Holiday Card Project (Midwest)

I'm really having fun making mini block prints. I've been creating handcut rubber stamps since the summer and have been experimenting with ink mediums, paper, and fabrics. Some of the things I'm making I can't post until later because they are meant for holiday gifts, but here is an idea for my holiday cards. I made a small floral design, inspired by my diaper bag of all things, and have been using this flower as a textural element in white over a blue background. I will probably substitute a snowflake for the flower, although I like the idea of a wintery flower.

Baby Knitting (West Coast)

I knit this little sweater out of One Skein for Robyn's new baby Chloe. My first sweater with arms... I used Rowan baby wool in a very pale ivory with hints of pink. I turned out very sweet!

Our History

Hello Everyone.

For those of you who haven't known us longer than 20 minutes, you may not know the reason why Laurie and I are sharing this blog. I will fill you in.

Laurie and I (Amy) became business partners of a small Bay Area graphic design studio in 1995. We named our business "The Hive Design Studio" because we liked how the busy and efficient bee metaphor fit with our workstyles. Also, we were just coming off job positions at another design company were we did the majority of the work without any credit. Tired of being underappreciated worker bees, we collaborated in what was one of the best decisions of my life. We worked closely together for about 8 years. Then my husband and I moved from the West Coast to the Midwest to be nearer to our families. Laurie and I continue to work together if a project calls for it. But, being stay at home moms doesn't leave a huge amount of time for outside graphic design work.

We are using this blog to share our creative endeavors with each other. We used to sit at a conference table and show and tell with each other face to face. Now we are using the Internet. How cool is technology?

Current Knitting Projects (West Coast)

Here is a vest I am working on right now... I am knitting the vest out of some very pretty vareigated hand dyed yarn I bought at the Stitches West show earlier this year. I bought a huge hank, not knowing what I would do with it. I recently bought Rowan 38, a really inspiring pattern book, and have come up with a knock off (easier version) of one of the vest patterns. My yarn is a mereno/mohair mix. I have added a dark brown boarder to accent the yarn, and make up the base, neck, and armholes. So far it looks great. When knitting with vareigated yarns, I like the little color surprises that happen every couple of rows.

Katie as Charlotte

This is Katie in the Halloween costume that I designed for her. She wanted to be Charlotte from Charlotte's Web—her current favorite book. I found a cool yarn-web pattern for the spider web, then sewed each of the legs separately. Each leg has both cotton stuffing, and wire so they can bend and pose. She thought it would be great to give all her friends eight legged hugs! I am really happy with the final result!

Current Knitting Project (Midwest)

Here is my current knitting project. It's a scarf knit on the bias. It was really fun knitting for about 20 rows. Now, I'm so bored with it. And, I'm not even sure if I like it. The yarn is a combo of a variegated cotton and a red cotton/acrylic ribbony tape-type yarn. The colors are pretty together, however.

Finally!

Today was Opening Day at our new Trader Joe's. I went. I cried. It was so nice to have my turkey meatballs back. They had the whole line of lettuce packaging we designed. They even implemented the design on a bag of yams. I miss the old days of working in the Hive office in Los Gatos with crazy clients and fun projects. Big sigh.

WIP (Midwest)

Here is a picture of the Boh Bon Soap Co. packaging in progress. I'm very pleased with how it's looking. Hopefully, they will have their website up soon and folks can order online. I need to locate an inexpensive but decent quality label printer.

Welcome!

Greetings to everyone. And, by everyone I mean you Laurie. You are officially the first person to be sent to my (our) blog. Isn't it cool? I probably should have looked around for some sort of guide or tutorial which would educate me on the right way to blog, post pictures, comment, reply, etc. I chose instead to wing it.

I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to journal my work and related craft endeavors, and general thoughts on design. You are welcome to join me since you are the other half of The Hive Design Studio.

Anyway, here it goes my first post. Whoopee!