Creating Morning Glories in November: Why I Design Out of Season

It's mid-November in Norfolk and the mornings are darker now and the garden has gone dormant. Most of the creative world seems to have moved straight into Christmas mode - pine trees, wreaths, winter whites everywhere you look.

And here I am, at my print table, carving vibrant summer blooms!

The Joy of Counter-Seasonal Creating

There's something quite rebellious about designing morning glories while everyone else reaches for holly and evergreens. But the more I lean into these counter-seasonal moments, the more right they feel.

For me, late autumn and winter has always been my most creative season. The shorter days mean more time indoors feels natural rather than like something you're missing out on and leans well into longer carving sessions.

Each petal carved carefully and each olive-green leaf considered. It's meditative work that matches the month's temperament - even while creating something that celebrates an entirely different season.

Why Morning Glories?

Morning glories have always fascinated me as a cottage garden subject. They're so characterful - those big, confident trumpet flowers that scramble up anything they can reach, blooming fresh each morning regardless of what happened the day before. There's something refreshingly optimistic about them.

They also carry lovely symbolism; affection, new beginnings, and the beauty of living in the moment. Something I try to remember. Each bloom lasts just one day before making way for the next. A gentle reminder to appreciate beauty while it's here - it feels like exactly the kind of message worth sending in the darker months.

For this design, I wanted to capture their bold, graphic nature. No fussy details or timid petals - just those confident trumpet-shaped flowers in jewel-toned purples and blues, soft pink, all grounded by rich olive greens and those distinctive fleshy leaves.

The Process: Hand-Carved Meets Digital Colour

This design started the way all my work does - in my studio with linoleum and cutting tools, hours spent carefully carving.

Once the carving is complete, I bring the design to life with digital colour. This combination of traditional printmaking and contemporary colour techniques gives my work that modern cottagecore feel - rooted in craft tradition but utterly current. Bold, graphic, slightly unexpected.

The notecards themselves are produced entirely in-house here at my Norfolk studio. I print each one professionally, then crease and cut them by hand in small batches. No mass manufacturing, no outsourcing - just careful, hands-on work that ensures every pack meets my standards.

Finding Your Own Creative Rhythm

Working counter-seasonally has taught me something valuable: creative impulses don't always align neatly with the calendar, in fact for me they rarely do and that's perfectly fine. Sometimes November wants morning glories. Sometimes the depth of winter is exactly when you need to design colourful blooms.

Creating summer's boldest flowers in the middle of winter's approach isn't fighting the season - it's using what the season offers (that quiet, inward-focused time) to produce something bright and outward-reaching. It's balance rather than resistance.

The Morning Glory Collection

The Morning Glory in Bloom notecards are available in packs of 8 with recycled kraft envelopes. Each card is blank inside for your own message - perfect for everyday correspondence that deserves something special, thank you notes with personality, or gifts for cottage garden enthusiasts.

All designs created by hand in my Norfolk studio. Real carving tools, real linoleum, real patience required. No AI, no shortcuts, just traditional printmaking techniques meeting contemporary colour.