Cheers!

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Doodle - Before and After

The scan


The colored scan.

I like how this turned out. I think one thing I am finding is I need to have a very clean lined illustration to scan. I need to restock up on my Pigma Micron pens. Does anyone have other suggestions for a good pen for lines? Tweet Follow @kellymedina

The Perfect Dessert Crime

I was busily trying to catch up on all my blogs and just cracked up when I saw these cupcakes and then had a gross out moment too (I am not much of a meat eater - insanely picky and easily grossed out). There is a recipe for something similar in this book which I will be treating myself to with Christmas money.

I get teased a lot by my family that live in Idaho for not eating meat, I hear a lot of "I can't imagine NOT eating meat" or "Gimme meat!", usually it is announced several times to folks "Kelly doesn't eat meat, ya know" and the odd looks follow. I usually scramble to say "well I eat fish sometimes.." hoping to hide the glowing horn that just sprouted from my forehead as if my mother just announced I am a meat-hating mythical creature of some sort. It used to drive me nuts when I was younger. Over the years I have learned to shrug it off a bit more - but not always.

I think these would be pretty shocking (at first) to make for the family. I am seriously going to try and remember to do that on my next visit. They better watch out or I might add in some tofu and make them all melt! Yeah, they completely and totally fear tofu, regardless they have never had it, know what is or even what it is made from, simply it IS to be FEARED!

Gotta love 'em! :)

*looking around evilly, rubbing her hands together slowly, she begins to plot the perfect dessert crime...muahaha*
(slight dramatization) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Playing Around

I'm going to play around with coloring my drawings in Photoshop - bare with me :) I usually use Illustrator to do most of my illustrations. But I would like to learn how to color my pen/pencil drawings in Photoshop. I just hope I have the patience to keep pushing through, it can be so easy to just go back to what I know, ya know?

This is rough still, but I wanted to post something today. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Doodle Dee

Doodled this character quickly today at work, and I kinda liked it. I think for the new year I will try and post random doodles that I do during the day. I have sooo many pieces of paper with random drawings that I keep saved, but I forget to actually do something with most of them. Maybe if I post them I will get better at doing more with those poor, forgotten drawings. Some will be colored, some will just be rough. I plan to post the "finished" version if it gets that far.

Just warming up... :) Here is to a new year full of more doodling and sharing! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

A Gorgeous Gift

Chris received a very special present from his Oma for Christmas. She bought this gorgeous collection - The Official Birds and Flowers of Our Fifty States First Issue envelopes - when he was 1 year old.

Hawaii and Oregon envelopes.

They are so beautiful. What an amazing illustrator - Chuck Ripper. I can't even imagine being able to capture that much detail so well.


Above are other pieces by Chuck Ripper that I found while looking up a link for him. You can look at this link and see a ton of his work - wow!

Thank you Chris' Oma - we love the gift! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Illustration Friday - Horizon

I didn't have much time to work on piece for this week's topic, as I am sure many others are feeling the same way. But I wanted to post something and this is what came to mind.

I'm looking forward to what is coming over the horizon in 2008. I really love New Year's - it is my favorite holiday - Halloween being the first. I always feel like it is a new chapter beginning and so refreshing.

Happy New Year's to everyone and be safe. All the best! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Merry!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Christmas Eve Yum!

Pre-cutting

After cutting to show the yummy filling!

I made this Chocolate Hazelnut Yule Log for our Christmas eve dessert. It is very tasty and light due to the frosting pretty much being whipped cream. I love the mushrooms!

I don't have any special serving platters so this is on the cooking sheet. I need to get one.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas eve! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Random Doodlin'

I've been drawing little characters while catching up on movies. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Relaxing

After the big rush of last week I am finding myself wanting to just draw, lay with the kitties, watch movies or tv series and enjoy the long holiday weekend. I have a few things I would like to work on during the weekend, so hopefully I will have something to show.


This was taken a few weeks ago when we went on a hike. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Fortune Cookie

Got this today at lunch. Looking forward to 2008! :) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Early Bird

I am not normally a morning person. This morning I randomly woke up at 5AM - I think from worrying, oh, the joys of being a worrier! When I woke up I looked at the closed bedroom door and saw light coming through the door and frame. I was a bit weirded out because I remember turning the lights off when I said good night to my dog (aka black dragon or Popsicle). I got up creeping my way out to the living room and turned off the lamp. Nothing jumped out or made a grab for me - phew!

I went back to bed and told Chris about it. He, of course, had some good logic, but the spooked feeling didn't really leave me. So I got up, showered, turned on my computer, made some eggs with toast, ate, read blogs, and drank water. I started getting tired about the time I would normally wake up (figures!) and remembered I didn't make any coffee to kick start my early morning. Coffee in hand - well on my desk, because I'm typing afterall - I'm enjoying writing a few emails and this post.

It is such a shame we have to sleep so much - can you imagine how much stuff we could create, observe, enjoy if we had all that time awake! I hope some day my body clock sort of clicks and gets me up naturally so I can enjoy these nice leisurely mornings. They are wonderful.

Woah! It is already 8.. yah I'm gonna be late for work. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Let It Grow! Gift Package

I got my gift prepared and ready for the holiday party at work tomorrow. Phew! The cookies are also for tomorrow. So looks like I made it just in time.

This is the card describing the gift. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Tray of Cookies

Lots of baking the last few days, finally done, well at least for this week. It all turned out tasty!
Walnut Brown Sugar Rugelach
Chocolate Mint Wafers Tweet Follow @kellymedina

They Still Love It!

I wanted to show a quick photo of my two monsters enjoying the original basket bed I made them. They have been on major "going crazy" mode with all the boxes, holiday decorations, dangling lights, stray ribbon, etc... so looking at this picture reminds me of a nice day that we had Ghostbusters on and they were quietly resting while I was busy sewing.

I won't post many pictures of my pets on this blog, but I really wanted to show that the kitty beds I showed a while back are enjoyed by the boys which makes me very happy.
(Ollie on the left, Zeke on the right) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

For a Friend

At the end of November one of my closest and oldest friends made this post requesting feathers. Once he talked to me about it I started planning. That night I found the tiny feather on our bed - you can barely see it in the plastic bag. During the weekend, I played with watercolours, trying to make a decent feather and then did some stamping. Chris thought we should definitely include one of the wild turkey feathers that are scattered all over our yard. So we went out and found the one in the best shape - soaked/cleaned it and dried it to package up.

Here is what I sent. So please be thinking good thoughts for him during the holidays - even if it is "hmm wonder how that feather guy is doing on his drive? I hope he made it." - that counts! This is a huge challenge for him, and I know he can accomplish it. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

A Short, But Sweet Post

I tried a new cookie recipe tonight. I love it! It has the yummiest vanilla filling and I don't use coconut in enough things. I used need to make some coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate in the near future. It is so tasty!

These are called Coconut Sandwich Cookies, but I am not seeing it on Martha's site. So if you are interested and want the recipe leave a comment or email me and I will send it to you.

Now off to work on a gift package. (looking forward to the weekend!) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Illustration Friday - Backwards

All delivery drivers have mastered driving backwards and this candy loving monkey is no exception - even with the amounts of candy he eats all day. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Sunday To Do List

Today was busy, but it was one of those days that I can't recall what took up so much time that the day is already over. A lot was getting help figuring out the blog updates and editing html (read: Chris editing html). But I like the end result for my blog. I also updated my old websites to refer folks to my blog.

Now it is time for a movie and some popcorn!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! :) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Bigger and Better Kitty Bed

My first kitty bed-basket was big enough to have both kitties laying comfortably, but Zeke has gotten so big that he takes up the whole thing and Ollie will try to cram himself in next to him. So this weekend I picked up this larger basket and made the cushion and cover for it. I love the cute sheep flannel fabric. I tried taking a picture with Zeke in the bed, but they were all a blur. Sorry, no shot of that for now. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

I love..

my fast-growing, cutesy bowl collection. While I was making a coffee this morning I started looking at a pair of new small bowls I recently picked up (the cat and dog) and thought I would post my variety of bowls. I love finding unique little bowls that have cute characters and fun colors - I always look at ceramic sections for the perfect mug and anything else that I might fall in love with.

These are the undersides of the bowls in the first picture. I have a couple big cereal bowls and two small mugs (one for work, one for home) with the monkey illustration. They make me happy!


I find uses for the small bowls all the time. We use them a lot for snacks to have out our computers. These have Cheese Bunny crackers and peanuts with dried cherries - great for portion control. I mostly wanted to show that the insides of the bowls have the cute illustrations as well.


The bee and bunny bowls are bigger in size and used for soup and cereal. Also, to hold garlic & shallot bulbs.

Seriously, how cute is this!?

I got these locally at a great shop called Down to Earth. So it took a bit to find any sources to share with readers, but I finally found a few. I saw a few that are new to me and awesome!

Hollanders.com has a nice Kotobuki collection.

Kotobuki Trading shows a lot of their different types of ceramics, as well as other products. But I didn't see the cute illustration kind.

Wedge Worldwide this site has the cute and more cute! oooh man, finding this has made me giddy! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Quick Illustration

A quick illustration I did while talking on the phone with my good friend, Curt, who wouldn't let me get off the phone. :) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Jammin' Labels

Yah, I know, what a cheesy title, right? But I had to sweeten it up! :) Okay, it is late and I am grinding away on final touches for those gifts I have to send out tomorrow.

Here are the label designs I am creating for some jam I am sending as gifts. I will take a picture once I get the finals printed and on the jars.

Back to work! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Madeline's Cat Heaven Card + Stickers

Sadly, another friend has lost a kitty after many years. My friend asked me to make another Cat's Heaven card and I changed the colors of the cat to match this kitty, her name is Madeline. Madeline's little human girl, Sophia, is terribly sad and has been mourning the loss deeply. I thought some sweet stickers with Madeline on them might cheer her up. I hope so anyways.

I have also been keeping busy with wrapping and then boxing gifts to send out this week. I'm always stressed about getting my presents to my family on time. As a young 20-something I was always late sending gifts and one year I vowed I would not be late getting my gifts delivered on time. So I plan, schedule and have done pretty good on getting them home in time for the big day. I am right on schedule so should be just fine *knocks on wood*, just incase :) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Another Plastic Bag Dispenser

I made another plastic bag dispenser - this time I made it almost half the height to fit in the small space of my closet.

Even though a friend teased me about making these and posting - I'm still posting it! They may not be a glamorous project, but they are very functional, a good way to practice sewing skills and a nice way to use up scrap fabrics. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

A Few New Blogs...

I have come across lately that constantly have new updates and just wonderful ideas and/or inspiration. They are definitely worth checking out if you haven't already. They have been a great help with ideas for making things for people. A few I have read for a while, but thought I would share the inspirational wealth. :)

• Craft:
• Sew, Mama, Sew

• Chickpea Sewing Studio

• Posie Gets Cozy

• How About Orange...
Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Holiday Gift Cards

I have always meant to make my own printed gift tags when I wrap Christmas presents, but I either run out of time or just plain forget (not the best memory sometimes). So finally this year I threw some together with the illustrations I did for my cards and printed them up. I like! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Gingerbread Men

One of the designs I did for my holiday cards. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Red Dog and Jude

Danielle over at Red Dog and Jude posted some nice photos of the cards she bought from me recently. I am very flattered she posted about them and wasn't sure if I should mention it on my blog - but hey a little shameless self promotion can't hurt, right? I think her photos turned out much better than mine so please take a look. She also does a Monday Inspiration post every week that is always interesting to check out.

Thanks again, Danielle! :) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Illustration Friday - Little Things

My submission for the topic Little Things. This might be a fun bookmark. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Refueling

Chris made some Potato Leek Soup today for lunch. It turned out fantastic and really filled me up. The recipe in the link says serve it cold, but you can serve it chilled or warm depending on the season. Since it is chilly out we went with warm. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

My Holiday Cards

I've been plugging away on making some gifts - which I can't exactly show here until after the holidays. But here are my holiday cards printed, trimmed and folded. Out this weekend they will go!


I like how the return labels turned out. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Top 25 Movies

I was tagged by the very talented Pickledog recently to list my top 25 movies. I am not sure I can say these are my top 25 movies, but these are definitely the favorites that popped into mind right off. I know I am forgetting one that I will bonk myself on the head for later, oh well. Here is my list in no particular order, except that they are amazing movies that I have watched many times - some more than I should ever admit to.

1. Groundhog Day
2. Spirited Away
3. Hot Fuzz
4. XMen2
5. A Bug's Life
6. Lost in Translation
7. Sixteen Candles
8. Lord of the Rings
9. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
10. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
11. Aliens (I do mean the second movie of the Alien sequels)
12. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
13. Triplets of Belleville
14. Sin City
15. The Royal Tenebaums
16. Shaun of the Dead
17. Monsters Inc
18. A Series of Unfortunate Events (amazing credit illustrations!)
19. What About Bob?
20. Wedding Crashers
21. Beetlejuice
22. Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back
23. 300
24. Best in Show
25. Punch Drunk Love

Hmm, that was easier than I thought.

I need to tag 5 people and I pick....

Curt - While Walking Duncan
Flora - Happy Doodeland
Amy - Re:make
Christine - Christine Clemmensen
Danielle - Red Dog and Jude Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Plastic Bag Dispenser

Something I whipped up really fast today. I usually try to get only paper bags or take my re-useable totes, but I still seem to have lots of plastic bags and this is a nice way to tuck them away and get to them quickly.

Here is the tutorial I used. Very easy to follow instructions. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Amazing Photography + Sweet Coyote

The above photo makes me melt. awww.


Chris sent me this link, knowing I would love to see the amazing photography and read the sweet story. I thought I would share it with you. The woman that writes the coyoto blog also wrote this blog which has even more impressive photography. Definitely take a look. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

I like...

Today was very productive, but not so much in me creating anything. We did get out to do a little holiday shopping and I couldn't resist picking this great tea kettle up for us. We have needed one for some time and I just loved the color. So I made one of my favorite teas, Moroccan Mint, in my favorite monkey teacup and ate some dark chocolate m&m's. mm yum! Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Holiday Illustration

I am working on our holiday card. Here is the illustration. The hardest part is writing a good message. Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Illustration Friday - Excess

This is a quick drawing I did during a work meeting and finally added some color today on my break. I've been so busy with the holidays coming up, but I just can't miss Illustration Friday!

Sometimes the excess of junk mail, bills, magazines, packages can be so overwhelming I can't help but get sidetracked, stop in the middle (okay, more like at the start) of the organizing and read one of my favorite magazines.

All the best to everyone and thanks for visiting! :) Tweet Follow @kellymedina

Holiday Mix Pack

It was a pretty busy evening, though I can't completely recall what kept me so busy. I did get this Holiday Mix Pack printed, trimmed, folded and will be shipped out tomorrow. I am frantically starting to realize I have no idea what I am doing for presents - I know I want to make the gifts or at the very least buy handmade gifts. So I will begin making my list this week! Much to do!

Holiday Mix Pack Tweet Follow @kellymedina