Just added eight new backgrounds, including two kinda silly skeleton-themed ones for Halloween.

And probably for the first time ever I didn’t use Illustrator to make any of these. In fact they’re mostly made with office supplies and old taco napkins. Let no one accuse me of not be resourceful.

Happy Halloween!
-Sarah

Eight new backgrounds are up. Most all in black and white, since being in New York kinda makes me wish I had an alternate career as a punk rocker.

Cheers,
Sarah

I’ve added seven new backgrounds for you today.

I’m working on an eleven-year-old laptop with a battery that scalds people and a CD-ROM drive so dysfunctional that I now use it to store small notes. Also my fancy new(ish) digital camera has sadly been broken, presumably after taking a beating on the mean streets of the Big Apple. So if these images look a little more primitive than normal, it’s because they are.

I am still technically on vacation. This is like one of those vacations where like, you know, you get a part-time job and pay rent and sign up for classes and get a library card…

Love,
Sarah

When I was at Rockefeller Center taking one of these photos, this old fellow approached me and asked, “Do you want me to take your picture? ” with the most pity in his voice imaginable. And it occurred to me that anyone who was not familiar with the movie Amelie probably just thought I was slightly deranged.

With love,
Sarah

Hi there.

So I’m in New York now, and will be for a while. Lately my plans have consisted of hitting up every single museum in the city, starting with the Frick Collection (mostly because you can shout out its funny name while you are figuring out which subway stop to get off at – Where the frick is the fricking Frick Collection?!!). Since I’m sort of out and about lately I haven’t made any new patterns, so here’s hoping that the assortment of worldwide textiles I found at the American Museum of Natural History satisfies any need for pretty pretty prints.

I’m sorry for posting these divorced from their original context because now I can’t remember which images are Turkish textiles and which are Azerbaijani, or which early Peruvian culture wove what.

Have a lovely evening.

Yours,
Sarah

Oh hi.

I decided that I was going to create a unified group of patterns, much like
fabric collections that get released every season. How did that go? Frankly, not great.

There are some pretty florals here, but they are all done in different styles- photorealism, art deco, something vaguely Japanese…

Consistency is not my forte, apparently.

So then I was like BOO I am just going to draw some cowboys.

These are all people that were involved in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, which was a big deal at the turn of the century.

-Sarah

Hiya.

There are twelve new backgrounds available today. I don’t usually do such big updates, but by adding these latest images I’m hitting a milestone: 300 patterns. I can’t believe I’ve made this many. Admittedly some are pretty crap but I’m talking quantity today, people.

Anyway, here we go again. Click on an image below for the full repeat, or see all 300 here.

Many thanks to all the readers of this blog. I could not have made it this far without the encouragement and feedback I’ve received over the years.

-Sarah

Hiya.

Six new backgrounds are now up!

To make this group of patterns, I used acrylic paint, markers, a circle template, design software, and um… lipstick.

Enjoy!
-Sarah

I started making collages when I was 16. They were my art project of choice in high school and part of college. I’ve decided to post a few here because they’re kind of interesting looking and they remind me of my angsty teenage years.

Sincerely,
Sarah

Hi.

I tried to watch the royal wedding live but I passed out around 4 AM. I didn’t see the whole ceremony until later, and on the second go I took a lot more notice of the parade of funny looking hats pouring into Westminster Abbey.

Princess Beatrice is getting mocked a bit for wearing a particularly ridiculous hat, and the hat’s turning into a meme. But I kind of love it when people wear crazy hats. Does everybody remember when Aretha Franklin wore a crazy hat? Good times.

Best wishes to the newlyweds!
-Sarah