Bee's Knees Industries

The Prize

Since I painted a little piece for Illustration Friday last week, I decided I want to keep up with it a little better. The prompts gave me tons of portfolio pieces when I first started working in illustration, about ten years ago, and I thought it would be fun to start that up again.

I couldn't think of what to do for this week's word, prize, so I just sat down with a blank sheet of paper and no ideas whatsoever. Eventually, the little prize ribbon materialized, and I was set. But not before ruining the drawing entirely and having to start over, of course.

I'm looking forward to next week's prompt!

A Few of my Favorite Things no. 4

I'm back with new installment of A Few of my Favorite Things, and this time I'm sharing the work of a few of my talented friends. I'm lucky to have some of the most amazing friends a person could ever ask for (I can't wait to post my wedding photos and show you how many wonderful things my splendidly talented and generous friends created for the event), and I find so many of them to be constant inspirations.

So I thought this time around, I'd show a little bit of what some of my friends create.

1. David Wolk

I met David at the second craft fair I ever did, in a little coffee shop in St. Louis. We loved one another's work and personalities and became instant besties. He is such a creative person, using lots of found pieces and mixed media in his art, and he has the most impressive collection of craft paint I've ever seen. Leaving behind our regular crafting dates is one of my biggest regrets about leaving St. Louis, but I'm still confident I'll get David out to the West Coast one of these days.

2. Hello Miss.Quito

Monica of Hello Miss.Quito is one of those types of folks who brings magic to every little thing she touches. She's wildly creative and never seems to shy away from a challenge. She has worked in so many different media (including my favorite: baking), but she's currently focusing her energies on beautiful pieces for Blythe dolls, like the embroidered dress above. She also happens to be one of the funniest people I know, and every visit with her ends with aching cheeks from laughing the night away.

3. Lea Koesterer

I like to refer to Lea as my "Other Mother," but not in the scary Coraline way. Her daughter and I have been absolute best friends since the day we were born (her birthday is the day before mine), so Lea has been a big part of my life. She works in stained glass and mosaics and creates absolutely stunning pieces. Her work was immensely influential on me as a little girl, and she's a huge part of the reason I chose to go into art. When I was little (and had no artistic talent to speak of), her work seemed like pure magic. As a working artist (and having tried my hand at stained glass in her studio), I'm even more in awe of her creations.

4. Parasol Doll

I've shared a few of Maggie's Parasol Doll creations on the blog before, but I couldn't resist adding her to this list. She is a truly dedicated designer and one of the best artisans I know. She approaches each one of her pieces with such care and skill, and it shines through in everything she does. Seriously, you just have to see one of these miniature creations in person to appreciate how skillful she is, but even in photos you can see how adorable her work is. I've recently become obsessed with this latest design, her Mod Marie Antoinette dress. So cute!

Purrmaid

I've been working on a series of "Fantasticats," so when I saw that this week's Illustration Friday topic was mermaid, I just had to add in a feline element. I have three more kitties to draw to finish up the project I have in mind, but now all I want to draw are purrmaids.

This little gal is available in my shop both as an original painting and as a print.

Embroidery Pattern: Stumpwork Ghost & Tombstone

This month, the crew over at &Stitches have been working with the theme of stumpwork. If you're not familiar, stumpwork is a collection of embroidery techniques that produce some really fun three-dimensional results.

Since my project is for the end of the month, I figured it was late enough to get started on Halloween-themed crafting, so I created this wired ghost popping out of a tombstone. The PDF has a tutorial for the stumpwork technique you'll need, but you can also check the stumpwork tag on &Stitches to see more great tutorials. Head over to the blog to get the pattern to create your own!

Files:
• Download the Stumpwork Ghost at the &Stitches blog (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper