Man, what a busy week!

So the OC Weekly issue came out on October 8th. On the 10th we were invited to go party in Laguna to celebrate the Best Of issue. I guess every year there's a big bash centered around this very issue. This was the first time i got to see it all in print. Very fun, especially the burlesque dancers & free beer! Also cool to overhear people talking about how great the cover looked. Made me happy :)
Mom & Dad showed up to support their daughter. Thanks you two!

And Bunches, enjoying the night and looking tres chic in his new glasses.

As an added bonus, my bestie Sloan surprised me by making it out! Had so much fun that night, thank you all!
My good ol' friend Jeffrey Newcomer popped in this past week. We put down quite a bit of wine and ended up dismantling the TV. whoopsie. Seemed like such a good idea at the time. Anyway, Jeff, great to hang with you... and anybody who needs shirts made, or embroidery, see him and the lovely Sarah at Embroid Me Northrigde!

This was an unexpected gift this past week. Somebody in the neighborhood BOO'd us, and left this bucket of goodies on our doorstep. I love shit like this!

..and obviously, it was a wonderfully fun surprise for the boys!

Also, this past week was the annual visit to the pumpkin patch...

Then onto Disneyland with the Soto's. Just me & Dylan on this trip. Had a great day with my boy!
And this is fun... I'd always heard about Walt's wife Lillian's favorite horse on the carousel Doubloon, and that he sports a gold tooth. I'd never found it, and am always on the hunt. Anyway, I'd just finished telling Jeff Soto this very story when blammo.... he finds the horse!
cool.
Also this week I took the boys up to Camp Wrightwood where Sloanie works. Sister Heather was here for a visit with her three boys, so we made it a Girl-Day-surrounded-by-Little-Boys day. What fun having the run of the place with 5 little boys to chase!


The leaves on this maple tree glowed. It was just too beautiful for words!

And also this week, we went to a pirate party put on by our friends the Racine's! I cannot even describe how awesome all the decorations were for this party! Thanks guys. Here's Michael munchin'

and some good ol' pirate chests! Craziness.

Here's a small illustration I did in the midst of all of the hoopla...
whew... i'm beat from this week!

OC Weekly "Best Of"

So here's the finished product on all the hard work. I can't tell you how much fun I have had doing this project. I have a handful of the cards posted on here, but they can all be seen on the OC Weekly site


I was especially happy with the cover. She turned out really sweet, yet still sexy.
The following are the full-page illustrations....






and these cards were made for 1/4 page illustrations...




Dylan staked claims to the Small World piece :) It made me happy to see him so in love with it.


So anyway, that's what I've been doing with myself lately. I can't wait to get my mitts on a copy :)

The happenin's

Okay, well here's a small sneeky peek of the OC Weekly cover in progress. It comes out this Thursday, so I'll post more art then.
Dylan is now in Pre-K and had his first field trip this past week. Luckily my Mom went with us so I didn't have to try and manage both boys by myself. Thanks Mom. We went to Parrish Apple Ranch in Oak Glen, just up the street from us. Seriously, the yummiest cider EVER!!! Plus we got to sample some apple pie!!! mmmmm....

And these past few months have been crazy with fires in our neighborhood. This picture was taken of one from our front yard in September...

And this one was taken from our backyard last week.... It's pretty crazy there was a 16 year old boy arrested after this latest one. He's responsible for about 12-14 fires in our areas dating back three years.


Here's a sneaky peeky at Bodie's Halloween costume. :) This makes me smile. And this past Friday we went to Disneyland for Mickey's Trick or Treat Party. Bodie stayed home with Nana, so me, Dyl & Honey went. This rocked my socks, here's Sally & Jack walking around the park. I'd never seen this before and these costumes were phenominal!!!

Here's me trying to lop our boys' head off with my sword...Honey went as a jailbird, and of course, Dylan as Lightening McQueen!

Me & Dylly... whew, I really wish i had more excuses to dress up like a pirate. I love it.

And my bunny is molting... poor Ollie.

Life is pretty busy right now. I was lucky enough to be asked to do all the artwork of OC Weekly's "Best Of" Issue. It's a pretty intense job, 6 full page color paintings, full color cover, and 50+ spot illos, all full color as well. But I'm having an absolute blast on this project. I"m very proud of the work I've done so far on this one. I think it's due to come out October 8th or roundabouts there. If you're a local, watch for it!
And, as some of you may know, I'm really big on making our backyard birdie friendly. So this last project was a simple one, but one that I've been wanting to do with boys for awhile. We gathered up some pine-cones on one of our morning hikes, slathered them with butter and rolled them in oats. Tied them up to the trees in the backyard and tada.... eco friendly bird feeders. The boys get so excited when they see the birds eating off of something they made.
And this past week we took them to the "JumpZone!" in Redlands Ca. I am all about this joint now. It's pretty much like walking into Pleasure Island sans cigars, pool, and donkeys...
it's a kids dream come true.

My lovely friend Hilary and her son Noah joined us for some of the action. Actually Hilary is the one who told me about this little jem!
Dylan on the off-road slide
Bodie in the basketball castle. I was kind of wondering if adults can rent this place out and just go nuts for the night. Man, that'd be a party.
And here's a little picture of me and boys taken today.

It may be awhile before I can sit down and blog again. On a pretty strict deadline with everything...but I'm super excited to show things off when I can! I'll be back!

burlesque & bunnies

Here's a quick little painting I did for this crazy book thing about a pair of Siamese twins who are burlesque dancers. The story gets really creepy & strange when they hook up with this guy and the sisters end up with this total jealousy/power struggle thing happening. Anyway... a bunch of illustrators were asked to contribute to the project by making a piece of art dealing with the story. Pretty neat. Here's mine
I really like this gal. I don't understand why, but sometimes when you don't have a lot of time and you can't fuss with things... they just come out with a really nice energy. I was really happy with the brush strokes on her.

And my birthday was in June so Hubby got me this little guy *Ollie*
He's a Jersey Woolie and I am in LOVE!
The boys dig him too!


I need to get back to the grindstone on the painting front... but I've just been dealing with this incredible level of exhaustion. The boys neither one seem to sleep through the night...so I've had little, or totally broken sleep for like, 4 years now. Plus I cut out caffeine....maybe not the smartest move right now... but hell, I'm down 15 pounds thanks to drinking tons of water and eating better...and a crazy morning hike/jog with the boys every day. I've just been trying to listen to my body lately and it keeps sayin' "More Sleep Sister!!!"
And I can't believe it, but we're gearing up for Bodie's 2nd birthday this Friday. Sadly his birthday party will be rather tiny...this is such a busy time of the year for everyone. Now...if I can just control myself around that birthday cake...