The Sketchbook Project Part Deux

As promised here is the rest of the pages from my sketch book for the Sketchbook Project 2011.

Even though I stressed mightily about this, I had no idea what I even wanted to do, no direction...nada, I have to admit to enjoying this for all it was worth! I found a new and exciting direction to take my dear little Ralphie in and he made many new friends along the way.

For those of you who are shaking your head wondering who Ralphie is, he's the dear little orange kitty you see in a lot of my work. I miss him every day.

I am totally going to join in on this project again next year!

Did you have a sketchbook in this project too? Please share in the comments, I would love to come see!

Sketchbook Project 2011

I'm A Scavenger...

Yes, I know. I failed horribly in my effort to post daily/weekly as I said I would earlier.

I signed up for the Sketchbook Project with all kinds of time left for me to finish a one page spread a week with lots of time to do each one at a leisurely pace. It seems as though a pretty butterfly must have flitted past at a bad moment and got me sidetracked and next thing you know I have 3 weeks before the deadline to send.

tsk tsk.

I've never worked on something so furiously before in my life!

I learned how to bind a sketchbook. I did this because I knew there was no way I was ever going to be able to fill all those pages in 3 weeks time and wanted a book with far fewer pages in it. I ended up with 16 full spreads, the front and back inside cover and the front and back outside cover. Had it not been for the three day extension we all got my covers would have been blank, stark raving blank.

*chuckle*

I scanned these so ignore the odd glare and shadow. My pages got a bit 'wrinkly' due to all the moisture I forced upon them and even flattening them out under my monstrously heavy old tv didn't completely help.

I will post the other half of the book on tomorrow's post.

I promise!

Happy Easter!

I hope that everyone is having a fabulous Easter!

I've been a bad blogger of late but with the best intentions. Though this last week has seen me hit hard with a bout of pneumonia that still seems to be lingering. It's little things like this that make you realize how fortunate we are for simple things like antibiotics, a soft pillow and something 'anything' to watch on the television when we are feeling our worst. Not to mention chicken noodle soup, an absolute staple in this household although it was oranges that I craved after 4 days of being unable to eat anything at all.

I will attempt to make it all up to you with lots of pictures this go around.

A friend brought me this lovely "stump" of grass that made its way into a photo shoot with some new birds and friends.
Spencer.

Little Nilla.
Maya

Ralphie holding little Emily.

Did I mention that I went to see 'Alice In Wonderland? No? I highly recommend this movie...highly!

I was extremely motivated by it.

The Cheshire Cat.


My version of Alice herself holding the White Rabbit.

Sweet little pin set.

A Tribute to Ralphie

Ralphie was born in an old sheep shed on my Mom's property about 13 years ago to a wild barn cat. He faced a rough short life there, winters were cold and there was a busy road nearby even for a farming neighborhood. Boys like Ralphie didn't have long lives in the wilds of Idaho.

Knowing these things and looking into the face of that little orange fluff ball made me decide to bring him home to live with me. His eyes were still blue and he was still nursing a bit but we had become quite proficient with bottle feeding baby kittens having taken in both Thelma and Louise the year before and needing to bottle feed them both.

Ralphie quickly established himself as a character and quite opinionated too. Never one to shy away from making himself heard when the food bowl ran low he would race ahead to trip you so you were sure to know what he wanted.

Later in life he developed that strange snaggle tooth that I found sooo incredibly endearing.

He always knew when you were having a bowl of cereal and insisted on finishing what was left of the milk in the bottom of the bowl...always.

The dogs feared Ralphie and he knew it. He liked to stand in the path that he knew they wanted to go in because he knew they wouldn't dare go if he would just sit there...calmly, whistling while they danced from paw to paw in anticipation.

My grumpy boy.

Forever in my heart.

6-22-2009

Ralphie Not Feeling Well

My big boy Ralph (the Real One) hasn't been feeling well lately and got to have a visit with the vet. I had noticed that he wasn't eating much lately and had in fact lost some weight. Now mind you Ralph has always been a thin cat so it wasn't all that noticeable at first. When we finally did get him to the vet he actually weighed a paltry 7 pounds...yikes!

He was a VERY good boy in the visit but he did feel well enough to growl at DR. Jason...a lot!

Turns out he has an infected tooth.

What was really amazing was that he got an antibiotic shot that would administer meds to his system twice a day for ten days just from the one shot. No holding down grumpy cats and attempting to risk life and limb to administer them to him.

Four days in and he is feeling so so much better. He has another appointment in four more days to get the tooth looked at in more detail to see what's going on with it. They just wanted to get the infection cleared up first.

He wasn't getting babied enough before, he'll be impossible after this. I may even attempt a picture later. I think I may be able to sneak one in on him...

Ralphie Has Been Stuffed!

I have been itching to do this project for what seems like an eternity. Even got the basic shape cut out, sewn, stuffed and then abandoned...

I'm pleased to say that I finally decided what I wanted to do with him and how.

Here's Ralphie with his little Charlie kitty.

See those little paws? I have those prints all over my work table now...