Fresh Artwork Thursday Week #1

Round.

The word round conjures up many things. But does it conjure up round artwork?
I never thought so either.

In keeping with my promise on June 1st I have some new artwork to share and it all came about from the round tip-in page swap I joined in on over at Craftster.

I had been feeling, dare we say...bored? I needed something fresh, help me think outside the box so to speak and I thought this swap would most definitely help.

Round.

I cursed the word round. How in the world, (haha) was I supposed to do artwork round. I'm a square kinda girl. I hated round.

I apologize.

Once I "got it" I loved round. Couldn't do enough round. Yay for round!

My first swap partner wanted spring/garden/flowers. It truly looked better in person as it was so dimensional with lots of layers. I'm not much on flowers.

My second partner wanted nonsense. Yay I LOVE nonsense! I admit to having a lot of fun with this one. Little Emily on a bike with flowers!

My third partner wanted things with wings. Normally that's a walk in the park with the big eyed birds and all but having already sent her one of those I wanted to do something slightly different at least. Each of the little birds is hand drawn, colored, cut and glued on the record and the label states it's Freebird by The Byrds, hehe.

I still have 3 more partners to do pages for, a couple are going to be...interesting to say the least.

Here is some round artwork directly inspired by this swap.

Done on a 6"x6" canvas roughly around Mothers Day. Sense a theme there?

The theme I wanted for my tip-in page was Alice In Wonderland and I did want to share 2 of the pages I've received so far. Hopefully soon I can get to work on my own covers for my book at which time I will certainly share them.

Slightly askew White Rabbit done for me by Stifflersmom. He's so cool.


This fabulous page done by AlteredMommy. Love it!!

Another Baby Bird to Add To The Roster and a Challenge

I must really be a magnet for baby birds!

This one came to me by way of bad little Emily who insists on being a hunter no matter what I tell her. I think she just wants to play but my goodness.Do you see how insanely tiny he is? I was hoping that I could identify what species he is but I'm just not sure.

For being quite young he's got insanely bushy old man brows, dontcha think, hehe.
I had just finished little Howard here the day the little bird came into my life and I just love how I accidentally caught them both in the same exact pose...well, without the bushy eyebrows.

Little mobile home, always on the go.

Home being a little more permanent with these little guys. Itty bitty chubby houses.

On another note, today is June 1st and I've decided that I'm going to start something a little new and different. A challenge to myself if you will. I want to start something along the lines of art 365 or art a day although knowing that would be far too ambitious for me I will settle for at least one new artwork each week.

I would love some company along this journey for anyone willing to join in. A challenge to be creative and post it!

I'm thinking maybe Thursdays would be a good day, at least to start.

I may need a good swift kick from time to time, you know, to keep me on my toes!

What say you?

Alchemy Meerkat Waves Good-Bye

It's the end of our visit with little Alchemy, he's actually almost on his way home to England by now to see his Mom right before the drawing to find his new permanent home. but we thought we would share a few photos from his last day here.

We decided to take a quick trip down the strip so little Alchemy could see some of the sights here in Las Vegas before he leaves.


The beautiful Bellagio fountains.

Paris? Are we in Paris? No?

Are you sure this isn't New York? I see lots of taxis here and there's that green lady!

We stopped sight seeing as Alchemy wanted to learn how to play a little poker.

Off to a really rough start.

*sigh* I'll take four cards please.

Woohoo! Does this mean I win?!

After that fantastic hand Alchemy decided he'd had enough of the fast paced life of Vegas and went out to the garden to smell the flowers.

Can you see me in here?

Ahhh, this is much better.

Alchemy sitting at the airport watching the planes take off and land wondering about his upcoming trip and what adventures lie before him now.

Very excited to see where I'm headed now and wondering if Studio Cherie will make me something wonderful for my next journey.

Look at this great pin I got!

And this little paper mache house too! I think this means I'm going home soon...yay!

And just look at all the great stuff that is coming with me too!

I already miss this little guy and his fun little antics. Keep your eye out here for news of his final leg of his journey and news of a fabulous giveaway soon. You can also keep tabs on him on his Facebook page.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to my wonderful Mother!

I found some beautiful pottery on etsy that I just knew my Mother would love and add to that the fact I could personalize it with her name was an added extra bonus. Needless to say finding anything with her name on it is like searching for a needle in a very large haystack, hehe.

Aren't the colors gorgeous?! And yes, there are some cool stampings along the handle.

Check out TwistedRiverClay for more great pottery, they are wonderful!

My Mom is a big coffee drinker and she's going to LOVE this. Just wish I had mailed it out on time...tsk tsk tsk. Well it should be there tomorrow and be an even bigger surprise for it.

A Tour Of Lake Mead and Hoover Dam

Alchemy the Meerkat and I decided to head out to Lake Mead and then to Hoover Dam to do a little sightseeing and along to way found some fascinating things and some beautiful wildlife too.

For only $29 you can take a helicopter tour of Lake Mead and the dam.

Alchemy said no thank you very much!
We're just leaving beautiful Boulder City and headed straight towards Lake Mead.

A beautiful day and a beautiful view!

Alchemy at the Marina. Because the water levels at the lake are so low the Marinas are forced to constantly keep moving.
Little Alchemy posing bravely high above the dam on the water side. Closest is the Arizona tower side and the further tower is the Nevada side. Both have clocks in the towers showing what time it is in either state.
This is showing just how low our water levels are at Lake Mead just on the other side of the dam.

A gondola ferrying workers high above the already high bridge. If these guys aren't paid very well, they should be.

A couple of incredible shots of the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge.

This is supposed to be completed sometime this year. Can't wait to drive across it and see how incredible a sight it must be from up there.

A bird of prey. Couldn't get a better shot of it to actually tell what kind of bird but he sure made a few of the other residents a little nervous. Alchemy included.

We saw many little Antelope Ground Squirrels here.

Keeping a watchful eye out for that bird and for any treats you might just have on you.

Little Alchemy was in heaven!

And a whole herd of Desert Big Horn Sheep too. These guys, (there was an entire herd of them) were just 50 feet off the main road. This guy kept his eye on me the entire time I was there while the rest of them grazed happily but nervously. Isn't he gorgeous!

Tomorrow little Alchemy visits the strip!

I Did A Bad Thing...Taught A Meerkat How To Gamble

The further adventures of Alchemy the Meerkat on his tour of Vegas before he heads out to StudioCherie in Spokane Washington before his final leg before the grand giveaway to be announced both on the etteam blog and on the Meerkats Facebook Fan Page.

So after the excitement of actually seeing Elvis right on the strip had worn off I took little Alchemy out to play on the roulette wheel.

What do you mean I'm not a little ball?

A guy could get pretty dizzy sitting in this merry go round and I really want to know where the cotton candy is!.

Oooh, this looks just like grass! Blackjack eh? This looks complicated for a Meerkat. Where's the poker tables?

Well this hand doesn't look very promising...


Yeah yeah, I'll take four thank you very much.

Woohoo! Things are definitely looking up! Baby needs a new pair o' shoes!

*Stay tuned for even further Meerkat adventures!*

More Meerkat Adventures!

I can't believe I am still having computer issues BUT *knock on wood* I think I have most of them figured out now. Here's hoping!
But never mind that! We've got Meerkat adventures to talk about now! Here's little Alchemy.

Wow, that was a long trip am I really here? The sun sure is bright out here, I think I need some shades.

Yeah, this is my kind of weather.

Vegas baby! This is my kind of town! My very first stop here HAD to be the welcome to Vegas sign, hope Elvis is around!

Oh my goodness, there he is! It's really Elvis!! I'm just so excited! I need to ask him for an autograph!

Hmmm, I think he's ignoring me...wait, is he staring at that girl in the shorts!

Awww nevermind, a Meerkat just can't compete with that kind of competition.

Visiting with some of the residents here. Big eyed birds eh, I wonder if they are looking at me like I'm lunch or something.

Maybe if I blend in I won't draw their attention.

Woah! They are actually quite friendly little guys and gals! I like them!

Decided to go to work with my host. At 5am I'm really starting to regret this decision.


Ooof, this brush is awfully heavy, I think I'm gonna need a nap after this.

*Stay tuned for more Meerkat adventures! Next we visit Hoover Dam, squirrels and the strip!*