tania howells

illustration friday: snazzy

Ahh. I am feeling my old self again today. It is rather silly that usually this time every month I feel wriggly and grumpy, and every month I am surprised and annoyed to feel that way. 2+2 = 4, it's called PMS, as if I didn't know. Ladies, I think you'll understand. So, I am cheerfully replying to emails and rummaging - or I think grandmas call it puttering. Goodness I love to putter.

I have these funny little finger puppets that I got when I was little. I remember my mum telling me to take good care of them, which I sort of did - I only have 2 left! What happened to the others? Today I am scoring and folding lots of Christmas cards. It is kind of a fun, brainless thing to do, listening to the CBC and drifting. I am feeling better today I guess, just have to keep on keeping on.
...andsome cute fuzzy things.

When you love tacky stuff...

...people bring you things!

My co-worker found this in her 93 year old father's garage and, sweetly, thought of me! You can't go wrong with a silly looking cat from days gone by.

***

This entry over at Superhero really spoke to me today, and it looks like a lot of us are feeling the same! The feeling of spinning wheels and waking up anxious, but not having a reason to, is getting old. It is true that these pressures are put on me by myself, yet it is so hard to feel "worthy" when you are in charge of setting all your own tasks! The whole point is to enjoy, but I often get caught up in worrying instead.
There is no job description for doing what a lot of us crafty types do and sometimes that makes it really hard! PHEW.

baggie

I finished up 6 of these guys for the upcoming Christmas craft shows. I am happy with them! The denim is still a little lumpy but it's not too bad.
Lately from home, I can post entries but I can't look at my blog! It won't load up. Sheesh. Time to upgrade to DSL, this is nuts. I'm in the dark ages here!

Pacific Mall

On Friday, Paul and I had a car for the day and took the pilgrimage waaaaay out to the Pacific Mall! I have always wanted to go, it was awesome! Miles of little stores selling tons of stuff from Asia. The best, of course, were the stationary and the candy stores. Lots of shops were shut by the time we got there, but that was ok. The sushi/Chinese/Vietnamese/Thai all under one roof restaurant was still open. What a feast.

Can you believe it? MOOMIN CANDY!

Illustration Friday : Fiesta

desk

Looks like I need to tidy up little. That might help me with focusing my brain! It might be neat to see pictures of people's desks on, say, the 12th of every month. Sometmes mine is all neat an organised and often it is scattered with junk I am in the process of dealing with - drawings, treats and cards from abroad ( a rare special occurance ), some paper cranes I want to hang in the hall (to welcome my honorary granny and grampa who came home from Portugal last Saturday,) and the requisite pens, glue stick, etc. Stuff!

it's up!

Please visit my shop. It's where my Christmas cards are and some other little things I have made. I hope to add stuff often so come back soon!

super happy lucky me

It was the nicest thing to come home to after a long tiring Friday, my anticipated dolly from Rosa!! Henry Peabody the III, but you can call him Hank.
Bright and early the next day, we took Hank out to show him the neighborhood. Here he is enjoying the park and the fall colors. Then we went to dim sum with my mom, but the camera batteries ran out! He is remarkably good with chop sticks for a young bear from Portugal. Rosa, I love him!!! Thank you soooooooo much. I am thinking of taking him to the CN Tower next...I hope he isn't afraid of heights.
xoxox :)

Illustration Friday : smelly

I got the most (wee) wondeful surprise in the mail today! Hillary sent me a pointy toe cat!!!! Here she is meeting my cats for the first time. Notice the chilly indifference.

And here, things are warming up some. The girl cat is giving pointy toe cat a little lick.

Hillary told me to tell overall cat to go easy on his new friend! That she is a bit wobbly. Overall cat is in love. THANK-YOU very very much. This is one fine cat!

doodlebug

I have a special order to make 2 paintings for a nice person in Switzerland! (hi Glauca!) So I am doodling to think of ideas to surprise her with.



ps. My friend did like her little wallet-y thing! She even liked the bunchy threads - said it should be my trademark. Happy birthday Prisca!

YUM!

Today is my friend's birthday, so I made her this little wallet-y thing. The only problem is it looks a bit crummy on the inside- some bunchy threads and not so even at all! I can't really sew, but I keep trying because I like to see my drawings made into stuff. I can't decide if she will like it. They do say it's the thought that counts...

I don't usually get to the computer on weekends to post, but these oranges from saturday's breakfast looked so nice I wanted to put them up! In a few minutes we are going to go have DIM SUM! The most fun food and my latest constant craving. I love food that comes in it's own edible package - dumplings, ravioli, burritos, perogies, you name it! Have a lovely lazy Sunday. :)

This is a view of a baseball game, from the top of the CN tower! I don't know who won.

Feeling much better today. Yesterday I felt as small as that ladybug. It is amazing how, in a day full of perfectly nice things and very nice things (treats coming in the mail!!!) one mean person can ruin it all. Try and be nice to the people you love today (and everyday)! Being nice matters so much.

teeny weeeny ladybug

everyone needs elves

These are the two Christmas card designs I will have for sale shortly.

Reading this today at Penguin Art really made me feel better. It's been one of those invisible days, where I suddenly think "Wait a second, it's possible I actually do not know a thing about being an illustrator...". But I guess I must know something. It's odd how in the quiet times when no one calls, we forget the times when we DO get work and we aren't invisible at all. Maybe a string around my finger will keep me reminded and cause me to ignore the little meany in my head! Be QUIET meany.

I didn't make this little guy, but there is a great story that goes with him. About 8 years ago, I was walking home on a freezing cold day, through Kensington Market. I looked down at one point and I saw this cat, half frozen in a puddle and solid as a rock! I felt so sorry for him, I pried him out, took him straight home and thawed him out in the shower. He was so grateful, he has stayed with me ever since! These overalls were on him when I found him.

I found this super groovy skirt a few weeks ago at the Clothing Show. You can sort of see that it's great big pink and orange flowery things!
I spent this morning re-doing some crummy photos ( I can't seem to get nice crisp photos with my digital camera unless its totally outside...hmmm.... ) and coding up a storm for the fabled web store. I feel kind of happy because for the life of me, I was unable to figure out how to do those things where you click and it goes to a bigger image. VERY basic stuff!! Anyway, I finally figured it out! WOO! I could just have asked someone, but somehow it's so delicious to figure it out all by myself. Especially since coding html reminds me of math, which I was so terrible at at school. So in some backwards way, I now feel like I am good at math! My dad would be so proud.