Finally! I’ve stumbled on proof that unicorns are in fact real!
Except maybe they look a little different to what popular culture and centuries of mythologising might have led us to believe… Perhaps they look a little Beastie-er! Hey there, Unicorn Beastie!
This sweet little monster maiden kinda knows that she’s special. I mean, look at her magical multicoloured hair, for starters… … And unlike most Beasties, she gets to have a TAIL!
Plus, she woudn’t be a real unicorn without… Taaa-daaaaah! There’s the evidence we needed.
And Unicorn Beasties have revealed themselves to be surprisingly similar to rhinos – which we know exist – in that their horn is made entirely from super-compacted hair (ie, carefully sculpted needle-felted wool). Even the most hardened uni-skeptic couldn’t argue with that logic.
Of course, being a Unicorn Beastie meant that this monster lady had a few very specific wardrobe requirements. But her tailor-made floral print dress was easily adapted to accommodate her long, flowing tail! Perfectly stylish! Then I thought she’d also need a handy satchel to hold all her magical unicorn accessories… What’s inside, you ask? Well, since Unicorn Beasties primarily eat pink heart-shaped cookies… “I’m just going to tuck this away safely for later…” Hmmm… We’ll see how long that lasts!
Aaaaand if you feel like you need a little monster magic in your life, you might be interested to hear that this particular Beastie is currently in need of a home! Click below to be spirited away to the virtual shelves of the Beastie HQ Store!
Are there any mythical creatures which you think deserve the Beastification treatment? Let us know in the comments! And we’ll be back on Friday to share some more adventures from the Beastie family, so be sure to join us then!
Hey there everybody! I’m mixing it up a bit this week, thanks to a recent round of blog updates… Which you can check out in Tuesday’s post here, if you haven’t already!
I figure since you got your behind-the-scenes news on Tuesday, it’s only fair to get you ready for your weekend with a monster mini-adventure! So let’s join Paddy and Plunkett, who have stumbled on something curious in their home… Plunkett reckons that since it’s sitting on a pedestal, it’s probably art and he shouldn’t touch it. Paddy, however, has never been the type to let pedestals or velvet ropes stand between him and a good time, so… “Plunkett, I think it’s some sort of hairy football! Here, I’ll bring it down…”
“Um, Paddy, I really, really… “…Don’t think you should kick it!” “Oooooops!”
At least they’ve managed to establish that it’s a kiwi fruit. And this knowledge came in very handy later on, when they stumbled on one of my old craft projects! “Hey Plunkett, this is just like the kiwi from earlier!”
“Yes, it does… But look, there’s a zip hidden in the middle! Hahaha! They’ve found one of my old school art projects – a kiwi fruit dress! I had heaps of fun making this back in the day… So much so that I made a handbag and shoe covers to match! Unfortuntely, kiwi fruit style is yet to catch on in mainstream fashion circles – but it sure makes a good Hallowe’en costume!
Oh, and Paddy decided he just HAD to try it on himself! “What do you think – is this my colour?”
Looking good, Paddy!
What about you? Do you have any memorabilia from your school days, or old arts and crafts projects lurking around at home? If you find them this weekend, be sure to tell us all about them in the comments!
Aaaaand we’ll be back on Tuesday with a new Beastie to share! See you then…
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!
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!
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!
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!
Hey there, Unicorn Beastie!
I mean, look at her magical multicoloured hair, for starters…
… And unlike most Beasties, she gets to have a TAIL!
Taaa-daaaaah! There’s the evidence we needed.
Perfectly stylish! Then I thought she’d also need a handy satchel to hold all her magical unicorn accessories…
What’s inside, you ask? Well, since Unicorn Beasties primarily eat pink heart-shaped cookies…
“I’m just going to tuck this away safely for later…”
Hmmm… We’ll see how long that lasts!
