She Helps With Laundry

The following story stars our one year old puppy Sammy.  She has taken what I thought was an innocent interest in laundry time.... but it may not be so innocent. 

I'll set the opening scene. 

{Scene I: The laundry has been washed, dried and collected in a laundry basket to be taken upstairs to be folded and put away.  Sammy circles the basket with hungry eyes.}

Sammy has been known to take an item or two and run around the house with the item in her mouth.  Innocent enough, right?  Well, I don't think so.  It seems she focuses her attention on my under garments and she may also be doing a bit of chewing on said under garments.

Yes, it appears that I am blindly putting away the under garments that Sammy has run around the house with (not taking any notice of possible chewing) and then wearing them some days later. 

{Scene II: I'm at work.  I finally take notice of the chewing (it's not on a sock). Arggg!!}

All was solved by a quick run out to a department store and I guess the ones she chewed were in need of replacing anyway.. but man 'o man that puppy has been trying our patience lately.  You can also add a pair of flip flops to the list of things she's destroyed this week. 

It's a darn good thing she's cute.

What has your puppy (or dog or cat) done lately that has made you laugh?

Good Tea Bag Wisdom

Just a quick doodle inspired from a tea bag tag... I'm a bit quiet on this end after having my wisdom teeth out and I'm still recovering.  Wishing you a lovely weekend!

----------------------------------------------------

edited to add... here is a .jpg that you could more easily download and print for yourself if you like!

Rock on!

Creative Tuesday: Three / 3 (#47)

It's Creative Tuesday and I'm excited to show you what I tried today! 

Wondering what a Creative Tuesday is?  Every two weeks we grab our pads and something to color with to create for the theme over at Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment -- neat, no?

This week's theme is Three or 3 -- as in draw three of something.  I thought of so many things that I wanted to draw.  It began to get difficult to figure out what to do.  This time I let my creative room inspire me and decided to loosely doodle a trio of horses that I have hanging on my wall.

Horses are definitely animals that I adore.  I find them intelligent, inspiring, and elegant.  And incredible difficult to draw -- but that's part of the fun of this challenge, right?

I also wanted to play with my water color pencils to add some texture and light hints of color.  Here is what I came up with.  I had fun and have to say that I would definitely give horses another try!

Here is a closer picture of the doodle, since I am short on time to scan.  The overcast day isn't helping much, but you get the idea!

I hope you consider joining in this or the next assignment (really hope you do) and please take a look other artists in the community here.  

Creative Tuesday: Short and Tall

It's Tuesday!!  And, this particular Tuesday is a Creative Tuesday!  Whoop, whoop!  It's that time of the week where I open my sketch pad and see what comes out for the theme over at Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!

This week's theme was Short and Tall.  So many ideas popped into my head for this one.  I also decided to up the ante a bit by only using mediums within arms reach of my desk chair.  Ok, yes, I was really just being too lazy to get up and dig out my color pencils, but I have to admit that this made the assignment extra fun!

Let's see what mediums I had close by in the lantern, shall we?

I see a pencil, pens, sharpies in black, silver, and blue, a few peachy-pink and orange color pencils that weren't put away last time, and photo markers.  Good stuff to start with!

For weeks I have had mushroom houses on the brain.  It's probably an art quilt idea stewing and I still haven't worked the idea through to get started.  I decided it would be a fun concept to play with for short and tall... as in short mushrooms and tall mushrooms.

Yes, it's simple. 

Yes, it has pops of color!

Yes, there is a bit of whimsy with the swing and wee little doors. 

What fun to just sit and draw with no other reason than to smile and enjoy the process :)

Mr. Toast, thank you for hosting this fun Creative Tuesday routine.   I look forward to accepting your next challenge! 

If you are considering joining in this or the next assignment (and I hope you do) feel free to check out other artists in the community here.

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Creative Tuesday: Springtime!

Happy Tuesday!!  And not just any Tuesday, it's Creative Tuesday time!

Creative Tuesday begs me to open my drawing pad and mind to fill in a page with inspirations from the theme over at Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!

This week's theme is Springtime.  That elusive season that does not seem to be coming any time soon here in NY.  Well, at least we haven't had any real snow in the last week.

Spring makes me think of a great memory.  A few springs ago, my mother in law was cleaning out her garden bed and came across a tiny little burrow full of baby bunnies.  So small and hopeful.  So soft and new.  I used this memory as the start of my drawing.

Here is the starting sketch.

I began to fill it in with watercolor pencils and then used a pen to add the black outlining to emphasize fur and whiskers.

Tulips seemed to be a natural fit for this little bun-bun.  The tulips in my garden are showing signs of growing.  They pushed through and have begun to grow leaves.  No signs of buds yet, but I am sure they will bloom quickly once we get a bit of warm weather.

This is the same picture scanned in.  I like the textures and bright colors of this one!  I enjoyed the process of dreaming up something to put on paper and then making it come to life.

Mr. Toast, thank you for gentle nudging to get back into the Creative Tuesday routine.  It's easy in life for me to say I am too busy for things, but this is one thing I shouldn't compromise.  I always come away from this experience feeling so satisfied and happy.  I look forward to accepting your next challenge!

I hope you will consider joining in this or the next assignment and check out other artists in the community here.

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Creative Tuesday: Luck/y

Happy Tuesday!!  And not just any 'ole Tuesday, it's Creative Tuesday time!

Creative Tuesday is my time to open a drawing pad to a blank page and dig deep to fill in the page with inspirations of the theme over at Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!

This time we were challenged with the theme of Luck/y.  Easy right?  Eh, not so much.  I have been stuck with horseshoes, rainbows, pots of gold, and leprechauns in my head for the last two weeks.  Seriously. 

That's when it hit me.  What about a little Japanese luck?  After living in Japan for a number of years I came to understand the Japanese culture really knows a thing or two about luck!  Enter the Manekineko!!!

{the following snip is from About.com here and roughly explains what I was told when I purchased my own manekinko.}

"Do you know what manekineko is? Manekineko are cat-shaped lucky charms. Maneki means beckoning and neko means cats in Japanese. A Manekineko raises one of its front paws and beckons (maneku) by showing the palm of the paw. It's said that manekineko raising the left hand beckons customers and one raising the right hand beckons money. You see manekineko in many Japanese stores."

I choose to draw a raised left paw to beckon {welcome} you my 'customers' -- seems fitting enough!

And for those of you counting I only used six colors in this doodle... two pinks... two yellows.. black.. and red!

Mr. Toast, thank you for another fun adventure in, around, and through that crazy mind of mine... I have so enjoyed this trip and am looking forward to accepting your next challenge!

I hope you will consider joining in this or the next assignment and check out other artists in the community here.

Creative Tuesday: Holidays

It's a holly jolly Tuesday, it's the best time of the year!!  Yo ho ho it's a holly jolly creative Tuesday!!!

I was excited to dust off my pad and break out a new box of watercolor pencils to see what would come out for this week's Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!

The theme this week was Holidays - ho ho ho!!

This is another tough theme if you ask me, because golly... this could be anything.  Here us what popped out of that zany brain of mine.

I started by flipping through the mountain of holiday ads for inspiration and saw a cute little bear ornament with a red nose and bingo! I had my inspiration.

A bear, a mouse, a snowman - oh my!

Don't you just adore new sharp pencils!  They are sooo pretty!  I had begun playing around with a tree just to get the hang of them.

These are probably a basic set, but I couldn't pass them at the Michael's black Friday sale and I didn't want to commit to a bigger set in case I didn't care for them.  So here we are.

I filled my doodle in with ink and erased my pencil lines.  Oh my goodness, the bird and the mouse just tickles my cheeks!!

And voila!  A few watercolor pencils and Christmas songs sung later and I have a piece I am really proud of.  I scanned it in to capture more of the color and rough lines.

Wishing you and your family the most warm and sincere Christmas, Hanukkah, and every other festive celebration this season.  Hug and kiss the ones around you and continue to be thankful for every laugh that fills your ear!

Cheers to the creative juices flowing in your favor today!  You can check out the other artists or join us here.

Creative Tuesday: Heavenly

Happy Tuesday Lovelies!! 

It felt so good to pick up my pad and pen to put together a little something for this week's Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!  The theme this week was Heaven or Heaven-ly!

For me, a heavenly way to spend my time is hiking with my family.  The Mr. and I had a hiking first date even and we still will use any excuse to run out into the woods for bit. 

I used pen and color pencils for this simple sketch and I scanned in the finished drawing -- really makes for a nice electronic capture!  It also saves me this time of year when I don't have a lot of time with good photo light.

Hope you're feeling the creative juices flowing today!  You can check out the other artists here.

Creative Tuesday: Little House

It's Tuesday!!  I have to admit that I have been really looking forward to showing you what I came up with this week for Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday's assignment!

Lookie!!  lookie!!

This week's theme is "Little House," which all on it's own sounds pretty darn adorable!

I started by sketching all the types of houses that I could think of ... and well, I wasn't all too impressed with myself.  Then I started drawing some of the same houses in a very small scale.  I decided that was a bit too literal for the theme.

Then it happened.  I decided to try a sketch loosening technique and then freehand.  So, with my hand all warmed up I started in with a new idea -- in ink!  A bit gutsy on my part as I typically start with pencil and then erase and re-do until I'm happy.  Then when I'm satisfied I trace what I like in ink.

Well, not this week.  I was bold.  I was gutsy.  I am loving the results!!

Hope you're feeling creative today too and also don't forget to check out the other artists here.

Happy Under the Sea Day

I have been working on my Creative Tuesday entry for the "Under the Sea" theme, hosted by the lovely Mr. Toast, for the last week!

(sorry for the terrible picture lighting!!)

It makes me giggle when I work on it. 

It makes me laugh to think of what these two charaters would say if I met them.

And, I have taken for. ever. to finish coloring it.  for. ever!

But here it is.

My Under the Sea!! 

Hope you are able to enjoy it as much as I have!

Click here to check out all the other amazing entries and to find out what the next theme will be!  And perhaps you will join us?

Clearing the Mind

Good morning!  Hope you had a nice weekend (I did too; thanks for asking!). 

I have artwork to share with you today!

There is something wonderful about how art clears my mind.  For that short period I am creating I am taken away to another place and allowed to focus solely on letting emotions out on to paper in whatever form they take.

I never really know what I am going to get.  Sometimes it's just a random page filled with nonsense doodles.  Sometimes it's a clever idea that I just can't wrap any details around.  Sometimes (like the one I am sharing today) everything just works out and I'm proud and clear minded at the end.

My inspiration was the Pure Imagination theme from Mr. Toasts Creative Tuesday's.

Starting with such an open topic was exciting and mind numbing at the sametime.  What to do?  The only thing I knew was that I wanted something with a giraffe. 

You see this time last year Mr. Happy and I went to the zoo.  Spring, in my opinion, is the best time to go since you get the first look at all the little babies!!  Last year we got to see a baby giraffe and it was most certainly the highlight of the trip!  You can see a snap I took of the baby here.

After sketching I inked and erased the pencil.  You can really start to see this taking on some life!

And here you are. This is "Animal Tea Party"

Looking at it now, it's a little bit Dr. Seuss meets kiddo book art meets funky colors meets Charlottes Web.  So fun! 

I don't have a lot of experience with color pencils, but I adore how they gave the animals and tea cups saturated colors that really pop!  I can't wait to experiment with inking and color pencils in a future doodle!

A closer look at the cutie patutie giraffe I've named George (said with French accent). And I included a little surprise... do you see it?  Do you?

Want to see other artists interpretation of Pure Imagination?  Just head over to Hot Toast and Jam for a looksie!  And for pete's sake... if you are on the fence about joining in?  Do it!  Seriously, your brain will thank you!

Hint:  The surprise included may be in the form of an oddly shaped giraffe spot!!  Don't you love surprises?

On the nerve wrecking spectrum of happy

I finally did it.  I stopped being my biggest critic for a whole whopping five minutes.  Just long enough to snap some pictures and post my doodles.

Creating art is a really personal thing.  It's another way to capture what is going on in your mind.  A way to translate how you feel.  A way to connect.  Creating, putting pencil to paper, getting those thoughts out is a happy thing!

Sharing them, on the other hand, is a little more on the nerve wrecking spectrum of happy.  That sort of happy nervousness where you know sharing is the right thing to do, but you wonder, "What will they think?"

Before I talk myself out of this post I am going to commit and just post these dang pictures and be done with it.  Here you are:

Over at Hot Toast and Jam, there are a group of crazy creatives (like me --and I mean crazy in a free spirit, lovely, incredible kinda way), who partipate in Creative Tuesday's. 

This rounds theme was Travel.  Here is what came out of my brain:

I would give anything to pack my bag, snag my teddy, and head off to the nearest ticket window to start some great adventure!

And with the help of yummy smelling markers, some color!

Travelling for me also means dreaming of serene places I wouldn't mind kicking up my feet and neglecting my technology. 

So, there you have it.  My first time joining Creative Tuesdays!! 

I have a feeling this is going to be one of these things that only gets easier!