I have a soft spot for Halloween. And design contests. So when I discovered that Spoonflower was having a design contest with a Creepy Crawly theme, I just couldn't resist. Really, it was beyond my control.
Nevermind that I still haven't finished the dining room wainscoting, or that the weeds are taking over my yard, or that I still haven't finished installing the trim and painting everything from our last renovation project, or that things like laundry and dishes don't just go away when I'm busy with something else.
The Creepy Crawlies were calling my name....
The contest isn't for an entire line, it's for one print. But by the time I finished drawing all the different bugs and built the main print (the one with all the bugs in little frames), I couldn't help but keep going and use the bug images in different ways. Plus I was determined to conquer, at long last, my inability to put things into repeat (kind-of important for a fabric designer). I had never taken the time to really sit down and research/figure it out, so this was the perfect opportunity. (I didn't have to do anything but choose colors with my first line for Benartex, they scanned my original artwork images and handled everything else).
I emailed some friends for help when I got stuck, which helped a lot - thanks so much Laura Whitton and Emilie Daly, for all the technical advice! Illustrator is really a pain unless you know what you're doing. I still know hardly anything about this uber-powerful tool, but I'm getting there bit by bit. I think I've tapped into about .05% of Illustrator's capabilities by now. Whoohoo!
Anyway, after I finished the main print I played around for a few more days and pulled the rest together just for fun. Please bear in mind that this isn't a fully thought out, perfect fabric collection - I was just playing around and came up with some extra designs relatively quickly...so any of you professional designers out there, please judge accordingly. :-)
If you'd like to go to Spoonflower and vote for my entry, please do! The nice thing is that, although you can only vote once, you can vote for as many as you like - you just click on whichever prints appeal to you and at the end of the week Spoonflower tallies up all the votes and whichever one gets the most, wins. There are some really awesome entries, I encourage you to click on over and check it out! Voting for the Creepy Crawly contest is from October 11th to October18th.
In other news, Hyrum almost got eaten by a shark last week.
It was a close call, but he was able to fend off the attack
and, by the end of the day, the two were even friends.
He even got a sharkie ride!
But alas, they have to go their separate ways becase Mr. Sharkie is actually intended for my nephew. My sister and mom came for a visit this past month to be here for Hyrum's 8th birthday and baptism (hence the family pics below) and I made skirts for my nieces. Since my nephew likes sharks a lot more than skirts, I designed and made him this mega shark, which is probably bigger than he is! Yes, I think he'll like it...now if I can figure out how to ship the thing....
Awwww...
Hyrum was so excited about his big day. In our church we regard little children as innocent and, as such, they don't need baptism until they can really grasp the difference between right and wrong. The minimum age for baptism is 8 years old, so turning 8 is a big milestone year!
Hyrum was especially thrilled to have Grandma and Auntie here to help him celebrate.
Okay, I know this post is going all over the place (that's to be expected when I don't post for a month - again - right?) but I wanted to share one more thing...
I am in love with the Piano Guys!!!
Words cannot express how incredibly awesome these guys are. Their technical prowess is matched by their creativity and enthusiasm for their art, AND....they have an incredible sense of humor.
How wonderful that, despite their obviously massive talent, they don't take themselves too seriously ... you can tell that they are just having so much FUN! Such an inspiration on so many levels.
They have tons of videos, these are some of my favorites. To see them all, go to their website but beware! They're addictive! I've spent way too many nights watching their videos instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour - it's just such an incredible blend of gorgeous sound and awesome cinemetography that I can't stop....
I ordered their newest CD, can't wait until it arrives!
Okay, back to planet earth...time to clean the house and take care of all the mundane nitty gritties that I've been neglecting...sure hope that CD arrives soon so I can at least engage my eardrums during the joyful tasks of folding clothes and cleaning toilets!
Congratulations, Hyrum!
Posted by: Heather S | October 08, 2012 at 09:00 PM
Love that spider print!! That is too cool. I am a Halloween fan too - no societal "expectations" like Christmas.
Posted by: Peggy | October 08, 2012 at 10:37 PM
Please share how you made the Shark . My son is a shark fanatic and I would love to make him one for Christmas . I'm always making Madeline dresses . Shark week is a national holiday at our house !
Posted by: Fran | October 23, 2012 at 04:02 PM