The Shop Around the Corner
The end of 2024 has been tons of fun, excitement and just going for it creatively. Having courage and putting myself out there in a whole new venue. As you may recall from reading my blog all year, I have learned all about digital drawing and procreate on my iPad. It is hard to believe I have had this iPad for a year now. I knew it was going to take tons of time to learn how to use it. I felt like the learning curve was so steep on digital drawing and it would take me forever, but I just kept chipping away at it. Every time I opened the drawing app, I was learning something new. I learned about layers, how to use them and how effective they can be with adjusting your designs so much faster. I learned about brushes and pressure points and even how to create my own brushes. (Though, I still have more to learn before I create my own brushes!) I learned about the drawing guide and how I could create mandalas and snowflakes and mirrored patterns with such ease, it felt like cheating. Seriously, every step has been an ah-ha moment. And I am just getting started, literally just beginning with this new way of expressing my ideas, my creativity and a fun way to get my designs out in people’s hands through surface pattern creation.
There is so much to share this month and if you follow me on instagram or Facebook you have already seen some of my creations. But, I love to recap my creativity here, as well.
But first….My Spoonflower shop is OPEN!
What is Spoonflower?
Spoonflower is a company out of Durham, NC that offers independent artists, like myself, the opportunity to upload our designs to our online shop for customers to purchase as fabric, home decor items and even wallpaper! These designs I have drawn can be purchased as tea towels, table runners, throw blankets and other already made items. Or customers could simply purchase a fat quarter or yard of fabric. With each purchase, the shop owner makes a small percentage of the sale. It opens up so many possibilities to see my designs in new ways and it is truly a dream come true to open up my very own Spoonflower shop.
From Ideas to Designs…
If you have been reading for a while, you know I love to take a seed of an idea and see how many different ways I can present it. December had just started and I wanted to do another daily post, but I was not sure what to draw and the holidays were already feeling busy and my indecisiveness was no help. So, I let it go. Then, one day I was thinking about wreaths. I love wreaths and bows. I don’t make them, but I could draw them. That was my thought.
My paternal grandmother, we affectionately called Memaw, was a floral designer, AMAZING bow creator and just all around resourceful and creative! Memaw also loved Christmas, so I thought about honoring her memory by designing 12 different wreaths with holiday themes that could also help me practice drawing her favorite - bows. There it was - the idea was born! I started the 12 days to end on Christmas Day and let the wreaths flow in my digital drawings.
It was organic, nostalgic and truly fun.
I named it, created a “cover page” and explored so many different brushes in procreate - I was lost in the process. But my idea generating did not stop there. I wanted to make the wreaths into repeating patterns for fabric.
12 Days of Christmas Wreaths
This is the cover page I created. This is also a digital drawing I made in procreate.
The 12 wreaths…
Each day I posted a wreath and why I created it on instagram and Facebook. I loved hearing which ones were people’s favorites.
The 12 repeating patterns…
After I created each wreath, I took the wreath or a component of the wreath and started playing around with a potential fabric design. These designs are what I came up with. Each one is already uploaded in my Spoonflower Shop!
With Spoonflower, the designs above can be turned into things like this…
I had lots of times this month where I doubted myself, my ideas, if I was ready, maybe I needed a little longer to practice, if I could really make this work. Just lots of fear. But I cut through the noise in my head, the fear I would do it all wrong, made the mistakes and just kept drawing and pushing myself through the hard parts to say it. I have fabric designs. Thank you for your encouragement and belief in me that I could get this far.
Other Creative Happenings -
I had the pleasure of selling a few handmade goods with my fellow Bee Collective Artists in a warm and most inviting home of my dear friend Pam! We got to catch up, meet new people and enjoy some festive food all while encouraging each other in our creative endeavors. What a most special time together! Here are just a few pics of my set up. Thank you Pam for opening up your beautiful and inspiring home and doing all the behind the scene work to make this happen! Let’s do it again in 2025!
My cards for the month
The cards this month were a combination of digital drawings and handmade. The first card is my drawing of the wooden duck my Dad carved in the 1980’s and I especially love and cherish it. I printed my design and made it into a card without telling my dad and then mailed it to his dad, my grandfather for a fun surprise. I will share more on that in another blog post.
The Christmas tree cards were requested for the administration at my school. I enjoyed getting messy and creating those. Actually they inspired many of my wreath designs!
A quick thank you card I created for a co-worker.
Finally, the fun little ducks are artist trading cards (ATC’s) I created in my art classes to demonstrate to students how to take an idea and embrace the silly or strangeness and have fun with creating.
Duck in a lava river
5 ducks in a backyard pool
Duck cozy with hot tea
The Painted Ornament
I LOVE Christmas ornaments. I love creating them in any way, shape, form or material. This year I wanted to paint. I made just 2 and had a blast getting messy with acrylic gouache and q-tips.
So… I feel like I am ending 2024 pretty strong creatively and maybe even surprising myself here. When I started to build this final blog post of 2024, I did not expect it to be this full. I am sorry for the lengthy read! LOL. Though, I see now how intertwined various activities were and organic things became.
I am so thankful for your unwavering support and reading my creative happenings each and every month! Thank you for a most wonderfully creative and inspiring 2024. I am thrilled and so very excited for 2025! May all your creative dreams come true in 2025!
Stay creative out there,
Hannah