More Hulafrogs.

That may be it for the simpler ones. The next one's get a bit more complicated. Just a bit.

One down. Nine to go.

For the Hulafrog project I mentioned yesterday.
Actually one and a half down. Eight and a half to go.
Stay tuned. :)

Eve

She's finally done and in my etsy shop.

I just love how she turned out. The little mushrooms and the red plaid leaves are my favorites. :)

Thanks for all the comments about my new little painting nook. It's funny that you all think I'm neat and organized. HA!
It already doesn't look like the photos. It was only neat because it was all brand spankin' new.
I really am going to try and keep it neat though. I mean it.

Okay, this will probably be the only original I can offer for the next few weeks.
I'll be working on the Hulafrog Website project. Did I mention it here? It's a website for kids and I'm lucky enough to be doing the artwork for it. 10 frog paintings in all...for now.
Anyway, I'll be showing the images here but none will be available for sale. It's still fun to look though, right?
Once the website is complete I'll post a link so you can see how it turned out.

My cozy little studio...

What do you do when you have a tiny little nook just off of your kitchen? Well you add the largest table you can find to it, of course.

I can't even remember when or where Mike got this table. It's been in the attic since we lived here (13 years) and I'm pretty sure it made the move from Virginia with us.

Never in a million years did I think I'd be the one using it and not Mike. He's the artist. I do payroll. Don't know how things ever got so turned around, but I ain't complainin'!



Haven't found a stool yet, so I'm standing to work but I really don't mind.
Mike just added the little ledge for my paints yesterday. It makes me happy just lookin' at it. It's like a do-it-yourself rainbow.
And I love the large, CLEAN, table surface for packing up my prints and paintings.

The picket fence is where my newly finished art lives until it finds a new home. As you can see it's quite empty now with only two lowly little items. I'm thinking of adding some really long, striped legs to that little bunny girl. For fun. :)



These fells don't technically live in the nook but right outside of it. They just make me smile. I imagine that they are just stepping out of a steamy cow sauna.



Below you can see the view from the kitchen sink. Now you can get an idea of how tiny/cozy it really is. The armoire falls outside of the "studio" borders too, but it does hold most of my art supplies. Every piece of furniture...table, armoire, shelves, ledge...was either found or given to us. Luckily I'm a mismatched kinda gal...so it works. :)


Still more to be done. We are going to move the shelves that are on the floor there up onto the wall. They are actually a neighbors old kitchen cabinets (minus any doors) that we nabbed on trash day. They've been living on the back porch so they may need a fresh coat of paint. Add a touch of artwork to the walls for inspiration, find the perfect stool, move Penny's bed in and then all will be right with the world.

If - Idle

I'm pretty busy these days. But I do have a few idle girls in my collection.
For Illustration Friday prompt: Idle

Stye Master

Don't know if I wrote about the eye/eyelid problems I've been having here or not. If you're on facebook you're probably aware of my woes.
In trying to alleviate my eyelid eczema with olive oil, I seemed to have clogged up a duct and now I have the stye of all styes. Not pretty. I've been wearing an eye patch to keep me from bothering it, but mostly to keep others from having to look at it.
I guess if it's not showing signs of improvement by tomorrow I'll head off to the Dr's. .(
(Note, I've been making my smiley/frowny faces with one eye) .)
So I've still been painting. It's harder with one eye, but still doable. Here's the custom Leap of Faith girl I did yesterday.

And today will be full of sketching for my current project.
I'll try to fit the painting of the sketch I showed in my last post in there somewhere too.
I think I've decided to call her Eve. I'll let you all know when she's been listed.

In other news, Mike scored himself a small freelance job that starts on Monday. Perhaps it will lead to something bigger.
That's all for now.
Sorry I haven't been responding to comments or visiting other blogs lately. I miss that and look forward to getting back to it soon.

Well I got this far...

Well actually I got a bit farther. I have it sketched on canvas too. I'd hoped to paint it today, but wouldn't you know, as soon as I start to work on something that's when I hear back about other things that need attended to first.

I did hire Eli as my post office boy, so at least I won't have to stop and do that every day.
Mike perfectionist that he is, is still busy scraping clean, adding antiquing oil, and polishing the old art table for the nook/studio. Now I'm going to feel bad when I get paint on it. :(
We need to head out today to find a stool for it and to get some groceries.
So adding paint to this girl is pretty far down on my list, but you never know...
I'll be trying to think up a good name for her while I'm busy doing all these other things.
Any suggestions?

New prints

Sorry I haven't had much time for posting lately.
Funny how your life changes when your husband is home all the time. Not complaining though. He scrubbed the kitchen floor last week (I can almost see myself in it) and now he's bringing the big old art table down from the attic for me. We are fashioning a tiny little studio in the breakfast nook.

Maybe then I'll actually sit down and do some work. I'm hoping today.
In the meantine, I've added some images to my etsy shop that I've never offered as prints before. (Summer sale prices apply!)



Okay, I'd better go lend Mike a hand. The cursing has begun.
Hopefully I'll be back soon with something new. :)

Life is hard.

Some days I can't even decide which crown to wear. :)

19 years and 1 day.

No job = no gifts, but we did enjoy our day together.
Josh commented that it was just like any other day, but since we usually enjoy our days together that worked out just fine. :)
We did serve up some grilled salmon and scallops for dinner so that was out of the ordinary...and yummy!
Aaron's Taylor got the first season of Pushing Daisies on dvd so we also enjoyed a bit of that on Monday and Tuesday night.

I'm still busy sketching and am not sure when I'll have any new original artwork to show you.
I did find a wonderful stack of weathered wood outside of my dad's shop yesterday and I'm hopin' he'll let me use it for paintin' on.
It was the most beautiful shade of gray!!!
In the meantime, here is something I forgot to share.
My silly old Party Time frog showed up on Cuteable a few weeks ago.


Thanks Lynsey!

And also I got the word that I was featured here yesterday.
Toot toot! (that's the sound of my own horn) :)

Anywho, I'm happy to say that print sales are picking up again over in the old Etsy Shop. Maybe because of my summer-long print sale, or maybe just because things are starting to look up out there.
We'll see.
Also don't forget about my first batch of Sugar Nellie stamps available at Funky Kits and about the lovely She Believed locket sets over at Polarity. I've heard only good things about these, although I haven't seen them in person yet.
(all links are in the sidebar)

Okay, that's enough of that. Just thought you might like some places to visit while I'm busy here at home.
Enjoy the 2nd half of your week!

If - hollow

...I'm not high on life. I'm not drunk on love. Broken down not feelin' right.

This is old. But I'm VERY busy. And it fits nicely, I think.
Words are from one of my favorite Clarks songs. (actually almost all of them are my favorites)
It's called Happy...but really it's sad. :(

On ebay now too.

Cause that's how I roll. :)
ebay

Original painting up for grabs

I should be working on other things, but sometimes a new sketch just can't wait. Paint me now it cries! If you don't do it now you know you never will!!! So I listened. :)
Image came first. Found the quote second.

"Simple, Sweet Things"
In my etsy shop.

I started the day off having an argument with Aaron and have felt crappy about it all day.
Mike is leaving in a few minutes for a hockey meeting (he signed up to be VP/team manager for Eli's ice team). All the kids are off with friends and girlfriends.
The only thing worse than being bummed out is being bummed out and home alone. :(
Eh. Maybe I'll get some work done.

Oops! Forgot to say that yes, Heat Miser is Jack Black and Snow Miser is Dick VAn Dyke. :)

The Miser Brothers

Josh decided they should remake "The Year Without a Santa Claus" with real people. He sketched this up with his casting choices for The Miser Brothers.
Can you guess who they are?
I thought Heat Miser would be the easy one, but my Facebook friends haven't guessed it yet. :)

And speaking of my little artist, here's the new haircut. More handsome than ever, I'd say.



I spent yesterday nursing a sore back and purple toe. Injuries sustained while "attempting" to play volleyball at my mom's on Sunday.
We had a fun-filled weekend with Mike's family...and mine too. Well, the funeral part was no fun :(, but there is nothing like having your family around to help you forget about your problems. Lots of food, a bit of Flyght, and fireworks on the 4th. BAck to mom's on the 5th. More food and a birthday cake for my sister who turned 49 on Friday.

No new art to show really. I did some sketching yesterday while I laid on the couch nursing my aching back.

And this one I did this morning while enjoying my coffee.
Sorry I'm so boring. I'll try to do better. :)

Adjusting

So it's day 2 of Mike's unemployment. It will probably be next week before he can begin a serious job search, as his Aunt Betty passed away on Tuesday and we'll be busy with family for the next few days.
It's weird having him home in the middle of the week...but nice.

I was busy yesterday working on new Sugar Nellie stamp sketches. I finished two and I think they are pretty darn cute. If you haven't seen the first set yet, click on the Funky Kits logo in the sidebar.
So nothing new that I can show, but I did add all of my latest paintings to my etsy shop as prints (Summer Sale Prices apply!!!) and I've also made some cards for my Zazzle shop.

A Single Rose - Greeting CArd by DudaDaze
Create custom note cards with Zazzle

In other news, Josh is requesting yet another haircut. He wants to go way short now. Which made me realize I never showed his last haircut.

Not a great picture, but you get the idea. It looks better than this usually. Kinda like he stepped right out of "That 70's Show". :)

Now he's asking for this Scott Blasey cut. I can't wait to see how he looks! It's been years since I've seen him with short hair.


And here's the picture I promised of the mohawk Mike gave my nephew, Brant.

Brant turns 18 tomorrow. We'll be celebrating this and his graduation tomorrow night at his mom's house. Mike's brother and his family will be up from VA for the funeral and for Brant's party.
Aaron and Flyght are playing at the drummer's families annual July 4th party on Saturday. And then we'll be celebrating my sister's birthday (also tomorrow) on Sunday at my mom's.
So really we don't even have time to worry about no income yet.
If I'm not around you'll know why.
Have a lovely holiday weekend!