178: Come Create With Me: Start Simple in Pattern Design

See the show notes for this Episode here.

This transcript has been automatically generated.

Bonnie Christine:
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to another episode of The Professional Creative. It's Bonnie, and I'm so excited to have you here with me today. I'm especially excited about this episode because I'm gonna be sharing something that could, I think, truly change the way that you experience your own creativity, whether you are an experienced artist looking to reignite that creative spark or just a creative person that's looking to explore the idea of something like surface pattern design, I've created something just for you, and that is my free start simple mini class series. So let me tell you more about it. These classes offer really an entryway into fabric, gift wrap, and or wallpaper design. And they're absolutely free and open to everyone, and you don't need to have any experience to get started. So if you have ever wanted to dip your toes into this breathtaking world of pattern design, now's your chance.

Bonnie Christine:
I'm Bonnie Christine, and this is where all things creativity, design, business, and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life. But when I first set out to become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today, I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

Bonnie Christine:
Over the years, my journey in surface design has brought me some truly incredible moments of joy. But one that stands out was the moment that I held my very first fabric collection in my hands. I will never forget that overwhelming feeling of seeing my hard work transformed into something tangible, something that I could touch, and hold, and make things out of, and share with other people. It was really powerful, and it still is today, every time I hold a product that has my artwork on it. That moment when a dream or an idea turns into reality, it's just a feeling that I want you to have as well. I wanna share it with you, and I want you to know what it's like to bring your creative vision to life like this, to hold something that you have made in your own hands because at the end of the day, our creativity is such a gift, and it's meant to be experienced to its fullest capacity. Like all artists, I've had my fair share of creative ruts. You know, sometimes I get so caught up in the doing of my business that I forget how much I need to play.

Bonnie Christine:
Finding moments to just step away and explore and let our creativity flow is really so important, and it's an essential part to my journey and to your journey. And that's why I built these mini classes, to offer just that, an invitation to play, to explore, to make something that you like or to make something that maybe you don't like, but just to try something new without any pressure, without any investment, without anyone needing to see your results, just to have fun. So they're super short. They're under an hour each. They're simple, and they're incredibly fun. And of course, I already mentioned this, but they're free. And you're gonna end up with this beautiful, tangible creation by the end, so I'm inviting you to come join me. Let me tell you a little bit more.

Bonnie Christine:
There are 3 different ones to choose from, start simple in fabric design, start simple in gift wrap design, and start simple in wallpaper design. So each class has either 5 or 6 lessons, all of which are about 20 minutes or less. And by the end, you'll have learned the basic skills of pattern design and Adobe Illustrator and created something that you can hold in your own hands. And this is also perfect timing for Christmas if you wanna design your own gift wrap or maybe take your children's drawings and turn those into gift wrap or fabric for projects or wallpaper too. So there's no prior experience required. You can have never opened the program. You can have never drawn or think of yourself as an artist. I will actually show you how to just use objects that you find maybe around your yard if you don't wanna draw at all, or you can draw or you can paint a little bit.

Bonnie Christine:
My point is that you can be a hobbyist, a creative who wants to dive into something new, or even someone considering a career change. Yes. It can go that big as well. These classes will meet you exactly where you at, and they're gonna serve just as the perfect entry point. Can I suggest something? I would nothing would make me happier than to know that you come into one of these classes with, like, a buddy, whether it's a mom or a daughter or a friend or a peer. Come into the class with someone and do it together, oh my goodness, that would be so fun. If you're a busy entrepreneur like me, you'd rather spend your time on the work you love and growing your business than on a mountain of paperwork. Now when my team started growing, I knew that I needed something to make complicated business tasks like payroll simple and personal.

Bonnie Christine:
That's when I found Gusto. Gusto has been a game changer for my business. It's like having a fairy godmother for all the less glamorous parts of running a business. With Gusto, I can handle payroll and minutes and manage benefits and time off requests as well, all from one beautiful, intuitive platform. We've been using Gusto for over 5 years, and I cannot recommend it enough. It's important to me that my team feels cared for and valued, and Gusto helps me do that. Their platform is so easy to use, and my team loves how easy it is to hop on the app anytime, see the status of their pay, their time off, and even their 4 zero one ks contribution. So whether you're a fellow artist, a small shop owner, or anyone who values creativity and team spirit, Gusto is there to help you simplify the complicated parts of your business so that you can focus on what you do best.

Bonnie Christine:
When you're creating a business that you love, every bit of help counts. If you're ready to transform the way that you handle payroll, benefits, and HR, visit bonnicristine.com/gusto. That's bonnicristine.com/gusto. And join over 300,000 business owners, including me, who found their perfect partner in Gusto. So to give you a little taste, here's what each lesson covers. With lesson number 1, we start from sketches or found items or painting. I show you it all, and then we'll work to get those into the computer. So you can take something super simple and then turn it into digital elements in Illustrator.

Bonnie Christine:
That's where lesson 2 comes in. So that's when we dive into actually vectorizing what you have created inside Illustrator. This is where you'll get comfortable using Adobe Illustrator and learn how to make your art scalable and flexible. You can size it up, size it down, recolor it a 1000000 times. That's the magic of Illustrator. Then in the next lesson, we're gonna work to create a simple color palette. We explore color and how to select a palette that really enhances your designs that is completely custom to you, and I'll teach you how to really use them to bring your patterns and your work to life. In lesson 4, we build your very first, or the first for this class anyways, repeating pattern.

Bonnie Christine:
So you'll take your, illustrations, the things that you've worked on, and learn how to make them seamless so that your designs really flow beautifully. And finally, in lesson 5, we'll be wrapping up and actually ordering your very first piece of fabric or gift wrap or wallpaper. So you'll turn your pattern into something that you can actually hold and use and gift and make the entire process just so incredibly meaningful and exciting. So I'll share with you all of my expert tips on exporting your files, how to make sure that you, avoid any common mistakes with your file, and, of course, my favorite places to get all of those items printed. So each track, each different mini class includes all the extra information that you need to just really end up with a beautiful product. And we have a downloadable workbook that goes with each one as well that's gonna help you. You can come take just 1. You can come take all 3.

Bonnie Christine:
I do different work in each one. You're gonna love it. So the mini classes are, for me, just really transformative. Pattern design has brought success in my career, of course, but most importantly, it's given me so much joy. It's really where my creative soul comes alive. It's been such a way to step back from the busyness and reconnect with my creativity. It's like the whole world just kind of falls away when I'm working in pattern design. And I believe that's essential for anyone who works in a creative field, to find space to play, to experiment without pressure, and to let creativity flow without any distractions, this is your fair warning.

Bonnie Christine:
It's kind of addicting. So if you're ready to dive in, come join me. It is super simple to sign up. Just go to bonnie christine.com/startsimple, and pick which mini class you wanna start with. If you wanna take all 3, you can do that too. These classes are really designed for you to be easy and fun and approachable. It's the perfect opportunity to just create something that brings you so much joy. Just imagine how it's gonna feel to hold or see your very own designs on fabric, and gift wrap, or wallpaper.

Bonnie Christine:
Plus, you can invite your friends to join you or your family or your children, anyone that you want. It's a super fun experience to share. So as we wrap up, I wanna leave you with this thought. My friends, creativity is such an incredible journey, one that really keeps evolving as we learn and we grow. These mini classes can be a stepping stone, like a chance to try something new, a chance to maybe reignite your creativity, and experience the magic of pattern design with no risk whatsoever. So, again, go sign up at bonniechristine.com/startsimple. This could be the beginning of something really fun, transformative in your life. I can't wait to hear what you think about it.

Bonnie Christine:
So remember, every artist starts somewhere. There's no better place than to start right here. Thank you for spending this time with me, my friends. Create the beauty that you want to see come alive in the world, And remember, there's room for you. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.