Things That Happen When I Can't Sleep: Photoshop Edition

As I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy, I'm finding it harder and harder to sleep. Between being generally uncomfortable thanks to a huge belly and a kicky baby and the numbness in my arms from carpal tunnel, sleep has become a bit of a challenge. So last night, as Cecilia went to bed at 8:00pm, I decided to go to sleep early since I was exhausted. It worked great... I was out by 9:00!

But then I was up by 4:00... nice. So with nothing better to do and tingly arms, I started messing around in photoshop elements to see if I could learn something new. This is how I learn to do anything... I just mess around with it until I figure it out myself or I find some lovely online tutorial a smart person put together. Three cheers for smart people on the internet!

One thing I've been trying to figure out is how to make repeating patterns that don't look so repetitious so I can order custom fabrics. I found this great tutorial on YouTube by Bari Ackerman. It was really easy to follow and in the last hour, I made my own "half drop repeating pattern" using a random doodle I did a few days ago and then I made a few color variations. Here's the scan of the original drawing...

And here are the patterns. They're not perfect, but it was my first time and they came out decent enough. I don't think I'd use them for fabric (at all, lol) but they could make a cute little laptop wallpaper or something.

So that was pretty easy and a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be! I can't wait to put some things together with actual plans instead of just a random drawing. And feel free to right click and use these for personal stuff if you'd like. 

Until next time!

Kim