For the Blue Bugs and Bugs Doily series, I was inspired by the English tradition of drinking tea and the dainty teacups and saucers used. I wanted my take on it – something more organic looking, but with a wit and humor to it.
I chose spiders and bees because composed as a pattern I thought they looked like pretty little flowers. The spiderweb and honeycomb were the obvious choice (obviously) for the plate as darling doilies…
The high fired blue colored decal was inspired by the blue in delftware pottery, which I absolutely love.
(Images Above: Spider sketch; spider pattern placement on mug; spider placement on spoon. Below: Bee art taken from hand painted bees from my earlier pieces; bee pattern placement on mug; bee placement on spoon.)
When I have to decide on the placement for a design, I like to print out different sizes and tape them all over the pieces. I leave the cut outs on the pieces for a few days, even weeks, until I figure out the right spot for the design. 
Final product.
(Images Below: Spiderweb sketch; spiderweb pattern placement on plate; final product; honeycomb sketch, honeycomb pattern placement on plate; final product.)
My decal placement instructions might drive some people crazy…
Have a great week. ~Re Jin
ps. Here’s a quick link to the Blue Bugs & Bugs Doily series. (click)
I love the stuff you make and wrote a post about it. Please have a look.
Love this! i also like seeing the design process