May started this week… and that also heralds the traditional start of summer in Ireland! Now, the weather never feels truly summery until we hit June, but you can’t argue with tradition, can you? And this idea goes way back – the Celtic festival of Beltane falls at around this time each year, signalling that it was time to start moving livestock to their summer pastures. Customs associated with this celebration include variations on the theme of bonfires (lighting them, driving cattle between a pair of them, jumping over them) and decorating homes, trees and even livestock with flowers.
In the name of safety – not even Paddy was up for jumping over a bonfire – we’re going to focus on the second of these. So, bring on the Beastie-ful floral tribute!
Look, here’s Bride Beastie to get us started! The heather flowers complement her bouquet quite nicely, don’t you think? The flowers in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin are always amazing at this time of year… As this tea-drinking Beastie discovered!Explorer Beastie is also partial to some blooms, when he finds them… … And there’s nothing more relaxing than enjoying your favourite beverage in the garden on a sunny day. Right, Red Lemonade Beastie? Even Minibeasties can get a slice of the floral fun – thanks to LucyAnn from LucyAnn & Luna Craft for this pic! Oh, and we’d better not leave Paddy and Plunkett out!Yikes, this flower fever is contagious! It’s even spread to those Beastie characters who usually see things in black and white… So now there’s no excuse not to feel nice and summery… Even if you’re in the southern hemisphere! Enjoy the weekend (especially those of you who’ll be getting an extra day thanks to the May bank holiday) and we’ll be back on Tuesday for some fresh Beastie fun!
Hey there everybody! I hope you’ve all had a good week… It certainly seems like it’s been a busy few days in the Blogosphere! I’ll get to that in a second. First of all, I should probably explain what the title of this post is all about.
Poor Explorer Beastie is almost afraid to look!
Alas, it turns out the BeastieBlog needs another facelift. Although I really like how it’s set up at the minute, and my last overhaul was only last summer, I noticed a while ago that my Shop page wasn’t working properly…. And when I consulted the good people at WordPress, their diagnosis was that my lovely theme isn’t getting along with WooCommerce any more. Oh no!
Fortunately, they sent me a list of alternatives that should play nicely with the shop’s internal gubbins (yes, that IS the technical term), but I will be shutting the blog down for a week while I rejig all the bloggy bits and bobs (more technospeak there) to fit a new layout.
I’m planning to start work on Monday, so if you haven’t grabbed your free calendar page for this month yet, make sure you download it from here before then!
And to keep you entertained in my absence, I’ve picked out a couple of choice nuggets of online goodness!
I’m not sure how much album promo work she was able to do after downing that human-sized glass of wine, but at least she looks like she’s enjoying herself!
And for those crafty folks among you, I’ve been finding a whole heap of inspiration in the blogging community lately! Fellow knitter Shirley has been branching out into felt softie making, and I love this thoughtful post about her creative process.
And Tierney from Tierneycreates shows how one crafter’s leftovers can be another’s creative goldmine!
Last but not least… Since I’ve started teaching weekly knitting classes in my local yarn store, I’ve realised that I’ve been a bit of a lazy knitter these last few years! It’s a while since I tackled a project that wasn’t a) A Beastie or b) Something for a Beastie. So, I’ve cast on a sweater FOR MYSELF! And to help me do it properly, I’m going to be following Melissa (of Knitting the Stash)’s Better Sweater podcast series. If you’re thinking of taking on a sweater-sized project yourself, here’s the first episode to get you started!
Oh, and one more thing… Just because it made me laugh. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this before!
See you all in two weeks, with a (hopefully) snappy new-look BeastieBlog!
And since it’s the end of the week, my mind has wandered in an artsy direction for this Friday Social. In school, it seemed like art class always fell on a Friday afternoon, and it was a much nicer way to wrap up the week than, say, double maths or – gulp – SPORTS. That said, school art and I had a somewhat troubled relationship. While there were a few standout moments – making a kiwi-fruit inspired dress, or modelling cartoon frogs in clay – I seemed to spend A LOT of time drawing not-very-interesting things. In one particularly awful session, we were asked to copy the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait. For those of you unfamiliar with this highly detailed painting, with its lush textures and crazy use of perspective and reflections…
Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck (Image from Wikipedia)
We were given an hour and a half to complete this task. “And if you have some time left over,” our teacher added, “You can write a short piece about the artist’s life and work.”
No wonder I left school with the firm conviction that I couldn’t really draw! Since then, I dabbled in doodling comics now and again, but it wasn’t until I started creating tailor-made personalised Beasties that I actually had a reason to up my drawing game. I figured a quick sketch was the best way to show people what to expect from their finished monster, and with each sketch, I started to feel a bit more confident about my drawing.
That said, these “quick sketches” weren’t really quick! As each one was hand-drawn and coloured with what I had to hand (colouring pencils), they were taking forever!
So, as some of you may remember, last year I asked my lovely friend Julie from Juleco to show me the basics of Adobe Illustrator, in the hope that I might be able to get the computer to take on some of the more time-consuming tasks (I’m looking at you, colouring in). Our session was really helpful, and I could see the software being super-useful, but WOOOAAAAH is it expensive! I really couldn’t justify the outlay, and after availing of more week-long free trials than was right or proper, I let it slide.
But then, enter Simon from Planet Simon, with this handy post about how he was creating illustrations using free, open-source drawing software! I had actually looked at these programs briefly myself, but then I’d scuttled back to Illustrator because I found them utterly baffling. Once I knew which tools to use to make them work for the projects I wanted to complete, I was away!
And so, last month, I was finally able to present my first ever computerised commission sketch!
I’m still hand-drawing the outlines, but the real time-saver (even though I’m working out the angles as I go) comes when I’m ready to colour in. Now I can fill a large area with one click, and I can match colours much more closely to the materials I’ll be using. Also, check out the skirt on that Beastie in the lab coat… rather than trying to replicate patterned fabrics by hand, I can photograph the swatch and just drop it into the picture! So much quicker – and my customer knew exactly what I was offering her, too.
So, which programs am I using? Well, I scan in my hand-drawn outlines first, then open those files in Inkscape, where I use the “Bitmap trace” to smooth out the less desirable bits of the scanned images – paper textures, ink smudges etc. I save that, then switch to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) to do the majority of the work… correct wonky outlines, erase any pencil marks that survived the tracing, and most importantly, pop in those colours!
And, as I get used to the process, I’m not just using it for sketches any more! I created this image for my March calendar page, and thanks to the wonders of digital drawing, I’ve been able to rejig it into an Easter colouring page as well!
You can download the full-size version for yourself from my store… Just in case you have any little monsters of your own to entertain over the Bank Holiday weekend! It’s free, and you can print off as many copies as you need to!
Oh, and while you’re there…
… April’s calendar page is also ready to go! I’m hoping this nice sunny image will help to kick-start some warmer, brighter weather for us all!
How about you? Do you use any nifty programs in your artwork that we need to know about? Be sure to tell us all about them in the comments below!
Have yourselves a super (B)Easter weekend, and join us again on Tuesday for more monster fun and games! See you then!
Hey there Beastie peeps! The weekend is very nearly here, so that means it’s time for another peek behind the scenes here at Beastie Towers… And this week, it’s all about community!
As some of you may already know, I recently started teaching knitting classes at my local yarn store, The Constant Knitter. It’s a lovely yarny haven… That’s located a dangerously short toddle away from my home.
The shop is just one street over from St Patrick’s Cathedral, and as I mentioned in last week’s post, they got in touch to see if we’d like to host some free social crafting sessions in the weeks running up to the biggest event in their annual calendar… The St Patrick’s Day festival!
The idea was to make simple knitted, crocheted or wet-felted items that could be displayed at the Cathedral, and then given to visitors to take home as a memento of their visit. Oh, and it gave local people the chance to stop in and try out some new crafty skills… Or indulge in old favourites while drinking tea!
So, last week was the grand finale… The great giveaway! Unfortunately, by the time I arrived for my stint in the afternoon, quite a lot of the pieces had already been given away…
… But thanks to one of the other hard-working knitting groups, there were still plenty of little spring chickens to add to the lineup!
There were some bigger pieces to enjoy too, like these knitted landmarks of Dublin 8. This masterpiece included the gate of the old women’s hospital at The Coombe, the now-demolished Fatima Mansions flats and even a woolly Luas tram!
Local fibre artist Niki Collier also moved some pieces from her latest exhibition over to the Cathedral for the festival…
…Oh, and of course there was a little bit of last-minute knitting and crochet going on!
A few of these good people were even brave enough to try out this squiggly snake pattern, which I put together for the event!
And after we wrapped up, I took the opportunity to have a quick look around the Cathedral on my way out.
I can’t believe I lived across the road from this place for years and never went inside! It’s beautiful!
Hopefully we’ll get to do it all again next year… And if you’ve been involved in any crafty happenings lately, be sure to tell us all about it in the comments!
Have a super weekend, everybody! We’ll be back on Tuesday with another monster adventure to share!
It’s been all go here in Beastie Towers. Earlier in the week, I had a birthday… I was *cough* 29!
(Again)
And I hope none of you are hungry, because I celebrated with THESE. Thanks, Boyfriend!
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It’s hard to see in the photo, but the box and tissue paper lining are printed with pictures of monsters, too… Now I’m NEVER going to be able to put that in the recycling!
Also from the Twittersphere… Another completed colour-in calendar page! Thanks for sharing, Tammie!
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I was delighted to get Beastie greetings from some monsters overseas as well! Climber Beastie dropped in from this rugged mountain range…
…And here’s Sinéad Beastie. She brought a friend to the party!
You can see more of Sinéad’s adventures on Daze and Weekes, here!
Speaking of adventures, Paddy and Plunkett were at large again earlier in the week. And while Paddy’s reimagining of “A Knight’s Tale” got the most laughs…
… There was also a murmur of interest in this traditional Irish river curragh, housed in the same museum.
This is extra exciting for me, because my Dad made it! So, I thought I’d pop in a link to his curragh-building Facebook page today, in case any of you wanted to find out a little more about these awesome historical boats and how they’re constructed!
And finally, don’t forget it’s St Patrick’s Day this weekend! I’m starting the celebrations early with a spot of knitting (what else?) at St Patrick’s Cathedral. You see, for the last 6 weeks, my local yarn shop has been hosting free knitting, crochet and felting sessions, led by me and my fellow crafters Aoibhe Ní and Niki Collier. We’ve been helping people from the local community to get together and make little handmade gifts, which will be given away to visitors to the Cathedral over the festival weekend. So, if you’re in the area, pop along and say hello… and maybe learn a new skill!
Otherwise, swing by again on Tuesday to meet the latest addition to the Beastie family! See you then!
Ooooh, it’s been a while since I posted on a Friday! But after my lazy sick day post a couple of weeks ago, I thought I might give you all a more regular behind-the-scenes look at life in Beastie Towers, and share some of the antics that the rest of the global Beastie family have been getting up to as well. I’m so chuffed that some of the little monsters who’ve left home recently have started to take over their humans’ blogs from time to time, and I want to make sure that those good people get the recognition they so richly deserve!
So, here are some of the Beastie-related fun and games which have been making me smile lately. Enjoy… and if you’re letting your own monster friend loose on your blog or social media, give me a heads-up to be featured in a future Friday Social!
Without further ado, then… Regular readers of my blog will certainly recognise the cheery purple chappie on the left of this photo. It’s Finn McSpool, who moved over to Portland, Oregon a couple of years ago to distract and torment help fiction writer Tammie Painter while she works on her fantasy series The Osteria Chronicles.
When Tammie takes a break, Finn often accompanies her as she explores her hometown and its surroundings… but last weekend, the trip didn’t exactly go according to plan. You can find the whole story on Tammie’s blog – as well as learning what happened when Mortimer Stump went to work for Danford Balch (gotta love those names)!
And speaking of interesting names, why not swing by and see what Slartibartfast has been up to?
This adventurous Explorer Beastie headed off to the UK just before Christmas, and now he’s hanging out on Planet Simon‘s new blog, Escribble. Before last week’s INSANE snowfall, Slartibartfast headed out into the countryside to enjoy the first signs of spring. See how he got on here!
And finally – check out Laura Beastie’s first appearance on her human’s blog, A Pict in PA!
There’s a picture of the two of them together at the end of the post… Let me know if you think I captured the likeness!
Oh, and there’s also been some fun on Instagram! Ivonne from Aurian’s Blog just joined up recently, and I was over the moon to see her own original monster buddy Katsching tackling the colouring challenge of my March calendar page!
I’ve been trying to do more on Instagram myself lately, and I thought that Joanne Hawker’s March Meet the Maker challenge might help light a fire under me! I’ll be posting daily, and following the prompts… mostly. I might have twisted yesterday’s suggestion of “Flatlay” just a smidgen…
It also seems like a really good way to share some of the day-to-day activities of my monster-making… and to have a nosey around some other crafters’ workspaces without getting arrested!
Speaking of which… I think I owe them a post! Enjoy the weekend, and hopefully I’ll see you all again on Tuesday, when I reckon Paddy and Plunkett might be stopping in for a visit!
And that has upset the apple cart a little bit here at Beastie Towers.
So, I’m just stopping in to say hello, and to promise that the new Beastie I planned to introduce to you this week will be joining us next week instead. She has SO MUCH cool stuff to share and I want to make sure I’m back on form to show it all to you!
In the meantime, here are some of my favourite silly Beastie pictures from the archives to help brighten up your Tuesday!
A close encounter of the porcine kind… Careful there, Explorer Beastie!
Remember the time Paddy went in search of the perfect all-over tan?
Or how about another beach adventure, when Plunkett recreated Botticelli’s Venus?
Oh, and here’s a typical night out with the lads. Lest we forget, this is what happens when you let them split a human-sized hot whiskey.
And finally… I love this picture of Fairy Princess Beastie, sent to me by her new family. Look how intensely she’s concentrating on her colouring in!
Ha! I’m feeling better already! Here’s wishing you all a sniffle-free week, and I’ll catch you again next Tuesday!
2017 was a pretty exciting year here at Beastie Towers – check out the review post I did a couple of weeks back, and you’ll see what I mean! I’m hoping there’s even more good stuff around the corner in 2018 for us, and for all of you out there too. It’s been great having you along for the ride over the past 12 months, and I can’t wait to see where the new year takes us all!
Oh, and if, like me, your life was teetering on the brink of complete chaos because I didn’t make a Beastie calendar this year, fear not! I’ve a new year’s gift for you all… Get thee to the Shop section of my website, where you’ll find a free downloadable calendar page to help you stay organised for the whole of January. To get yours, just add it to your cart… and don’t worry about filling out the whole “address details” form! You only need to enter your name and email address, then you’ll be able to download the page directly from the confirmation email you’ll receive shortly afterwards. After that, print it out… aaaand it’s up to you! Stick it on the wall, pop it on the fridge, tuck it into the pages of your bullet journal – wherever you like, really! Big thanks to both Tammie and Jan for suggesting this idea! I’m hoping that those of you who (like me) still find that nothing really gets sorted out unless pen and paper are involved will find this useful. And hey, let me know where yours ends up… especially if you find an unusual place to display it!
The BeastieBlog returns to normal next Tuesday (that’s the 9th of January), when I’ll be starting to share the first of the Christmas gift commissions now that all the presents have been opened and no surprises will be spoiled!
See you then, and all the best to all of you for 2018. Happy new year!
Oh wow, I can’t believe we’re nearly at the end of 2017 already! It’s all been a bit of a blur – surely it was only just Hallowe’en? So I thought I would use this, the last “real” post of the year, to take a look back over the highlights of the last 12 months. If nothing else, it will help me figure out whether I’m right in thinking that I lost a month or two somewhere!
So, what did we get up to? Well, first of all, Explorer Beastie loved getting the chance to go a little further afield on his adventures! We started the year with a trip to Donegal…
… And then made it to Copenhagen in the spring…
…and Düsseldorf in early summer!
Paddy and Plunkett were also at large, dropping in on some ancient Irish wells…
…Punting down the Cam…
…And sampling some highly unusual cuisine in Croatia!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Tammie‘s Beastie Finn McSpool has been keeping her readers entertained with his unique brand of “help”. With this guy around, it’s a miracle she gets any books written at all!
Finn’s adventures appear on Tammie’s blog every Saturday. I had a hard time picking a favourite to recommend to you all, but I think his underwater exploits in Hawaii back in September win out!
More recently, an old friend dropped us a line while on holidays in South Africa…
… And we welcomed a new face to the Beastie family!
The Beasties have been getting social with other blogging folk this year, too! Back in April, we were lucky enough to be featured on Melissa’s excellent fibre craft blog Knitting The Stash…
… While an appeal for handmade items for a craftivism event in Manchester from Jan at The Snail of Happiness gave me the opportunity to make these little critters!
I also worked out a pattern and tutorial for these felt bees, which is FREE if you’d like to have a go at making your own!
Oooh, and let’s not forget that the BeastieBlog got a facelift back in August…
… Which included not only a snazzy new look, but also the addition of my very own online shop! Admittedly, the virtual shelves are a little bare at the moment, but there will be fresh monster faces in there again in the new year!
The Beasties also found themselves in some real shops, including this intrepid mob who journeyed all the way over to Carrick Mór in New Jersey!
We also did a few markets… But I reckon you’ve probably heard enough about those recently! I’m still super-grateful to all the good people who organised those events, or who came to visit us in person while we were there – it was lovely to meet you all!
And that only leaves one bit of news to share, and it’s one that I’ve been holding onto since the end of the summer. Since I decided to quit regular 9-5 employment in favour of making monsters a couple of years back, I’ve always worked part-time on the side – it’s reassuring to know that I’m not going to end up out in the streets if I have a couple of commission-free months, or if a market turns out to be a bit of a dud. But back in August, I was let go from my job… And I thought, why not try being a maker of monsters full time for a couple of months, just to see how things go? I’d often wondered what I could do if I got the chance to focus exclusively on the Beasties, and with Christmas looming on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to give it a bash. So, that’s what I’ve been doing! And while it’s had its hairy moments – like me losing my voice for the entire of the biggest market in my calendar – it’s been quite the adventure, and I’m already looking forward to seeing how much more I can do in the coming year!
But of course, dear readers, none of this could have happened without your support – so thanks to all of you who regularly read, like, comment and send me photos of your own monster adventures! I realise that I’ve been a little less diligent in keeping up with you all over the last couple of months, as I tackled the challenge of my first self-employed Christmas season, but I’m so looking forward to getting caught up again in the new year, and seeing what delights 2018 holds for us!
So, that was my 2017 – no wonder I’m tired! How was yours? And what have you got planned for the coming year? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
I’m just popping in for a very quick “Hello!” today, because I’ve done the sums and this is definitely the busiest, Beastie-est week of 2017! Last overseas postage dates are looming, and I’ve booked places at two of Dublin’s most popular Christmas markets, so that’s my entertainment taken care of for the next two weekends in a row. I’d better start on a programme of intense caffeination immediately, as ably demonstrated by Tae Beastie here.
I already had a chance to get out and road-test my new market display a couple of weeks back at RMDS’s Christmas Craft Fair, and I’m pretty pleased with how it looks! I’ve used lightweight fabric-covered boxes to add a little extra height…
… Made up some promotional postcards with a little bit about the Beasties on the back…
…Thrown a little light on the proceedings with a pair of spiffy spotlights, a Christmas gift from my brother last year…
… And Boyfriend picked up a Beastie-sized chalkboard for me to play around with use constructively for marketing purposes.
So, when do all these goodies get their next outing? Well, to kick things off, this Sunday I’ll be at Newmarket on Cork Street for their Christmas event. I’m looking forward to this one for a couple of reasons… It’s my first time going to this market (always exciting), and it’s in my neighbourhood too! Plus I thought I’d missed the application deadline, so it was doubly satisfying when my offer of a spot came through.
Then next week, it’s the biggie – The Dublin Christmas Flea! I had a blast at this market last year… hey, why not take a look around yourself? Plus, eagle-eyed viewers will spot me working away behind my stall at 1:12 in this video!
For the 2017 event, they’ve added an extra day (the market will run from Thursday to Sunday) and there’s going to be a special press-only early opening on one of the days as well. I’m optimistic that the Beasties will be on their best behaviour, but I’m expecting at least one of the major newspapers to carry the headline “Reporter Mauled by Publicity-Hungry Knitted Monsters” on Monday morning!
Of course, I realise that not all of you lovely readers are likely to make it to Dublin this December. But no matter how far afield you are, there’s still time to adopt a monster friend from our online store!
I’ll be able to send worldwide right up until the 7th of December. After that:
Last post for mainland Europe is the 13th
Great Britain the 18th
Northern Ireland the 19th
Republic of Ireland the 20th
of December 2017.
I’m also already taking pre-orders for the first quarter of 2018, so if you’d like to get your paws on a Bespoke Beastie anytime before March 31st, don’t be disappointed! Drop me a line and I’ll get your name into the order book nice and early.
Alrighty, time for me to get back to work! Next Tuesday, I’ll have a new Beastie to share with you all, so be sure to stop by… Have a great week!
The flowers in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin are always amazing at this time of year… As this tea-drinking Beastie discovered!
Explorer Beastie is also partial to some blooms, when he finds them…
… And there’s nothing more relaxing than enjoying your favourite beverage in the garden on a sunny day. Right, Red Lemonade Beastie?
Even Minibeasties can get a slice of the floral fun – thanks to LucyAnn from LucyAnn & Luna Craft for this pic!
Oh, and we’d better not leave Paddy and Plunkett out!
Yikes, this flower fever is contagious! It’s even spread to those Beastie characters who usually see things in black and white…
So now there’s no excuse not to feel nice and summery… Even if you’re in the southern hemisphere! Enjoy the weekend (especially those of you who’ll be getting an extra day thanks to the May bank holiday) and we’ll be back on Tuesday for some fresh Beastie fun!
