Free July Desktop Wallpaper

Ahhhh summer! Who wants some ice cream? For those of you guys who are having winter now, you can still have ice cream, right? : )

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Me

Just for fun. Actually my hair is a little longer now.

Two New Prints: Little Owl + Three Houses

Just added this sweet little guy into my shop. : )

Also last week I found the original drawing of these 3 houses. I thought I lost it because for the longest time I couldn't find it; I am so happy! It's now a print in my shop, too. I really love the quality of the print because it preserves all the quality of the felt pens and looks like an original art.

Face

Another scanner test. The sketch is done using my favorite tools: woodless graphite pencil + black Sharpie. I scanned the sketch into Photoshop, then traced it in Illustrator (so I can have a vector version of it in case I want to enlarge it real big in the future), and then I colored it in Photoshop.

I am really liking my little scanner. : )

I Hate Copycat!!!

Well... It finally happened to me. A Flickr friend told me that she saw a T-shirt in Korea with my mustache owl design on it, and she wrote me and asked if I am aware of this. Of course I am not! But what can I do? I am wondering if she could take a photo and show it to me. Sign... Looks like I have to start blocking people on Flickr, especially people who has no photos to share, who have not added any favorites photos from other Flickr, but at the same time keep adding other people to their contact list. (But even though I know it won't stop them from copying other people's artworks...)

Long Haired Lady

Just a doodle scanned from my sketchbook... I was testing the new scanner (Canon CanoScan LiDE100) which by the way, is cheap, light-weight and decent, and it doesn't need a power cord but only a USB connected to the computer. I like that!

Logo Design for Pilli Pilli

This is a fun little project! Katrien from Pilli Pilli emailed me and asked if she can use n° 17 of the Happy Stampies (2 birds) as her studio logo. Instead, I suggested doing a new version of the doodle, that way it would be custom made just for her shop. Here is the result!

Check out her Etsy shop too; she has so many cute and unique handmade items! : )

Today's Doodle

I love drawing girl faces; it's more fun to draw girls than boys.

My Pikaland Interview

I have an interview on Pikaland today. I am so honored. Thank you so much, Amy!!!

There are some photos of my studios (when it was still clean...) if you have never seen it. Read the whole interview here.

Today's Doodle

Good night!

Today's Doodle

Hello! : )

Silly Dog

Just a real quick doodle before going to bed. : )

Digital Download in My Etsy

I just added this sweet book plate listing to my Etsy shop. It's a digital download file, meaning you can print out as many book plates as you want. Use them yourself or print them out and give them away as gift; it's all up to you. Just be fair and don't give away the file; it's bad karma! This one has 8 different designs, taken from my Happy Stampies collection. If you prefer them to be just one design, just let me know and I can adjust the file for you.

Workshop with Tim Biskup

Mr. Tim Biskup came to our work yesterday and gave a great presentation. I was so looking forward to it but totally missed it (want to slap myself real hard!!!) because I slept until 10:30 and the presentation started at 10 (well, I hadn't slept for more than 36 hours the night before due to a flooded basement; that's why.) Fortunately, I was one of the few lucky designers who get to do an hour-long sketching workshop with Tim in the afternoon. We all sat in a meeting room with our sketchbooks and drew, while Tim was up front talking about his process and sketching on a giant paper pad at the same time. After awhile, he walked around the room, looked at our sketchbooks while we drew and talked to each of us. Tim is definitely one of the most approachable artists. One thing he told us to do is to just keep drawing the things/shapes that you are naturally drawn to. It's ok. And at the same time, try to use different mediums while you are doing so.

At the end, I was lucky enough to be able to take one of his quick sketch home, and here it is. : )

FiFi for Mish Mish Mish

A couple of months ago, I was invited by Marian and Mariano of Moncho Ediciones to participate in a very exciting project "Mish Mish Mish", a limited edition screen-printed book which collects cats drawn by 24 illustrators around the world. I feel very honored to be part of it. Here is my contribution, FiFi.

Complete list of participating artists:
Ana Galván
Anke Weckmann
Annalisa Papagna
Astrid Yskout
Bubi Au Yeung
Camilla Engman
Denise Holmes
Flora Chang
Gal Shkedi
Gemma Correll
Harsa
Jim Pluk Sanabria
Kate Hindley
Luisa Uribe
Marmushka
Matte Stephens
Mike Lowery
Natascha Rosenberg
Oliver Jeffers
Pilipo Giordano
Simone Mendes
Steph Says Hello
We love patterns
Yara Kono

New Wooden Brooches

Hi pals, how was your weekend? It's really hot and humid here right now. But you know what? I rather deal with this than the snow, so I am not complaining.

I took Friday off for some much needed rest and created a couple of new brooches! (Actually I also painted but I will share them with you later.) This time I am going for a weathered/vintage look... I want them to look like old toys that have stories behind them. Each of the brooch received a couple of layers of acrylic paints, sanded and stained, then I drew on top of it with a black graphite pencil. To protect the drawings, they all get a layer of matt varnish coating. I then added a layer of felt to finish them up. (Oh, and I used clutch back pins so you can also use these brooches to pin down notes on your tack board if you wish.) Do you like them? : )

Birthday Gift

I saw these really big wood letters in the antique mall on Saturday. I went goo goo gaa gaa all over them but didn't end up buying (struggled for a long time in the store). I took some photos and showed them to my boyfriend yesterday, and he said, "THESE ARE GREEEAAAT WHY DIDN'T YOU BUY THEM??????" So now they are in my house... Birthday gift from him. : )

Bottoms Up Antique Market, KC

Just want to show you some photos from an antique market that we went today. If you like this kind of style, I recommend this book; it's really a visual treat! To see more photos, please go to my Antiquing Flickr folder.

Free June Calendar Wallpaper Download

June is my birthday month, so here is the cake! Hope you like it!

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