Here's a little picture I made which will be in a silent auction to raise money for my local family centre. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out, but I do sincerely wish I had a better scanner. I should just invest in one, shouldn't I?

I'm now in the painting phase of the picturebook I'm working on and I'm pretty happy with how its turning out so far, but having just sent one in to show progress I'm all nervous again. I suppose because it's my first picturebook I'm overly concerned with making a good impression. Less than halfway through and I'm already wondering when and if I'll get another job. Getting that email from the first publisher was so exciting that I want to duplicate that feeling!

I am starting to think that I really have to put my own book together, because that will be the best way to draw whatever I feel like drawing, which at the moment seems to be foxes and rabbits. The nice thing about doing this auction picture is it inspired a little story, which is now the third story I've written. I've done little dribs and drabs here towards illustrating them but nothing finished yet - but this new one seems promising!

Oh my god, I love Etsy. The nice thing about selling stuff on it is you can build up some paypal credits with which to purchase other etsy items. Here's what I love today:

Spicelab Bar
It pains me that the only blank wall space in my kitchen is a window. The only place I would have for this is in my living room, but its almost so stylish it would look good there anyway.



Felted Wool Bowl
From fellow Canadian myjennywren. I need at least 3 of these.



Meanwhile, two games into our season and we're 1 - 0 - 1, which is a far sight better than how we were doing last year. Last night's game had the novelty of our actually having a full roster, and it made such a difference from the 7 or 8 players we finished off the summer season with. The best part was winning against a team we had yet to beat.

The strange thing is that we haven't lost a game (ok, its only been 2) since I decided I had better do something about my bad attitude regarding losing. Its like the universe conspires sometimes to make sure you get your head in the right place. I'm not one of those people that think you should be continuously, stupidly, positive at all times, but there are definitely times when there's a reason. Its stupid to be miserable because you're losing when deep down you love the game so much.

And here's my finished art for the show which opens tonight, and I'm not attending because I'm in charge of a house full of young'uns.

Domestigeek

Fig 1 - the author proudly displays her new vileda mop

I'm oddly into my home these days, which may be the first time in my history that I am without the impending birth of a baby (in fact I think rumours are starting to float around that I must be pregnant). It has to do with getting rid of excess junk - suddenly you become aware of how much room you actually have when you remove all those overflowing buckets of Lego , at least 18 pounds worth.

Just to show you what a geek I am I actually researched a new mop - I wanted a swiffer, but preferably a reusable one and one not made by procter & gamble. I liked this one but a few people complained of it breaking after 3 -6 uses. How environmentally friendly is a discarded mop? I ended up with a nice vileda, which I discovered at my local home hardware. But who exactly are the Freudenberg Group?

I'm going to be in a group show coming up in just over a week, Low Brow on the High Seas. It's the 4th annual showing of pirate themed artwork, and I'm not sure why I can never quite get it right, because I love the subject of pirates. I seem to end up with underwater girls or girls drowning or the like, and this year I ended up with a space pirate. I guess what it boils down to is I draw whatever I feel like drawing, and since she's wearing a funny hat I'll say she's from outer space (albeit a very light blue outer space) and since the show is about pirates she'll be a space pirate. Pretty sad, no?

There's a tight deadline on the picture book I'm working on and I haven't heard back yet about the sketches - I'm quite keen to get going. Part of me is completely paranoid that my email didn't go through and they are quietly fuming on their end about how I missed the deadline. Or there are so many things terribly wrong with my drawings they don't even know where to begin. But in reality they're probably just extremely busy people.

Illustration Friday - Alphabet

I was trying out some new pastel paper with this picture, and I don't think its for me.