a. t. whim

I got my super cute heart envelopes from Paper Source today and I packaged up my brand new postcards! I love the way they look!

I only have *The Great Escape* available right now in my shop, but more designs have been ordered and soon will be on the way! Including ones for Dia de los Muertos. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get super cute envelopes for all of them, even though I’m slightly addicted to Paper Source’s stuff…. it’s a little pricier than plain ol’ regular envelopes and I don’t want to charge a lot because I HAD to have pretty envelopes. But I may not be able to resist. I’m already thinking of what I want to do for my winter holiday cards.

My prints are on Asian iCandy now!  This very sweet person contacted me about selling my art on her site, and I’m absolutely enamored with it.  The clothing on there is so pretty, and I want it all!  But I’m really loving Gochemoche’s hair pins. 

At the book store, I found this adorable little hedgehog board book called, *Ich bin der kleine Igel*. A co-worker told me it was Dutch. I have no clue. But it was cute, so I brought it home…

It only measure about 3 inches by 5 inches, and is so freakin’ cute! Language barriers can’t trump my love of picture books. Just look at the hedgies! One day I will have a hedgehog to add to my zoo.

Just you wait………

This month is coming to a close, and I can’t believe how quickly it went!
Fresh from the kitchen studio is my Portrait of my sweet boyfriend Phil who loves lizards. Pictured with him is our dearly missed uromastyx Biko.

Here is my mysterious fox lady walking through silent streets.

And I was telling my son the story of Rapunzel and drew this picture as I was telling it.
I’m working on a drawing of the witch cutting off Rapunzel’s hair, I should have that one done tonight.
But my favorite part of this week were the new picture books I got. I found these 2 old gems as I was shelving the best section in the store.

*The Grouch and the Tower and Other Sillies* by John O’brien….

just look at the walking house, and tree headed people!

Then there’s *Long Ago a Moonboat* by Christopher Carroll…

This one’s loaded with beautiful, intricate illustrations. I wish I could show them all to you.

I also got the new Peter Sis book *The Wall*, and a few European folktale books. YAY! I love getting new books!

It doesn’t feel like summer here though.  It’s cold and rainy.  I don’t think I’ve gotten the desert out of me quite yet.  I started a bookish project the other day.  I’m entitling it Strange Little Girls.  Here’s the cover that I just finished.

I’m absolutely obsessing over it right now.  I love the ribbons and buttons!  I can’t wait to finish it.

Today I painted a wooden box and placed my favorite little white sugar bowl in it ;

then went to Paper Source’s website and obsessed over pretty paper, stamps and envelopes.  Proceeded to order lots of pretty envelopes for the postcards I ordered last week (I can’t wait to see them!).

Tomorrow it’s back to work.  My weekends are too short and which means my crafting and painting days are too short.  It should be the other way around.  Work at the book store for 2 days, then crafting and painting the other 5 days.  Life would be so much better!

One of my girls laid an egg! YAY! My very first egg! It’s so small and a blueish green color. Ooooohhhh, how I love my chickens. I took some pictures of them the other day…

They’re so fluffy and pretty. Isn’t she beautiful? Her feathered legs make her look like she’s wearing bloomers. YAY, Happy first egg day!

I just finished this painting today and right now she’s my favorite of the Tree-Headed ones. I feel like she’s Eve tempting Adam with an apple and yet she is the apple tree…. hmmmm….. And I love the deep red of the apple. I’m always looking for ways to mix really good shade of red. I started this painting awhile ago, but never liked the way it looked. But now after tweaking it a bit these last few days, I think she’s so pretty. I think I”ll keep her for a little while and hang her on the glaring white wall in my living room. Next summer I have to paint my living room… That is if I ever finish painting the kitchen.

A few new somethings are in the shop right now. I’ve been working like a dog at the bookstore and at home. If I just had about ten more arms, I think I could get everything done at once and then just sit for a moment. But right now I have to get myself ready for work again. Just wanted to jump in and say hi! Have a good weekend everyone!

I just came back from watching the first 2 Twin Peaks episodes at a friends house. SOOOO GOOD! I haven’t seen them in years, but they are still one of the best things that ever happened to television. My favorites are Agent Cooper, of course… damn I love that man, and Audrey is so beautiful!

I also did a little Esty shopping while I was in California, and I must share my new pretties. I’ve been eyeing this little lady’s jewelry for so long, and now I finally have 3 of my very own LuLu Sparkles originals!

They came in this lovely wrapping and I’m totally obsessing with them now. I am now in search for a jewelry box worthy to carry these babies.

I’m slowly getting my house organized. I desperately need my studio to not be in the kitchen and am dreaming of my garage being a work space one day…..

It’s taken me a few days to get settled back in at home.  There’s so much painting I need to do, and not enough time!  My house is in desperate need of organization.  I feel like I’m drowning in the mess.  Today, though, I finally got my studio in order and managed to scan the few small drawings I did in California.  Here they are!

Not one of them measure more than  5 inches by 6 inches.  They were fun to draw, and I got to use my brand new Koh-i-noor pens! Oh, but how I’ve missed my paints!  I’ve got so much more house work to do, but I wanted to show you my little works.  Have a good weekend!