Monday, May 21, 2012

In the beginning...how Tee-iabo Designs came to bee!

Teaching autistic and down-syndrome children was the profession I ventured into after graduating from college. Unfortunately, my husband's line of work made it difficult for me to pursue this field. Relocating quite often to support his advancing career meant for me, finding a new job each time we moved. My hubster is the primary bread winner in our family, so we pretty much went where his job took us. I've always been supportive of his career, and have tried my best not to complain no matter how frustrating it was to start over again.

I needed to find a job that I could put in my back pocket, and take with me so to speak. Then suddenly I had an "Aha moment! Why not start my own business? One problem though...doing what?

It was during the Spring of 2008 when my "Aha moment" would come to bee (pun intended.) My son was playing basketball for the YMCA & I decided it would be fun to make him a basketball t-shirt. Ha-ha...well the t-shirt did start out with a pic of a basketball. Several mistakes and trying to cover them up led to this outcome:

Totally not what I had in mind!

***My very 1st "Bee" t-shirt design was for the "Arc of Chester County" field day. It was artistically on the same level. lol***

Needless, to say my son never wore this t-shirt! I was getting ready to throw the shirt away when an idea came to me..."bee" t-shirts! My artwork needed some intense help to say the least. So, I began spending my extra time surfing the web looking at pictures and gathering information about "Bees". One day I came across a picture of a "Bald-faced Hornet."

Baldfaced hornets may be best described as large, black and white, heavy-bodied wasps about ¾" long.

I liked the way he looked so I sketched it, added some animation and thus, my designer bee was born. In March 2009 I trademarked my "Bee" and "Tee-iabo Designs", became a reality.

Meet "TB" ~ short for Tee-iabo Bee.

Tee-iabo Designs (Tee-ah-bow) is dedicated to the memory of my late mother Bobbie Davis-Tiabo. The concept was to create interesting/humorous designs that have never been thought of before using the "bee" as my theme. Most people are deathly afraid of bees thus, making them an unpopular subject. I figured by adding an artistic twist & sharing their history it might enlighten some people's perception about this fascinating insect.

Without a mentor or anyone to show me how to make tee-shirts my earlier designs looked like this:

I had to figure it all out on my own through trial and error. Persistent in my task to learn, six months later I was painting like this:

A year later both my drawing & painting skills went from "WTH" (what the hell) to "WOW!"

In the beginning of my adulthood I never dreamed of becoming a clothing artist. Human resources director, social worker, teacher were the positions I saw myself in. These were my dreams. However, before I knew it a husband, and two kids later often found me wondering "what happened to my dreams?" Don't get me wrong, I love my husband & my children dearly. Wouldn't trade them in for anything in the world. I just wanted to be defined as something other than an ordinary mother and housewife. I wanted to follow my heart’s calling but, it didn’t come with directions. No, GPS to guide me. Now, today I'm redefining myself, discovering new dreams, and guess what? Life is good and I love it.

I CHOOSE... to take ownership of my actions & to accept culpability for their consequences. If yesterday, I did it wrong, today I have a chance to do it right. Past failures do not define me, but I will allow the lessons gleaned from them to refine me. This is not a random affirmation; it is my reality.

~ Antoinette Dickson ~ http://serensojo71.blogspot.com/2012/05/metaphoric-musicality.html?spref=fb

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Just Smile :o}

I absolutely ♥ it when pleased customers send me their pics to post! It makes me smile inside and out to know that my work is appreciated and well liked.

Remember my 1st encounter with the color purple for the "Birthday Cruise" t-shirts? Well, these are a few pics of some of The "Crusin' @ 60" Birthday Cruisers! For those of you who don't know what I'm speaking of refer to the post "http://ladyteeiabodesigns.blogspot.com/2011/12/mistakes-are-portals-of-discovery.html."

From the looks of their smiling faces I can tell they had a great time! I must add that although the color purple gave me fits it does look good on her. **(The birthday girl's t-shirt was hand painted & the others were printed.)**


Betty Jones from Chesapeake, VA ~ Crusin' @ 60

Her daughter ~ pretty in yellow.

Betty & her Husband

Just a few of "The Crusin' @ 60 Birthday Bash Cruisers!"

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tis the season to bee busy...fa-a-la, a- la, a, la-la-la

That's me!

I know, I know...where have I been? Well, I've been quite busy with taking on new business opportunities, building an inventory for a desperately wanted craft booth (maybe for the Fall...I hope) spring cleaning, trucking the children back & forth for sports, and learning a new craft to add to my shop which I will share with you all in the near future. Whew...up at the crack of dawn and going to bed past midnight is wearing me out! Hopefully, in the end it will all be worth it.

All of this activity leaves me with very little time for blogging right now. I'll still try to get it in from time to time, just not on a weekly basis. Unless, I have some real juicy (Sunkist Orange juicy) news to tell you! One of these occasions will be coming real soon, so stay tuned! Well, off to paint...ta-ta!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Color blind or color challanged?

Last week I finally had the chance to go back and redesign my 9th design "Lady and the Bee." Why redesign?...let's just say when it comes to art I have a few short comings. Number one uno on the list is color coordination.

As a kid growing up I had two different styles regarding color, matchy, matchy or just plain neutral. Learning primary colors 101 and what went with what was ingrained in my brain. I was never one to be bold with my color choices, you know go beyond the 8 or 12 colors in the Crayola Crayon Box. Also, wearing 3 or more colors together was out of the question. Like totally skipped the "Solid Gold" and "Madonna Valley Girl" era. Gold, silver, and neon colors...NOT! Challenge #2 is getting the vision in my mind to coincide with what I draw on paper. However, that's altogether another post. Ha-ha...so, when I finally get my drawing looking close to what I envisioned, my next challenge is choosing the colors. Depending on the complexly of the design this can become a real pain in the ass...for me anyway.

I am a real hat lover...always have been sense I can remember. Women in hats were apart of my Sunday church experience growing up. Watching my mother's and grandmother's generation flaunt their hats in church was a site to behold. Week to week I looked forward to see what hat sister so-and-so was going to wear to church on Sunday. Their styles were dignified, elegant, sometimes irreverent and even humorous, but they were always without a doubt eye-catching. You develop a certain air about yourself when you put on a designer hat. You walk different, act different, and people treat you different. Take a woman of average beauty and put the right hat on her...she becomes drop dead gorgeous! Inspired by this childhood memory, I wanted to draw a jazzy/bluesy silhouette emitting beauty and sophistication with a sense of mystery.

Whew...I must say then when it came to this design, it was a challenging one! The drawing was accomplished day 1, no problem. My obstacle was trying to find 3 colors to blend with the blackness in the silhouette without being too loud or too weak. ...And of course, the colors needed to blend with my infamous "bee." After 4 drawn sketches and 3 t-shirts bloopers later, I finally created a design and found the right color combo...or so I thought...

The GREEN had to GO!

My painting skills at the time were not perfected and the green was absolutely hideous to say the least. So I tried simplifying it...

Well, at least the colors flowed.

Skipping past my 3rd blooper, let's fast forward to my AHA! moment. Two months later my childhood friend comes to visit me and suggests to keep the vines bold and the flowers purple like in the original. Only instead of the lady being blue and gray make her green and pink (AKA ~ Sorority Sister on board!) I experienced an uproar on Facebook from the Delta sisters after posting this design. LOL!

"Lady and the Bee" came to life!

The success of my accomplishment gave me the inspiration to redesign the original blue and gray "Lady and the Bee." It took a little longer than I wanted to find the time to do so, but the results was well worth the wait.


Redesigned!...The original "Lady & the Bee!" (t-shirt)

Tank Top! (I will be offering tank tops soon...can't wait!)

Now, this design comes in two versions instead of one. YEAH!!! Learning to coordinate colors is like learning to be good at a sport: the more you practice, the better you become. Getting outside help doesn't hurt either...Michelle did you want to charge a one-time consultant fee? Ha-ha...

Monday, April 16, 2012

Scary Mary, quite contary why do you ♥ headbands so?

Having a bad hair day?

Boxed Perm

I've been rocking my natural locks for about three years now, and the journey has been filled with challenges. I can't say that I will never go back to the creamy crack (what Afro American women refer to as the boxed perm), but I don't see any signs of doing so in my future. I'm quite satisfied with the way I can style my hair in it's natural state and to my surprise it's more manageable. That is until...the "Little Bad Hair Day Imp" decides to show up.

My hair had been in a twist-out style for 3 days. I was hoping Sunday would make day four, thus saving me time to not really have to style my hair after getting dressed. Nice thought, but it was an EPIC TWIST-OUT FAIL! I fell asleep after watching the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (great movie by the way) and did not secure my hair in a scarf. So...I woke up the next morning to this Scary Mary moment. EEKKKK!

Really?...What am I suppose to do with this mess!

Using headbands in your hair when rocking natural hairstyles is so fashionably cute. It can take any style from twists, locs, the Afro puff or Bantu Knots and make it look fantabulous! Some of my BEST hair days have been accomplished from the trusty head band. The question was though...would I, could I...be able to create a miracle with this bird's nest? Well, I am a believer in miracles, and after all it was Sunday.

First things first, I knew a half-way up-do style was definitely in order, so I needed to clean up the kitchen. (kitchen – noun. the hair at the nape of the neck that tends to be difficult to straighten.) Sista girl lingo for shape-up the neckline.


Ewww...its been a minute huh?

Okay, now I needed a brush, a knee-hi stocking, gel and must not forget the H20.

I wet the brush lightly, because I wanted an textured up-do not a frizzy puff ball. Applied some gel around the edges of my hairline and brushed upward. Then tied the knee-hi stocking around my head and tighten while pulling the ends of my hair until I got to the desired position.

Still looking like Scary Mary you say? LOL

Time for my miracle working moisturizing lotion.

Only needed about a quarter size amount to work through the scalp and ends of my hair. Any more than that and I would have ended up with a cotton top up-do. After getting the moisturizer all worked through, I put on a black headband (the ouch-less kind of course) and finger styled my do. ...And wah-la!

Not bad after my inital Scary Mary moment.

The side.

When you have a limited amount of time on your hands, headbands can be a lifesaver (they are for me).

Profile ~ This is why I ♥ headbands!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Put Your Big Girl Panties On and Deal With It!

I have been going through a rough patch here lately and stopped blogging for a few weeks. What's the deal-ee-oh?...well the story goes a little something like this ~

Has life ever thrown you a curve ball? Something happens that you would never expect. I guess that's the whole point of calling the "unexpected" a curve ball...huh? Well life threw me a SUPER DUPER CURVE BALL with a note attached: SURPRISE! ~ Heeeeere's Daddy!

My father whom I have not seen since the age of 2 yrs. old, after what he says has been an exhausting search has found me. Where as I should have been slightly elated about this I was not. One of the reasons being is because since I can remember, all I ever heard were negative things about my father from my mother, and other relatives close to me. These comments were so heavily ingrained in my mind that by the time I was old enough to decide if I wanted to look for my father...I didn't. I really had no desire in knowing him and have never felt a true "absence", because I grew up with 2 male cousins, a grandfather and 3 uncles who took on the image of a "father figure" gracefully. However, the man that I spoke with on the phone does not come close to the description projected by my family. This man claiming to be my father is educated, well-spoken, seems to be sincere, and really an all around well-rounded individual. This has me quite baffled to say the least. Since speaking with my father on the phone three weeks ago I've gone from feelings of utter shock, to anger and sheer depression. Other than the sudden death of my Mom 11yrs. ago, nothing has rocked my entire being to the point of uneasiness, until now.

I have spoken with my father about 4 times since our initial conversation. At the end of each phone call my estranged father of 30 something years says a very endearing "I love you." Wow!...how do I ever respond to this? What do I say to him? I'm trying to give him a chance, although this situation is a little forced and uncomfortable for me. The thing is I don't love him, at least not yet. On the real!...I don't even know him, or trust him so how can I possibly love him.? I know in my heart that if a relationship is to develop the past will have to stay in the past and we will have to begin building in the present. However, before I can move on there are some hard questions that need to be asked and I need time to digest the answers.

My husband and I decided that we as a family will go visit and meet my father for the first time Memorial Day weekend. So, we'll see how it goes. I'm very good at reminding others to "go with the flow" and to "live in the now." However, I will just as quickly admit doing so is easier said than done. As I come to terms with the curve ball life has thrown my way the prayer below will follow me on this journey as I get to know the man who is my father:

Dear God,

Errors are merely the stepping stones to the path of righteousness. We will not know what is right before we know what is wrong. Knowing what is wrong can be obtained by learning from other/s or experiencing it ourselves. This is the spiritual generosity empowered by Love, and this in return will empower our loved ones to live righteously the next time. At the same time being generous in love will make us more like Christ, and spiritually stronger and closer to God...Amen