Momma Bear

Momma Bear baked cupcakes today :)

Playing

Today I've been playing around with sketching cardinals and violins. Though they seem pretty unrelated, they are both part of a special project I've been working on. 

The one on the left is a female cardinal, and the one on the right is the male.

Here's a close up of the violins. My favorite is the bottom right one :) I used different types of paper and fabric to make these.

I also spent quite a lot of time mixing up different types of greens. It may look tedious and boring, but I really love discovering new colors. There are so many types of greens, and this barely makes a dent in it. When I want to paint foliage, I can look at these colors, pick one, and mix it right up - it makes things a lot easier down the road!

It's always fun to play :)

Spoonbill Sighting

One of my most favorite things to do is research animals. I particularly love researching birds. There's something about them that is so intriguing to me - maybe it's their grace, or maybe it's the way that they are so delicate, yet so strong. 

Yesterday I spent some time with a Roseate Spoonbill. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend time with an actual Spoonbill, but I did look at a lot of pictures and do some research, which led to a watercolor painting.

Here's a work-in-progress picture. I love their beautiful pink plumage! They're kind of silly looking birds, but there's something very lovely about them.

Spoonbills are part of the Ciconiiformes (pronounced sick-uh-nee-uh-form-eez) order, which includes other wading birds like herons, ibises, and egrets. All of these birds have really long legs and really long necks, because they walk around in the water all day. This particular Spoonbill's scientific name is "Ajaja Ajaja" which I think is even goofier than its spoon shaped beak!

Here's the finished painting. It was a very enjoyable afternoon of painting :)

Sew Much to Sew

I've been accumulating quite the stash of fabric over the last few days/weeks/months. I'm a tote and messenger bag sewing fool, and I think I might have a tiny bit of an addiction.

 

So many bags to sew, so little time. :)

If you'd like one of your own, visit my Etsy shop!

Surprise Garden

About a month ago, I bought a pack of seeds called "Surprise Garden". It's supposed to be for children, but I'm preeeetty excited about it. I planted the seeds about 3 weeks ago, and lots of neat little plants have come up!

 

Most of those really tall ones are zinnias :)

A couple of the dwarf zinnias already have small blossoms forming!

This one is nasturtium. It'll have really pretty orange or yellow flowers when it blooms! 

I love going outside to see new seedlings coming up. I can't wait until later in the summer when they start blooming!

Hello Chipmunk, Hello Whales

This past week has consisted of getting illustration prints made for a client, weeding and checking up on my surprise flower garden, buying too much fabric and sewing, going out on a sushi date with my boyfriend, and fighting a sinus infection. Other than the sinus infection, these are all really great things and I'm happy to say that it's been a good week.

 My cousin helped me get my prints made, and I made her a thank you card with this little chipmunk on it. Maybe my surprise flower garden will grow up to look like that. I somehow doubt I'll find any chipmunks in my flowers, though.

While buying too much fabric, I found this adorable whale print at Joann Fabrics a couple days ago. Yesterday I spent the day sewing up another purse that's big enough to hold my sketchbook and pencil case with room for whatever else I need to tote around. I made my own pattern for it, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. If you'd like me to make one for you, check out my Etsy shop!

My desk friends say hello. Here we have Mister Oryx, Little Vicuna, Terrarium Panda, White Rabbit, Alice, Tiny Dog, and Little Fox. You can almost see Wooly Willy's eyes peeking up, but he didn't quite make it into the shot. Maybe next time, Wooly Willy.

Embirdery

This embroidered bird on a pie is a pretty good representation of things I love. I mean how could you go wrong with thread, birds, and desserts? 

This is copied from what was originally a watercolor illustration of mine. For a while now, I have been very interested in incorporating textiles into my illustrations, and embroidery seems to be a really good option for doing so. Though embroidering this took a bit longer than watercoloring it, there's just something really sweet and magical about creating an image with thread and fabric.

I imagine that this little bird is quite thrilled to have found such a perfectly yummy looking pie in the middle of the meadow. Perhaps she'll share it with her other birdie friends.