March: In like a Lion, out like a fire breathing, lion eating dragon.

It's been a very long winter. It's officially spring, but the snow on the ground here in the T dot would tell you otherwise. Much like our awesome spring snow (not) the work on my plate seems to be consistently refilled. I am actually much happier about this than the weather.

ART

I happily completed the super fun ad job- for now. Here's hoping that there is more coming down the pipeline. I had a  great time working with the art director on the gig. I was lucky enough to get one more quickie ad job this month. I am just finalizing the contract on one more REALLY fun job- I can't WAIT to tell you about this one- that I'll be able to tell you about in May. Freelance illustration rocks always and forever!

Much to my sister's relief, I also finished designing, screen printing, cutting, and folding her wedding invitations. The hard work was well worth it. They turned out beautifully. My friend Michelle was kind enough to help me with the cutting and folding. It really hit it home that if I were more willing to accept help that it would move my projects along at a much quicker pace. Something to keep in mind when I start working on sister number two's invites later this summer. 

I also sold a couple more tea towels on my etsy shop.

In addition to the super cool illustration job I mentioned above, I'm also making a monkey-rific baby shower invite design and an owl-rific painting for a little baby that's set to arrive pretty soon. My friend, Erin- A.K.A. future mommy- doesn't know what she's having, but I'm going to call it here. It's a boy. If it's a girl I would be very surprised. I'm set for a busy as heck month.

RAMONA

This month is not so much about Ramona. Don't tell her that.

 A couple of dear friends, Kate and Derek, are currently in Mexico, days away from becoming husband and wife. Ronaldo and I were not able to make it to the wedding, so instead I'm taking care of their little cat Suki. Though I love Ramona to death always, it's nice to be around a kitty that won't scratch me or hiss at me. She's as cute as can be too.

LIFE

March is the month of Ronaldo's birth as well as our anniversary. We've been together FIVE YEARS!! Time flies by! I love him more now than ever before. Needless to say we've done a bit of celebrating, especially with the addition of St. Patrick's day in the March mix. I also took a trip to Ikea to get myself a new organization treat- a book case! 

SOMETHING AWESOME

A friend of mine showed me this video a few weeks ago and it cracked me up so much that I just HAD to share it. Cat Mario. Live it. Love it. Don't touch the mushrooms. 

Peace out 'til April.

 

Been gone so long.

You know, I believe that some people are built for technology and some are not. It's a natural thing. I really wish I were one of these folks, but I'm not. Truth be told when I'm not making things I'd rather be reading, playing with Ramona, drinking with Ronaldo and/or friends, making online shopping carts brimming with J. Crew outfits that I don't intend to buy, washing dishes... really anything other than marketing my work on this or any other online forum. I haven't even tried twitter. Let me be honest here. 

This year is already shaping up to be an even busier year than the last, and so I wanted to challenge myself right from the beginning of 2013 to post once a month. I'm not even going to try to post more than that. I'll make it a good one, with shots and words about art, Ramona, LIFE, process, and anything else totally awesome I can think of. Let this be the February edition.

ART

I'm not going to dwell, but my tea towels are getting popular. I wish they were more popular online but if you re-read my opening of this post you'll know why they aren't. I spent a lot of time working on them in November and December, but this month I have more pressing projects and so production is at a complete halt. I am working on a really fun illustration job for some advertising that I will tell y'all about when I can. I'm also working to finish my little sister Martha's wedding invites by the end of February. Busy month, art wise.

RAMONA

My girl has had some life changes in the past few months, namely the loss of her favourite scratching post, our couch. When it became obvious that she had hit the wood base of both sides of the arms and were picking up bits of couch filling from everywhere in the apartment we knew it was time to get a new one. So, we bought a beautiful grey west elm couch. We figured that we had to set up a strong defense against the number one couch destroyer. We sprayed it with cat repelent, we put double side tape on each of the arms, we kept a seat cushion from the old couch, and we put soft paws claw covers over her claws (her least favourite part of the process). To our surprise, she has had no interest in the new couch. She enjoys chewing on the double side tape, but that's it. It makes me a bit nervous about where she is scratching now, but I'll cross that bridge later. That's Ramona's February news.

LIFE

January was lazy for me, life wise. It always is, after the rush of Christmas. At the end of the month Ronaldo and I took off on a tropical escape to Cuba. I spent lots of one on one time with him. I spent no one on one time with my iPhone. I fed stray cats and dogs. I touch none of them because Ronaldo was afraid of me getting diseased. It was glorious, and just what we needed.

AWESOME THING

 

There is one totally awesome non art related thing that I have to share with you. Ripley's kittens. It's a 24 hour a day live stream camera on an animal shelter cat and her kittens. It's being filmed somewhere in mid west US by an awesome guy, foster Dad John. You've GOT to check it out. You will LOVE it!

http://new.livestream.com/FosterKittenCam/RipleysKittens

That's it 'til March! Ciao!