IF - Poise

Flower Girls Project: Nos. 5 & 6 of 11

Everybody knows you need a certain amount of poise for a tea party.

Alyssa and Emma shared honeysuckle tea


Unfortunately, these little ladies seem to have lost their poise.

Julie-Anne and Ellie were chased by a bee

"Is that me and Nona?"
"No."
"Who is that?"
"That's you and Alyssa."
"Oh, Alyssa! She's my best friend."
"Yes, I know. Does that look like Alyssa?"
"Yes. Except for the eyes. Those eyes are just...dots."
"Yes, well...."
"Are you going to put this on your bloggy thing?"
"Yes."
"Yay! And what are you going to say about it? Let's rehearse, ok?"
"Ok. This is Alyssa and my daughter."
"And....?"
"And they are having honeysuckle tea."
"Oooh, honeysuckle! And....?"
"And what?"
"And her name is....?"
"Oh. And her name is Emma."
"Good, say that."

Happy Renee Day!

I hope you're ready for us, Renee, because we're HERE to celebrate your birthday!

We traveled a long, long way, but we had fun on our adventure. The Gemini ladies Ces and Linda constantly compared designer apparel, I practiced my bizarro serenading skills, and Bjornik...well, we nearly had to wrestle him to the ground in Ottawa to keep him from eating all your cake.

Let the party begin, my dear!
We love you with all our hearts!

Oodles of love to you,
Ces,
Linda,
Bella,
and Bjornik

Please help us to wish the very happiest of birthdays to Renee,
one amazing woman -- part sage, part muse, part inspiration, but all heart.




*Artwork is a collaborative piece, but the brainchild of Bjornik
who wanted to bring great happiness to a wonderful woman
on her 53rd birthday.
Background and chic woman in pantsuit by Ces,
vibrantly painted woman in hoodie by Linda Cardina,
badly singing short person by Bella,
and naked hungry man in cake by Bjornik.

Flower Girls Project: Nos. 3 & 4 of 11

Chugging right along here....

Ananya and Alice swung on a vine

Mirei and Emily wrapped poppies with twine

IF - Subtract

Who is this man? I dunno, beats me.

Oh boy. I never thought this would see the light of day. This is an old drawing I did back in -- whooooosh -- high school art class. It was one of those exercises where you take a photograph and draw a grid on it, and then copy each box of the grid onto another piece of paper. I managed to copy the man's hand and face, but when I got to his hair, I just couldn't do it. So I subtracted it from the equation by chopping off the top of his head. Thwack!

Spring Cleaning

Thank you, everyone, for being my co-conspirators during my graffiti delinquency in the previous post. That was a ton of fun!

The weather is warmer, the sun is out. Aaah, it's spring! Time to fling open the windows, air out the house and the kids and the dog. Time to break out the skirts and sandals and pin a new fabric rose onto a favorite sun hat. And time to gather all the dust bunnies and shoo them away.

I received a box of love from aimee at artsyville, just in time for my spring cleaning. In it was a collection of the cutest clothespins, embellished with tiny colorful works of art. Perfect for hanging up doodads and art, like one of her happy doodlecards. She also sent me the most wonderful fabric rose from Alix at Crabcakes. It's happiness on a pin, and now I can pin it to my hat and look like her twin. Yay! Thank you so much, aimee. I love you, girl! Please check out artsyville for oodles of candy-colored art, quirky photographs that make you smile, and nifty craft inspirations!


Look! The magnolias have exploded! Around the corner is a street lined with white magnolias, and each morning I walk beneath them and just gaze up into the bliss, letting the sweet subtle fragrance waft down over me. I can't think of anything more beautiful than that. Oh, wait. Yes, I can. This.

The voices made me do it.

For Dusik. They are bald little girls.
Hmm, they also seem to be decapitated.

Aah, that's better.

The voices from the comment box in this post made me do it.
I blame them.

And Linda, I will return your hoodie after I wash the chalk dust from it. Promise.

EDIT: Oh my goodness! Check out Linda Cardina's blog!

!

Flower Girls Project: No. 2 of 11

Liana and Julia tried hard to fly.

Whew! I'd better work a little faster on this series, or it will never get done on time.

My Polka Dot Street

We call it the Polka Dot Street, and they go all the way up the hill.
But if you think about it, they look more like tentacles.
I wish I could take sidewalk chalk and color them all in.

IF - Intricate

Hooray for doodling!

In a new study about to be published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, researchers have found that doodling can actually help you to pay attention and remember more tedious information. Why? Doodling, they reason, stops you from daydreaming, which takes up more cognitive resources than simply doodling. So when you daydream, you are less likely to pay attention or retain information. So doodle away. Make your notes intricate with squiggles and happy pictures and fluff. Read more about this study here.

Ok, I confess. I've never been a doodler. Not on my lecture notes, not on my meeting notes, not even on my grocery lists. I am a daydreamer. And that is why I tend to forget many things.

Except trivia. I have a head for trivia and bizarre facts.

Flower Girls Project

Sarah and Elena piled dogwoods up high.

Only one person here in Tokyo (outside of my immediate family) knows that I like to draw. As it happens, she is also the class mom of my daughter's class. A while ago, she asked if I would draw pictures of all the little girls as a present for the teacher. I hesitated. But after a lot of consideration, and inspiration from Edrian, I decided to give it a shot.

So here's the first installment of what will probably be 11 pages. Let's see how far I can get before I burn out from all the sweetness. I may have to throw in pictures of murderous bunnies here and there for good measure.

Just when you think you've seen it all....

Albino dolphin. For realz.
Click for story.

How long do you think before she hires her own licensing agent? 3...2...1....