermaid Scales Pattern - Pearlescent Aqua & Ultraviolet!

I've been on a design spree lately with my 100 days of pattern challenge! So far I am on day 37/100 and I'm finding it amazing how great its been for me. Now, I've definitely had days where I don't really have any ideas and am not motivated to do anything, but sticking with the challenge and designing something anyways or trying a new technique out on an old vector drawing has really helped me overall.

Now, since I'm designing on all days instead of just select days when I feel motivated to do so, I have a HUGE backlog of new patterns and designs! I've been trying to add them to my shops and aim for about 2 a week. One of my earlier patterns in this challenge was my Mermaid Scales pattern. My Aqua Pearlescent Mermaid scales pattern in particular has become so popular ever since I added it to my Society6 shop. I even purchased it for myself, because I love it too! :)

My beautiful 15 oz. mermaid scale mug! Its my new favourite. I'm drinking a
delicious cup of coffee from it as I type this post! ;) I'll post a review about this another
time, but I purchased it from Society6 and was impressed by the print and the
quality of the mug. I bought a few more for my mom, too!

Whats cool about this mermaid scale pattern and what gives it the multi shade scale effect is that I actually coloured each scale in a different shade of purple originally in illustrator. Each shade was individually selected and placed to give the look of shiny light & dark, and a bit of variation like I'd expect to see on fish scales. I then used a watercolour texture and a few layer effects in photoshop to achieve the textured scale look you see in the pattern. Then I added a bit of a gold yellow outline to the scales to tie it all together.

Here are some of my favourite creations with this Mermaid pattern from my Society6 and Zazzle shop!

What do you think of this new pattern? And what other colours would you like to see it in? 

To see more products with these new patterns in my Zazzle shop, click the collections below!

Pearlescent Mermaid Scale Pattern
by Tanya

Ultra Violet Mermaid Scale Pattern
by Tanya

Shop Update: Watercolour Leaves Products

Using the nifty tricks I learned the other day with creating a watercolour effect through masks in illustrator and quick repeatable patterns, I got a little carried away and have been making every pattern watercolour! This is my newest creation, the green watercolour leaves pattern. I have added it to my zazzle and redbubble shops. I went even further in experimentation with this one by adding it to zazzle products I had never designed before.

The pattern is of 3 different shaped watercolour leaves, and it looks fantastic in different shades of green, grey, white and black. I created most of this collection with personalization in mind, so there is a monogram frame or nameplate on most of these items. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Be sure to check out my Green Leaves Collection on Zazzle if you are looking for another item in this pattern. Here are my 7 favourites!

I like this fresh pattern on this kitchen towel! Personalize it by adding your name, or the name of someone else to make a great housewarming gift. 

Watercolour Leaves Pattern Towel by TanyaDraws

iPad Mini Cases from zazzle always look great. Personalize this with your initials or remove the monogram entirely for just the background. This looks great in the minty green that it is in, white, & black. 

Watercolour Leaves Pattern iPad Mini Case by TanyaDraws

I didn't even know you could design charm bracelets until now! This is a brand new item to my shop. I designed it in the square pattern as well, but I really love the round one! Personalize this with your initials or the initials of a special someone.

Watercolour Leaves Pattern Bracelets by TanyaDraws

What better keychain shape for a leaf design? It matches my illustration perfectly!  This is another item that I have never designed before, but I am so glad I did! A small monogram in the centre allows you to add your initials. Try customizing this in light green!

Watercolour Leaves Pattern Key Chain by TanyaDraws

Monogrammed wooden USB flash drive. Where was this when I was in school? This is a great gift for people who lose their USB sticks all the time. The initials make it unique and hard to lose! You can choose the amount of GB you want in these.

Watercolour Leaves Pattern Wood USB 2.0 Flash Drive by TanyaDraws

Did you know that zazzle sells customizable smart cases? Smart cases are fantastic for the iPad. You can get this design in the regular size iPad and the Mini. You can give it to your mom for her iPad, or you can change "mother" to your own name, or the name of someone else. As always, if you don't want the name plate on the design, it can be removed!

Watercolour Leaves Pattern iPad Cover by TanyaDraws

Last but not least, the Barely There iPhone 6 case, with a monogram and decorated with my leaves and mint green. These cases are so fun to design. This design is available in tougher cases, too.

Watercolour Leaves Pattern Barely There iPhone 6 Case by TanyaDraws

My creative spree continues! Eventually I will stop and add some of my old designs to these nice, newly discovered products. But for now, I shall draw and create like crazy!

Having Multiple POD shops is a good thing

Hello everyone, aren't you glad its Friday? :) This morning after I had made myself some tea, I sat down to do my daily social media and checking my shops routine.

As I was looking at my redbubble shop, I noticed I have quite a few views on my work. It seems to be much more than my zazzle shop,  and I have only had this shop for two weeks. I use the same tags and descriptions for all my designs, and the designs look pretty much the same. The only thing that is done differently is the redbubble "groups", which I have utilized for every single one of my designs. But then again, there is also the "show me" forum on zazzle, which I use frequently.

Then I realized that the reason why it seems like a lot of views is that redbubble groups views are sorted by design rather than individual projects. Unless I were to add google analytics to every single one of my categories in zazzle, or added up views on items in each category individually, it would be really hard to tell how many views I have gotten on that one design.

... So I manually added up views for my zazzle "Owls" collection, cause, you know, I was curious. XD

Redbubble Owls: 103 Views
Zazzle Owls: 70 Views

So, in the two weeks I have had my redbubble account, it has somehow gotten more traffic with less social media exposure and less time put in.

Browsing in redbubble is quite easy, and my products show up in great spots in the search results. For example, my most viewed collection is my "Beautiful and Colourful Carnations" (Yes... that name... XD). I searched one of my tags "Mothers Day Flower", and if I refine it to "digital art" I show up on page 3 of the "best sellers" and page 1, first row of recently added. Even my tag "beautiful Carnations" shows up really easily. To get my carnations to show up on the "newest" or "popular search on zazzle with the same tags, I have to narrow it down quite a bit, for example products "for her", and then I chose "accessories" (which has my products and least amount of items), where my carnations still show up in newest. If I wanted to see my design on the first page of popular in this section, I have to get really super specific, and choose "luggage tags". Then my designs show up on the first page.

Now I still prefer Zazzle for creation and fun purposes. But if I am getting more traffic to my redbubble account, why not utilize it too? Maybe I am filling some sort of niche there that is just already overdone in zazzle. This is quite encouraging. I have been putting off setting up a society6 and designbyhumans store, but after seeing the results of my redbubble account after two weeks I will aim to build those ones up next, maybe in February I will launch designbyhumans and in March society6. I am just curious to see what will happen on those ones.

Right now, my focus isn't sales, because I don't really expect any yet. I just really want to gain some good exposure, encourage myself to keep designing, and to find out what designs work and which don't. See, this is my inner nerdy librarian coming out. :) I can't just post stuff and wait to see what happens, I need to research it extensively and then when it works or doesn't work I need to know WHY. XD

I hope that my curious ramblings provide useful insight to others trying to learn the POD world like I am! :)

Uncommon iPhone 6 Clearly Deflector Case

There is a new type of phone case in zazzles item list! It is a clear, slim, snap on case that features translucent designs printed on it. It is a great way to protect your phone while letting the original look and colour shine through. It is available on the iPhone 5/5s, 6 and 6 plus. There are no reviews for it yet, but it looks promising!

Cute Red Fox and Hearts Uncommon Clearly™ Deflector iPhone 6 Case by TanyaDraws

This is what the case looks like with one of my new designs on it (who doesn't love a cute fox design?) As you can see, the iPhone colours shine through and the design itself is translucent. You can use this case to change the colour of your iPhone while protecting it. I will definitely be adding new designs to this!

Yesterday and Tuesday I worked on this fox design, and a sheep design. As soon as quick create catches up with me and my creative burst, I will feature these new designs here! The fox one is available in two really cute variations that I think people will like a lot. There is a lot of personalize-able stuff in those batches!

Blue Hydrangea Pattern

Earlier today I posted some of my customizable cases, and some of them featured my blue hydrangea pattern. Since I am creating patterns like crazy lately, I am going to tell you about this design before it is left in the dust!

As you may know, I have been on a flower creation spree. I find that creating flowers digitally in illustrator is really helping me learn the program better, so much that illustrator has replaced photoshop as my digital art tool. I plan on designing products for each birth month's flower. I started with Carnations, January's birth flower, and in February I will design violets.

For this hydrangea pattern in particular, i went a little different than what they usually look like. I maintained the lovely gradient of colour that these flowers usually have, but I changed the display of them from the bunch, to just single separate flowers for design purposes. It makes them less recognizable as hydrangeas, but works better as a designed pattern. I also have the option of turning these into bunches of hydrangeas in the future, which I will do. :)

If anyone else wants to feel the satisfaction of creating beautiful flowers in adobe illustrator, here is a tutorial that demonstrates steps to creating beautiful flowers.

Click the flower to get to the tutorial! Tutsplus has many wonderful free tutorials that are amazing to use for learning digital art. Some of the tutorials on this website were even used by my college professors!

Back to my pattern, here it is! These tiny hydrangeas are coloured in light violet and blues. Its a very sophisticated and feminine pattern, and looks great on most of the zazzle products.

This personalized pillow is one of my favourites created with this pattern...  it is also one of my first personalize-able pillows!

Tiny Blue Hydrangea Pillow by TanyaDraws
View other Hydrangeas in blue Pillows

The luggage tags seem to look awesome no matter what. Great product from Zazzle. 

Tiny Blue Hydrangea Pattern Tag For Luggage by TanyaDraws
Browse other Bag Tags at zazzle.com

Personalized make up bags make great gifts for girls birthdays.

Tiny Blue Hydrangea Pattern Makeup Bags by TanyaDraws
Browse more Blue hydrangea Bagettes Bags at Zazzle

Valentines Day alert! Customizable couple plates make a great valentines gift to display in your home.

Tiny Blue Hydrangea Pattern Dinner Plate by TanyaDraws
View other Hydrangea in blue Plates

A simple yet beautiful personalized mug.

Tiny Blue Hydrangea Pattern Mugs by TanyaDraws
Customize your own coffee mug at zazzle.com.

Birthday cards & invitations

I haven't featured any of my birthday cards & invitations here yet, so this post is to give them some love and appreciation! Zazzle has plenty of card options to choose from, which makes designing these guys so much fun. All of them are fully customizable, btw!

Reminder: This is the last day to save 50% off cards and labels and $5 postage sets! Enter the code SAYTHANKYOUZ upon checkout.

Have yourself a wonderful Tuesday! :)

Adding a custom name and age to this card makes it very unique- not to mention adorable! 

Cute Penguin Wearing Scarf Design Cards by TanyaDraws
Check out other note cards online at Zazzle.

Here is some belated birthday humour, with snails.

Illustrated Snail and Swirls Pattern Greeting Cards by TanyaDraws
Find more note cards online at zazzle.com

Cute sheep on an invitation, this would be great for baby showers or early years birthday parties.

Cute Sheep Invitation Card by TanyaDraws
View Cute baby shower Invitations online at zazzle

Honourable Mention:

This isn't a birthday card or an invitation... but its so punny that I had to include it somehow. Valentines card maybe?  I am still amazed that this made it from my brain to this card, and even more amazed at how funny I think it is

Simple Illustrated Owl Card by TanyaDraws
Find more note cards online at zazzle.com

Zazzle Sale Coupon

There is a zazzle sale going on right now that ends tomorrow, January 6th at 11:59 PM! Enter the code SAYTHANKYOUZ at check out to receive $5 off each set of postage and 50% off of all cards and labels! This would be a great chance to stock up on cards for the year. Happy shopping!

A chrysanthemum and zigzag postcard to get us all in the card mood (and because I am pretty sure I haven't featured this one yet!!) 

Pink Chrysanthemum Postcard by TanyaDraws
Full Color postcard printing on zazzle

Hearts Design: Wedding items

Along with valentines day, I also customized my heart pattern to be great for wedding favour items and couple wedding gifts from zazzle. I might also make this pattern available in a light blue or violet as well in the future. As for now, the red is cute and will be nice for people who are using the colour red in their wedding!

These customized playing cards would be great as a wedding guest gift, or great to have on the tables at your wedding.

Red Patterned Hearts Bicycle Playing Cards by TanyaDraws
More Hearts Playing Cards

Just married? Share your happiness with the drivers on the road!

Red Patterned Hearts Bumper Sticker by TanyaDraws
View other Hearts Bumper Stickers

These stickers are great for adding to thank you envelopes or to DIY wedding gift packages.

Red Patterned Hearts Round Sticker by TanyaDraws
See more Hearts Stickers

These Jelly Belly tins are a great way to fill a wedding favour gift with something sweet.

Red Patterned Hearts by TanyaDraws
Browse other Hearts Candy Tins

A photo plaque to commemorate your special day. The font and text, scalloped boarder and background are all fully customizable, so you can move things around and add your own wedding picture.

Red Patterned Hearts Photo Plaque by TanyaDraws
See more Hearts Plaques

These wedding favour bags are my favourite! They are very cute with the ribbon at the top and hearts on the front and back. The text inside the scalloped boarder is fully customizable, and the ribbon on the top is available in different colours.

Red Patterned Hearts with Scalloped Monogram Favor Box by TanyaDraws
Browse Hearts Favor Box

Redbubble shop open!

Hi guys! A couple of days ago I opened up a redbubble account, and would like to share some of the stuff on it with you! It seems they have a pretty wide variety of items. My fave so far is the option for duvet covers and stickers. What I don't particularly like about redbubble is that they do not have the option to "tile" your image... so if you have a repeatable pattern, you literally have to tile it in photoshop or illustrator, save a HUGE file and then you can fit it on everything. My computer is older and can't handle giant files like that, so when I make duvet covers the design really only fits on a twin or queen, not a king. Which is okay by me, because my designs are aimed more at children rather than adults.

Here are some of the products though,  let me know what you think!

Here is my sheep and hearts pattern in a twin size duvet cover!  I think it is pretty cute. I would make more duvet covers if the option to tile the picture was there!

One of the things I like about redbubble is their stickers. The stickers are cutout which is nice!

Penguins in Scarves Pattern... looks great on a blue background, but you can change the background to be any colour!

One thing I just found out... sharing from redbubble to blogger is rather hard. I had to screenshot my products and then manually link them. I guess I will have to get used to it :P 

Does anyone else use both redbubble and zazzle? Which one do you prefer and why?

Tanya

Slippers

Hello everyone, it is officially 2015, woohoo! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and time of relaxation. I know I did :)
As for my zazzle shop, I have decided today to feature the new fuzzy slippers collection! Fuzzy slippers are a recent addition to zazzles wide range of products... and they look so darn cute! They are all available in cream, grey and open toe. Check out some of the designs I have made so far!

These ones are my fave so far!

Cute Smiling Penguin with Scarf Pair Of Fuzzy Slippers by TanyaDraws
Find another Zazzle Pair of Slippers

This floral pattern is kind of vintage.

Beautiful Carnations design Pair Of Fuzzy Slippers by TanyaDraws
Check out other Carnation pairs of slippers at zazzle.com

These slippers have a matching pillow set.

Grey Polkadot Sheep Design Pair Of Fuzzy Slippers by TanyaDraws
Check out more Zazzle Slippers

Snails, for the lazy slow days!

Illustrated Snail and Swirls Pattern Pair Of Fuzzy Slippers by TanyaDraws
Find another Pair of Slippers

Adorable sheep and hearts.

Polkadot Sheep and Hearts Design Pair Of Fuzzy Slippers by TanyaDraws
Find more Polkadot sheep pairs of slippers at Zazzle

Stay posted for more slippers, they are quickly becoming my favourite collection. ;) 

As for new designs, I have a couple in the works, and even a whole new side project lined up! More on that to come. 

Tanya

iPhone 6 Cases

In the process of building up my shop, I have turned many of my designs into phone cases. The phone cases are all fully customizable, you are able to change whether you want a simple, "hardly there" case, all the way to a totally durable waterproof case, and you can even change the background colour and add your name. Zazzle was quick to add iPhone 6 cases to the mix, and while I have other phone cases in my gallery, I will be focusing on those for today.

My fave design right now is my Flowers & Laurel Leaves design, I have created 3 cases with this illustration and I plan on creating iPhone 6 Plus cases with this design as well. I would like to keep making floral illustrations like this one. They are so versatile and look good on almost anything, not to mention how much fun I have making them. :)

Illustrated Flowers & Laurel Leaves Barely There iPhone 6 Case by TanyaDraws
See other Golden alexander Casemate Cases

Illustrated Flowers & Laurel Leaves Cherry iPhone 6 Bumper by TanyaDraws
Browse more Golden alexander Wood Cases

Turquoise and Yellow Chevron Case Barely There iPhone 6 Case by TanyaDraws
Browse Chevron Casemate Cases

Owl Pattern Case Barely There iPhone 6 Case by TanyaDraws
See more Owl Casemate Cases

Iphone 6 Plus case:

Pink Chrysanthemum iPhone 6 Plus Case Barely There iPhone 6 Plus Case by TanyaDraws
See more Chrysanthemum Casemate Cases

I haven't made many 6 plus cases yet, but I will be making more soon enough!

If you are ever wondering what new designs I am working on before I put them on zazzle, visit my tumblr page http://tanyadraws.tumblr.com. I post daily drawings there, and most of my daily drawings make it to zazzle one way or another :) 

Turquoise Kitchenware

Today I am featuring some of the kitchen decor items I have created on zazzle. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that you could design all sorts of kitchen things here- from cutting boards and cheese boards, to plates, dishes and napkins. I have decorated the kitchen decor with many of my designs, but the turquoise ones are my favourite.

Turquoise Tile Pattern by TanyaDraws
View other Turquoise Candy Jars

Turquoise Tile Pattern Plate by TanyaDraws
Browse Turquoise pattern Plates

Turquoise Glass Cutting Board by TanyaDraws
Browse Turquoise Cutting Board

Turquoise Cheese Board Rectangular Cheese Board by TanyaDraws
View other Turquoise Cheese Boards

Newest creation: a soup mug! This is the first one I have made for my shop. Soup mugs are the best, I have one at home and it is the only thing I will use for my soup. Okay, I use it for soup, but since I found out it is a great size for making mug cakes, I really just mostly use it for those. :) If you haven't tried making a mug cake, you must! I tried recipes from the book mug cakes by Lene Knudsen (Mug cakes book: http://www.bookdepository.com/Mug-Cakes-Lene-Knudsen/9781742708553)... they are absolutely delicious, and the best part is how quick they are to make! This mug is even microwave safe,  making it a wonderful mug cake mug. ;) 

Turquoise Tile Pattern by TanyaDraws
Browse Turquoise Soup Mugs