BY PAULA SKELLEY

I recently discovered a company called Spoonflower where you can design your own fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap.  For parents of children with chronic illnesses, designing something with your child may be a meaningful experience.  Let your child draw, paint and create.  Then upload his or her artwork and order fabric to sew a unique pajamas or curtains, order wallpaper he or she can display proudly in his or her room, or create and buy wrapping paper and surprise your child on his or her birthday by wrapping all of the gifts in wrap he or she designed.

As a bereaved mother, Spoonflower allows me the experience of creating something new “with” my daughter Lydia who died several years ago. I have taken her artwork and created canvases and wrapping paper.  I may order the wallpaper in the future.  This is a way that she and I can do a project together, even though we are no longer together.

This is more exciting than framing a small drawing.  It gives the possibility of enlarging Lydia’s art.  It gives me a way to connect with my daughter in the present and carry her life forward with me.  It allows a way to cherish Lydia and display what she left behind after her death at age nine, in an artistic manner.

Spoonflower even has an option to let you see what the design will look like once you are finished.  The following examples are snips from their website that I have created with a drawing my daughter Lydia made when she was eight.

Spoonflower also has two sister companies, Roostery, where you can have, sheets, pillows, tablecloths etc. made for you.

And Sprout, where you can order a cut pattern to sew at home, or a finished clothing item with the fabric you have designed. They have patterns for men, women and children.

I’m not normally a walking commercial, but I think these types of creations are fabulous for families who have lost children and want to commemorate their lives through their art.

It is also an amazing way for parents whose children are chronically ill or have life-threatening diseases to create lasting memories with those children in a way that will honor them in the present.  Both parents and children can enjoy the products of their creativity.

Here is a link to their page. https://www.spoonflower.com/create