Sean Speaks!

   ...with a lil' help from some Scrabble tiles, that is. (Kelley & I just might have put him up to it.)

Grandma Lizzie's birthday is February 11

What boy wouldn't love robots, skulls, & space invaders?!

Random Hallmark Moments: HBD to Sacha!

   Sacha's birthday was this past weekend, which gave me an excuse to draw a lil' birthday kitty for her desk...

Holiday Treats for All!

Best thing about Madel going to Japan? The presents she brings back!!!

The Gyp approves.

Kitchen Dog treats... like little maki sushi, with seaweed!

Plenty of interest...

Tay never met a treat-spewing dog toy he didn't like!

Locked and loaded...

Fire away! When you pull the lever, treats shoot 8-10' away!

Sweet Felted Shibas

   The other present from Madel was a kit to make two lil' wool-felted Shiba Inu cell phone straps! It goes so well with the kit Patty brought back for me last year. So thankful that I learned how to felt this fall... can't wait to make these guys!

Random Adorable Photos

Gypsy on New Year's Eve, feeling spunky and claiming the dining room table as hers

She has claimed the adjacent stools as well

Aki curled up with me on the couch

So relaxed, her tail uncurled!

Taylor looking coy

Right after a bath... the second in just three days!

Despite my pleas, Gyp refused to eat the entire Filet-O'-Fish that I got just for her

All-out food assault: I literally tried everything* to get her eating again!
(*dry food, more dry food, canned food, chicken baby food, turkey baby food,
real rotisserie chicken, real turkey breast, dry food soaked in water,
Three Dog Bakery freeze-dried salmon treats,
dry food soaked in homemade chicken stock, tuna fish, shrimp, sirloin steak, pork,
McDonald's Filet-O'-Fish, and Sara Lee additive-free chicken lunch meat.)

Modeling this year's awesome red Nite Ize collars from Kelley & Eric,
and last year's white LEDs from Madeline
(we ran 3.5 miles in the dark tonight to try them out!)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good nap!

Spoiled by Santa

   Aki's favorite wiffle ball has seen better days, so on Christmas Eve I sneaked out to Dick's Sporting Goods for some replacements. I didn't intend for the dogs to have them all at once, but the bag tore open and suddenly the living room was full of them. Tay liked it. I think they're maybe a touch spoiled.

Hey, I Think I Know These Guys

   OH. MY. GOD. Came home from work today to find that Dave had painted portraits of my mutts, oil on panels. SO FREAKIN' COOL! I love how they look like bears when you crop so closely on their faces. (Forgive the dark photo, I'll get a better one in the daylight.) He also raked my back yard. Hope he's not in any hurry to leave!  ;)

Random Hallmark moments: The X Factor

   Today Dave and I were asked to give an update on personalized cards to our whole department at our monthly meeting. And while I was up there, I looked out to the audience and saw that Gary had his iPhone out, clearly taking a photo. I guess I should have followed my instincts and dived behind the podium. Because later he sent this:

   This is why artists shouldn't be allowed to take Algebra. Clearly it's fraught with humor potential. For some other funny-cause-its-true stats, check out Graphjam. Like these:

Hilarious, but learn how to spell "you're," stupid.

Jump Book

   The idea for a "jump book" came from photographer Philippe Halsman, who had 101 Life covers to his credit when he died in 1979. He "felt a portrait that did not show psychological insight was 'an empty likeness' of its subject." His fun work was introduced to me by my sister, Kelley, who requested jump photos of friends and family as a gift for her husband's birthday—which is today! Happy Birthday, Eric!!!
   A review of the book online states: "Much of Halsman’s work embodied the sunny, playful, and optimistic side of post-war life in America. Calling himself the discoverer of 'Jumpology,' he compelled hundreds of subjects to jump in the air for his camera—everyone from Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe to Robert Oppenheimer and Richard Nixon. He wrote in his 1959 Jump Book, 'The roots of my discovery reach into my early childhood. I was born with an intense interest in jumping…. I could run, jump and turn over in the air.' He delighted in jumping throughout his life and in photographing others in the act of jumping. “Everybody hides behind a mask,” Halsman writes. “In a jump the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and his limb muscles. The mask falls. The real self becomes visible. One has only to snap it with the camera.'”
   There's another guy, David Leckness, who has been cataloging jumps for over 20 years and posts them online.
   I couldn't wait to work on this assignment, and I took inspiration from my surroundings. Aki and Taylor wanted to get in to the act too, of course! Tay jumped for his giant stuffed lobster in the living room. He looks like he's dancing a jig, with one foot raised up. (He looks like he has a heart on his chest, too!)

"Riverdance, Tay! Good boy!!!"

 "I could've had a V8!"

   Aki jumped for her squeaky soccer ball in the backyard at night. I played around with different camera settings and got some cool effects with slower shutter speeds. She looks like a Wereshiba in this one, with the glowing orange eyes.

"Wereshiba?"  "There. There, Shiba."

Now she's doing her T-Rex impression:

GOTCHA!!!

   This one is actually my favorite: love how you see the spray of snow, and you can tell how high she jumped and how athletic she is. She jumped so hard that her tail straightened out!:

   For my own, I relied on programming the camera and some lucky timing. (It took me a few tries!) As ridiculous as this looks, I couldn't resist the idea of taking advantage of the snow, since Kelley and Eric live in LA and weren't likely to get many snow jumps. So there I was, freezing my assets off, wearing nothing but a bikini and my cute boots in 10 degree weather.
   I know I should be totally embarrassed to post this, but I work out. And you only live once!   :)

   Reminds me of something my History of Illustration teacher, Mark Hazlerig, said in college: "You should all have portraits taken of yourselves working in your studio now, so that if they write about you when you're old, they'll have a good-looking photo of the young you." Note to self: still need to have that done...

Warning: Some animals were harmed in the making of this blog post

   The bad news is that I left the shibas unattended for a few minutes tonight with their beloved squirrel toy from Ginny.
   The good news is that they love unstuffed toys just as much as the stuffed ones!

Birthday Treat

   Lucky me, my friend Michele of Squeaks & Beeps made a birthday present for me! You know the gift is going to be good when the bag is this cool:

   She made a set of towels for my bathroom using this cute Red Riding Hood fabric from Japan.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!! 

   And then she and John and I watched "The Bachelor" and made fun of it while enjoying Spin! pizza. Awesome. THANKS, MICHELE!!!

Happy happy holidays

   The sights of the season are everywhere! Here are a few images that make me happy:

Ginny has some gorgeous pictures of lights:

   More than half of the cards I've received so far are from my team's personalized product (and since many are flat, I had to find a new way to display them):

Maureen's adorable daughter Braelyn is a little suspicious of Santa:

And Patty & Olivia posed after going to see the Nutcracker: