Bee's Knees Industries

February on Instagram

I am lucky to have a very creative Game Master in my Dungeons & Dragons group. I enjoy his creativity, even when he uses it to kill my character with a beholder made out of a lemon.

Lydia has made quite a few friends with the birds in our new neighborhood. And by "friends," I mean she wants to kill them all and they consistently plot to eliminate the threat. It's a lovely relationship.

Working out the logistics for tiny printables. I can't wait to work on more!

Lydia loves to find hiding spots that result in us having to wash more dishes. Get your little paws out of my roasting pan! But, first, hold still so I can take a photo.

My Dungeons & Dragons character was reincarnated as a cat lady. I decided to interpret it as a lady who is a cat, so as to be less like my real self.

Lydia finally had a chance to sit down and read Wildwood, which she'd been meaning to get around to for quite some time. She loves reading local authors.

You can find me on Instagram as @BeesKneesIndustries.

Project Life Printable

By show of hands, how many other folks are fully smitten by Project Life? I found this scrapbooking method late last year and have been enjoying it ever since. I love how laid back it is, like a simple photo album, but I still get to collect all sorts of papers and tapes and stamps and tools for it. As Tony puts it, it turns documenting your life into a trading card game. (With as much of my youth as I spent at comic book shops, that certainly resonates with me.)

When I was picking out an album for this year, I knew I wanted to have a fun opening page, but I couldn't find any papers or cards that captured what I was going for. Instead, I decided to make my own. What with trying to close on my house and moving and general busyness, it took me a little while to finish the project, but better late than never, right?

And, I thought, perhaps there are some other folks who are a tad behind on their scrapbooking, too, so I decided to share this card set as a free printable here on my blog.  Download your own printable PDF here!

The photos for the front page are from a little photobooth I set up for New Year's Eve. Tony and I spent the evening at home, just the two of us. We made a fancy dinner and enjoyed the heck out of one another's company. I even managed to explode champagne all over myself and the sofa. (And if that's not the sign of a fun night, I don't know what is.) I love having these photos to remind me of the evening.

These photos have been re-edited using the A Beautiful Mess actions. I love them so much I think I'll reprint a set for my scrapbook!

Sprung!

Each season, I always think that season is my favorite. Well, today is the first day of spring, and, today, spring is my favorite.

I've been hard at work in my flower garden, but nothing much has popped up there just yet. However, my yard is covered in all sorts of tiny wildflowers that seem to change every few days. Last week, we had a rush of little purple flowers that smelled like grape candy. (Even Lydia liked them!) I wonder what will be up next...

What's your favorite season?

Me & U(kulele)

Every tax season, I struggle with a lack of time for creative projects. I usually only find an hour or two here and there for artistic endeavors, which doesn't work well with many of the projects I like to work on. By the time I get out my supplies and tools, it's time to do some chores or go to the office or get to bed.

I find that music is a great alternative creative outlet for these times. I can just sit down with an instrument and practice whenever I have a free moment. I started out this tax season playing my guitar, but I had an urge to try something new, so I stopped by Artichoke Music on my way home from work one day to pick up a new buddy.

I've also had it in my head for a while that I'd like to work on more self-portraits. I bought a great timer shutter release for my camera a few weeks ago and just had to dig it out to play. (I bought mine from Ebay, though, and it came with a clip to attach it to my tripod. I didn't have any luck finding a link for an identical item, but I'd recommend shopping around a bit.)

In addition, I just had to snag the A Beautiful Mess action set to help me with photo editing. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been trying to learn more about editing digital photos, and these actions have been wonderful for that. Since you can see every step that the actions do to your photo, it's easy to pick up some new tricks for altering your images. I've already learned about quite a few Photoshop tools I didn't even know existed.

I had a lot of fun working on these self-portraits, and I already have so many ideas for more. It's wonderful having a willing model at my disposal!

I tried involving a less-than-willing model in this photo set, but it devolved quickly. I guess I'll just have to practice more!

Cutest Coworker Ever!

Yesterday, I had the chance to enjoy the most adorable day possible at the office. My coworker's daughter raises sheep for 4H, and this little lamb, who was born last Thursday, hasn't been doing too well and needs to be bottle fed every few hours. Since the daughter couldn't bring the lamb to school to feed him, the coworker brought him to the office.

It was a bit surreal watching a tiny lamb meander around a typical office, but it was a pretty special experience. I wanted to make sure I captured the event, but I only had my iPhone camera handy. However, I'd recently stumbled across Classes Kara Made and her Click Your Life iPhone camera class, so I decided to download it and see what I could do to improve my phonography skills.

I was able to use the photography advice to take better shots, and I really improved my in-phone editing using her instructions and the VSCO Cam app. Plus, it was fun to have such a great model to test out some of the new tips I learned.

I have found myself wanting to learn more about digital photography in general lately. I spent most of my life working with film, and most of what I know about editing photos takes place in a darkroom, not on a computer. There's a fairly steep learning curve to the process, but there is also a wealth of information available for people like me.

Now I'm on the hunt for more online photo classes. Anyone have any good ones they'd like to recommend?

Thanks to my buddy @aliciaealicia for sending me this last pic!

Working with Watercolors

My favorite thing about reading other artists' blogs is learning more about their process. I love the fact that two artists could take the exact same materials and use them in completely different ways.

Of course, I'm most interested in seeing how people use the media that I love to use, such as embroidery, digital illustration, or watercolors. I also find it interesting how my use of those media has changed so much over the years as I gain experience and confidence.

It's been a little over a year since I had a nice space to work with my watercolors, but as I set up my art studio in my new home, I have been able to tailor the space to the media I love. I've been very busy at the office this tax season, but I did have a few sick days a short while ago, and I took advantage of the time at home to work on a project or two. Intersperse that with some good reading time and you have a perfect recipe for my relaxation.

I also want to share what my work table looks like in real life. You'll find all sorts of goodies: camera chargers, scrapbooking supplies, rubber stamps I never use, old drawings, and, of course, a Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook. Typical.