Snowy Owls

   My friend Joni saw snowy owls yesterday... In MISSOURI! I wanted to play hooky & go with her, but I chickened out. (Which is unfortunate, because owls love chickens!) She said, "I don't even know if I'll see them." But I just knew she would. And she did! Lucky girl. Coincidentally, tonight I flipped over last year's Charley Harper calendar to find... SNOWY OWLS!

   A quick Google image search turned up some other great owl & raptor images like the ones below, as well as this other fun site with many others. Owls are, and have been, in vogue and as an artist and designer, it's easy to see why.

Paper Source plush owl

Charley Harper

Satsuma Press

Larissa

Charley Harper

Audubon

Charley Harper

Robert Havell

Charley Harper

Sass & Peril

Charley Harper

Pamela Michelle

招き猫 「MANEKI NEKO!」

   My dear Gypsy has begun to eat again after a week of feeling puny and dropping significant weight. I was so afraid I was going to lose her suddenly! But she seems to be back to her spunky self, though I'm still having to put out fresh food all the time to entice her, rotate different foods frequently, and monitor how much she's eating. Here's a cute video where she demonstrates how lucky she is (with the added cuteness of her crocheted doppelgänger!)

Maneki Neko!

   The tiny Gyppy clone has arrived, and we both love it!!! Thanks to Megan of nekonook and heykittykitty! Aaaand... check it out: Gyppy's famous!

Nekonook

  Since I taught Gypsy to make the "maneki neko" gesture on command years ago, I've been enchanted by the Japanese symbol of luck-bringing. So when I ran across Megan's crochet work in her Etsy shop, Nekonook, I thought commissioning a custom kitty from her would be a great tribute to my dear friend. I don't have it yet, but it has just been completed & shipped, so I'm VERY excited to see it in person! it reminds me so much of Lil' Attie, too...

Halloween Cuties

   Okay, I'll admit it... I sneaked away from my creative directorial duties for a couple of hours this week so that Lynda and Karla could teach me (and a group of illustrators and lettering artists) how to do wool felting. I haven't taken a workshop at work since I became an art director... in 2004. Yikes. I may be a manger, but I'll always be an artist! And I've wanted to learn for YEARS—ever since my sister, Kelley, gave me a kit for Christmas. Which has sat in my closet unused... until now! I was also given a a Shiba kit from Japan by my dear friend Patty, as well as a bagful of Shiba-colored alpaca fiber by a friend who raises alpaca in Columbia, MO.

   I can really go to town now. My plan is to make a spooky black kitty next (an homage to my Atom) to complete this Halloween set, and then to start some Shibas. Wish me luck! I'm really, really skilled at poking my fingertips thousands of times with the needle in the process... but I think they're worth the pain.

Hangin' with alpaca

Alpaca farm

Random Hallmark Moments: Postcards!

Just got my order from hallmark.com: cool postcards to use as my thank-you stationery! Of course I'm biased, but seriously, our print-on-demand service is fantastic!!!

Hallmarket 2, Electric Boogaloo

   Today on the Hallmark square: the second annual Hallmarket art show & sale! Steph & Jack invited me to share their booth, and they said it was dog-friendly, so I brought the crowd-loving Taylor with me, and spared his more shy sibling.

View from our booth

Our booth

Donna VanHooser's Sundog Mosaics

Tag Team Tompkins

Steph's work

Jack & Steph's work

Jack, Steph & Penny, and Taylor & me

Michael, Aidan, and Aiden's new bat plush!

Me & my Cyclopticat

Steph & Penny

Chieko's daughter & her friend loved Mr. Tay!

Panda lover Maria Villa

Jeff Wilson's Frenchy puppy, Rocco

Renee, Joe, Rosie & Boo

Flora Chang

A guy in Retail who used to work for Disney

Sarah & Colin Walsh

Ruth Donikowski

Carol Osborne

My loot!

Hallmarket part 2: Update

   This Saturday, Hallmark artists will be selling their work at "Hallmarket," an art fair in the square outside headquarters in Crown Center Square, downtown Kansas City, MO. I was originally thinking that I wasn't going to be able to participate, but Steph & Jack graciously invited me to share their booth, and I've got some plush that recently returned to me in a big box after they've been vacationing in LA & San Francisco for a while (lucky plush!), so I'm going for it!
   The majority of what I have to sell are from my "Catattack" series (monster cats of all breeds: catbats, mercats, cyclopticats, reptilicats, yeticats, robocats, etc.) Shaun & Ed of Shaun of the Dead may also make an appearance. These are some of my favorite plush that I've ever created, so it's bittersweet to offer them for sale. Good homes only! All are 100% hand-sewn, one-of-a-kind art pieces, not intended to be toys for kids or pets.

   It would be nice to make a lil' extra cash, for an upcoming trip-of-a-lifetime that I'm *hoping* I'll be able to take this year... more to come on that!

My photos of last year's event

Information about the event from the Hallmark newsroom

KC Star article