Silly cartoons to chase the gloomies away.

Tonight I drew three seriously stupid cartoons. They're not really for anything, they just cheered up a gloomy mood.

My parents will not be proud of this.

Ladies, never give up. And improve on the standard!

Dedicated to Destry

I like to think that if dolphins have a world wide organization, I'm on their radar.

I kinda want business cards of this.

This is how I feel whenever I do steamy adult things, like making doctor appointments or buying groceries.

I was cheering myself up because our apartment is missing someone. Our rat Sam has been sick this week. He's currently on meds and receiving a nebulizer treatment from my friend and real life angel Joanne over at Best Friend Rodent Rescue. The nebulizer administers airborne medicines, similar to sitting in a big inhaler. We don't have one, so when our vet prescribed it Joanne kindly offered hers to Sam.

Sam at the vet.

The poor little guy was so stuffed up two days ago he was literally gasping for breath. He is still squeaking a bit, and we're worried, but hopeful he'll pull through. Tomorrow Joanne is letting me borrow a second nebulizer so Sam can be here at home with us and his brother Winston.

Winston and Sam do everything together.

Afternoon grape break!
(Sam on the left, Winston on the right).

They're very strongly bonded. In fact, at first we only adopted Sam. He began to pine once we got him home, and it turned out back at the rescue Winston was pining too. So Ryan and I adopted Winston too, and the two greeted one another ecstatically and have been content since. They're so big and bold because their Papa was a wild rat who got into a pet lady rat's cage (forbidden love exists even in the animal kingdom, it seems).

Our fingers are crossed that Sam will keep recovering and continue to get better.

Ryan and Sam.

The Sketchbook Project 2012 - Mailed!

Months ago I signed up for the 2012 Sketchbook Project. This is a project where folks all over the world draw in a special pocket sized sketchbook for a year. The sketchbooks then tour the country before they are cataloged in the Brooklyn Art Library. I had heard about it for a few years, and this was my first time participating.

My little book arrived and I promised myself I would complete a page a day.... And then I became frustrated after a few ugly pages. I really hated my start, and my little book went on the shelf for a couple of months.

I had picked the theme "Time Traveler." Eventually it dawned on me that I have a time traveler character. He's from a web comic I've been working on for about a year, called The Dust Age. The Dust Age is currently only a plot with pages of text and a series of sketches. It has the distinction of being my most complicated and thankless project.

So I took my little book off the shelf and ripped out the false start. I began again. Many of the sketches are drawn very loosely (in the idea of the time traveler keeping a notebook for his own purposes).

Here are some of the pages:  

The ruins of Seattle.

The front cover.

The front cover flipped.

The time traveler himself.

The Clockwork Widow

The East Witch

The Ruins of Seattle, full page.

The Bear Queen

The inside cover.

A Lady Triangle?
(I don't know what to call this one).

It's one of my favorite pages though,
a little tighter than the loose sketches of the traveler.

O Raan, a 25 foot tall character.

The last page and inside cover.

I mailed it off yesterday, and I'm already planning to sign on for the Limited Edition Sketchbook Project, once funds allow. This new project sounds very exciting to me. The idea is 5,000 people will fill the sketchbooks, and when they are returned they will be turned into a series of books. If you're creative, know a creative person, or have been wanting a creative outlet, it's a great project.

Now that I have completed mine and watched videos by other artists, I have actual ideas for next year's!

Gnomie, dontcha know me?

The Gnome paper dolls went into the shop today! You can find them here.

My father got me a wonderful new camera for Christmas. I just love it! It's great to be able to take shots for the shop again. Scans of paper dolls just won't do, it's so much better to see them printed and cut out.

The gnomes in their "every day" clothes.

Behind the scenes....

The gnomes in their slightly nicer clothes.

The Twins and their mouse dolls.

The gnomes in their "fancy" clothes.

Papa Gnome, looking dapper.

Cutting out the dolls, with a complete page in the background.

I loved paper dolls as a child. They're not for every kid, I get that. Paper dolls are a wonderful rainy day craft, and I have fond memories of carefully cutting out tiny two dimensional friends and adding to their wardrobes over the course of several quiet afternoons with a steady snipping hand. I never cut them out all at once, I liked to spread out the creation of their little world. Afterwards I would letter a series of envelopes with labels like "Winter clothes" and "Pajamas" and place the paper clothes inside.

Yes, I was that  kid. They're kind of an "only child" type activity, now that I think of it. Like houses made of cards or talking to one's self. I also really enjoyed embroidery and drawing for hours (ahem) as a kid. I don't know what I would have done in this age of children operating Ipads and personal dvd players.

What's wrong with a hoop and a stick?

 Maybe I'm an old soul, and by old I mean like, from the 1800s. Really, I don't know. All I do know is paper dolls f--king rule.

Here's a few more photos taken with my new camera!

One bird.

Two birds.

Elvis hating birds.

Elvis rubbing his fur all over the clean couch.
He has some serious whiskers.

More birds.

Okay, girl-with-a-new-camera-bird-and-cat-photos. I know. In my defense, I was stuck inside for a week. I promise more interesting shots in the future!

Blog Hop!

I don't usually enjoy things like this. I like sitting in my little corner of the web, like a cyber spider, spinning my words and pictures in isolated peace.

However, the words "Blog" and "hop" just sound so fun together (I can't stop saying it). I saw this shared on Talk2TheTrees, and after I had visited 3-4 new blogs I thought, oh what the heck this is fun. It's nice to take a walk around the blogging community and search for new reads!



If you wish to add your blog to the Blog Hop, just click here, then be sure to get the code to share the Blog Hop here. If you do it, please leave me a comment so I can check you out!

Wintertime Gnome Clothes, Pictures of the Storm, and Why Snowmen are the Worst.

I finished the hats for my gnome paper dolls' cold weather clothes today, just as winter sunk its icy claws into Seattle!

Mama and Papa Gnome, all bundled up!

The Twins ready for the cold.

A page of cold weather tools and treats. Sleds, a snowman,
a shovel, a broom, snowballs,  and a cocoa set with marshmallows!

The Twins having fun in the snow.

I'm finally done painting my gnome family's everyday, gardening, and cold weather sets. I have ideas for others, but they will come later. Next I will be printing out the dolls, cutting them out, and making sure that each little outfit actually fits! I've been careful to make all their clothes the right size, but I have to be certain before I can put them up for sale.

In case you've missed the news, the snow continues here in Washington. We're not really sure what is going to happen tonight. Some forecasters are saying 5-10 inches, some claim a foot. The BBC has written us off as dead already, with temperatures "bitterly cold at 20 degrees below average"--which means, like, 36 fahrenheit. 

I walked through our town today, to the post office and the grocery store. It was really lovely. The boughs were hanging low and heavy, the air had the smell of snow in it, the flakes found their way into my hair and eyelashes...It felt like I'd stepped outside my Washington apartment into New England.

Actually, it was kinda unsettling. But totally beautiful! 

Puck watching the snow outside.

Our street.

Puck lounging by the picture window.
You can still see some of our paper flakes along the top.
Guess we got our wish!

Outside, it was crazy gorgeous.

My hat turns every intersection into a bear crossing.

It was strange to see everything familiar here changed by snow,
when I'm so used to it being completely hidden by fog.
Turns out we have buildings! WHO KNEW?

A local street on the way to the post office.

Branches overhead.

If you asked Puck what the most exciting part of the day was,
he'd tell you it was when these birds showed up in the tree.

It's silent, dark, and still outside. If we're in for a big storm, it hasn't hit yet. I'll be honest, I'm rooting for it. Post office bound with my Etsy parcels, I passed up a chance to make snow angels all over town, (since I didn't want to have to write "SORRY, I WAS MAKING BITCHIN' SNOW ANGELZ" on soaking wet parcels). I'd like a chance to write that wrong, unbound by postal duty. It would be cool to make a snowman too, if I could be reasonably assured it would not come to life and become a complicated liability.

"You brought me to life! Now it's your duty to get me to
THE NORTH POLE!"

"Seriously?"

"YES"

"Okay, but I'm a human, and the North Pole is really cold.
It's pretty far away too...."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

"HE'S DEAD. I FAILED HIM AND NOW HE'S DEAD."

Yeah, I think I'll stick to snow angels if I get the chance.