The collection that started as alphabet flashcards for my kids.

In the 90’s, our first home computer came with a free Hallmark program for making your own designs. I loved playing around with it! I used it to make a set of alphabet flash cards for my boys, and laminated them. They were well used.

Years later, I found the flash cards in a drawer and thought it would be fun to re-style them, using hand painted images.

(Full collection & color ways below) ↓

I got stuck on the bee. I’ve always loved bees. I included a coloring-page version of a bee for my Daydream Odyssey coloring book, and my husband and I kept bees and collected honey for a couple of years as well. So my Flash Card redesign got stalled after one painting, and my little bee took on a life of his own.

And, as I found my way into surface design, my bee became something people loved. His sticker has graced many a water bottle and T-shirt. I wanted it to be more. And I wanted it to have dandelions.

Dandelions are considered weeds, and are often killed off to save lawns. But they are important for pollinators, as one of the first flowers to provide nectar in the spring, when bees come out of hibernation. Plus, I have always loved dandelions. They just seem so cheerful!

I added clover, from fond memories of sipping nectar out of the buds, and making flower-crowns from them as a child. And to round out my meadow flower family, some dainty blue forget-me-nots.

The motifs were all hand painted by me, using watercolor, ink, & pencil. The black outline of the bee is digitally hand drawn on my iPad. The images were scanned into my computer, the paper background removed, and then the fun part - making patterns!

Each design is created in separate layers in photoshop. There are 7 different patterns in 5 color ways: Blue, Aqua, Green, Brown, and Cream.

For licensing inquiries, please contact me at heidi@heidhorch.com.