Mid-Century Cocktail Dress Print

I am particularly excited for one contest that Spoonflower is holding in the coming weeks.  It is a contest to find the best print to use in the creation of a Mid-century cocktail dress/costume.  A costume designer at a local theater is looking for a print to use for a vintage pattern cocktail dress in an upcoming production of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.  This is the design that I would like to enter into the contest.  What do you think?  Your comments are greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

CELEBRATE AMERICA

This week I designed a couple of fabrics for my "Celebrate America" fabric collection for Spoonflower.  The theme for the contest that starts tomorrow is "Stars and Stripes".  I geared my designs to be all about America...very Fourth of July feel to them.  I hand sketched these designs, scanned them into Photoshop and added color.  I wanted a very playful feel to the designs.  Let me know if you like them!  I would love to hear from you!  My "Stars and Stripes" design is entered into this weeks Spoonflower contest, so please stop by Spoonflower and vote for my design! Voting starts on Thursday.  Thank you for your support!

"Stars & Stripes"

"The American Way"

Fabric8 Finalist Profiles

Here is a link to all 8 of the Fabric8 Finalist from the Spoonflower & Robert Kaufman Fabrics contest.  These artists are AMAZING!  But don't just take my word for it....click on the link and check out their profiles and amazing work for yourself!  These wonderful women are truly and inspiration!

Motorcycle Themed Fabric Design

This weeks contest theme on Spoonflower is Motorcycles.  I decided to use a gorgeous vintage Indian motorcycle for the inspiration in my design.  I kept my design simple, because I felt the beauty of the bike could stand alone.  Using Photoshop I digitally manipulated the image and used some filters to add interest to my design.  Then I added a solid dark background to help draw your eyes to the details in the bike.  And voila...my entry in the Spoonflower Motorcycle contest was complete.  Once again...I would LOVE your vote!!  Please click on the link to vote for my Vintage Indian Motorcycle design!  Thank you!!  

The Place to BE....PV (Portable Vision)

Portable Vision is an art based mentoring program at Central Minnesota Youth for Christ in which teenagers and mentors work together to create quality pieces of art which tell their unique stories. Art then becomes a meaningful and useful way to connect lives. On this art making journey these stories converge...and it is beautiful.

Tonight...after 12 weeks of sharing, discovering and creating, the Portable Vision artists and mentors are hosting their public gallery exhibition at the Central Minnesota Youth for Christ City Center Building in St. Cloud, MN. This is an amazing event where we will learn about the artists and mentors and view their beautiful pieces. You won't want to miss it!

Fabric8 Finalist Profiles

Spoonflower is featuring the profiles of all 8 designers in the Fabric8 contest on their blog.  So far, they have posted 4 of the 8 designers.  These talented individuals have developed some beautiful fabrics!  And now, thanks to Spoonflower, we get a glimpse at what inspires such wonderful creativity from these designers.  The first profile is for Lucie Duclos and her Water Flower fabric design.  The second is for Heather Dutton and her Afternoon Tea fabric design.  And the third is for Sara Berrenson and her Watercolor Blooms fabric design.  The fourth is for Mandy Kippax and her Red Poppies fabric design.  I will post links for the remaining 4 designers once they are posted.  I am giddy with excitement waiting for their final collections to be revealed!!

Holly Helgeson's photostream

Holly Helgeson's photostream on Flickr.

Please check out my flickr account for on-going additions to my design library.

Miss Ruby goes to....Spoonflower!

This week the design contest at Spoonflower was for a "Hand drawn" design.  No fancy Photoshop or Illustrator software knowledge required for this contest...(however I did use them to change a few colors around and put my design into repeat).  Since I am doodling constantly, this contest really appealed to me.  Plus, the guidelines were so open, I could pretty much enter anything my little heart desired.  So, since I had already spent months developing my "Miss Ruby" paper dolls for my own little daughter Ruby, I decided to use them for my "Hand drawn" entry.  I also added a cute little pink stripe to the background, and here is how my fabric turned out.  I really do think this design would be adorable in a quilt or made into curtains for a little girl's room.  What do you think?  If you agree, please vote for my "Miss Ruby" design!  Voting ends tomorrow.  Thank you so much for your support!!

Fondue Fun

Who doesn't love to fondue?  What could be better than yummy snacky food on a stick that you can dip in gooey goodness?  Well...this week the Spoonflower contest theme was "retro kitchen" and the design was limited to only 4 colors that they picked (including white).  Yay!!!  Right up my alley!!  I just adore retro kitchen!!!  And the design possibilities were endless!!!  I started out thinking I would design something involving old retro appliances and spice boxes.  But something in me was yelling "FUNKY FUN"...and from that "Fantastic Retro Fondue" was created!  Please click on the link to vote for my design! I sincerely appreciate all of your support!!  Thanks so much for your vote!!!

http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters/337591

Check out my IPOD Cover Design on Society6

Since diving into fabric design on Spoonflower, I have found more ways to get "My Art" out there in the real world.  I came upon a wonderful website....Society6.   Here, I am able to upload my designs and have them made into several different items.  So far, I have uploaded 2 of my designs and made them into framed prints, canvases, stationary, IPHONE cases, and IPOD skins.  I could also have t-shirts and hoodies made from my designs.  Seriously...how COOL is that?!?!?  Here is how my designs turned out.  

All of these items are available in my Society6 shop at http://society6.com/HollyHelgeson.

Please stop by my shop and take a look around! 

BIG BIG NEWS!!!

Well...it sure is to me!!!  First my "Happy Hedgehog" design made it into the top 10 designs in the "New Owl" contest on Spoonflower.  That means it is now fabric that is available to purchase!!  Yup!!!  I am SUPER EXCITED!!!  I have already had a few people order my "Happy Hedgehog" fabric...did I mention I am EXCITED?!?!

Second...this is BIG TOO, my "My Garden" design that I entered into the Fabric8 contest on Spoonflower was selected for the semi-final round!  It was a contest open to anyone worldwide.  There were 750 entries and only 100 designs were picked for the semi-final round.  The voting starts today to pick the top 8 designs from the 100 designs in the semi-finals.  The top 8 designers will be asked to create a fabric line of 8 designs.  The winner will be awarded a design contract with Robert Kaufman fabrics!!  

I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR VOTE!!!  THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

Please click on the link to scroll through the pages of entries and vote for my

  "My Garden" design.

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  NONE OF THIS WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE SUPPORT FROM ALL OF YOU!!!

Life on the Praire

One more design before I drag myself to bed.  I guess when the inspiration hits, sleep comes in second place.  (If you haven't noticed...I am on a nature kick)  Plants of all kinds, in all stages of life are beautiful...from the tiny seeds...to the shapely leaves...to the delicate petals...to the textured pods.  I am inspired by all of the endless shapes, colors, and textures.  I particularly love the plants and pods found in the prairie.  They are strong and beautiful, delicate and full of color.  This is my interpretation of life on the prairie.

Floral Frenzy

The beautiful warm day has sparked a Floral Frenzy!  Another design...painted many years ago...just modified. I added ink and enhanced the colors, then put it into a repeat in Photoshop.  Love how it turned out!  Can't wait for my garden to actually be in full bloom like this!  Now...I am heading outdoors to soak up some sun!!!  Enjoy your day!!!

Happy Lil' Hedgehog

One more design before I sign off for the day.  I just couldn't help myself...this lil' critter has been rollin' around in my head and I just had to give him life.  He is one happy lil' hedgehog chillin' under a pretty lil' mushroom.  And on that note...

Garden Dreamin'

I have been IMPATIENTLY waiting on Mother Nature to make up her mind....Winter or Spring?!?!?!  However, we all know you can't RUSH Mother Nature.  So, I was inspired to paint since I could not get out and really dig in my garden yet.  This fun floral design was created using water colors and pen.  It was fun to watch the design evolve.  Once I painted the flowers, I scanned them into Photoshop and put them into a repeat.  I plan on entering this design into another fabric contest.  We will see what happens.  :)  I really enjoyed putting a little paint on paper, and continue to be inspired with each brush stroke!  Happy Gardening Everyone!!!

Popsicle Stick Showdown

Another freezing cold winter day stuck inside.  With temps only in the single digits...we needed a creative family activity to spark a little fun!  So...out came the popsicle sticks!  Little did I know that my family would turn this into a competition!  We spent over 3 hours cutting, gluing, stacking, and engineering these awesome structures.  My son Noah decided to build his own version of the Twin Towers...with a bridge.  Chris, my hubby spent most of the 3 hours building walls, which he then assembled into a towering structure.  I decided on a pretty little doll house.  My roof is still drying, but will soon find it's way atop the sweet little house.  Ironically, I brought the popsicle sticks home for my son Gabe..."The Builder".  However the glue just wasn't drying quick enough for him, so he abandoned ship to play with my daughter Ruby.  They had a good old time playing with markers, crayons and Barbies!  All in all...a great afternoon with the family!

Zephyr "Art Deco" Fabric for Spoonflower

I am so excited to FINALLY get a design uploaded to Spoonflower.  It has been a dream of mine forever to design and print my own fabric!  And as luck would have it, this week the contest theme at Spoonflower is "Art Deco"!!!  Only my favorite design category of all time!!  I was actually going to skip it due to lack of time, but my wonderful husband pushed me into it!  Luckily, I have had this design sketched out since...well...FOREVER.  All I really had to do was scan it, put it into a repeat and color it.  I had a hard time picking between two different colorations, so my hubby Chris picked his favorite and that is what I submitted.  He even came up with the name which I totally LOVE!  Here are the two colorations I came up with.   I ended up submitting the 3 color design (no white).   I would love to know which one you like more.  

Have you checked out Pinterest yet? Really...you must!

Okay, I am addicted!  No if's, and's or but's about it!  I imagine somewhere, someone will start a support group for Pinterest addicts.  Well baby, I won't be attending!  I am having way to much fun roaming all of the wonderfully fabulous boards of delicious recipes, creative crafts, breath-taking pictures of nature...and so on...and so on!  Anyway, I thought I would share a link to my boards as well.  I hope you enjoy looking through some of the things that inspire my life and my creative nature!  Happy Pinning Everyone!
http://pinterest.com/hollyhelgeson/my-creative-outlet/

A Little Valentine's Day Whimsy...

With Valentine's Day knocking on my door, I decided to put some of my creative energy into designing some sweet lil whimsical cards.  So, last night I stayed up until almost 3 a.m. drawing and doodling some fun little designs that I hope you will enjoy as much as I do.  I still have some minor adjustments to make, but these are pretty much done.  I will be posting these to my Etsy site within the next day, so please stop by my store and take a look around.  You might just find something for that special person in your life!

Becoming in Christ

http://www.becominginchrist.com/

Please check out this website!  My amazing friend Tara Tollefson designed this beautiful pendant and is donating $1000 each quarter through the sales of the Becoming Collection to organizations that help young pregnant woman and teen moms.  Please read her story!  It is life changing!

Watch out 2012...Here I Come!!!

2011 was an AMAZING year of growth for me!  I set up my blog, created my artist page on Facebook, designed and FINISHED my "Mommy & Me" paper dolls, and created my Etsy page. Wow, that was a lot for me to accomplish while chasing after 3 kiddos!  I am thankful for the patience that my family has given me while I put in long hours making it all happen!  I am now looking ahead and setting goals for myself in 2012.  I have lots of ideas and look forward to sharing my journey.  Thank you so much to all of my wonderful family and friends that have encouraged and supported me along the way!  It warms my heart when people visit my blog or post on my art page!  I find such joy in designing and creating things that make people happy!  Please stop by and visit me from time to time to see what I am working on!  Check out the photo for a hint to what I have in the works.  Many blessings to all of you in 2012!