Bee's Knees Industries

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Desktop Wallpaper: Apple Picking

A couple weeks ago, Tony and I went apple picking in Hood River. We tried to go last year, but it was a terrible trip that devolved into a call to the police. Yipes! This year more than made up for it, though, with the most idyllic weather and beautiful blue skies, even in Oregon in October.

I was inspired to make an apple-picking-themed repeat, and I decided to offer it here as a desktop wallpaper. You can grab the file at the bottom of this post.

(I threw a pear, and Roofus thought it was a tennis ball. When he ran to catch it, he was excited to find that it was in fact a sugary tennis ball.)

Files:
• Download the Apple Picking desktop pattern here - Set image to tile for best effect.
• For personal use only. Please do not use for any income-producing endeavor.

Pillow Dolls

I'm working to get ready for BlytheCon this weekend, and I've been trying to think of some non-Blythe items that Blythe enthusiasts might enjoy. My first thought was pillow dolls, so I took a few illustrations I have made and had them printed at Spoonflower to make into little pillows.

My favorite is definitely the cat fairy, and she's going to get scaled up soon to make a full-size throw pillow. I have a few other Fantasticats that I may work into little dolls, too. They're just so much cuter when you can snuggle them!

Right now, these are all headed to Vancouver for BlytheCon, but I'll add some to the shop when I get back next week.

I hope to see some of you in Canada! Please stop by and say hi if you're there!

MATS Home Décor Class: Week Two

OK, guys, I can't believe how much my work has progressed in just two weeks of Lilla Rogers Make Art That Sells class. If you're at all on the fence about her classes, I'd seriously recommend them. She does a great job of creating projects that anyone of any level can work on, and the group that has formed from the class is always helpful and encouraging.

This week's combination was floral patterns on fabric items. I kept it pretty basic, with cushions, curtains, and a lampshade, but I'm excited to come back to this substrate and create more collections. I'm already dreaming of my next projects and can hardly wait to apply all my new skills to some personal work (with a more flexible turnaround time!).

For this set, I also tried the advanced option for the assignment, which is to create a page of finishing notes as well to help show a bit more about the construction of your items. It's fun to play around with these ideas, and it really gets you thinking about adding lots of interest and detail to your products.

Are any of you trying out some new techniques or taking any interesting classes? I'd love to hear about them!

Hedgehogs & Strawberries

When I saw this week's Spoonflower contest theme, hedgehogs, I couldn't stop drawing these fun little critters. I wanted to try my hand at a slightly different method of illustration for a pattern, so I created this design entirely in Photoshop.

I sketched out my rough ideas in my trusty sketchbook, then used my drawing tablet to trace them in Photoshop. I wanted to try this out after watching a tutorial on Creativebug by Heather Ross on digital illustration for fabric design. It took me a little bit to get comfortable with it, but I love the way it turned out.

If you like this pattern, you can vote for it in this week's contest at Spoonflower. Be sure to check out all the other entries, too. There are some amazingly adorable patterns this week. You can also purchase yardage of this fabric in my Spoonflower shop. I just ordered some myself and am planning to make some lounging-around-the-house shorts, because who doesn't want to relax with a bunch of hedgies in a strawberry patch?

A Mountain or a Molehill?

A new dolly dress design inspired by the beautiful mountains out here. Some days I really miss the Midwest, but I don't know that I could ever move away from mountains after having lived near them for so long.

Tutorial: Repeating Patterns in Illustrator

A couple years ago, I shared my method for creating a hand-drawn repeating pattern tile. I create quite a few of my patterns in Illustrator, too, so I wanted to share this method as well.

Blythe Train Dress

I must have travel on the brain, being a bit preoccupied with my upcoming trip to Liverpool. I always get nervous before I travel, so I decided to calm my nerves by sewing up this little train dress for my doll.

I don't usually draw mechanical objects, but it's nice to challenge myself once in a while. Starting this dress illustration was fairly intimidating, but I think it turned out pretty nicely. I really need to push myself outside my comfort zone more often. Perhaps a robot dress next?

If you'd like to sew up a train dress of your own, you can find the DIY kit in my shop.

Flickr Group: Blythe Outfits

Since I've been working on fabric design lately, I have been enjoying seeing what people make out of my Spoonflower fabrics. There are some great Blythe outfits shared in my Flickr group that make me want to create more Blythe-sized designs.

2054 by Valentine Westphal. This is the dress that started my Blythe obsession. A few years back, Julie emailed me a photo of this dress that she had made from my Ghostly Paisley fabric. Before that, I wasn't really aware of Blythe, and I certainly didn't know anyone in the Blythe community here in Portland. Through that one little email, I have made so many great friends and joined in on an extremely fun hobby. Thanks, Julie!

Pink Bears Dress by Thea

The Little Stitch-Along Dress by Summer Day Studio. This piece of course isn't made from my fabric, but it uses the Toast & Jam embroidery pattern I made for Feeling Stitchy. I can't believe the exquisite tiny embroidery on this piece!

Someone Should Make Candy Corn Flakes by Button Arcade

Puppet Show by Photos 4 Sue

Regal Dress by Fish Knees

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing your work!

Working Wednesdays: Fabric Design

As I mentioned a few posts back, I'm working to put together a collection of fabric designs around the theme of Wonderland. I also wanted to try a tiling shape I hadn't really used in the past, so my next design tiles as an ogee. (Before looking up that link to share with you, I didn't realize how many uses the ogee really has!)

It's fun trying a new design element, since it stretches my brain a bit to see how it all fits together. You can see my initial sketch above where I worked out what tiling element I need to create.

Once I have the basic concept down, I am able to get started on the illustration work for the design. I'm just getting started here, but I enjoy this part of the process.

When I work on any repeating pattern tile, I always try to check my work periodically to make sure I'm connecting everything correctly. This goes doubly for hand-drawn designs. Digital designs can generally be easily altered after the fact, but it's no fun to have to go back to the drawing board because I didn't work out my tiling just right.

I'm sure there's a fancier way to test pattern tiles, but I always use my desktop.

I have plenty of work left to do on this design, but it's coming right along.

Clowning Around

I'm very curious: Who here hates clowns? I find it interesting that so many people seem to be afraid of them, and, since I'm afraid of everything (seriously, everything), I always wonder why I like them. It could be because I performed in a little clown troupe when I was a child, or perhaps I was just too old by the time I finally watched It, or maybe we'll simply never know.

I have to wonder, though, what about people who like dolls? I also have always liked dolls, and plenty of kids who came over to my house for sleepovers were creeped out by my doll collection (in their defense, I lived in a really creepy house), so perhaps the same phobia immunity covers both.

With that theory in mind, I present my latest Blythe dress, with a clown! I'm looking at this one as an experiment. I think it's adorable (especially next to my Circus dress), but what will the dolly world think?

If you're inclined to sew up a Clown dress of your own, you can find the kit in my shop.

Talking Garden

I have loved designing fabrics since I first tried my hand at it, but I have always made designs that are meant to stand alone. The blogosphere has been abuzz with lovely fabric collections, though, and I just had to give it a go.

These two colorways of my Talking Gardens design are the first in what will hopefully become a full collection based on Alice in Wonderland. I have two more representative designs on the way (heart crowns and painted roses) and am looking forward to working on a few abstract pieces to go with it.

I'm enjoying the process of creating repeating patterns with a theme, and I have a feeling this will be something I do more of in the future.

This pattern is available as a fabric in gray and pink at Spoonflower and as a digital download for scrapbook paper at my new shop.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Today is the Springtime Blythe meet here in Portland, and my dolly insisted that I make a new frock for the occasion. (She insisted on an Easter bonnet, too, but I'll share photos of that later on.) I just can't say no to those big blue/pink/mint-green eyes of hers, so here's her latest outfit.

For some time now, I've had a bee in my bonnet to make human-sized versions of my dolly clothes, and I think this may be where I begin. A simple dirndl made with petaled fabric seems much less intimidating than a full fitted bodice, so I'll have to do a bit of thinking to grade this design to more of a me-size.

Until I figure it out, I'll just have to lust after my doll's wardrobe (which is a common enough occurrence by now). If your gal needs a flower dress, too, you can find the DIY kits in my shop.

Happy spring, everyone!

Winter Wonderland

 A day of snow is a wonderful excuse to get out and take photos, so my doll and I spent some time together last week on a cozy little outing.

"Snowdoll"

"Snow Sprite"

"Lost"

"Light the Way"

"The Only Way to Travel"

"This Is Beneath Me, Human" (Not sure if that's Lydia or the doll talking, there.)

Dolly couture by yours truly.

Instamotion!

I figured out while taking a break from work that one could create very rudimentary stop motion videos using Instagram. Having played around with stop motion previously, I couldn't resist. This is my first attempt thus far, but I'm sure I'll try more. I already have a few ideas in mind.

If anyone else would like to try my technique, it's really pretty simple:

1. Set up your phone on a nice steady surface. I leaned my phone against a piece of wood and put it in a silicone case to make it less slippery.

2. Open up the Instagram app and get it ready to take a video.

3. To take each frame, briefly touch the "record" button in the app. If it gives you a "Press and hold to record" error message, try holding the button just a little bit longer. Do your best not to shake the phone while doing this process.

4. Continue doing step 3 until you have 20 frames, which is your maximum.

5. Post to Instagram and share! I like the #instamotion and #stopmotion tags.

I hope you enjoyed my little video. Follow me @beeskneesindustries for more silliness.

Dolly couture by yours truly. Cotton candy made with roving wrapped around cotton swabs with one end cut off.

What will you animate? I'd love to hear your ideas!