Tie-Dye, a modern textile craft, is something that has been around for ages and will be around for many more moons to come. Always intriguing, always a new spin off the same basic concept, done in a rainbow of hues to monochromatic intrigues. And while we're on the topic, check out the Rainbow Contest over at Instrucables right now (awesome art prizes). All types of submissions are acceptable, so have some fun with it!

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Tie-Dye became popular in the United States of our more modern world in the late 1960's and heavily saturated the 1970's which sort of branded it to the times and people of "Free Love", tripping on Acid and LSD.

"Although shibori and batik techniques were used occasionally in Western fashion before the 1960s, modern psychedelic tie-dying did not become a fad until the late 1960s following the example set by rock stars such as Janis Joplin and John Sebastian (who did his own dyeing)." ~ Wikipedia

Tie-Dye mostly went in to hiding with the outrageously new Neon trends during the 80's and 90's. Then, along with every popular known trend of each era, it was brought back and re-hashed in our Pop Culture of today's fashion sphere.

If you don't know what modern, American Tie-dye is, you might be living under a rock, but here is a great resource on the technique and style if you've never looked it up.

Sourced from Tie-Dye on Wikipedia

So how did it literally become an American craft to be readily found in stores everywhere - I love this part. Basically, Tie-Dye came about when a company was trying to save it's brand. RIT® dye, at the time was losing momentum with their prime market clientele, older generation females doing home-dying.

"At the time, RIT® dye was starting to lose it's market; primarily older women that dyed home goods." - Dharma Article, Did you Know...? 

Without getting in to too much detail on the actual specifics because I think that [ one of my favorite online dye resources ] the Dharma Trading Company impressively covered the textbook attributes of this really well in their article, Did You Know: Is Tie-Dye An American Art Form? 

"Artists, opinion leaders, and influencers took to tie-dying almost as if it were a new psychedelic substance. Janis Joplin began wearing tie dye (it was even rumored she wore tie-dye panties) but it was still confined to a small circle of users. The next stop was the fashion industry but they weren't convinced it was anything more then a local fad. About this time, folks heard about a musical gathering that was to take place in rural Woodstock, New York, and it was going to be a big event (understatement of the decade!). Two of the well-known artists in the Village wanted to tie-dye several hundred T-shirts and give them away at the concert. RIT financed the project. Thousands of people showed up at Woodstock from across the country and the tie-dye T-shirts were eye-catching. The idea caught on…big. Joe Cocker, Mama Cass, Janis Joplin all wore tie-dye. Tie-dye became a symbol of antiestablishmentarianism, as no one else could have the same shirt as you even if they used the same colors. It was a statement of being an individual." - Read More... How the Fashion Industry finally took it seriously...

I could quite literally quote this entire article it's so interesting and well written. I'll leave the quotes to that, but how amazing to see how a pretty modern fad became a huge trend over trying to save a brand name product.

In summary, basically the traditional methods, techniques and practices of the tie-dye movement from the 1960's and 70's we know of here in the USA were brought over from African traditional art to save a brand name. Amazing!

Video Tutorial: Create Your Own Tie-Dye in Seamless Lite (to Janis Joplin)

Feel free to use this exact technique to practice and get the hang of it! :) 

Templates You Can Tie-Dye Yourself - Show me what you've got!

Do you have a favorite template that works for tie-dye? Please share!

Explore Tie-Dye on COLOURlovers:

What are the three most memorable physical characteristics of a Disney Princess? Aside from their tiny waistlines, I don't think it's a stretch to say: big eyes, big hair and big dresses. Pop culture has wildly re-defined so many traditional visuals these days. The styles of Cosplay + Steampunk + Disney Princess = Pure Awesomeness.

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Most cosplayer's value the DIY aspect of creating the costume. How well they can pull off the challenging aspects a costume may behold. The first thing you need to decide when planning out one of these Disney Princess costumes is to go traditional or add a steampunk flair. Both are pretty fun, but each will require certain points to consider. A traditional princess costume will by far be your quickest route. A steampunk princess version will give you more flexibility to add your own abstract vision to the entire look and feel of your end product, essentially garnering more "oooh's and aaaahhhs," but be careful about getting too creative and getting the,"So who are you supposed to be?"

Check out some amazing PIXLR Comic Con Galleries here!

To avoid confusing people of your characters identity at a convention, make sure you stick to the basic signature traits of your character. Here are four idea's to get your started and a ton of great tutorials and DIY guides linked below.

As promised, all the physical sourced tutorials are linked here! Some simply have more detailed content, some have video. Enjoy!

Hand-Selected Source List for Costume Tutorials:

Tiara's & Crowns: 

Elsa: Disney Photo | Steampunk Photo | Disney Dress | Steampunk Outfit | Tiara DIY (instructables) | Overall Great Costume & Tiara DIY | Another Great DIY Tiara | If you just want to buy one, Etsy has many! My favorite Etsy Crown |  Elsa Heels DIY | Hair Tutorial

Anna: Disney Photo | Steampunk Photo | Disney Dress | Disney Dress Sewing Patterns | Embroidery Guides | More Embroidery Guides | Anna Books DIY | Hair Tutorial 

Cinderella: Disney Photo | Steampunk Photo | Disney Dress | Steampunk Outfit | Hair Style Guide |  Modern Heel

Ariel: Disney Photo | Steampunk Photo | Disney Dress | Tail Options: skirt-tail scales skirt-tail DIY skirt-tail (Instrucables) | Hair Tutorial |

Hair Dye & Wigs: Wig Making & Dying | Cosplay Wigs 101 | Wig Supply (white wigs to Dye)  | How to Dye Synthetic Wigs | Remove Wig Shine for a nice matte finish tutorial 

Body: boobs hack - make your boobs look bigger (video) | Make realistic boobs for revealing cosplay costumes DIY | Corset DIY | 

Shopping Links for buying or detailed inspiration: Disney Dresses & Outfits (one stop shop & full of style inspiration | Steampunk Princess Outfits & Inspiration (one stop shop or ideas)

If you're looking to go non-traditional Disney Princess and rock it up a little, check out these re-invented Disney Warrior Princesses or another take is Pin-up Disney Princess Villains. More pop culture Disney Princess Villains! And then again, how about a Moulin Rouge Disney Princess Cosplay?

Do you cosplay? What are your favorite characters?

The great thing about your undies is that they are normally something kept all to yourself. Perhaps you have a fantastic personality yet your job requires you to wear a boring uniform with absolutely no way to fun it up, or is there? Well here's your chance!

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Holy moly, the panties and underwear coming out of creative heads these days are fun, funky and hilarious... and admitedly, sometimes a little gross. I don't recommend googling "men's funny undies" ...needless to say it gets a little, ahem, interesting.

Personally, I think Etsy Seller, FlashYouAndMe really hit the spot for selling fun and funky undies to both women and men with their line of Couples Underwear! For real! Not to mention their imagery really rocks with super character rich illustrations mixed with attractive models full of expression! Take note if you run a fashion accessories etsy shop.

raindrops | green stars | stripes (aka chocolate bar) | gray (truly yours) | "pertrol green" with turquoise dots | "stars Nr6" (lavender + black stars)

The Steampunk Trend has been building such momentum for some time now. This vintage-modern abstract style garners the marriage between beautiful and sleek with a  mechanical-industrial flare, bordering at times on "trashy" if done wrong. It's a style of opposites meshing to make a fantastical smash to fashion.

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I am so drawn to this ultra creative Steampunk trend, yet I'm not sure what to do with it in my every day life. I want it, but how? As a photographer and creative in general, I find myself meandering (ahem, wasting time) perusing all the steampunk crazed Pinterest boards dreaming up excuses to bring some Steampunk in to my life.

wedding dresses & jewels | red corset | necklace | globe | scale bra | headdress | watch

What I love about this fun trend is that you can incorporate it in to anything! Visually it's super appealing, so applying it to some of your home decor is easy and simple and is almost an edgy version of "rustic" trends. Jewelry is easy to incorporate in to your every day style. And if you're really looking to make an impression host a Gatsby themed party. I am loving the beautiful dresses adorned in metals for weddings completely decked out in steampunk.

Steampunk takes on a modern twist to historic trends, like the medieval age collided with an industrial era.  Do you love this trend? Is it too gimmicky for you?

One of the most common designs I've been seeing as of late is watercolor splashes featured on paper goods and the runway. Watercolors make me excited that summer is just around the corner, and they are kind of romantic as well, making me feel calm, relaxed and happy.

Check out these inspirational prints and paper goods featuring elegant watercolor designs:

Create Your Own Watercolor Masterpieces with Creative Market by downloading these products:

Summer is just around the corner, and the sun is starting to shine behind the clouds. As the weather warms up, we are starting to see brighter colors trending. As you walk around you'll probably see warmer and brighter tones on display in fashion, home decor, and print as the weather continues to heat up.

Bright yellow and canary yellow are starting to emerge as popular colors again this year. We've seen yellow trend in the the past, but it seems to be emerging as of late. Check out these awesome uses of yellow in home, design, and fashion for your inspiration:

Check out these palettes featuring yellow:

Looking to add some yellow to your creative projects? Check out these designs from Creative Market:

Everywhere I go, I seem to see large or small animal accents in clothing stores and home decor and furnishing retailers. I absolutely love animal print, and am so happy to see more and more of it popping up and being popular. How would you incorporate small or large animal accents into your home or outfit. How animalistic do you want to be?

Check out some of these awesome uses of animal print for your inspiration:

Check out these awesome patterns for inspiration:

If you're looking for more creative inspiration, check out Creative Market's awesome selection of animal print vectors, patterns, and graphics for your creative projects:

There is nothing that screams Summer and Spring like flowers. I love walking outside and seeing all of the gorgeous and fragrant flowers blooming. There is something simply sweet and romantic about flowers. Not only do we give them as gifts to people we care about as a sign of affection, flowers are also presented to people as a symbol of regret and apology. I love the hidden meanings of flowers, and I think that floral prints and patterns are definitely making a come back in 2013. We are seeing more and more floral patterns with a funky and vintage flare on the runway, in stores, and featured in interior design.

If you love these floral prints you'll love these inspiring patterns from COLOURlovers:

If you're looking to start creating something with a floral pattern why not check out these resources from Creative Market? All it takes is two clicks (purchase and download) and you're ready to get creative!

Hand-drawn illustrations add personality and depth to websites by bringing the digital world in conjunction with the physical. I love seeing hand-drawn illustrations on internet because it adds a sense of character to the page itself. These sites are some of my favorites that feature hand-drawn illustrations.

Just Dot: I love how this website combines the trendy chalkboard element with hand drawn graphics and a sketched font.

Bowtie: features a completely hand drawn background with hand written fonts and other styles of typeface. I love the colors and interactive layout of this site as well.

Bootb: this site utilizes a hand written type face as well as hand drawn doodle frames to create a friendly landing page. I like the different colored frames on the black background along with hand drawn buildings.

Denise Chandler: this designer's site features an awesome hand drawn image that has been animated, as well as, a variety of quirky and cool hand drawn fonts.

Carsonifide: uses fun text bubbles and hand drawn graphics to highlight the important parts of their site.

Tennessee Education: I love all of the cool hand drawn doodles that are found throughout the site. This site really brings education to life by adding hand drawn elements on top of writing paper.

Products from Creative Market to help you enhance your site with hand drawn elements and illustrations.

The key to making a website or blog with hand drawn illustrations is to combine hand written or drawn fonts along with intricate hand drawn images, lines, and vectors. Creative Market, offers a variety of hand drawn elements to help you create an amazing website like the ones featured above.

Sketched Font                                    Handwritten Font

Hand Drawn Frames                               Hand Drawn Arrows

Hand Drawn Photo Corners                              Hand Drawn Arrows

Hand Drawn Photoshop Brushes                                Hand Drawn Hearts

Doodled Frames                                  Hand Drawn Social Media Icons

Hand Drawn Flowers

Recently we shared a project that visualized the history of colors in movie posters from 1914 to present. Those visualizations showed a striking shift as blue has been feature more and more prominently over the years. It also highlights Hollywood's love of those complementary colors orange and blue. This is something that gets brought up and ranted about every so often, and when I went to browse through the movie posters of films released this year, I fully expected to see the usual orange and blue trends. What I saw was a little different.

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Yes, there are still a lot of blue posters out there, but we know blue is nothing new.

What struck me in particular about 2012 was how gray everything looked. Everywhere I saw dark, subdued posters, steely black & white images, and heck, there's even a film called The Grey. Just take a look at some of the of posters from this year.