a little lime

It's the month of love. Yep, the big L. Hearts and Roses. So, I've already shared some String Roses, now it's time for a heart2heart (see what I did there?) I was pretty surprised to find I had another heart pattern left in me, but here's one that I've been playing with and am really loving: heart2heart starts with an alternating s-grid - add some v's to create the outer heart then a second heart shape is added inside. Variation - try alternating the direction of the hearts (panel 6). You know what else I'm really loving of late? The way I can quickly record and edit insta-videos from my phone. Here's a little heart2heart demo. A video posted by A Little Lime (@alittlelime) on Feb 11, 2017 at 2:01am PST Here's a sample on a wonky grid. I hope you have a fantastic, love-filled valentines day. Me? I'll be at school feeling the love for my computer :) hahaha. hx

Well, d-day has almost arrived. Tomorrow I head back to school. Where did the summer go? At least the class schedule is looking pretty light and I'll only be at school for 2- 2 1/2 days a week. Today I want to share a really simple technique/pattern I've called "String Rose". This idea first made an appearance on the blog during the  old into new challenge back in 2014. I named one of the experimentation tiles as Trentwith  and though this pattern was the initial source of inspiration, my version takes a different approach. I had always meant to share the technique as it's so simple, and fun, but I just didn't get around to it. Until now! 2 1/2 years later.....haha. O.k., here goes........ The String Rose Pattern - this shows the base technique. As it's all done in one continuous line, I thought a little insta-video might help out: A video posted by A Little Lime (@alittlelime) on Feb 4, 2017 at 11:09pm PST I've never lin...

O.k., wow. Another year done and dusted! Can you believe it's 2017? Me? I'm still reeling. So, where did 2016 go? I had so much that I wanted to get done here on the website, but, life takes some interesting turns and my return to full-time study in 2016 though not planned, was so interesting - I loved it! Since term ended for our long summer break, I've been periodically working on tidying up my files and found some unpublished patterns that I hadn't got around to posting. I'll put them up over the next few weeks. Today I'm sharing a pattern called Puffy 8's - it's another spin off of 2/8's (love that base pattern!) You could stop at step 5 above, or keep going to fill all the spaces. Here's a freeform version: Wishing everyone a happy, productive 2017! hx

Still having fun playing with this pattern :) Variation idea for Double 8's which I shared a few weeks ago. For this first variation, leave space between the 8's to create an even flower grid, in the second sample add connecting strokes. Here's a freehand example of version 2: I think it's pretty cute. Like a flower ribbon :) Have a great weekend! hx

I've had a wonderful time during the term break - I've been getting lots of drawing done and have a bit of a stockpile of fun things to share with you over the next term :) I'm back at school again from next Monday, 4 days a week! I'm equal parts excited and dreading the amount of time I'll have to spend studying. A while back I posted a pattern 2/8's  - this week I've been revisiting the concept and have developed a couple of spin off patterns. Here's one of them: Double 8's: And, just for fun - here they are as individual "off grid" flowers: And with some colour for a change :) Around the farm not much is happening - we're in the middle of Winter, it's cold but not too bad. We haven't had any frozen pipes or much snow on the nearby mountains. Still the wood heater is running 24/7 :) Our two mama sheep have given birth to their lambs - they're healthy and adorable! I love seeing them run around the paddock...

A while ago I was playing around with Beth Snoderly's pattern Plop  - lots of fun. In my play I kept going back to a more minimalist floral design with no diagonal line. Using the dots on the grid really helps to keep track of where you are in the pattern as these provide a centre point for the flowers.  I approach it by drawing it in alternating blocks as shown below and ended up with a Plop Flower = Plower. On a wonky grid..... Interested in the experimentation process I use when playing with patterns? Check out my e-book Tangle Transformation. Have a great day! hx

Hearts have been a pretty frequent theme on the blog over the past few years (see all the heart posts here ) - there's just something wonderful about the shape. Love, love. During February I try to come up with one or two new patterns featuring hearts, but I have to admit it is getting harder to do - there's only so many approaches you can take with this basic shape. This year's offering isn't particularly ground-breaking and has a similar base to Heartstrings.  Half of the heart is drawn continuously along one side of the line (this is how I draw Heartstrings - you can see a demo in this  video ), then the second half is drawn offset on the other side of the line. This pattern really comes into it's own when alternately coloured - an interesting zig-zag pattern appears. Here's the step out: A red and black sample on some wonky lines. On the farm we've had some long awaited rain - 75mm last week! The paddocks are greening up and we're headed i...