Sniff

Highlights of the past few days?
Visiting nieces, Thursday night tacos, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and nice hot tea from my aunt (to offset one doozy of a cold). I also really like Vitamin C drops.



And some more recent Flickr favorites. Click on the links to check out the über-talented photographers/illustrators.

1. Frog Prince? Girl Posed in Shell with Frog, 2. 16118, 3. How To Play Rock 'n' Roll Accordion, 4. .fiddler on the... rope, 5. Flowers, 6. 03 Close-up, 7. Ovens Cemetry, 8. colours, 9. DSC_8372

*I was thinking Tim Burton's version was way less frightening than the original '70's film. Gene Wilder really unnerved me as a kid...

Sainte Jeanne d'Arc

Joan of Arc. Now that's a teenager that means business.

Some blogs I've been enjoying lately:

*Pikaland - Profiles a delightful round-up of artists

*Thompson Family-Life - The photos over here make me smile, every time. It's a good shot in the arm of color and niftiness.

*Amy Ambshier Reyes - Wonderfully Illustrations

Illustration Friday - Pet Peeves

Why is it that they grey hairs always stand straight up?

Happy Easter!

Suddenly I have a hankering for marshmallow peeps...

Hope

Inspired by some recent Arcade Fire listening: "Every spark of friendship and love / Will die without a home."

Illustration Friday - Garden

Pen drawing, digital color. With this one I wanted to loosen up my coloring style a bit and really try to mimic that look of '60's and '70's picture books. I wish I'd thought to cue up the Partridge Family before I got going though!

Brighter By the Minute

I started coloring the drawing I started last week. I think because the subject matter reminds me so much of childhood camping trips up North there's a real personal connection for me. I can almost feel that cooling that comes in the mountains once the sun goes down. I wish I could taste the blueberries though. That would be pretty swell.



I spent some time making gift tags this weekend. It probably seems foolhardy to take time to cut these out by hand, but I actually really enjoy it. It slows me down, working on something that's not just bits and bytes and fits perfectly into Saturday morning coffee drinking.

Other assorted goodness:
Bright Common Spikes - The Sculpture of John Bisbee, daylight savings time, yellow and blue tea, and the sound of birds in the morning.

Lingonberry Love

As soon as I shot the photo, I added more jam, rest assured. My sister picked up lingonberry preserves for us at IKEA and I'm quite the happy camper.



And some twilight magic, revisited. What's that quote, "You Can Never Go Home Again?" I can't help but think for a minute you can recapture those glorious, carefree moments of childhood when drawing. Maybe it's all about just going home via a different route.

Here Comes the Bride

For the past few months, I've been fascinated by vintage wedding cake toppers. I've been attempting to make my own for Etsy and the desk by the door has been littered with various prototypes, but I think I've finally got it. Thank goodness for the previously mentioned Jane Austen-a-thon on PBS which makes cutting these out slightly more enjoyable.

And yes, I really liked an excuse to bust out the Martha Stewart glitter. Fabulous stuff.