Stuff Myla Says
Years ago, around the time Myla first started talking, I would write notes in a notebook of the funny things she’d say. And then once, browsing online, I came across an awesome custom photo book that had beautiful little areas to write fun little things your kid says. I first saw it featured in this blog post, and immediately ordered my own, full of great pictures of Myla, and cute graphic spaces in which to write.
The company was called Paper Coterie, and UNFORTUNATELY, it is now out of business. (Sadly, if I had known that, I might have ordered about six of those books ahead of time…)
…But wait a minute. If you don’t mind, let’s pause here a moment, and rewind a bit…
I have a longstanding love of Moleskine sketchbooks.
Before the internet had become a part of my everyday life, before I had a printer…before I could Google things quickly from the convenience of my phone in a mere matter of seconds, before I had ever even DREAMED of Pinterest, I had kept Moleskine sketchbook journals that pretty much served that exact same purpose: Anything at all that I saw that I wanted to remember, I logged it in my sketchbook.
It was my own sort of little encyclopedia of things that interested me. Not so much strictly my own work, but my own versions and interpretation of things I saw, sketched in my own hand, of other peoples’ work, other peoples’ information. A little encyclopedia of stuff I never knew I wanted to know. I often copied them directly (like Tank Girl below), or sometimes added my own flair (like the tattoos on the woman below).
I documented things like the seven wonders of the world, Russion prison tattoos, the lifecycle of a frog, the various types of clouds and their names, the origins of the term “bless you,” hobo symbols, infamous pirate flags, and the meaning of fortune telling lines in palm reading.
I carried it EVERYWHERE I went. It was fun for me, it was a collection of things that went wherever my imagination took me, whatever I was interested in at the time. I wondered, I researched, and I documented.
(If you’re curious what else was in there, the entire first sketchbook as well as my second sketchbook are online on my illustration website.)
Years later, when I was pregnant, I constantly heard “enjoy every moment, it goes so quickly!” So since I am quite a literal person, I took that to heart, and then always felt this intensely insane NEED to document EVERYTHING. When I was pregnant with Myla, I kept a couple of sketch journals throughout the whole thing, which I somehow continued to keep up all the way until she was about two, (when I became too busy and finally just let it go).
It’s funny looking back–the illustrations are so detailed and magical when our little cub was still in my tummy, and somehow get much simpler and roughly sketchier during her baby and toddler years…sometimes favoring a quick line of text or two instead of a drawing, thanks to lack of time and exhaustion…
When my husband was deployed to Afghanistan and Myla hadn’t even yet turned two, I felt the same insanely furious need for complete documentation. Somehow, along with the myriad of day-to-day things I had to take care of, I managed to take video clips of things Myla and I had done and EVERY MONTH, compile them into a movie (complete with themed and synchronized music and text), and send them to my husband, my mother and mother-in-law, and my grandmothers. EVERY. MONTH. They were beautiful, they were exhausting, they were fun, and my husband says that was one thing that he appreciated the most, while he was away from us for so long.
At some point, though, you just have to LIVE that life, and let go of the furious documenting, just for document’s sake, and when he came back from deployment, that’s what I did. I can be honest when I felt like there were times I didn’t want to miss documenting a SINGLE EVENT. Sure, the big ones: first food, first step, first walk. But I was furiously documenting EVERYTHING. It sort of felt like I HAD to, because heaven forbid your kid grow up and you didn’t record EVERY memorable moment. That MIGHT just mean you didn’t care, or didn’t appreciate. Heaven forbid you didn’t think to put a dollar in a binder for her at every birthday, or save every bit of hair they ever lost or any of the millions and millions of memorable and wonderful things you can find on Pinterest. As much documenting as I’ve done (and seriously, I have done a LOT), I STILL find things on Pinterest that I hadn’t ever considered.
But it’s okay, I promise (I tell myself). You don’t have to document it all. Just enjoy it. Document what you like, but don’t do it because you feel you NEED to. There’s no WAY you can do it all. (Trust me, I’ve tried.)
So now that she’s older, and she’s saying all the wonderful things kids say, and my little Paper Coterie book is already full of little wonderful things she’s ALREADY said, I was reminded of my old sketchbook journals, and decided to do my own illustrations of some of the stuff Myla says. I had kept a little running list on my phone, for my own remembrance, and I wanted to pull a few and let them see the light of a new sketchbook. I even bought a new Moleskine just for the occasion.
I didn’t illustrate them because I felt like I “NEEDED” to…but more like the old way I documented things in the past: because they were truly wonderful little things I wanted to remember.
Some of them are wonderful little introspective moments when you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the deep little depths of your kid’s imagination…
And some of them–although they might SEEM quite “deep,” are just her simple little observations about things….
Either way, they’re very lovely to me. Not because I NEED to make a keepsake, but simply because I want to illustrate them.
When I showed a couple of them to her, she found them amusing, but she doesn’t see the wonder in it that I do; she’s simply just living it. There’s nothing magical to HER in what she says, it’s just the random little thoughts that come out of her wonderful little head.
But they’ll be things I always remember. And things I truly always WANT to remember. Things that make me happy.
And sometimes, for all the right reasons, that’s okay.
Play With Your Food!
Since this time of year is quite food-centric, I thought it might be fun to encourage you all to play with your food….
If you’ve never seen the hundreds of Pinterest posts on it, milk painting with kids is actually pretty fun! Put milk in bowls. Add food coloring. Let ’em paint on bread. Toast & eat. Easy peasy!
But I was also inspired awhile back by a fellow Instagram artist, who painted for fun with his morning coffee. So one morning, Myla and I drew little faces on paper, and I graciously sacrificed a small portion of my own morning coffee to a little bowl, from which we painted.
Eventually, when the coffee dried a little, I tried adding some of her kid markers to the mix. And since I remembered they’re washable, they had a sort of watercolor effect when wet, which was pretty fun to play with.
Myla added more as well…(she was really getting into this).
And (as we like to do) when I was finished, I handed over creative control of the drawing to Myla….who turned her into a lady centaur.
With a pink tail and a cane. TaDAHHHHH!
I tried this coffee trick later on my own, on a portrait of Nick Cave I did for a friend. I even threw a little coffee grounds into the mix, rubbing them into the paper, which gave it a bit of a gritty feel (although, admittedly maybe moreso if I didn’t love creamer so much).
Anyway, it smelled good.
Another day, we tried using our morning blueberries, adding a few kid markers again. Those were the best! The blueish-purple was pretty rich, and I wondered what other foods I could use.
I heard comments from people who said they’ve used strawberries, blackberries, mustard, ketchup, and candy.
I found a tutorial awhile back for doing chocolate portraits….which sounds pretty stinkin’ awesome! …But I’m pretty sure I don’t have the patience for that.
(It WAS a pretty easy-looking tutorial, though….and now maybe I DO want to play with some chocolate.)
Anyway, WHATEVER you’re doing with food this season, I hope you have a little fun with it!
Nuudles!
Have you ever played with Nuudles? Magic Nuudles are these styrofoamy-looking little tater tots that stick together with water. They’re apparently made of cornstarch (yummm! –oh, wait, you’re not supposed to EAT them), and are biodegradable and environmentally friendly.
For some reason, they kind of weirded me out at first (maybe just a sense memory of packing-popcorn disasters?), but I have changed my tune. I. LOVE. NUUDLES.
They’re easy: Stick ’em in a bowl so you can see all the colors easily. Get a little sponge (if you lose the one in the box, a wet washcloth works), give your kid some safety scissors, and BOOM, it’s just that easy.
(In case you’re not aware, I don’t get any money for anything on this blog, so no one’s holding my kid hostage, telling me I have to say good things. I just love getting good tips from other crafty moms about things that might peacefully and quietly entertain my kid that DON’T involve a TV or IPad.)
You can squish the little pieces, or cut them up with scissors, and all it takes is a little touch of water (they even say you can lick them, but…um…no thanks) to make them stick together.
Myla found them fun, and had a great time trying to make characters with them. The little blue fox above is Fig, from the Amazon show Tumble Leaf. She also made the little crab with the wooden claw (look how she made the little wooden claw!!) from the same show. Below them is what she says is Catbus, from the movie Totoro, but (admittedly) looks a bit like a CATerpillar. Hur-hur.
And look at these teensy weensy little bats!
I’m sure she told me what these are, but I’m not sure I remember (BAD momma!)…The bottom one is most likely a version of Nightcrawler, I’m sure (based on my scientific deduction…and the basic color scheme)…
And some other cute little critters…
So anyway, not that anyone asked, but I give Magic Nuudles a big high five! If you’re looking for something for a bigger kid to play with (they recommend over age 3) that doesn’t require TONS of parental involvement (alright: when you need a bit of a breather), they’re definitely worth a try!
Doodle Wars
“Let’s both each draw a picture that’s a fish,” Myla said one day. We each drew our own on the same page, and, as will often happen, she inevitably became more interested in what was going on on MY side.
“Don’t forget his fins,” she’d say. “Or maybe some teeth.”
So I make a joke out of it. “Oh yeah?!? You know what YOURS needs?? Lobster claws. Totally.” And then I reached over to her drawing and doodled a quick pair of claws.
It cracked her up in a cascade of giggles.
“Oh, okay…yours looks great, mom, but it could really use some BIGGGG horns.”
Pretty soon it evolved to an all-out doodle war. “Oh, yours would look SOOOO much better with walrus tusks!” “It’s good, but I think it could really use an elephant trunk,” we say to eachother in our mock-friendly voices. …And on and on.
It’s hilarious to her to impact something I’ve done in a funny way, and a great demonstration of the idea that if you want to have say in what someone else is doing, you might have to be okay with them doing the same to you…
And since it’s just a quick little doodle, there’s nothing sacred in it, other than just having fun and being silly.
I always love what comes of them, as crazy as they are. I’m wondering what a finer version of it might look like. maybe it’d be different than our usual collaborations. It might involve taking some time and patience, which is very difficult for a 5-year old. People have often tried to “tell” us what we should draw together, and while people sometimes have some great ideas, it sort of just has to happen. In my world, the things that I push the hardest on are the things that don’t ever feel as genuine, and therefore aren’t as enjoyable for the viewer or the ones creating it.
But trying something new? I’m always up for that. 🙂
Me, For Sale.
I am not good at selling myself. I’m horrible.
You might say, “wait, don’t you WORK in marketing??” And I would respond with “I am a graphic artist. I just put together eye-catching imagery.”
Once, after I got out of the army, I had a job where I had to call up existing clients and offer to schedule them for their yearly meetings. It was the closest thing to a telemarketer I had ever been (even though it was for EXISTING clients who probably NEEDED to schedule their yearly appointments), and I was often treated as one. I hated it. When they were short with me or shoot me down, my attitude was, “Oh. Okay, then.” Way to make that hard sell, Mica!
I’ve SEEN people be good at it, and it’s sort of amazing to watch. I was once a graphic artist for an auto ad sales department, and worked with some amazing salesmen who could pull out the charm and still talk you into something you’d be happy to have, and not in a sleazy way, but in a “Oh! This would be a great deal for BOTH of us!” sort of way. It always felt genuine, even though you know it was a sell. It was always impressive to see.
I am not one of those people that even knows how that works.
There’s a quote I quite like, by psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott, that says: “Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.” I like that. It makes a LOT of sense to me. It’s very true for me. I am an introvert, but I want to connect with like-minded (and sometimes different-minded) people. I have no desire to be “famous,” but I’d LOVE to share my work with a lot of people. If you ask my opinion on something, I will tell you everything I feel–until then, I keep it to myself for the most part.
This does not mean I am shy, by any means. I have learned to hold my own in my interactions with complete strangers. I just don’t grow in the spotlight. (I’m a little more like moss that way.)
But from time to time, even though I think I have tooted my own horn a-plenty, I still get asked, “do you sell your artwork?” and “do you have a book/t-shirts/prints?”
I do speak a lot better about something when I’m truly proud of it, or if I truly want to share my opinion. So I thought I’d share a bit about what I feel is awesome, and what I’m proud of. I’m going to tell you what I have for sale, where to find it, and what it’s like…
1. THE BOOK
I am VERY proud of the book we made. Thanks to so many backers on Kickstarter, I was able to put together and print the collection of our collaborations. It tells the story of how our collaborations began, how we do our doodles, and even has some doodle pages you can finish yourself. You can buy copies of “Share With Me” here.
We even had enough funding to print a little animal book of short stories I called “Tail Tales,” which you can buy here.
Both of these books are very near & dear to me. Not only do I think it’s amazing to see all the artwork Myla & I did together, I worked tirelessly putting them together myself, laying them out, sorting the files, and it’s wonderful to see all that work turn into something beautiful in the end.
1. SOCIETY6 ITEMS
When I first posted the “Collaborations” story, I put a few of our collaborations up on Society6. I had seen a friend’s work posted on there, and tried it out myself by ordering one before I ever made the post. Their art prints are beautiful, printed on very nice archival paper. The color is beautiful, and I found them to be a VERY close representation of the original artwork. (First off, let me say that I don’t get any of this stuff for free; I have to pay for it myself, just with only a slight discount.) So I’ll tell you a little more about the other items they offer there:
Mugs:
Their mugs are BEAUTIFUL! The color is excellent, and the printing is so clear. Once, I got a mug that was great except for the signature, and the lower part of the mug, which was completely smeared. I took a photo, sent it to them, and they sent a new one right away. I have a couple that I mostly keep pens & paintbrushes in…
Tote Bags:
The printing is so cool and clear on them. The big one is BIGGGG. I bring it with me to Myla’s gymnastics class. At first, I felt it was a little TOO big, but the more I use it, it’s just right. It’s one of my favorites to carry around. I initially thought the small one seemed a little TOO small, but actually, I can fit my sketchbook, Ipad, and quite a few other things in there. It’s not bad when you just want to carry a few things around without taking up too much room. (If you promise not to tell, I’ll let you all know that I plan on giving a tote or two as teacher gifts…)
Pillows:
The pillows are nice! We have quite a few of them, thrown all over the house, because I couldn’t decide which ones I wanted. They’re sort of a canvas-y material, and they’re quite stiff at first, but they do soften up after awhile. Myla even uses one to sleep on at night. I changed it out once, thinking it was too rough for her, but she asked for it back once she realized it was gone.
T-shirts:
Okay, let me say this. Their t-shirts (at least the three I tried) are SOFT. That being said, I’m not quite as crazy about the printing style they use. It comes looking nearly faded, and I have gotten a few comments about the quality. One of mine was actually stuck to itself, which tore part of the design. When I contacted them, they did give me a full refund. If a faded sort of look and a VERY soft shirt is what you’re looking for, that’s what they’ve got. (I now only offer just a few on Society6).
My favorite t-shirts, however, are on RedBubble…
2. REDBUBBLE ITEMS
I was contacted by RedBubble awhile back to give their store a try. I had gotten many requests like this from a variety of companies, but I had seen quite a few good things come from them. However, since my original “Collaborations” post was already linked to Society 6, I couldn’t just migrate to RedBubble. So I released a few t-shirt options (and at the time, they were the only ones that offered children’s sizes), and an exclusive listing of our ABC animals. I also posted our other animal collaborations there. They have the option of little die-cut stickers, but my favorite thing from them is their t-shirts.
This is Myla in her “Lizapillar” shirt. The shirt itself is a regular, well-fitting shirt, but the design is SO bright and true to our colors. We’ve washed it many times, and it still looks bright and beautiful.
3. MY NEW ETSY SHOP
If you’re looking for a strange, handmade gift, this is where I’m throwing those down. I’ve been having SO much fun making little handpainted resin monster necklaces, monster brooches, and handmade monster puppy dolls.
Also listed is a pretty wide assortment of original artwork. These are drawings and paintings from my own sketchbooks that desperately need a home, and that want to look at you lovingly from a behind a frame on the walls in your house.
…So there it is. Self-promotion. Something I’m not entirely great at, but hopefully you will take it for what it’s worth: me, just wanting to share something with you that I hope you will enjoy. Or that maybe you might think someone else will enjoy. Not in any kind of shady way, but in a “I like this stuff. If you like this stuff, here’s where to find it” sort of way.
Thank you all so much, and have a happy day!
The Tale of Donkey
(This is not so much art-related, but I thought I’d share a little story. So if you’re up for it, just sit back, relax, snuggle up, and tuck in. Here we go…)
People often wonder what it’s like to grow up in a military family. Unlike the TV show trope, my dad didn’t march us around the house, barking commands at my sister, mother, and me. After a long day of formations and the field, that was probably the last thing he wanted to do.
Being in an army family means lots of things, but most significantly, it means moving around. A lot. My husband once commented that our daughter at 3 years old, had flown more often than he had the entire first 25 years of his life.
I grew up around the army, and I was very outgoing…until it all slammed to a halt in about 5th grade. I remember it distinctly, because that was when all the social awkwardness happened, and the things I loved (like drawing, reading, bugs, and sci-fi) suddenly became “weird” to the people that had so recently played side by side with me. Being a military family meant that just as social awkwardness set in, we got into an unfortunate pattern of moving nearly EVERY YEAR. So just as I was settling in somewhere, it was just about time to pick up & move. I became a bit more introverted. I stuck my head in my sketchbook and didn’t bother to get to know anyone.
Boohoohoo. Believe me, it’s not a story of pity. My parents took us to so many wonderful places and we did so many fun things. I’ve seen amazing and wonderful parts of the world that my heart STILL aches for. Yes, school was rough at times, but isn’t it always? I lost & found my voice many times, and I’d be a completely different person if anything in it had changed. Years later, I JOINED the army, and found my voice again. I spent four years in that were some of the most important years in my life. Now I’m married to a soldier, and we have our own “army brat” (that’s VERY loving term of endearment and respect, for non-military folks who may be unfamiliar with the term).
But one of the down sides of moving around so much is that we either hang on to things too much, or we let go of things too easily. Maybe that’s also true metaphorically, but I’m talking in this case about actual THINGS. I’ve had friends who spoke of family heirlooms and things being passed down from generation to generation–an idea that fascinated me when I was younger, as we didn’t really have that sort of thing. Moving a lot means the army gives you only so much weight allowance, so sometimes you have to dump the excess.
When I was around eight, I got a Steiff donkey (Steiff is a German dollmaking company). I was in LOVE with that donkey. My sister got a teddy she called Molly Bear. I tried to name my donkey, but he always ended up Just Donkey. He was my go-to guy. I cried many tears into his furry gray neck, and I cuddled with him on many happy nights for many many MANY years.
Me in my Care Bears jammies with my Prince Valiant ‘do, and a brand new Donkey.
When I was old enough to go off to college, like Andy in Toy Story, I left Donkey behind at my parents’ house, and they eventually put him in storage in the shed with a few other of our childhood dolls. Several moves later, he stayed forgotten in a Rubbermaid container, and when I thought of him, I thought of him with a smile. And years later, when my dad retired, I asked about Donkey. “Oh gosh,” my mom said. “He’s probably in a container in the shed somewhere.”
Several MORE years later, not long after Myla was born, I asked again about Donkey. Sadly, it was discovered that most of the dolls and boxes in the shed had suffered at the hands of a major mouse infestation. Dolls and clothing had been shredded by them, paper and stuffing used to make nests in what was once assumed to be sealed-tight containers. Quite a few things were lost or destroyed by mouse-droppings and nibbles. It was a mousetastrophy.
I had heard (for a military family, especially) that it helps comfort a kid to have a doll that is a special “lovvie;” the one constant thing that your kid can connect with and keep, and with a new (and VERY fussy baby), I would have loved for that to have worked. I am here to tell you, my friends, that in my experience, you cannot MAKE a doll be a lovvie. I tried to make many dolls and blankets her lovvie, and nothing stuck. I constantly put them by her in bed, I’d give one to her when she’d cry, and she could really not care less if they were there or not.
And then, just before Myla’s first birthday, mom sent a package to us in Alaska. It was my DONKEY!! And he was FINE! He had somehow survived the rodent apocalypse unscathed! Mom had washed him and sent him to us when they cleaned out their shed. I happily gave my beloved Donkey to Myla, who I assumed would simply cuddle him for a bit and toss him aside. But for some reason, out of ALL the dolls that have ever come and gone, THIS one stuck.
From the minute I gave him to her, he has rarely left her side. So Donkey has been with her since before she could walk, and though other dolls have come and gone, she always goes back to Donkey. New dolls are the occasional favorites sometimes (I may have mentioned she has a stuffed animal addiction), but she always goes back to Donkey.
Donkey has been there for doctor’s appointments, shots, airplane rides, hotel nights, and was a MUST the time she had to stay overnight at the hospital after a bad flu. He has been puked on, accidentally painted on, and had food and drinks spilled on him. His fur, once fluffy and soft, is now matted and course. His neck flops from years of constant cuddling. His mane and tail are nearly threadbare.
And if you ask her if she’d like you to open him up and add a bit more stuffing to make him less floppy, she would tell you “NO, PLEASE. I love him JUST the way he is.”
He is hers, and she loves him.
I can’t change the fact that we move so much, and as an army brat myself, I think it actually ends up making you strong. You appreciate what you have, and enjoy the people around you. You have friends from all over, and even when it’s hard to keep in touch, you can be miles apart, and still feel close to them if you’ve been lucky enough to find some good ones. So in her world, it makes me feel good that something so loved in my life has been so well-loved in hers.
So do you or your kids have a special doll? Some sort of “lovvie” they can’t part with? Do you have something special you’ve passed down to someone else?
Monster Puppies!
Okay, so I’ve written in the past about my experiments with resin casting my mermaid sculptures, and again when I started making dolls from the sculpted faces… Well, I’ve decided finally, after much trepidation…..
It’s intimidating, and I can’t fully pinpoint why I feel that way. I think because I like to give my full attention to things, and since I have a full-time job and a full-time family (not to mention all my full-time hobbies), I was nervous about not being able to give it the attention I’d like it to have.
And also, there was something else darker looming. I worried about the intimidation of “HAVING” to do something, as opposed to doing something just for the fun of it. Ages ago, when I was a kid, my mom (being a military wife, and a full-time, mostly stay-at-home mom) handpainted ornaments for craft shows. They were BEAUTIFUL, and she loved it, and did really well at big shows. In the demands of stocking up for a craft show, she turned her art table into an assembly line of sorts, painting variations of the same things over and over and over again. People loved it, and she did her best to provide a variety of kinds of figures in different skin tones and hair colors, and offered to customized each of them by painting their names on them. It was amazing. But soon, people became picky about customizing things. It wasn’t enough that a simple little character had red hair, they’d ask for WAVIER red hair. Or more freckles. Or a slightly darker skin tone, or dimples. And we’re not talking full, customized portraits here–we’re talking cute, detailed but simple, country crafts. And people would complain constantly (and loudly) of the price–$5 for a handpainted ornament, and they’d complain, not bothering to notice all the hours of work and love that went into each one. After years of this, Mom got burnt out. Although it helped supplement my dad’s army income, after awhile, trying to please everyone, along with doing the same thing over and over and over again wore her out.
But friends have assured me that it can be just for fun! That it doesn’t HAVE to be a custom assembly line. It can be a place to put all the strange things I create, and ENJOY creating, and sharing with people. And that if it gets to be too much, I can put it on “vacation” while I sort things out.
So I decided to give it a try.
I’ve had SO much fun with this resin-casting, that I’ve started making Monster Puppies.
I’ve written before about how much Myla loves her odd little doll, Midnight, and how despite people thinking it’s “creepy,” she loves it all the same.
I’ve had SO MUCH FUN making a variety of monster puppies, in different cute but creepy versions. I’ve always LOVED the juxtaposition of soft and hard, sweet, and sour, cute and creepy…and that’s what I had fun with in making these little guys. For now, I decided to just put up what I’ve created, and not offer customized pieces just yet, until I can get a feel for if I can handle it or not…
The hardest part is convincing Myla that she can’t adopt EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. She loves them all, and her first reaction to each new Monster Puppy is a very beloved, “AWWWW!!!!!”
They’re not for everyone, I know. But they’re fun to make, and people are either totally creeped out by them, or think they’re unusually cool.
I’ve also had a LOT of fun making my little monsters into JEWELRY! I made several necklaces in a couple of designs…
This next one is my personal favorite, and I decided to keep her for myself… (I’m wearing her right at this very moment, actually.)
Myla picked her favorite, and actually wears it to school (although we later changed its eyes to black after she saw mine).
You might think it odd that I send my kid to school with a creepy monster necklace, in the heart of Central Texas. Once, while making smalltalk with some little girls at the craft store, the girls looked at her necklace and said, “wow, that’s really creepy.” Myla knows that some people think so. We’ve talked a lot about how it’s okay to like something and it’s okay NOT to like something. Nothing’s for everyone. But I asked her if it made her feel bad, and if she wanted to take it off. “NO! Not at all!” She said. “I just don’t want people to be scared of it.”
So now, if people say it’s creepy, she’s decided to say, “Yes, but she’s actually quite a nice and FRIENDLY monster.”
I also made a few of them into pin-backed brooches.
I’ve also added several pieces of ORIGINAL artwork (not the collaborations, however–still can’t part with those), paintings, and sketchbook pages.
In any case, welcome to my shop! It’s a collection of things I love to make, and I hope they at least make you smile. I’ll do my best to add new things to it from time to time, in whatever direction my crafty brain takes me, whatever I’m into at the moment!
Charlie and Jack
Or: “Why We Have a Dead Horse Taped To Our Window”
Here’s a quick little story:
Recently, we watched a show on PBS called “Animal Odd Couples,” about unusual animal friendships, which Myla loved. She especially loved the story of Charlie the horse and Jack the goat. 
Charlie was a 40-year-old farm horse who was blind in one eye, and very near to being put down when the family noticed that their 16-year old goat, Jack, had begun walking with Charlie around the farm, standing on his good side to lead him, making sure he got where he needed to go. As the horse got older and blind in both eyes, the goat began leading him in front so he could follow his sound.
The show is very sweet, and you can watch the story of Charlie and Jack here:
Myla was so impressed by this that the next time we sat down to draw together, she drew Charlie and Jack, and asked me to help her spell out their words…
Later in the story, they talk about how Charlie passed away. In tribute, Myla grabbed a paper plate and asked me if she could draw Charlie after he died (she has learned to ask about potentially inappropriate images after some “artistic mishaps” at school), and I said it would be okay.
I don’t think she meant it in a morbid way; to her mind, it was more of a tribute. The “x” eyes and the tongue sticking out are merely a way of telling you visually that the sweet horse that was part of this amazing story died. She wanted people to know about Charlie and Jack. She asked me if I’d write the story around it, and I took dictation on the words she wanted me to write. She asked if we could get a big stick and put it in the front yard so that everyone could see the story, but (thankfully) I convinced her that the weather might be an issue, and we compromised by taping it to the window in our kitchen nook.
So, we have a drawing of a dead horse on our window. But it’s sort of…sweet, actually?
And that’s the story of Charlie and Jack, and how Myla loved them.
Austin Wizard World!
So Austin Wizard World happened this past weekend, and I thought I’d tell you all about my very first ever Con experience as both a vendor and an attendee…
First off, the fact that the event started on a Thursday was apparently unusual, and had quite a few vendors and staff in a huff. The event also coincided with a football game that same weekend, but it being my first time at all, I didn’t have much to compare it to.
My awesome sister was nice enough to loan me her teenage daughter to help me with the event, so we flew her from Maryland. At 17, Maylin is no stranger to conventions, and loves the art of cosplay (dressing up as beloved characters).
My neice Maylin as Moriarity from Sherlock
Maylin helped me set up the table and watch it so I could walk around a bit, too. It was awesome having her there! She did get some funny looks, though, when I wasn’t manning the booth. “Yeah, right, this teenage kid has a 4-year old?!?? It must be a HOAX!” Heheh. Myla had school Thursday and Friday, and three days of a 5-year old sitting at a booth would be a little much.
So many people walked by and recognized the artwork, and said very nice things about it. We got a lot of “I feel like I’ve seen this online somewhere….” and “Oh! are you the lady??” It’s a testament to how unreal online things seem, as I got several people saying, “Oh, this is actually REAL?? Are you the real PERSON??” Uh. Yes? Yes, I am.
One of my favorite parts of the convention was just people-watching. SO many fun and clever costumes!! There was a group of four girls, all dressed as different versions of Wolverine. They could barely walk a few feet at a time before having to stop to get their pictures taken by everyone, and made everyone smile who saw them. There was a cute Toothless, a teeny tiny (and very realistic) Predator. I saw lots of cool Gamoras and Starlords, a few Rocket Raccoons, and even a Groot made from foam noodles.
This Phoenix cosplayer had a pair of giant foam wings attached to her back, and she was getting stopped every few minutes to have her picture taken. One of my favorites was a simple costume worn by a very tall woman shopping with her daughters. Green skin and hair, light purple shirt, and brown dress, carrying a 1-ton handbag….LADY HULK!
Saturday, Myla begged us to come too, so she pulled out her Falcon costume (from Captain America) and was so excited to see everyone all dressed up.
Another cool chance happening was that while sitting at the booth, this Punisher came up to us and it took me just a second glance to realize it was my very own cousin Andrew! I had no idea he was coming, and he had no idea I’d be there. Small world! He and his girlfriend Bea cosplay all over Texas, and she came as a variety of characters all three days..Catherine from The Cell, Catwoman, and Lady Deadpool–go check her out at Ninja Kitty Cosplay!
They even walked around a bit with Myla and let people take their picture, which made her feel a bit like a superstar.
It was also amazing to meet all the other artists and vendors that worked there, and talk to them about their ideas and projects. I listened to artist Doug Hazlewood talk about making comics the old-school way. We were seated next to the creators of The Cat webseries on YouTube. I talked to artist Brian Essig-Peppard about his project Zeroes for Hire. SOOO many good artists! And it’s really cool to know that people you’ve gotten to know online through their artwork are really nice people in real life.
For example, I first followed artist John Mueller on Instagram because he makes AWESOME artwork, and also because I remember seeing his comic Oink way back when I was in art school. He’s revamped that series, and he actually asked me (and a few other handpicked artists) if I’d do a piece of artwork for the back of his new Dark Horse comic Oink: Heaven’s Butcher, which comes out in February. (I just finished it & sent it, and I’m SUPER honored to be included!)
Anyway, John was at the Con with Sam Gage to promote their awesome game called Bedlam, via Kickstarter, with some cool rewards! At some of the higher tiers, you can even get YOURSELF drawn in as a character in the game!! These guys were lots of fun, made beautiful artwork, and were just all around awesome people. (If games are your thing, I know they’d certainly appreciate a like, a pledge, or a share!)
They were also REAAALLLY big fans of our collaborations, and really made Myla feel special when we went walking around.
Speaking of feeling special, we had a special visit from a facebook friend, Lauren, who (joined by her Tribble) brought her copy of our book to have us sign! Luckily she came on Saturday when Myla was there, and Myla not only signed it, but drew an octo-cat inside. It was so wonderful to meet her!
I even met up with a friend from high school, and his family! (High school, by the way, was in Augsburg, Germany…so again, small world!)
Another fun run-in was spotting tattoo artist and sideshow performer Katzen Hobbes. I mean, she’s pretty difficult to miss, right? I ran into Katzen YEARS ago from a distance at a tattoo convention, and always read about her, so it was cool to finally meet her in person. She’s going to be featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not book, coming in September. She was really nice, and told me she did art with her son Felix from time to time, and that she had heard of our artwork and enjoyed it, and that since she was an artist and a mom, people would send her the article.
Since I’m a bit on the…”grownup” side, I wouldn’t consider myself much of a fangirl, so when the list of celebrities came out for the show, I didn’t think I’d be interested much. …UNTIL the thought crossed my mind that I might get them to sign some portraits I had done of them…
You might know Michael Rooker as Merle from The Walking Dead and Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy…I brought my portrait of him to pose for a photo with, and had him sign the other, which was just an unfinished ballpoint sketch at the time. He was friendly! Like, VERY friendly. Like, country boy, holding your hand, callin’ you “Sugar,” big-hug friendly. “You did this, girl? Man, you’ve got some skills! All with a ballpoint pen, huh? I’ll be darned.” It was on Thursday, so there was hardly anyone there. I asked him if anyone offers him chocolate covered pretzels. We talked about Mallrats, and having to have his shiny butt full screen for the whole world to see in that one. He was funny. Later on, he walked around the Con floor, chatting with vendors. “HEYYYYY it’s you again!” he said to me. “You still working on that drawing? Man! You’re fast!” And then he strolled off to chat with a scantily-clad Red Sonja.
Friday was Norman Reedus, from Walking Dead. Since there were separate lines (and costs) for autographs and photos, I wasn’t able to take a posed photo, but Norman was super nice. Everyone kept saying, “oh, Norman Reedus? He is SUCH a nice dude.” And they were absolutely right. While Saturday was full of teenage fangirls screaming and shrieking his name, Friday was much more laid-back. As I walked up, he gave me a hug, shook my hand and said, “Hi, I’m Norman.” I asked if he’d be willing to sign my drawing, and he said, “MAN, you did that??” He stared at it a bit and told me I had a very unique style. I told him I was an illustrator, that my husband & I loved the show, and couldn’t think of anything else much to say. I know he enjoys artwork, and even made a book of fan art, but I wish I would’ve known beforehand that he actually MADE art at one time–that’s actually something I would’ve LOVED to have learned more about…..DANG IT!
Anyway, Myla stayed for a good chunk of the day Saturday, and had a GREAT time. She LOVED seeing all the costumes, and she LOVED looking at all the artwork. She said she wanted to stay there for the WHOLE NIGHT. She seemed SO at home there! At one point, inspired by the allure of commerce (or maybe it was the influence of the other artists), Myla drew some pictures, and laid them out on the floor. “I hope someone will buy my artwork,” she said. I helped her spell the words “For Sale” on her sign. “How much will you sell them for?” I asked. “One hundred,” she replied confidently. “I think that might be a little too much. How about one dollar?” “Yes! Of course!” she said. So from then on out (after first trying to sell some to me and Maylin), she would ask people kindly, “Would you like to buy some of my art?” I worried that she might not handle rejection well….but I underestimated the power of a kid’s selling techniques. I mean, who could resist?
One guy came by specifically to meet her, and tell her what a fan he was of our work. When she offered up her drawings, he asked if she had any of Harley Quinn. She didn’t, but grabbed her markers and drew him one right then & there. He happily thanked her with a ten dollar bill and a smile (people can be SO awesome, by the way). Made my heart smile!
By the end of the day, when Daddy came to pick her up, she had made $20. She told me I should go to the shops and buy any doll I choose. Whichever one I wanted for myself. “Hm,” I said. “What doll do you think I should choose?” Immediately, she answered, “FLUTTERSHY!!!” Then quickly added, “Uh…or whichever one you would like.”
So of course, impressed by her moxie, I brought home a stuffed Fluttershy for her, for all her hard work.
And that was that! So much fun meeting so many people, seeing so much artwork, and all the fantastic costumes. I think we may have to go to a few more, even just as attendees. Maybe this time…in costume! I have all these awesome cosplay ideas if Myla would only cooperate, but of course (as she should) she has her own ideas. Like being Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash (can you tell she just discovered My Little Ponies?). My husband says that instead of a pageant mom, I have to be careful not to become a cosplay mom. 🙂
Til next time! Woohoo!
The Kiwi Incident
Have you heard of Kiwi Crate? It’s a fun little mail-to-your-doorstep program, where every month, a cute little box comes to your mailbox, filled with all the tools and supplies you need to do a couple of art projects. (They totally don’t give us any freebies for saying so, but we think they’re pretty awesome, especially for crafty ladies like us.)
So recently, Kiwi Crate finally named their little kiwi character “Steve,” and Myla was excited.
“I’d like to make a Steve doll!” she said. Since this usually involves basically ME doing all the work, I sort of brushed it off for another time. “But I think I can make it all by myself!” she said excitedly, digging through her craft box with all the giddy anticipation of a newly hatched idea.
Allright, I thought. I’ll help her with the basic sewing. She’ll get a chance to see the sewing machine in action, and she can do the rest herself.
Carefully and meticulously, she cut shapes out of the felt that came with one of the monthly project kits, along with a few extra supplies from my sewing box. She quickly and furiously drew the shapes out herself, cut them out herself. It was HER vision, and she was so EXCITED.
And when the time came, I had her place her hand next to mine on the machine, and I had her help me guide it to sew on the little beak. I had her help me pull the little needle and thread through the button eyes. And things were going well. How cute! What a great learning experience! I thought…
Until we put the stuffing in.
As we filled up the tiny kiwi with stuffing, she excitedly said, “So when does it get bigger?”
…Um. What?
“When does it get bigger? I wanted it to be the size of a pillow to cuddle with. Isn’t it going to get bigger?”
…Uhhhh. Oh my.
It was then that I realized that in all her furious anticipation, she had a goal in mind of exactly what she wanted this little kiwi to look like, and this tiny blue thing was NOT living up to those expectations at ALL.
As this reality hit her, she became instantly inconsolable. Those of you who have spent time with kids this age might be familiar with the complete and utter irrationality of a kid-tantrum. They’re these things that are unexpected, unexplainable, and completely bewildering. There’s no use saying, “But you cut it out! You must have KNOWN how big it was?!?” There’s no use saying, “How would it possibly get BIGGER?!?!” These things mean nothing to a small child. All they know is that Thing A was in their head, and Thing B does NOT match up.
And OOOOhhhhhhh the tears. Oh the crying. Oh, the dramatic frustration. It was safe to say that we were done with the kiwi for the day.
Later, when the tears had finally stopped flowing, we had a chance to talk. “You were upset because you thought when you stuffed it, it would get bigger?” “Yes,” she said. “Do you understand that freaking out about it doesn’t change anything?” “Yes,” she said. “Can we do something about it? Can we make a bigger one?” she asked me, hurriedly.
But to avoid the bandaid trapping of instant gratification, I insisted we would need to wait. From now on, if we were going to do this, we would take our time. We would draw out a design, pick the fabrics, take a couple of days, and make a PLAN.
And now, this is our new word for projects: PLAN.
Several days later, after many talks about calming down and using our words, we drew pictures, we picked out fabrics, and we started working on another Steve.
We drew pictures. We picked out button eyes. We talked about his beak and his wings. We chose which fabrics to use from my fabric stash. She helped me sew him. She helped me stuff him. She drew out what kind of legs she imagined he’d have.
We took our time with him and planned him out. And when we were done, Steve came out looking pretty darn good.
It’s a hard lesson, when your imagination doesn’t match up with your reality. It’s amazing to keep your imagination in the stars, but you also have to be aware of what’s actually within your reach, and when you’re totally and completely off-track.
Another thing that’s so hard for a kid to grasp is that if you take your time and plan something out, it makes for a MUCH better project with a much better plan. These days, when everything is available at the touch of a button, it’s easy to forget that there’s also legitimate value in WAITING.
Myla’s five, and I’ve only just begun to try her on a chapter book at bedtime; one of my childhood favorites: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. “I think I’ve already seen that show,” she said, “and some of the creatures scared me.” “But that’s the great thing,” I said. “It can be totally different in your imagination.”
Every night when we read a chapter or two, she asks me, “Will we go ahead and just finish it tonight?” And every night I tell her that we just have to wait to see what happens. Of course, she’s impatient, but she accepts it with excitement. I thought her attention would dwindle, but so far she seems to be hanging on.
Later, we set the kiwis side by side, and I asked her to look at them with me.
“They’re both beautiful,” I said. We talked about how when you have a great idea, it’s great to want to get it out as quickly as possible, but that sometimes when you take your time and plan it out, you have a chance to make it better, make it stronger, make it more like what you had in mind, maybe do things you hadn’t thought of before, or do them in different ways. When you rush, you might get the idea out quickly, but planning it out helps you figure things out that you might not have done with the rushed version. Since we took time to plan out the second kiwi, we made its wings flap down, so they could lay down to his side (instead of stick out to the sides) and we were able to make his beak stick straight out, like a kiwi’s.
It’s got to be hard for kids, growing up in our new world of on-demand tv, DVR, instant downloading, live streaming, wifi, and online shopping to understand the process of having to wait for ANYTHING. I have to remind myself that that waiting is something that kids today are much less familiar with. It’s not a skill they have ever really had to use. It’s not better or worse than when I was a kid, it’s just different. There’s no use pining for the past. It’s how we live now, and there’s no use trying to completely change the world and live in a cabin somewhere….
….But I think slowing things down a little is a pretty good habit to make from time to time…
busy mockingbird 