Who doesn't love a Cupcake!

So happy! My fine silver cupcake necklaces have been featured on the blog: AllThingsCupcake


I love cupcakes, yum yum, but rarely do I get the chance to eat them or bake the real thing! How sad for me :( lol. But I really need to celebrate because a boutique here in SLC wants to carry my jewelry! Yeah for me!!! Oh sure I've had other inquiries in the past and of course never acted on them! They were back east and I just didn't know that much about consignment, but oooh I'm so excited and unsure at the same time to be presented locally! I don't know...you know how you just like to know what you know! I feel an Op Ivy song comming on "All I know is that I don't know...All I know is that I don't know nothing!" lol. So I need to get a grip and take my stuff out to the boutique. It's just a bit to get a handle on! Oh well, for now I'll just share some of my cupcake creations:

It's Earth Day

Hmmmm?

Teaching Monsters a Lesson!

Nothing like pure unadulterated innocence. I love how the mom corrects the child! lol. So I saw this little girl on TV and her mother was explaining that it was the uncle that taught her the wonderful phrase used in the video! lol. I accidentally taught my little one how to say G.D. Honestly, there is only so much spilt milk you can pick up before you lose your composure. So now she mimics, with hands on hip and all! Of course I tell her that those are "angry words" and it wasn't right for mommy to use "angry words." lol I'm sure this is the smallest of lessons that I'll have to teach in my lifetime.

Dream a Little Dream

I wonder what polar bears dream of? It's so interesting to watch people and animals sleep. I love it when I catch my kitties deep in their dreams. Sometimes you can tell they are in hot pursuit of some devious little creature. Their mouths and paws twitching about. So cute. Then I feel a bit of guilt that they don't get to go outside and act out their mouse chase due to being rescues. My new puppy, Job, whimpered in his sleep the first few nights we had him. I was so sad for him. I couldn't imagine what it must be like being in a new home, with new people, away from his mom and pack. What a change and we all know that change can be scary. He seems to have settled in now and is acting much more puppy like.

The Amazing Job!

Job is amazing! Here he is at 15 weeks following some basic commands! What cutie! Awe, leave it to a bright, bouncy puppy to make you smile. I'm taking him to his first puppy class this Saturday. He seems to be a little hand shy so hopefully this will help him with his socialization.

An Afternoon Spent Sketching

Somedays absolutely no drive, no umph, just nada. But not today!!! Today I sketched out these three little ones. I should have them finished and up in my ETSY shop later this week. I think the bear will be a polar bear, but he could possibly be a black bear too. We'll see what happens.

I Made ETSY's Front Page!

Wahoo! One of my illios was featured on Etsy's front page. I took a screen shot as a souvenir.

An Absolutely Charming Animation by a Fellow Etsy Illustrator

I am smitten with this! Be sure to view artist Julia Pot's illustrations at: JuliaPot.Etsy.com



So here are the details on my first crush. His name was James. We were in the same first grade class. We had a pact to always pick one another during the game "Heads Up Seven Up." It was agonizing sitting there with your head face down, cradled in your arms on your desk. Peeking out through the slightest crack between your arm and desk to see if he was going to pick you! He'd walk up and down the rows. Oh the anticipation. Butterflies in the stomatch. I knew his tennis shoes by heart! Then the ever anticipated movement of him folding down my thumb in selection. Dark hair. Kind eyes. I was forever destined to fall in love with kind J's.

Puppy Love!

For the last three years I have been researching a breed of dog called Coton De Tulear. This weekend I finally got my chance to adopt one! His name is Job and he's a tri-color Coton. His lineage is traceable back to Madagascar and his father, Ditto, came from Alika Cotons (founded by Dr. Russel, who first introduced the breed to the U.S. in 1974). This breed is exceptionally good with both children and cats. It is also non shedding and allergy free.

But a warning: When I was looking for a Coton to adopt, I ran into several that were listed as Cotons but when asking where the dogs came from it turned out they were from a kennels in Russia! This meant that the dog could have been intermixed with other breeds, over bred, crossbred, inbred, not to mention the horrible conditions the parents were most likely forced to live in. They may have also came with a myriad of behavioral, genetic and health problems. CTCA has a strict code of ethics that it enforces. They also rescue and place Cotons which I highly recommend!

Job is considered a tricolor Tall Malagasy Coton De Tulear, which is a genetic variation that appears rarely. He has these wonderfully long legs as you can see in his pictures! Tall doesn't mean big, it just means tall. I love that the CTCA is protecting the diversity of the breed, rather than trying to breed the dog down to small, yappy, all white dogs. They are actually equally protective of all three varieties (white, black and white, and tri-color) as well as the tall variation of the breed. In fact the biologist that introduced the breed to the U.S. has placed 26 of these tall Cotons into homes across the U.S. in the last 30 years!

If you are interested in this breed please, please, please do your research. Cotons are starting to appear with increased frequency in puppy mills and pet stores. Cotons produced in puppy mills and sold in pet stores are forced to endure horrible living conditions! Their well being and genetic integrity is not respected nor protected. You can also rescue a Coton through UCARE!

Leap! Illustration Friday.

This poor bunny had such high hopes of jumping all the way to the moon. Unfortunately, he only jumped up TO it, not OVER it! Poor thing, but at least he's ambitious. It' good to take leaps. Some are successful and some, not so much. Either way you learn something from the very act itself. Anyway, here's my submission, titled "Ambitious Bunny."

Stealthy little Sculpture!

Well I've been wanting to make some dimensional art for a while now. I finally got around to it and made this metal sculpture. It's based on one of my illustrations. There are several things that I don't like about this one so I'll redo it and if that version turns out then I may make it available in my shop. It features my little soul boy in pajamas riding a paper airplane to the moon! Whimsical and fun!

Hey There Little Bird

Mr. Blue Bird came for a visit today!

He twittered about and wanted to play.

We sang, skipped, and skittered all day,

Then with a twitch and a tweet he flew away.

I just love little birdies! As always available in my Etsy Shop: GumballGrenade. On a side note my cat is currently devouring a flax seed organic waffle that was tossed on the floor by the little one. I had no idea cats liked waffles (w/o syrup). Weird and funny.

Happy V Day! Dirty Pretty Things and Me!

First I have to send out hugs and kisses to everyone! Happy Valentines Day! In the spirit of Valentine's Day I've decided to post my latest set of three prints featuring this little whimsical couple of souls. I've been working hard on getting my inventory up for my new etsy shop. So I haven't posted as much as I should! More importantly I owe a very belated THANKS to a sweetie, known as RavenX , on her lovely blog: Dirty Pretty Things. She features some truly wonderful and amazing artists, so I was quite flattered to be interviewed and blushing all the way! Swing on by her blog and look at how delicious and lovely it is! Also, be sure to check out her and her husband's (Mikiep) wonderful ETSY shops for amazing graphic and mixed media art. Here are a couple of my favorites from their shops:

I love the glow in his illustrations! And look at ther little sewing machine! Perfect! Plus he has prints of my idol of all time Wonder Woman (psst, don't tell but I even have the Wonder Woman Barbie! tee hee hee!). So devilishly sweet I can't stand it! I just love them! Click on any of the above photo's to visit these wonderful ETSY shops!

Oh and one last thing while I'm on the topic of love. I just recently watched Once and thought that it captured the complexity of love and complicated situations and all things that make life worth living. If your in the mood for a love oriented indie film you should watch it, but it did break my heart a little.

80's Music!

I can't believe I even thought to look this up to share with you all. But this was the very first tape I ever owned in my life! I stumbled on some of their old videos on You Tube. An excellent example of 80's fashion. lol


Love it!


Normally I don’t blog this much in one night but sometimes the mind just wanders….So I just so very recently saw my cousin whom I haven’t seen in years!). One of my formative memories of childhood was one in which I was going on a vacation / camping trip with my cousin and her family. I couldn't have been more that 10 years old and she was maybe 14. I remember idolizing her for every little thing. Now please note this was in the 80’s. Anyway, she had blonde hair with colored streaks of bright blue and pink! Remember those streaks, they came in what looked like mascara tubes but they were color that you could just smear on your hair and wash out easily. Anyway looking back I absolutely have to thank her for for introducing me to lovely colored 80’s hair and the band Fuzzbox.

Illustration Friday, Choose

I’m not sure if most artists already have a final piece that they are able to post for IF or if they create it as soon as they know the topic. I know I’ve done both and there are advantages to both ways. For this weeks topic c, I didn't really have anything that fit. So I sketched out a couple of ideas. The first one, “Which Dress?”, seemed to be a fairly obvious and perhaps cliché depiction, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s a classic theme!

I swear on my life that little children sometimes get up super early and get dressed before anyone is aware! I know I did and still do! The color scheme definitely needs some work but I just love the idea of it. Making the choice of good/bad, nice/naughty, sweet/mischievous, rule follower/rebel. I won’t say which side she will choose. You decide for yourself!

This second painting is a work in progress. In the end I’d like it to be a 3 dimensional art piece/paper sculpture of some kind. Although I like the way it turned out as is, I just have this vision of a 3-D piece and am exploring how to make it a dimensional piece. I’ve sculpted some pieces in paper clay, but never done any “paper engineering or sculpture with a flat piece of paper.” It’s a bit intimidating but my interest is always piqued by a challenge. So my starting point on this project is simply to draw/paint it out. I am just always most comfortable when I give it the watercolor test, even when I know the end result will be digital or other. Anyway, a title….hmmm… well it depicts two very close souls selecting their perfect wishing star. You know you have to choose the right one for the wish to come true, so we’ll keep it simple and for now title it “The Wishing Star.” In the end I have to select "The Wishing Star" as my submisison.