Sketchbook Scans

Well shoot, I thought I'd be posting more than once per week by now! Here I am, fiiiiinally posting some sketchbook project scans. Towards the end, I had to resort to using a lot of cut out art prints. I felt like I was cheating a little bit, but afterall, it IS my artwork, and I needed to meet the deadline. Meh. Oh well. So this first one is my seafood page, fish, octopus, etc.

This one was fast and simple, flower doodles and watercolor. The sleeping dog that looks like a pink poo is a doodle with color pencil.

I ran out of canned air, and had to make that red tree with a straw and my own breath. About passed out. but it turned out acceptable :) Then I doodled all those animals on the right, including a guinea pig, owl, giraffe, and bonus if you spot the moogle.

As hard as I tried, I wasn't able to finish EVERY spread, but the right side of this one was a favorite. The couch is cut out of an IKEA catalog (Oh, to have an IKEA nearby). Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed these pages! No word yet if my sketchbook has made it safely to New York, but they have a lot of books to process....

I've been feeling good, then bad, then good. The trouble is doing much too much when I feel good, then feeling bad the next day. Like my dad reminded me over the phone, no one said surgery recovery would be easy. The key is BALANCE!!! Thank you again to everybody's nice encouraging words! And oh hey, some NEW followers?! (Hello to you!) That made my week.

Soon to come, a book shrine and a giveaway soon! I found some rad brand NEW papercrafting supplies at the Goodwill this week, and I thought I'd share the wealth. Til next time, HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Colored Pencil Budgie

Here we have a very hastily budgie drawing slapped onto a page with a dirty playing card. Ahhh! Every spare sitting-up moment I've had, I've been rushing to get my sketchbook project completed, and today, I called it good. There are still a few spreads that are blank or have barely anything on them, but I've come to peace with that :) Thank you to everybody who has left super sweet comments on my last post! I've got more pages to post, but Bobby just finished scanning them for me (my hero!) so they need to be cropped and junk before I can upload em. I'd snap a photo, but I've already packaged up my book, and I'm not going to open it up! Crazy enough, I opened my e-mail to get the address, and they extended the deadline last minute to Tuesday, instead of tomorrow. OY VEY! Oh well, extension or not, that baby is going in the mailbox TOMORROW. Whew! I'm proud to say it's done(ish).... I did it(mostly).....

And to celebrate, here's a picture of my dog sleeping. More to celebrate, too! I had my 4-week post-op appointment today... They took x-rays and it looks like all the rods and screws and spacers are perfectly aligned, and with the added disc height, I'm even about a half-inch or more taller than before surgery! How awesome is that?!! Also, I can start weaning myself off of wearing the back brace, and can expect to be OFF pain medication in another 2 weeks! HIP HIP HOORAY!!! I am really so happy. She also said I'll be feeling fantastic in about another 3 months. Oh, AND I walked 2 whole miles yesterday. I'm really feeling wonderful about everything. Thank you guys for being so encouraging and sweet to me!

Now, with the lovely sketchbook project behind me, I'm looking forward to some other crafting :) Wheee! Life is good.

Sketchbook project pages!

I've been trying trying trying to finish up my sketchbook!!! I've got maybe 12 spreads left to complete, and I've got to send it in by next Saturday!

I'll admit, I've cheated a little by incorporating some art I've done before! Here, I made a pop-up page with these watercolor monsters holding baby animals that I've had laying around since last year! And, I've glued lots of pages together...

Here's a sketch of a monster holding an owl :) Bobby really likes this one. If I have time, I might watercolor it, but ONLY if I finish all the other pages first.

And this page is just some doodles and stamping with pigment powder... Not 100% satisfied with it, though. Sitting is my most painful position, and I'm not allowed to sit for more than 20ish minutes, 30 at absolute maximum. It doesn't really allow for the level of creativity or quality that I want! But still, I'm trying!

Today marks 3 weeks post-surgery! I'm feeling pretty good!!! I'd say the pain level is equal to what I was experiencing before the surgery, but now I've been walking 1.5 miles every day! So that's awesome :) And I get better every day, so I'm really hoping to finish my sketchbook before the deadline. I know I'll be capable of doing more and more as the days go by. I hope everyone has been having a beautiful and good new year so far! Happy Thursday, friends!

Tiny Scrap Bunting and a couple sketchbook pages

I've barely made ANYTHING! My back has been a real problem lately, so I haven't been very inspired. Or maybe it's just that I can't really sit and focus on making stuff. But anyway, one thing I've completed is cutting squares for that big ol quilt I'm planning. So with that, I've ended up with a lot of little scraps! Real quick, I snipped up some triangles and made this itty bitty bunting garland.

It goes nicely hanging just below my bulletin board on my semi-messy workspace. Look how tiny it is. Hooray for it.

Also, since I've been a bad blogger lately, I've got a couple of sketchbook pages together that I'm not 100% satisfied with. I finished these last week.

This blue page is a mess of strings and a sleepy cat. The idea was that she was dreaming of yarn... Not sure it's effective.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Meow

"Oh no, not more cats!" That's what Bobby keeps saying when I show him what I've been working on every day. Well, I've got to fill up my sketchbook with dogs and cats by January! I'd hate to not finish my book and have to send it to the Arthouse Co-Op as an incomplete work. Especially after a kind person sponsored me, having faith in my abilities... So endure the many cats, friends. Cats are cool anyway.

This page is to complete the "You make kitty scared" spread. The colors are a bit more muted than what I'm used to doing, but I think it works. I think it goes with the season, too! I put up my very few halloween decorations yesterday (two to be exact), and it made me wish I had more, not for just Halloween, but each season. I told myself once we buy a house and I know I won't be moving anymore, I'd begin making my serious decoration collection :) Well, happy Saturday!

12 Layer Sketchbook Page

In the words of Always Inspired: "Anything is cute with a bird on its head!" I think she's right. Last night's sketchbook page featured a photo of my dog, Tink, modeling a cowl I made with a bird on her head.

Having repeatedly told myself that I'd like to start making pieces with more layering, I'm also proud to say that this page has TWELVE whole layers! I ended up stopping by walmart last night for cricut blades and bought 5 bottles of pretty craft acrylics. So I had a little layering party! By myself! Wait, I guess that's not a party then.

Of course, I had to slap some rain drops on there so it would still fit with my theme. It works. Have a delightful Thursday, friends.

Stupid Dog Page: REDONE!

Alright, so if you scroll down on the blog, you'll see this page with this stupid dog drawing. It'll look crazy bright, busy, and just kinda... unattractive. So I sat down and tried to throw on some layers to make it a little better. After a green wash, some stamping, ribbon, ink, words and paint, this is what it turned into! I think I like it a lot better.

The right side is inspired by my dog, Tink. She always creeps up onto the bed to sleep when I'm downstairs, and jumps off when she hears me coming. I can tell she's been up there because there's a warm spot, and the smoothly made bed is now crinkly. She thinks she's being all sneaky, but I let her get away with it because I love her. I want her to know that someday.

I drew over the lines on the dog drawing with a blue pen to help them stand out more. Then I added a crown :)

Anyhoo, there's a environmentally friendly ribbon contest afoot over at Cream City Ribbon, and I want me some free ribbon! If you've got a sec, check out this video and also head over to see how to enter the contest. Happy Monday, friends!

Stupid dog and You make kitty scared

I had a bad day yesterday and did zero crafting, and I'm happy to say that today was much better. I got a couple of sketchbook project pages done! Wahoo. Well, I'm not 100% sure they're 100% done... I might add a little more.

This one's background took a lot of time and wondering.... It's basically a collage of scrap paper. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to put on this page. So...

I decided not to overthink it, and slapped on a stupid dog drawing :) Colored with colored pencils. So much faster than watercolor!

I think this page might be done. It's just simple, and I think my book needs some pages like that! If you didn't notice, it's a nod to one of my favorite lolcats!

Happy Friday! Have a super weekend!

Floating Dog Sketch

Hey everyone! I'm on vacation visiting my parents in Oregon, so I won't be posting very often, if at all, for the next couple of weeks. For now, enjoy this floating dog that I drew in my sketchbook at the airport on Saturday :)

Ultimate High Five!

Alright, I know, I've been a bad blogger. I guess I have slacked a little bit, but I've been feeling pretty crummy. I thought it was just my pain medication making me feel extra sick, but it turned out I was legitimately sick, fever and all. Well, I've done a little bit of crafting. This is another page in my sketchbook project book. High-fivin' cats!

I originally drew this doodle for my BFF because she needed a picture of her boyfriend's cat and her cat high fiving so she could get it put on a birthday cake (I wish I had a picture of the cake). I had the drawing laying around, so I thought I'd use it since my theme is cat-related.

The background is watercolor on a base of acrylic ink and glitter. That's why it looks a little grainy.

I also got around to rebinding my book, and it turned out really well for my first attempt at binding a book like this! I had to finish putting it together so I'll have something to work on while I'm traveling on Saturday :)

Sketchbook Project: It's Raining Dogs and Cats!

I am so excited to tell you guys that I'm participating in this year's Sketchbook Project put on by Art House Co-Op in New York City! It's basically an exhibition of thousands of sketchbooks completed by artists from around the world! (To learn more about it, go to the official website here.) There are lots of different themes to choose from, and I chose the theme "It's Raining Dogs and Cats" for my book, because it was the closest thing to an animal-related theme, and you all know how I love creatures... This is my first page, a kitty in a rain drop. There are 80 pages in my book, so I'm going to need to hustle to fill it up! Anyway, I hope you guys are in the mood to see some art journaling, because there's bound to be a lot of that between now and January :) Happy Wednesday!