It's well into October now, so I don't feel quite so bad about mentioning the C word!  And it's in connection with a competition - we haven't had one for a while, so this month's design challenge will be a competition.  Hurray!!

Your challenge this month, should you choose to accept it, is to design a Christmas cushion.  We did this a couple of years ago, but we have some new designers and new customers, so I hope it will go down well with you again.  Apologies to those who had a go at this last time!  Your challenge is to come up with a new idea.

Your design can be traditionally Christmassy, or less traditional.  Or maybe traditional with a twist - blue Christmas trees, anyone?  It should be no bigger than a fat quarter, but I actually think that's too big for a cushion.  (Feel free to disagree and make yours 56cms x 50cms if you wish.)  Personally, I think 50cms square is a bit too big, 45cms is OK but 40cms is best.  But the rule is no bigger than 56cms x 50cms.  (You could make your design fit 40cms but with a border which goes to fq size, so that people have a choice.)

Your design must be made public in order to be included.  You can do that by ordering your design using voucher code CUSHION.  This code will expire on October 23rd.   Order either a swatch, which will not be printed, but will enable you to make your design public, or order a fat quarter, which will give you the fq at half price.  (This is because I've had problems getting hold of some winning designs to print and photograph for the blog.)

The winning design, chosen by FB vote, will be printed 4 times for the winner, along with 4 fqs of plain cotton for the backs of the cushions.

**Important notice**

 Please make sure that you give me the correct account name.  This is the one on the black ribbon at the very top of the screen when you log into your account.  I need this name to find your design.  There's no need to send me a link as this will not work until your design has been made public.  Without the correct name, it is very time-consuming for me to find your design, so your entry will not be included.

FULL COMPETITION RULES AND DETAILS:

Please upload your competition designs to your account on our website.  If you haven’t already got an account, it’s simple to set up.  You just need an email address, password and name, which can be your own name, a nickname or a business name.  (You will be prompted to log in or create an account when you try to save your design.)  Then email me at admin@printmepretty.co.uk, to tell me the name of your  account and your design.  (So I can find the right one!)  I will then put them onto Facebook for voting.  The winning design (and possibly one or two others) will be put into our competition winners slot.  In case you're wondering about the order in which designs are listed on Facebook, the first to arrive in my inbox goes at the top, with the rest listed in the order in which they are sent in.

So, the competition is:

Create a design suitable for printing on fabric which will make a Christmas cushion.

Technical matters:

Your design should be at a resolution of at least 150 dpi, but not more than 300, using RGB colour space.

When it comes to printing, the repeat options are:  Straight, Centre, Half-drop, Half-brick and Mirror.  Once you’ve uploaded your design to our website, you can play around with the repeats to see which one will look best.  For pictures of what the different repeats look like, check this blog post.

To enter:

Upload your design onto our website by Tuesday, October 22nd, giving it a title.  Email me at admin@printmepretty.co.uk, telling me the title of your design and the name of your account.

The closing date for receiving designs is midnight on Tuesday, October 22nd, after which designs will be displayed (at the fat quarter size) on Facebook for voting .  Voting will close at midnight on October 29th.  The design with the most votes will win 4 fat quarters of 100% cotton fabric (150cm wide), printed with your design, plus 4 fqs of plain cotton.  The winning design will also be available for sale on our web site for at least 1 week after the close of voting.  

The official bit:

By entering, you agree to our competition terms and conditions.

You may only submit one entry, which must be your own work and based on the theme Christmas Cushion. ‘Your own work’ means any form of original art work, photography, etc which you have produced. Your design should not have been entered in one of our previous competitions.

All entries will be displayed for public voting, unless we feel that the subject matter is inappropriate.  Copyright will remain with you, but by entering the competition, you give us the right to use your design in any way we wish on our web site and social media, for advertising purposes.

All entries must be made public by October 23rd.

The winning design will feature on our web site and will be available for sale for a week after we announce the winner.  After that time, the designer may leave the design for sale, or remove it from public view.  The designer will be paid £2 per metre commission on any sales of the design.

Happy designing!