Hey there everybody! We’re baaaaaaack! And what a couple of weeks it’s been… Beasties have been popping up just about everywhere! So this post is about picking up where we left off, and telling you what you lucky folks can expect to see on the BeastieBlog over the next while!
First up, Paddy and Plunkett are still living it up in the English Riviera. Before I headed off on my break, they were exploring the steep stone-lined streets of Clovelly… … But they haven’t stayed put in the meantime! The adventurous twosome have also been spotted gambolling in the beautiful flowerbeds in Torquay – clearly their tour of the Eden Project has given them an appetite for horticulture! Plunkett also had high hopes of cooling off in a nearby Beastie-sized swimming pool – but for some reason this sign put him off. Erk. Probably for the best, Plunkett!
The boys also visited the laid-back, alternative town of Totnes, where Plunkett took some snaps of the unusual buildings and picturesque streets… … And Paddy visited a gender-neutral toilet. Um… Thanks, Paddy! I suppose these are still a rare enough sight back home – or maybe it was just the nice bright sign that caught his eye. Meanwhile, I might have mentioned once or twice that Explorer Beastie and I have been on holiday recently! We can’t wait to share our travel pics with you… I’m still amazed how much we managed to cram into our trip!
And if you can’t wait until next week to start the tour, you’ll get a quick fix of some of the highlights from our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds!
Then, if that lot has still left you hungry for more monster-based entertainment… There are new Beasties for you to meet! May was a veeeery busy month, and there are recent additions to the family who are keen to have their moment in the spotlight!
So, join us on Friday to meet a new monster friend! Plus we’ll also be checking what the rest of the Beastie community has been up to in our absence. See you then!
It’s new Beastie day! So it must be… Friday? Yes, we’re breaking with tradition a little here, but after giving this very special pair a brief introduction in Tuesday’s post, I couldn’t wait a whole week to give you the guided tour! This cheerful monster couple were created as a very special birthday gift for author and long-term BeastieBlog reader Tammie Painter, and were requested by her husband as a surprise to round off their recent trip to Ireland.
So, after several top-secret design discussions, we decided to dress the Beasties in miniature versions of the outfits worn by their human counterparts on their wedding day! That meant a sophisticated black dress with pin-tucked bodice and a floaty organza top layer for Tammie Beastie… … With a hook-and-eye fastening closure at the back. These are my new favourite dress fastening! Meanwhile, Mr Husband Beastie was cool and casual in a Hawaiian-style shirt and shorts. Alas, a true Hawaiian print comes up too large for Beastie-sized clothes! So I picked out a blue fabric that came as close as possible to the colours in the reference photos I worked from… … And then added a pair of boxy-framed glasses to complete the look! Very stylish.
But wait a sec… What’s going on here? Aha! Good call, Beasties! Those hand-knitted Aran sweaters are much more suitable for exploring the Emerald Isle! Oh, and look… … They have bags, too! A red felt backpack for Mr Husband Beastie, and a teal shoulder bag for Tammie Beastie! Now, what can they put in there?
How about a sketchbook and pen, to record the highlights of the trip? Or maybe snacks for long bus journeys! And if you have snacks, you’ll need something to wash them down with. Hop Monster IPA, anyone? This special Beastie brew comes in a needle-felted bottle, with hand-embroidered felt label! Or, for the designated drivers, a nice hot cup of tea from the travel flask might be just the thing. And last but not least… Don’t forget your reading material! This Ireland travel guide will surely come in handy, while “The Trials of Herc-Woollies” will make the plane journey home pass much more quickly!
(Oh, and human readers can pick up a copy of the non-Beastie version, “The Trials of Hercules” for FREE right now! Find out more here) “Hmmmm… I think we’d better pack all of it, just to be on the safe side!” And now I reckon they’re ready to go! Bon voyage, Beasties!
Have any of you got big plans for the weekend? And if so, what will you be packing in your backpack? Tell us all about it in the comments!
Aaand we’ll be back on Tuesday as usual, with more antics from Paddy and Plunkett. See you then!
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 friends! I hope you all had a super weekend… Especially any of you who were celebrating St Patrick’s Day on Saturday!
Today on the BeastieBlog, we’re weighing in on an issue that has been troubling humans for centuries – the ongoing battle between the arts and the sciences. And is it really true that if you have an interest in one, you’ll have no aptitude for the other?
For Beasties, the answer is a big HECK NO! Why would you ever limit yourself to just one? Meet this little monster lady, who just headed off to her new home last week.
With her long, flowing blonde locks and winning smile, she’ll look every inch the ballerina when she’s in her dance studio… This Beastie loves her ballet! So I made her a pair of pumps with ribbon laces…
… And a very feminine pink net tutu as well.
As you can see, the tutu actually fastens with snaps, to make sure it doesn’t fall off mid-pirouette! But she’s not going to dance away the whole day! Time for a quick costume change…
… And it’s off to the lab! Because like her new human friend, this Ballerina Beastie is also a scientist!
Hey, don’t forget your bag!
Because Ballerina Scientist Beastie’s human counterpart is especially interested in DNA and associated fields of research, I thought a little personalised embellishment on her bag might be in order. And what’s that inside?
It’s a Beastie-sized laptop! This little felt computer has an embroidered keyboard, appliqué felt details and magnets inside to make sure it closes with a nice neat “click”.
So, with that safely packed away again…
…It’s time to head off in search of adventure!
Thanks to my lovely customer Arlyng for requesting this special Beastie as a gift for her friend! I enjoyed the challenge of capturing all her interests in one Beastie project.
As for you, where do you stand? Do you think of yourself as more of a scientist or an artist? Or, like this Beastie, do you make time for both? Let us know in the comments!
We’ll be back on Friday, with a look at the community crafting project we took part in recently… 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!
Well hello there! And despite the best efforts of the mean ol’ flu bug that temporarily disrupted my blogging last week, I’m now back in the land of the living. Hurrah! So, shall we celebrate by meeting a new Beastie? I think so!
Those of you who keep up with Laura at A Pict in PA might see some eerily familiar features in this Beastie face…
I’ve been reading and enjoying Laura’s blog for a good while now… I love hearing about what she and her family have been up to (their summertime road trip posts are a particular favourite), and having a nosey through the latest additions to her art journals! I also try to keep up with her sister blog, Pict Ink, which is dedicated completely to her art and illustration projects.
So, as you can probably imagine, I was super-excited when Laura got in touch with me to request a Beastie friend of her very own… Well, excited with just a sprinkling of terror. Because doing a preliminary sketch for anyone is always a shot in the dark, but drawing for someone who I know has mad monster-drawing skills? Eeeeek! Fortunately, Laura’s blog was a veritable goldmine of ideas, and I was able to pick out some Beastie accessories that I thought might appeal to her wide-ranging interests! First, we had to pay woolly tribute to her go-to hairstyle of choice – the messy bun!
Then, one of the things I really wanted to include in this Beastie’s kit was a camera. Like me, Laura still has a soft spot for “real” cameras, and I’d say she doesn’t go far without her trusty DSLR! Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to find photos of the make and model she uses, and then Beastify it for her little monster friend.
I couldn’t resist taking a few extra shots to show you the camera’s key features – viewfinder, screen, prestigious “Kniton” branding…
…But my favourite bit is taking it apart! The lens and strap are both removable.
Linking in neatly with Human Laura’s enthusiasm for photography is her love of film and musicals – and having read about the Dorothy-style red spangly slippers she picked up to wear on Oscars night, I thought a Beastie-sized pair might be a fun way to reflect her movie-buff side!
Like the originals, they’re cosy and sparkly… and these ones close with snaps so they’re easy to take off! They’ll also help Laura Beastie to stand up on her own two feet.
Then there’s another clue to her fondness for the silver screen tucked away safely in here…
You can always be sure that when a Beastie gets a bag, there’s going to be stuff in there! In this case…
… It’s a hand-embroidered cinema ticket and book! There’s a little bit of Dublin history in here as well – the Screen was a small cinema in the city centre which closed in 2016. Now its name lives on in felt and teeny sewing! As for the book, Poe is one of Human Laura’s favourite authors… And how could I resist a name that lends itself so well to a yarn-based pun?
Wow – this is an epic one, isn’t it? But the final element of this Beastie’s outfit was – taaaa daaaah – a pair of felt-framed glasses. And they’re removable, too!
Now she’s all ready for her first adventure!
All she has to do is to click her heels together three times and…
… She’s away!
Thanks so much to Laura for commissioning this fun and challenging project! Hopefully we’ll see this Beastie popping up again the next time the Picts hit the road!
And speaking of hitting the road… I’d better get going myself! I’ve just realised I owe you all a March calendar page, so look out for that landing on the BeastieBlog shop in the next day or so.
Enjoy the rest of the week… And we’ll see you again on Tuesday with another new Beastie friend!
Hello there everybody! Today seems like a fitting day to share the last of my pre-Christmas commissions with you, since I’m looking out my window and watching the ground being slowly covered with a dusting of snow and hail! It seems we might have a bit of a way to go yet until Spring starts springing… But perhaps a little pinch of witchy magic might help?
I love a project that gives me the opportunity to create a Beastie who’ll share the unique style and interests of their new human friend, and there was plenty of that going on here!
For starters, this sweet little Witchy Beastie never leaves home without a big cup of freshly-squeezed green juice – what a great way to get the day off on the right foot (or paw)!
I even dunked a stick of celery in there as a garnish! Witchy Beastie’s human counterpart is apparently a big fan of morning juice raves, so this should help lay the foundations of a good strong friendship!
This lady also has a favourite hooded cape in rich bright purple… so of course, Beastie does too.
The original plan for this cape was to make it out of felt, but it was waaaaaaay too bulky on a small Beastie frame! So I switched to a lighter, woven fabric from my stash, and cut the pattern pieces on the bias for a little bit of extra swishiness. On the front, I fitted a gold chain and clasp so that the cape could sit open without slipping off her little woolly shoulders. Then her outfit was completed with a little A-line dress, in a cotton print sprinkled with magical stars!
Oooh, we should probably talk about her hairstyle next! We went for a swept-over look in light blonde (erk, is it obvious to anybody that I don’t speak hairdressing?) with a cool baby-blue streak in the front…
… And a tightly-cropped section on her left hand side. You would not believe how lovely and soft that short Beastie hair is!
Then her look was completed with a pair of chunky-framed cat’s eye glasses…
… And special witchy “shoes” with curly toes!
Finally, I added one last essential piece of kit – after all, every self-respecting Witchy Beastie needs her own broom!
This one has thick, bushy needle-felted bristles, and tucks neatly under the arm of Witchy Beastie’s purple robe when she’s not using it!
Well, hopefully that’s brought a little bit of magical monster sparkle to an otherwise wintry Tuesday lunchtime! And we’ll be back next week with photos from my latest road trip with Explorer Beastie, so be sure to drop in then… Have a great week!
Happy Tuesday, everybody! And, after a brief wintry wander with Paddy and Plunkett last week, we’re going to dip back into the pile of pre-Christmas commissions, and meet another new Beastie!
So, you all know Explorer Beastie, right?
…And some of you might remember a few variations on the theme over the last couple of years, like Explorer Beastie’s little sister…
… And this rather retro gent, Victorian Explorer Beastie!
But here’s the newest addition to the Explorer Beastie clan, and he’s a little bit different!
First of all, he was made as a very special commission for fellow blogger Simon at Planet Simon. Although Simon’s blog mainly focuses on science (both fact and fiction!), his posts also drop in the odd slice of humour or snapshots of his day-to-day life, and it’s always a fun place to hang out and have a chat! But back to that Beastie… Can you tell what makes him stand out?
So far, so similar… But check out his paws!
Simon always seems to be fixing or making things, so I thought it made sense to create a useful companion for him who could lend a hand if needs be. One leap forward in Beastie-volution later, and here’s a little monster with magic magnetic grippy paws! And that, dear readers, means that he can hold onto stuff!
Mmmm, lunchtime!
Ready to fix stuff with his handy spanner!
I made him a compass as well – that’s essential kit for an Explorer Beastie, after all.
And of course, he can’t carry all these cool things in his paws ALL the time, so a Beastie backpack was called for too!
Let’s get everything packed away there, shall we?
Perfect!
I can’t wait to see what exciting exploits this pair get up to! Oh, and if you’re planning some adventures of your own, why not grab your free February calendar page from my shop?
It features the ever-intrepid original Explorer Beastie, enjoying the balmy (ahem!) Donegal coast at around this time last year. Oh, and did I mention that it’s FREE?
Have a great week, everybody… And don’t forget to join us again next Tuesday to meet another new Beastie! See you then!
OK folks, I promised you something big this week, and here it is! Now, I’ve made Beastie families before (you can meet some of them here and here), but when I was asked to create individual little monsters for all of a customer’s nieces and nephews, I did briefly wonder what I was letting myself in for. Sometimes families here can be on the large side – in fact, Boyfriend has so many cousins that he’s pretty sure there are some out there that he’s never even met! Fortunately, the grand total turned out to be a totally manageable seven… And although that’s still more than I’ve ever made for any one Beastie enthusiast, I reckoned I’d definitely be able to get them ready in time for Christmas!
So, let’s take a quick tour through my biggest Beastie custom order ever! These Beasties were heading to three separate households, with a brother and sister in one…
…Two sisters next…
…And a family of three to complete the picture!
We decided it would be best to keep all the Beasties quite similar, but each with their own unique twist to make them as individual as their human counterparts!
For the boys, who are both big into their Gaelic football, that meant shirts in their county colours… So, blue for Cavan and white for Kildare. And they both get to be #1 in their own teams!
Oh, and I had to send them each out with their own felt football, of course. The shape of the segments that make up the ball are based on the human-sized version – that took some figuring out!
You might also have noticed that I experimented with a new way of doing short hair for these two – I think the fur fabric captures the fineness of children’s hair better than wool can, and it’s so soft as well. What do you all reckon?
As for the girls…
… Each got her own hand-knitted sweater with an appliquéd felt initial, and I was in experimentation mode with their hairdressing too!
Sometimes Beastie hair (as I’ve made it in the past) has come out a bit thick and unmanageable, and because I had five girls to make, I wanted to ensure that each of them had their own distinct hairstyle. At first, I experimented with a technique I found in a magazine, which involved laying out a line of sticky tape, sticking strands of yarn to it, sewing through the tape, then peeling it away and stitching the hairpiece to the head, which had been prepped with a piece of felt in a similar colour.
Um, the less said about my state of mind that day, the better.
(Image from my old Dean’s Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes)
That said, I did like the effect I was able to create by using multiple shades of yarn, so I decided to cut out the sticky tape middleman, and sew strands directly to the felt “hair cap” where they were needed. The result? More readily style-able pigtails and ponytails!
So, I suppose that means we’re all ready for the group photo…
Oh. Maybe another one, with everybody looking at the camera this time?
Much better!
Did any of you take on a monster project in the run-up to Christmas? Tell us all about it in the comments!
Aaaaaaand next week we’ll be taking a break from Christmas commissions and catching up with Paddy and Plunkett… They have some wintry photos they’d like to share with you. See you then!
Hello everybody, and welcome to the first proper BeastieBlog post of 2018! I hope you all got a bit of a break over the holidays – I know I certainly took advantage of the end-of-year lull to catch up on some sleep! But it’s great to be back, and right now is actually one of my favourite times of year. Yes, really! Because NOW I can finally start sharing my Christmas commissions with you all!
It was tricky to choose which of my latest Beasties I’d introduce you to first… But in the end, the honour has gone to this little monster lady!
At a time of year when many of us are resolving to make changes in our lives or try new things, I thought that this multitalented Beastie might provide a little inspiration. She was created as a special companion for a lady who works as a translator, so she speaks a couple of languages…
…And she’s also interested in art history, so she never leaves home without a handy sketchpad and pen! You just don’t know when inspiration will strike.
Of course, she’d never get anything done if she had to carry all this stuff around in her paws. So I made her a cool satchel-style bag to put everything into!
Perfect! She certainly looks happy… But what’s that I hear?
Aha! Beastie’s best friend… A sweet little felt pooch to keep her company while she works.
Because this Beastie was going to live in Germany, I modelled her four-legged friend on traditional German breeds, like the German pinscher and Jagterrier. Hello there, pup!
I think it might be time for walkies… What do you reckon?
And of course, there’s always time for hugs and treats!
This year certainly is off to a good start! How about you – any big plans for 2018? Let us know in the comments… and if one of your new year’s resolutions is to be more organised, don’t forget to download your FREE Beastie calendar pages from the store! January is there now, and February will be added shortly!
We’ll be back next week, when I’ll be sharing snaps of my biggest ever custom order! See you then!
… But they haven’t stayed put in the meantime! The adventurous twosome have also been spotted gambolling in the beautiful flowerbeds in Torquay – clearly their tour of the Eden Project has given them an appetite for horticulture!
Plunkett also had high hopes of cooling off in a nearby Beastie-sized swimming pool – but for some reason this sign put him off.
Erk. Probably for the best, Plunkett!
… And Paddy visited a gender-neutral toilet. Um… Thanks, Paddy! I suppose these are still a rare enough sight back home – or maybe it was just the nice bright sign that caught his eye.
Meanwhile, I might have mentioned once or twice that Explorer Beastie and I have been on holiday recently!
We can’t wait to share our travel pics with you… I’m still amazed how much we managed to cram into our trip!
