Rain Monster

We got more snow last night; how about where you are at? : )

Happy New Year! XOXOXOXOXO

Elephant Train Print with Free Personalization Option

I am excited to offer this one in my shop since it is one of my favorite from the past. The best part is that you can choose to personalize it with your special someone's name. See my shop for detail!

Chef Elephant and Little Turtle

I revised both illustrations and added more colors. Now Chef Elephant and Little Turtle can join Mr. Snake and Mr. Lion and make a nice collection.

Mr. Lion and Mr. Snake coming to my shop

Two of my favorite from my animal alphabet collection, "Mr. Lion" and "Mr. Snake", are now in my etsy shop. They make a lovely pair for any kid's bedroom or playroom!

White Christmas

We got our first major snow storm this winter, just in time for a white Christmas. It started yesterday early evening (luckily I made it to the market for some much needed grocery before it all started). I didn't realize how much snow we've got until I stepped outside this morning. My church friend came to pick me up for lunch in their house, and the car was stuck on the street twice on the way. Yikes! I got around 9 inches around my house, and it is still coming down. Hopefully we won't get much more after this.

Merry Christmas

From the little corner of my house... That big vintage ceramic glove mold is my Christmas gift from my man. A big surprise! : )

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you guys! May you find peace and love at this very special time. Love you all! XOXO

Just thinking out loud here...

These are not real bags yet, just mock-ups... But if I am going to have some canvas shopping bags made, which design would you prefer? : ) Also if you know any good reputable source that makes custom bags, please let me know.



By the way, thank you guys for all your kind words for my Etsy shop! I will really appreciate it if you can put up some good words for me on your blogs. Thank you a million! XOXO!

Mt Etsy shop is now open!

How are you my friends? After lots of trouble and prep works (getting a new printer which will print archival quality artworks, getting a new computer, and getting all the legal stuff like EIN number, bank account and sales tax certificate... yeah, boring!), my Etsy shop is finally open! Right now I have 6 prints (oldies but goodies from the past) in the shop, and I will be adding more prints in the shop as time goes by. Please come take a look and give me any advice/suggestion you might have! : D

Merry Christmas and Happy Year 2010!

Etsy shop coming soon...

I am in the process of opening up my Etsy shop... Stay tunned! : )

"Stick me FLICKr!" Nº1 sticker pack

"Stick me FLICKr!" Nº1 is now available! Please visit YaelFran's Etsy shop to get your own before it's sold out! Again, here is my page; each sticker is 2" by 2", like a little piece of artwork!

Artists include:
Sandra Juto
Hernan Paganini
Mia Christopher
Marmushka
Vincent Mathy
Thereza Rowe
Suero
Happy Doodle Land

Here are all the stickers:

Super Cute Animation

Super cute animation from NHK Educational TV. You don't need to understand Japanese to enjoy it! :D
Found via Rainbowbox69's Blog.

"Stick me Flickr!" Sticker

Yaelfran invited me to participate in her first "Stick me Flickr!" collaborative sticker book project. Here is my page. Each sticker is about 2" by 2". You can see similar sticker books at her Etsy shop. Stay tuned! :)

Also I need your help. I am considering setting up a shop. Since I do not own a nice printer at home, which printer do you guys recommend for making nice prints? On what kind of papers? Any suggestions?

Etchings

I took the intaglio workshop at work and made two little etchings. My first etching experience, and I really enjoyed it.

Recipe: My Attempt at Æbleskiver

Two weeks ago me and my mom were browsing Williams-Sonoma, and I spotted that they have Æbleskiver pans for sale. I've never heard of Æbleskiver, but since I grew up in Taiwan, we have something similar, but salty instead of sweet, and it's called Takoyaki. Takoyaki is a yummy Japanese dumpling with chopped octopus bits and other goodness in it, and they can be made using the same pan. So I ordered a pan on Amazon.com (because it can produce 14 Æbleskiver at once, instead of the one I saw in the store which can only make 7 at a time.)

I guess I really can't call mine Æbleskiver, since they doesn't have any apple in it. Plus I got lazy and used regular pancake mix, so they are more like pancake puffs. I failed twice before successfully made a batch of nice looking puffs! I found out the trick is that you really have to grease the pan well, no matter if it's nonstick or not, otherwise the puffs won't turn nicely.

Here is the material list:
1. an Æbleskiver pan (nonstick or cast iron; mine is nonstick)
2. 1 cup of regular pancake mix (I use the kind that only water is needed)
3. 3/4 cup milk
4. 1 whole egg
5. small marshmallows
6. bamboo skewers
7. nonstick cooking spray (or cooking oil for cast iron pan)
(make about 28 puffs)

Mix 2+3+4 all together to make the batter. On the gas/or electric stove (an induction stove won't work), heat up the pan over medium heat and give a generous dose of nonstick cooking spray. When the pan is well heated, pour batter into each cubby only a little more than half way full (because the batter will expand). Then I add one marshmallow into each one of them; you can also add jam or other stuff. After that it's only the matter of using two bamboo skewers to turn the puffs and get it well cooked. This is the most difficult part and hard for me to describe. But here is a teaching clip that I found really helpful:



Here are some photos of my process:





And then sprinkle some powdered sugar on top, and enjoy! :)

Boo!

This is one of my Halloween card design sold in Hallmark Gold Crown Store. Hope it is not too late to wish you guys a safe and fun night! Happy Halloween!!! :)

Pumpkin Carving Day at Kearney

Today a couple of people from my staff went to our company's Kearney studio to carve pumpkins. Unlike last year's sunny day on the farm, today it was cool, raining and foggy, but I loved every bit about it! It is weather like this and all the colors on the trees make me enjoy fall so much! I carved one pumpkin with mustache and then spent the all afternoon curled up on the couch with friends, watching "Rosemary's Baby"... yup! (A little disappointed because they never showed the baby's face in the film...) It was perfect!

Here are panoramic views around the studio. (Pardon my awful camera and photos that are pieced together... but you get the idea.) Isn't it lovely?

Sketchbook Doodle Animation: Fox Hat

From today's sketchbook

Something to cure your Monday blues...

They Might Be Giants' super cute music video from the Grammy-winning "Here Come the 123s" DVD & CD set, directed by David Cowles (co-directed with Sean McBride).



Great... now it is stuck in my big giant head...

This Morning's Random Office Moment

What's that on the kitchen table?



Closer...



LOL!!!

New Hallmark Books

How are you, my friends? We've been having weird & chilly weather here in the Midwest. The sun was hiding from us for the whole past week but is finally showing its face again now. A breezy, sunny Autumn day... for that reason alone, it's worth celebrating! On top of that, I am going to show you two more new books from Hallmark; I'm sure they are going to put you in an even better mood!

The first one is "Ultra GoGo's Party Fun Book". It's a collaboration between my friend Sarah Anderson and writer Linda Morris, and it took years from the very beginning of the project to finally having the book on the market. It's a labor of love, and the end result definitely shows that! It's a super super fun book for tween/teen girls (or even grown-ups like you and me), full of "Quizzes, Games, and Recipes for All-Time Wackalicious Party Fun"! It's a spiral-bound book (easy to lay flat) with thick cardboard cover and a cute sticker sheet at the end. I will let the pictures do all the talking:




The second book is "It's Not Easy Being Brave". It's written by Megan Haave, and collaboratively illustrated by Maura Cluthe and Mirna Sutbbs. It's is SO CUTE!!! (Just look at the little monster plush toy tucked away in the pocket!!! His name is "Pip", by the way.) Pip is the smallest monster in the world, and he is good at being scared, especially by other monsters! It's a really cute story with very well done artworks. Your little ones, or yourself, will for sure enjoy it (I know I did!)




To get your own copies, check out your local Hallmark Gold Crown stores. If you have any comments or feedback, you can email them to booknotes@hallmark.com.

Encaustic Doodle #3

Mixed-media encaustic doodle on 6" by 8" wood panel. From the side you can see beeswax dripping down... I kind of like that.

A Little Encaustic Box

A little mixed-media encaustic box with shellac, 3" across.
I've been having fun with beeswax... I love how imperfectly perfect the result could be.

Encaustic Doodle #2

Mixed-media encaustic doodle on 4" by 6" wood panel

Encaustic Doodle #1

Tonight's project: encaustic doodle on 4" by 6" wood panel.

It's really chilly over here (I think we skipped fall and have winter instead...) and I have to crank up the furnace. A toasty studio + bees wax + paint + hot tea=best night! : )