Renata Gebauerova design and crafts

Christmas Tags

2011-12-22T14:25:00.002+01:00

Wishing you all a blessed and joyful Christmas.

If you forgot to get some Christmas tags in time, feel free to download these or these and print them for yourselves. Of course only for personal use.

Fleece and microsuede

2011-10-21T13:47:00.004+02:00

Today I received the first three yards of fabric printed on fleece and microsuede. The outcome is very nice. I am so satisfied. Any tips what to sew from such material? I have a few ideas for the fleece but can´t think of anything to make from the microsuede.

Dara Bags

2011-10-10T22:02:00.003+02:00

I have been cooperating for some time now with a lady called Darina Hubáčková. She is a perspective fashion designer and the owner of a fast growing Czech brand Dara Bags.

I design some fabrics for her bags and as she has a shop on Etsy too, you can now buy her great goods anywhere in the world.

Updates

2011-08-30T14:49:00.003+02:00

Honestly,
I am not into blogging it seems.

Well,
there are so many things to do and handle and blog is just not a priority.

I would love to share more and post new things however,
I think I am not able to.

Enjoy life and be thankful.

Thanks.

Renata

PS: If you do have a little feeling like supporting my designs, please go to Textile Republic and vote for my pattern. I need 100 likes. Thanks.

Pingg and Northren Exposure

2011-02-19T13:50:00.009+01:00

When I say the word Pingg, in Czech it sound like to knock out a ball.

So let me kick off a news that I joined the Pingg and I wonder what it will bring.

They featured me in the graphic designers series one day after I displayed some of my designs. That´s encouraging.

BTW you should be able to see some of my pictures being sold in the U.S. and other countries as I am cooperating with the company called Northren Exposure. They make cards and matted prints. I just received samples and I must say I am happy with the results.

Also, I tried to work on my page at Wix but it is still in progress.

Update

2010-09-11T11:04:00.005+02:00

Well, my blogging activity has been rather idle recently. And I am not happy about it, believe me. However, priorities of life are different and blogging surely must be at some further places, I guess you agree with me.

Today, I would like to share with you one of my photo journals from our family trip. There was a blacksmith festival at an old castle called Helfštýn a few weeks ago and we visited it. It wasn´t the most beautiful weather but we enjoyed the time there being together.

I still keep a few more drawings of animal characters to be colored and embellished as I usually do to have them on Red Bubble for sale but I hardly find any time to finish them. Hopefully, I will make myself do it and get ready for Christmas. I wish I had 12 pictures in total to give you the opportunity to get yourself a calendar for the next year. Well, we will see. No promises.

Mountains

2010-08-25T19:26:00.004+02:00

Even if it is just a weekend trip, I am satisfied. I simply must go out.

A few weeks ago we went to the mountains again and picked some mushrooms and blueberries. The peak at the picture is called Lysá hora and literally it means "bald mountain" because there are not many trees up there anymore.

Posters

2010-08-18T22:33:00.001+02:00

I am working on a few posters playing with letters which is quite popular. See my RedBubble.

Printing with Stamps

2010-08-06T14:49:00.001+02:00

Designing, drawing, combining, coloring, printing the world all over in many ways, that’s what I would like to do al the time.Some time ago I bought myself a few little hand made stamps and I spent several hours printing on fabric. I think it is fun and a very creative activity. You can repeat the stamps in different ways, combine, change colors and you can always get an exciting outcome. Of course, I used paints for textiles, it means you can wash your fabric ad the print stays on which is great.

I used the printed fabric to create some simple fabric hearts,

you can embellish it with beads like I did and also, see the pillow below.

I mixed the hand made fabric with usual prints

I have and it made a wonderful result in my opinion.

Pieces of such printed fabric always inspire me very much.

Do you sometime forget?

2010-06-28T21:42:00.002+02:00

This afternoon I wanted to start working on my new illustrations for some new cards and this is what came out. As it is in Czech, you can try to guess what the lama or the donkey say.

Playing with Resin Again

2010-06-26T16:07:00.003+02:00

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of some things which I made of resin and now I would like to invite you to visit my Etsy shop and see some new jewelry I made.

Cover Me with Wool

2010-06-17T15:20:00.010+02:00

Not many people keep reading books today due to internet reasons and other influences. Then, there are people like me who never used to read books even before the internet was. So to sew some original covers for books looks like a silly idea. However, I do read one book regularly, i.e. the Bible and therefore, just like other people do such a book cover is quite necessary. And don´t forget most of us still have a notebook, journal or diary in our bags.

Usually I make the covers of cotton fabric. I even designed a pattern to be used for nothing but the book covers. You can see an examle of it.

But some time ago I came across a wonderfully cozy and soft 100% wool fabric and it inspired me to make a few covers of the wool. As it includes 15% of cashmere wool, the material give a real posh look and feel. I started with an idea of embroidering a bear. It was around the Valentine time so a heart couldn’t have been missed. I made one in grey and one in red color.

They even published a tutorial for this wool fabric cover in one Czech magazine which I am thankful for. As an option I embroidered also some deco flowers and other simple stylish designs on other three covers. Some of them are still available. Look here and here.
But I couldn’t resist working with the wool fabric and I made a bag of it too.

And this unfinished project will probably wait till fall or winter.

Wool is simply a tempting material.

Playing with Resin

2010-06-16T11:18:00.001+02:00

The "Unexpectedly" Project

2010-06-13T22:39:00.006+02:00

Ok, I didn´t plan to do this in particular but here you have a little project to do.

In the middle of a kind of a cleaning process I found out I didn´t have enough small or big – any kinds – of boxes. All I could do was to go get one or two from our cellar. Of course, they needed a refurbishing and as I said I didn´t plan to spend a whole afternoon to make them. I simply needed them – the boxes. But I wanted them to look acceptable. So...

I took the first two paints I found in our closet and simply started to paint. Red and white. No special, just acrylic paint. One or two layers, it dries quite quickly in about hour or so. Then, I took the second color and just sketched stripes on. Of course, the red layer wasn´t dry enough and that was the moment when I realized that I am in the middle of an interesting afternoon project. I went on with striping and was surprized at how cool the non straigth and not perfectly painted stripes looked like. This box turned out pretty good, didn´t it?

A few months ago I bought some metal tags and I know now is the time for them. Alright, sometimes no planning and hey, look what you´ve got.

BTW, I learnt the word "unexpectedly" through the song "Beauty and Beast." My favorite movie.

From the Kitchen

2010-06-12T15:34:00.011+02:00

One friend from FB shared a post about cooking and it led me to a site which I was amazed at. It really made me excited on several levels. Well, it is about sweets which I love, there are recipes and beautifully done photo tutorials on how to make the goodies and what more, it is very well designed. It took me only a few hours and I was already making doughnuts.

It was my first try and because I should not eat much wheat due to alergy I replaced 3,5 cups with rye flour. I had no thermometer, so the taste was different, good though, but I am ready to make them again soon.

Talking about food, in the two past months I discovered panganius and fell in love with it. There is no better fillet than this.

I am not much to fish, my favorite one is a trout, tuna is good for salad but that is all. But this "pangas" how we call it shortly is really easy to make and good taste of food.

Good balance here, something sweet and something healthy.

Beskydy

2010-06-08T12:51:00.008+02:00

Let me take you for a brief trip to the mountains called Beskydy which are near to where I live and which I love to visit any time.

This weekend we found ourselves near to one of the Beskydy peeks called Radhošť. As I was not feeling well, we decided just to spend some time hanging around, not much hiking. The Sun was shining - after so long - so I was happy to be out. The picture shows interesting architecture of cottages at the place we were called Pustevny. They remind me of russian fairy tales.

When you travel to Pustevny from Ostrava, you may go through other towns or choose a longer way and go along the mountains most of the time. There you pass Waterworks Šance (Chance).

It is a water reservoir finished in 1969 to provide water for surrounding cities.

I was very happy to find orchis growing there. It is a protected plant in our country.

Comparison

2010-05-25T20:19:00.003+02:00

All of the fabrics I have so far were printed with Spoonflower. However, I wished to try other companies too to be able to compare both price and quality aspects.

That´s why this week I received my parcel with a silk (Plain Crepe Satin) sample printed with KarmaKraft and I must say it is luxurious. Colors are a bit different but they shine beautifully. I am sure it is a matter of the material. Silk is silk. If you look at the picture you can see the difference but I can tell you I feel the difference. The silk is so soft. Immediately I thought about new projects to make and again, I realized I don´t have so much time and energy and money to do them. For example; I always longed for a luxurious lace-free nightgown and was never able to find one which would suit me and which I would love in design and which, of course, would make my lovely one happy too. With this silk in my hands I know it would work well. I could get my size, my pattern, my design.

So who knows, maybe I will do that in the future. Maybe it is too good for a nightgown. The crepe de satin would make a glorious dress or evening gown too.

Embellish Your T-Shirt - Tutorial

2010-05-23T20:30:00.016+02:00

I was asked by one Czech magazine focused on gardening and home to make a tutorial for some easy craft and I chose to do a simple embellishment on a T-shirt. If you like it you can see some easy tips on how I made it.

I designed a simple rose with leaves. So first you need to cut pieces of the rose. I chose a blue felt. Just pin the pieces on the place of your shirt where you wish it to be.

Inspired by the Alabama Studio Style I stiched the pieces using a blanket stich.

Leaves are simpy printed. I bought a handmade stamp by one artist here from Krnov

and I used fabric paints to print the leaf motif on the shirt.

Stems are done using a chain-stich. It takes only a few of them. I thinks combining different methods just gives the embellishment a nice dimension.

A few tiny beads around the stems make the whole outcome perfect.

Garden on a T-shirt

2010-05-20T21:09:00.002+02:00

Trendy In Christ

2010-05-11T19:54:00.002+02:00

Well, I am a believer. But that doesn´t say much, right.

I believe in and trust Jesus Christ and I know that to live and dwell in Him is absolutely the best thing to do. If you are like me maybe you will find it fun and true too to say it is forever trendy to be in Christ. Because only in Him I can live and look at this world from heaven´s perspective and not mine. And this brings peace and rest because you know He is in charge.

We often wear T-shirts with all kinds of stupid or non-sense titles, so why not to have something that speaks for your heart.

It took me a while

2010-05-11T19:39:00.005+02:00

...but I finally finished a bag which I planned to make from the Retro Spring Garden fabric.

It has a zipper, small pocket inside and another three ones at the front. It is a fresh and nice bag to brighten the rainy days.

And because I sew bags only now and then it is quite a day. If you like it you may get it here.

Four New Prints

2010-05-10T17:56:00.005+02:00

Or actually, just three. As the RetroSpring Garden fabric which won the Fabric of the Week contest about month ago isn´t new. But its color combo is different.

I had them printed on upholstering twill and the fabric is just wonderful. Can´t wait to cover some chair or have a jacket made.

Visit my Spoonflower profile and browse through many other designs.

RedBubble stuff

2010-05-02T20:16:00.001+02:00

Wedding Custom Order

2010-05-02T16:15:00.002+02:00

One of the wonderful things about designing is to cooperate with a customer and make a custom order. Lately, I had the opportunity to design a wedding invitation for a beautiful young lady from Olomouc. She longed for a typical damask pattern in dark red and cream colors. So I made another of a few previous damask patterns according to her wishes. When she came up with a request for a photo album in a similar design I knew it was a great opportunity to have the design printed on a fabric and keep the style from the invitations. It turned out to be a wonderful idea and I am very happy she was satisfied with the whole outcome. Custom orders widen my creativity and I love that.

Upholstering Hobby

2010-04-27T18:25:00.004+02:00

Today I came across a wonderful website about upholstering and it awakened my proclivities to start an upholstering project again. Hopefully this year we will move to our new house, so maybe I´ll get the chance. However, this is to look back at my very short upholstery history.

Regular conference chair in Ikea home decor fabric.

Old artificial leather sofa and armchair turned into a warm inviting set of furniture thanks to Waverly Sun and Shade collection. These three pieces took me and my husband three months.

PS: By the way this picture is one and half year old now and the little creature on the red sofa died two days ago, so it is quite a sad reminder. We already miss her very much.

Patterned Papers

2010-04-22T18:41:00.005+02:00

Lately, I haven’t been designing any new patterned papers but for your information I do so sometimes. I love to think in collections when doing so. Some of them were printed as fabrics as well. I have the papers printed with a professional printing company however; they are released in limited editions only. I usually choose to print them on an ofset white matte paper of 200g/m2. Each set includes 4 papers of A5 size (14,85 cm x 21 cm). Sometimes they are patterned on just one side, sometimes they are double sided. Occasionally I get printed larger or smaller formats.

It is a great and unique source for scrapbooking and paper crafts. With every collection I try to come with an easy craft to present the patterns and it is always a challenge for me to do so. It also makes me happy when I get feedback from my customers and see how they used my papers for their own projects. It is really exciting and I appreciate that.
If you are interested please see my previous collections.

Currently, there are two collections available.

Noria – Inspired by Norway

Remember the Wooden Horse? One is made of it.

And you could have actually seen a light blue color

combination of one of the four designs on my fabric.

Purple Rapsody – Contemporary Color Combo Set.

The damask inspired theme was printed on fabric as well.

And a few examples of what you can do with the papers.

DRAWING AND DIGITALIZING

2010-04-18T20:09:00.003+02:00

I never studied art professionally, except common lessons on a high school and one semester of drawing course under Folk Conservatory of Ostrava. I know I have inherited some talent from my grandma and it was her who as far as I remember was teaching me to draw, as well as other crafts like crocheting, knitting and embroidering. I never desired or dreamed of becoming an artist in terms of drawing and painting, however lately I found it entertaining to draw here and there and modify pencil sketches in a computer which is fun and interesting. As I am simply into designing of patterns it is a wonderful thing to combine my drawings with my repeated patterns. I love that.
That´s why you could have seen my recent pictures offered for print and sale at various places. Most of all I get the pictures printed myself and sell them at a Czech craft server but you can get some through my Etsy shop too. Then, you can choose to have them printed yourself through Zazzle, RedBubble or CafePress. The pictures are available as cards and prints to be framed. Sometimes there are additional options like prints on canvas or T-shirts etc.
With my love for fabric design it is possible that some of these pictures will be printed on fabric. But you know there are too many ideas and too little time. Anyway, I do wish to try to sew stylish bags with these prints on. I think it would be great.

My few seconds on American Show

2010-04-15T20:09:00.001+02:00

A designer buddy from Spoonflower informed me they displayed my winning fabric on some American Show. How cool is this? Watch till the end and find the needle in the hay.

T-shirts

2010-04-15T14:00:00.002+02:00

I know this is an unusual thing. But I have to make this exception and mix a little bit of politics into this craft-design-sewing blog.
I designed a very simple poster with a clear statement of my heart in a few languages. Should you find it interesting and close to your heart too, feel free to visit my Zazzle shop and get yourself a T-shirt with it too.

I want to quit the EU.

I don’t expect and I am not willing to have long or any discussions on this topic. That’s not the purpose. It is just what I want to declare and I want to give chance to others to do the same if they wish to.

Wooden Horses

2010-04-13T16:19:00.000+02:00

From time to time I need to experiment with materials and crafts and simply try to work on something I haven’t done before. So it was with these wooden horses two weeks ago. I asked my friend to cut the horses out of raw spruce wood for me as I do not have tools for it myself.
To be honest, I didn’t really know what they will look like. All I wanted was to cover the wood with patterned papers and antique the horses to create a stylish old-looking home decor.
I used both my own original designed papers and some leftovers from my favorite Amy Butler design papers. I knew it would work but I was surprised at how cool it looked with different pattern. I made two pieces so far, so a creative play with more patterns and colors is yet to come.
My husband helped me and drilled the necessary wholes for the tails and eyes. It is a wonderful thing, to do crafts with your husband. We enjoyed it. I used yarn and pieces of wool to make the tails while the eyes are made of special washers and beads.

Family Time in Podhradí

2010-04-13T10:11:00.000+02:00

Now and then I and my husband make a trip on weekend. It takes only about 40 minutes from our hometown to get to the mountains and there are other beautiful places to visit in our region. It is true I must have been to some of them for numerous times but I don’t know how about you but I desperately need to go behind the city limits quite regularly in order not to die in this civilization. I love nature, hiking, biking, taking pictures, simply being out. I simply need to be refreshed.
This spring is dragging our feet. It seems like it hesitates to come. It is still quite cold and we have some rainy days now. Three weeks ago we took my mother-in-law and my husband’s grown-up daughter with her step sister and went to Podhradí. There is an old camp site but it was still closed. My husband used to have a tiny cottage on water there a few years ago. Due to some problems with local fishermen he had to leave it, so there it stayed for years without maintenance and today it shows ravages of time. He wished to go looking at it and spend some time there. So we did, walking around and roasting some sausages which is a typical thing to do here in the Czech Republic. It was a great time.

I am a Spoonflower Winner

2010-04-12T21:34:00.000+02:00

Last week it was a very exciting time as I won the Spoonflower fabric of the Week contest with one of my latest fabric designs. It was really a nice surprise and actually, it made me to set up this English blog which I have been hesitating to do for quite a few years of my blogging in Czech - my native language.

The Retro Spring Garden design is available for purchase at Spoonflower. Notice that I made a few variations of it in other colors too and the theme has two accompanying designs, so you can purchase a whole yard of it with three different but combining patterns at once.

Who am I

2010-04-12T20:09:00.001+02:00

Hello and welcome to my English blog,

My name is Renata and I come from and live in Ostrava, the Czech Republic.

I have two dogs, wonderful husband and I believe in the most wonderful person I ever met, Jesus Christ.

I am a designer, crafter and sewer. I love singing, playing keyboards, composing songs, hiking, swimming and many other things like eating chocolate....

You can find some of my art at RedBubble or Zazzle. And finally, Etsy as well.

You can purchase my original designs printed on fabric at Spoonflower.

I am a member of music band called Nad čarou.

I attend church Jednota bratrská (Moravian Church)...

...and I wonder...if you have any question, please feel free to email me,

Rencha

make custom gifts at Zazzle