ModiBee Designs
Bees land lightly on spring blooms pollinating and creating a signature of designed flowers. They buzz over and nuzzle newness adding floral paint strokes to a birthed landscape.
Modesty Morell is the owner of ModiBee Designs. She is a “working bee” creating her own signature design upon jean jackets and other blue jean material.
“I make anything made from blue jeans or blue jean shorts. I make little pocket purses and I’ve marketed them as money dance bags,” Modesty said.
Modesty’s “floral centerpiece” of her business is customizing and hand painting jean jackets for customers. Most of her clientele being exquisite and excited brides.
“Most people don’t really have an idea for their jacket. The first thing I tell them is, ‘I’ll use your flowers and your colors as inspiration and then we go from there. A lot of people like to preserve their bouquets and it’s like preserving them in a way,” Modesty stated.
Just like a bee that enhances and preserves nature, Modesty adorns jean jackets with painted preservation of a bride’s bouquet and her overall wedding day. A delicate veil swipe of a paint brush seals a marriage memory with curvy last names and with possible peplum peonies.
“I always hope it encapsulates a bride’s whole day and it helps them remember the day they married someone that they love. Every time I talk to a bride, I tell them, ‘Marriage is one of life’s biggest blessings. In the long run all the little details are not going to matter. You are marrying the person you’re going to love forever. So, I hope it reminds them of that day,” Modesty said.
Since Modesty’s largest clientele are brides, her customizable jean jackets are also staged in two local bridal boutiques, Bridal Corner and Chez Lilli. Interested brides can view samples along with her portfolio/ information.
“I told Bridal Corner I sell bridal jean jackets; would you want to stage some? They said, ‘Sure!’ So, I painted three of them and they have them in store. They have my information and my portfolio,” Modesty said with excitement.
Even though ModiBee Designs encompasses and “buzzes” around bridal attentiveness, other jean jacket design initiatives are being added to the “bee garden”.
Modesty recently started the Beejou Kids Collection. It’s a collection of jean jackets that are painted with “daisy-like” personality, sweet and fun. She also customizes jean jackets for schoolteachers with imaginable red apples and number two pencils. ModiBee Designs also offers original jean jackets that are ready to be worn on a date night or on ordinary shopping days.
All the jean jackets (and other blue jean material items) that are acquired are either found in thrift stores or ordered through second-hand sites. ModiBee Designs is equitable to a green business helping sustain nature and the real spring bees.
“I am sustainable. I like to market myself as a sustainable and upcycled business. I thrift most of my inventory from secondhand sites or if I’m lucky, I can find them in store. Then, I wash them and hang them up and they’re ready to go,” Modesty said.
Modesty’s bee signature signs and beautifies the hung and laid out jean jackets in her home office located in Raceland. There, she conversates and then creates painted pictures of “the big day”. There, her mockups flower vine over into customized or original pieces.
“Normally I say, ‘Do you want to see some designs?’ So, I’ll normally mockup four to six designs and send them pictures created on Canva. Then, they choose the design that they like. Next, they pick the size jacket that they want. I’ll send them pictures of every jacket in that size. I’ll ask, ‘Do you want true-to-size or oversize?’ Then, I’ll paint it and ship it out to them. During the whole process they get pictures along the way because I want to make sure they like the final product,” Modesty explained.
“I free hand almost everything. Sometimes I’ll use stencils when it entails jackets that have states on them because it’s hard. But, all my flowers, etc. are freehanded,” she added.
Natural talent with a hint of past practice outlines and fills Modesty’s jacket canvases.
“I went to school for elementary education in Florida and we were required to do some handmade are visuals which I think helped with a lot of the shading aspects of things. Other than that, it just comes naturally,” Modesty said.
“My mom was always in charge at vacation bible school at church and we built sets at church, so that helped. My mom has helped with that creativity,” she added.
Modesty’s mom is an advisor that encourages and listens to the bee wing hums of her business. She has helped curate her creativity and conquer decisions.
“My mom has always been super encouraging. She is almost like an unpaid business partner. I’ll text her ideas. She also helped me with the name for my business. My signature is a little painted bee inside of everyone’s jacket. So, she’s like, let’s come up with a name. She’s always there helping me,” Modesty explained.
Support and a campaigning spirit runs in the family. The propelling push of ModiBee Designs was initiated by Modesty’s sister.
“My sister said, ‘You should start selling these,” Modesty stated.
“That’s kind of how I started. My friend gifted me one and I thought this is something I can do. So, my sister got married and I found a jean jacket at the thrift store, and I painted it for her. People told me I should sell these; this is really good,” she added.
Modesty “signed” and created her first jean jacket design in July of 2023. Therefore, ModiBee Designs was established.
“My whole life people have called me Modi because it’s short for Modesty. Bees are also really important to me since my husband, and I first started dating. When me and friends were all dating someone, we all came up with code names for when we found the man who was the ‘one’. So, my sister’s was ‘the cat’s pajamas’; my best friend’s was ‘a tall drink of water’, and mine was ‘he’s the bee’s knees’. When I knew my husband was the one, I just became obsessed with bees. I even wore a bee necklace for our wedding day,” Modesty explained.
“I get to make wedding jackets for other brides because they have met their ‘bees’ knees’. So, it’s super fun,” she added.
The handmade jean jacket business has taken flight like a strong bumblebee. Therefore, Modesty has attended crafts shows. Her denim art will be staged at this upcoming Thibodeuxville Fall Festival on November 9th and the Denham Springs Fall Festival in October (2024).
“When I did my first craft show and people came in to try on my jackets, I thought, ‘This is so exciting!’ I just always see the jackets lying flat, but when I see someone trying them on, I think, ‘This is so fun!’ It’s really, really fulfilling to see this thing that you poured hours into on someone,” Modesty explained with cheer.
“When you start, there is no going back. So, my process is making sure how I’m going to do everything first. First, I’ll make sure I get all their details. Once I plan everything out in my head, I’ll start. I’ll pull up the sketch on my computer that I’ve done, and I’ll just turn on music or a podcast and paint away,” Modesty said.
“I think it’s really fun to paint and create something and see how much joy it brings someone. I think it’s really exciting, especially when someone sends me a picture of them in their jacket and they’re like, ‘I love it so much! It’s going to be perfect!’,” she ended with joy.
ModiBee Designs Contact Information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552315071374&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modibeedesigns
modestymorrell@gmail.com
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