I Made A Pattern!

Hello lovely friends!  I'm swooping in for a quick blog post.  I wanted to share the pattern I made with you.  I'm interested in getting some textile designs going this year, and learning how to make a pattern is the first step towards having my own line of Little Canoe fabrics!
Once I saw THIS TUTORIAL on Design Sponge I knew I had to try it out for myself.  I started out with a blank piece of paper and drew out this detailed narwhal/flower pattern:

I wanted to make sure I filled up as much of the paper as possible, starting in the center, without touching any of the edges.  Then I cut the paper in half once, flipped it and taped it back together.  Again I cut the paper in half, flipping it and taping it back together.  This is was really scary and nerve wrecking.  I'd never cut all the way through a piece of artwork I actually liked before!  After I'd finished lining it up as perfectly as I could and taping it together, I made a center drawing.  This is what it looked like:

And then I painted it!  That's the fun part.

Looks pretty neat already!  This part was so thrilling, I could barely keep my pants on!  I scanned it into the computer and loaded it into photoshop so I could make a repeating pattern with it.  This is where I ran into trouble.  Unfortunately, my pattern was a little off the mark.  Some of the images just didn't line up.  I spent an hour or two trying to fix it as best as I could, but it still isn't perfect.  If one was to try to make fabric out of this, for example, it wouldn't quite work.  

Nevertheless, I'm really pleased with how it came out and can't wait to try another one!  It's definitely lit a fire under my bum.  Next time I'll most likely do it all in photoshop to make things easier on myself.

If you like it, there are some great versions in my Society6 shop!  Including these:

Laptop Skin

Iphone Case

On that note, I'm going to head out and have myself a lovely evening.  I hope you do too!