Our first pattern of the year, Chelsea Blooms, is inspired by walks through London’s Chelsea streets. Usually, I find inspiration for my designs in the English countryside and the counties surrounding London. But for this print, I decided to look a little closer to home.
Enter: Chelsea, one of London’s most popular neighborhoods and always worth a wander. The pretty streets are lined with beautifully detailed brick houses, quiet mews, traditional storefronts, restaurants, galleries and exciting markets.
My favorite spots are the dreamy pastel houses in Bywater and Godfrey Street, which are sometimes dubbed as London’s candy corner, and the secret gardens, which are scattered throughout the quarter.
I especially love the Chelsea Physics Garden, which is the city’s oldest botanical garden and a real gem. If you are in London and have the time, stop by for a visit, you will love it!
Cyna xo
The Chelsea Blooms print
Since it’s the start of a new year, I felt somewhat adventurous and ready to try something new design-wise. Well, I’m still holding on to florals of course. But instead of coloured blooms, I created a black and white pencil drawing of roses, anemones, and scabious flowers.
Eucalyptus berries, dusty miller leaves and silver brunia berries are also scattered throughout, which give the pattern a very botanical and fresh feel. I actually like the black and white artwork so much that I think I might revisit this idea again for other prints.
The backdrop of the pattern is influenced by Chelsea’s rainbow terraced houses. I experimented with different shades of pastel blue, jade, and powdery pinks, and settled on a dusky rose hue. You can see the other colors in these printable Valentine’s Day gift tags. So pretty and dreamy, don’t you think?
Limiting the color palette to white, blacks, and greys was very interesting and drives the attention to the details of design element.
Don’t you just want to move in one of these cute terrace houses in Chelsea’s Bywater Street? This neighborhood has many pretty side streets and quiet corners that are great to explore on a stroll. The dusty pink façade near the end of the street inspired me to choose this hue as the background color for Chelsea Blooms.
Chelsea Physics Garden is a gorgeous walled park at the south end of the borough. It’s a great way to escape the city’s hustle and bustle and enjoy a stunning array of flowers and plants from many parts of the world. Magical!
Anemones are one of the most eye-catching spring bloomers, and the black centres add an interesting accent to the design.
Scabious flowers are some of my best-loved blooms. I know that Irena uses them quite often in bridal bouquets for her clients. Their delicate, ruffled petals give these blooms a beautiful and dreamy vintage look.
I don’t know how many roses I have drawn at this point, but I just love it and was happy to incorporate this flower in the Chelsea Blooms print.
