Baby Burritos

My mom "hates" it when I pretend like I'm freaking out because I "forgot" to do whatever it is that she's reminding me to do. Something that I've been noticing lately is that often a strip rewrites itself a little bit while I'm drawing it. It's kind of liberating to know that my notes and thumbnails aren't set in stone and the work can still evolve past the idea.

Speaking of Baby Burritos, that's what we call Mrs. Handmade's swaddling blankets. They're the first thing she made for our online shop, when we realized that the ones we brought home from the hospital were terribly small, and the ones at the store weren't much better. Our daughters were what allowed me to start staying at home, to save on day care costs, but those blankets were what set us on a sustainable path. I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, though.

Morning kind of sneaks past, doesn't it?

Last strip of 2013! Thanks for sticking with us over this crazy year as I tried desperately to keep up with family, shows, work, deadlines, more work, and comics. I succeeded in varying degrees, but mostly it was pretty much a train wreck, as I forgot things, over extended myself, and ultimately spent the last month kind of sick and hoping for it all to end, so I could start over in the new year. ha-ha-ha-ha!

We had a great break with Mrs Handmade on winter break from teaching the Saint Louis Kindergarteners all the things, visiting family and cleaning out the studio. We also had a couple of simply beautiful warm days here in Saint Louis this past weekend, so we got some yard work done and took a trip to the City Museum.

2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year for us, and I'm really looking forward to it. One of the biggest changes is the new website which is mostly complete now. Check it out over at www.LifeWithGirls.com. In addition to the comic, we have an online store, the blog, lots of great artwork and we're working on some really cool extras like downloadable goodies, tutorials and demo videos.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter for show announcements, coupons, and specials in the sidebar of the website or under the Email signup tab on our Facebook fan page.

One Two Three...Not It!

Babies seem to have a sixth sense that tells them whey you're taking a breather. Remember the days when you could just sit on the couch for hours at a time? Ha-ha-ha! After a while though, the whole family gets into a sort of rhythm that's pretty much only disturbed on special occasions...Like when the kitchen is torn apart and rebuilt.

Just two more strips until the end of this first story arc. Talk about timing, right? If all goes as planned, we'll be starting off the new year with the second episode of Life With Girls, season one. Pretty exciting stuff!

Kids Can Be Terrible Helpers

It's a lot of work, training willing helpers. We always let them help when we're cooking or doing projects, but kind of hate it when they do.

If you're looking for a cool gift for the holidays (or birthday, or whatever)we have super hero capes, baby blankets, games, and original art, as well as the Life With Girls Fairy Tale book and Calendar in stock in our online store at HandmadeFamily.com. Not only that, but we have a special going on right now through Christmas. Free shipping on your entire order with offer code SAINTNICK.

We're also giving away a calendar on both the Life With Girls and the Handmade Family facebook pages. Check it out if you like free stuff! 

Life With Girls Fairy Tales Calendar

2014 Handmade Family - Life With Girls Calendar is available in our web store!

Originally concieved as a "Poor Man's Portfolio", the Life With Girls calender is a way that we're able to offer 12 high quality, full color prints for a very reasonable price.

Calendars are spiral bound, with 8x10 image sizes and have all your favorite holidays such as "talk like a pirate day" and "international self portrait day" on it. In addition to that, each calendar comes with a hand drawn sketch of us wishing you a happy birthday on your birthday.

Featuring scenes from The Brave Little Tailor, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Seven Ravens, The Fox and the Crow, Little Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, The Princess and the Frog, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Princess and the Pea, Hansel and Gretel, and The Forest Sprites.
The concept behind this years calendar is theater, fairy tales, and dress up. I chose 12 of his favorite fairy tales, and illustrated them, designing cut paper sets and costumes for the family to act out the stories on stage.

http://handmadefamily.indiemade.com/product/2014-handmade-family-life-girls-calendar

2014 Handmade Family - Life With Girls Calendar!
Originally concieved as a "Poor Man's Portfolio", the Life With Girls calender is a way that we're able to offer 12 high quality, full color prints for a very reasonable price. Calendars are spiral bound, with 8x10 image sizes and have all your favorite holidays such as "talk like a pirate day" and "international self portrait day" on it. In addition to that, each calendar comes with a hand drawn sketch of us wishing you a happy birthday on your birthday.
Featuring scenes from The Brave Little Tailor, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Seven Ravens, The Fox and the Crow, Little Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, The Princess and the Frog, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Princess and the Pea, Hansel and Gretel, and The Forest Sprites.
The concept behind this years calendar is theater, fairy tales, and dress up. Mr Handmade chose 12 of his favorite fairy tales, and illustrated them, designing cut paper sets and costumes for the family to act out the stories on stage.
- See more at: http://handmadefamily.indiemade.com/product/2014-handmade-family-life-girls-calendar#sthash.rBfZVtyo.dpuf

The Princess and the Pea

The Paper Bag Princess was our original jumping off point for the retelling of The Princess and the Pea. I wanted it to be the story of a girl who proves her station and then walks away from the boy who wouldn't have someone without a certain status. Leighton took that kernel and created something so much better by adding a twist that made the prince look much more foolish. The story, rewritten by Leighton Connor will be available in the Handmade Fairytales Volume 2, coming in the spring. If you'd like to check out Volume one, it's available in my web store at www.handmadefamily.com .

The subversive nature of Fairy Tales is something that I've always been drawn to. What better way to highlight the good and evil in human nature than a story for children? In 2013, I decided to do something a little more ambitious...perhaps too ambitious. While I'd still be making a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from fairy tales, and calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. I also approached several friends who are writers to retell each of those stories, so that I could collect them in a book with concept drawings, title designs, and more traditional fairy tale illustrations included as well.

Hansel and Gretel

Set in the hills of Appalachia, Hansel and Gretel takes the classic cautionary tale and updates it with a witch made of wood and spiders, a clever girl and headstrong boy.  The story, rewritten by Josh Burnett will be available in the Handmade Fairytales Volume 2, coming in the spring. If you'd like to check out Volume one, it's available in my web store.

The subversive nature of Fairy Tales is something that I've always been drawn to. What better way to highlight the good and evil in human nature than a story for children? In 2013, I decided to do something a little more ambitious...perhaps too ambitious. While I'd still be making a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from fairy tales, and calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. I also approached several friends who are writers to retell each of those stories, so that I could collect them in a book with concept drawings, title designs, and more traditional fairy tale illustrations included as well.

The Princess and the Frog

I've loved the story of the princess and the frog ever since I saw Robin Williams play the part of the frog prince on "Fairy Tale Theater". I started going crazy with coloring the girls' hair on these...

The subversive nature of Fairy Tales is something that I've always been drawn to. What better way to highlight the good and evil in human nature than a story for children? In 2013, I decided to do something a little more ambitious...perhaps too ambitious. While I'd still be making a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from fairy tales, and calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. I also approached several friends who are writers to retell each of those stories, so that I could collect them in a book with concept drawings, title designs, and more traditional fairy tale illustrations included as well.

Jack and the Beanstalk

The story of Jack and the Beanstalk is classic. I loved the idea of using oversized masks and arms to portrait a giant character. This is actually the second one of the set that I completed, and I feel like I was really getting up to speed with it.

The subversive nature of Fairy Tales is something that I've always been drawn to. What better way to highlight the good and evil in human nature than a story for children? In 2013, I decided to do something a little more ambitious...perhaps too ambitious. While I'd still be making a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from fairy tales, and calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. I also approached several friends who are writers to retell each of those stories, so that I could collect them in a book with concept drawings, title designs, and more traditional fairy tale illustrations included as well.

Life With Girls - Tron

Even in a world where computer generated movies are commonplace, Tron holds up well. This is probably thanks at least in part to the wonderful designs of Syd Mead. At any rate, if I'm watching TV, and Tron is on...I'm watching it.

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - Spiderman

I still think of Spiderman 2 as the perfect super hero movie, and I still tear up when Aunt May tell's Peter that people need heroes. That they need someone to show them to just hold on a little bit longer.

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - Sesame Street

I've always loved puppetry, and when I was in high school and college I wanted nothing more than to be a muppeteer and work in the Henson Creature Shop. I joke now that I settled for second best when I became an illustrator instead.

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - My Neighbor Totoro

We love My Neighbor Totoro. When the girls were very young, this movie captured their attention and imagination in a way that was just amazing. One of the things that we especially loved about it was that it was just about a family going through a rough time. The loved each other and were good role models for the girls. Watching the Miazaki movies in comparison with modern American shows, I'm coming to the conclusion that needing to have a desperate struggle between good and evil is a conceit of Hollywood.

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - Legend of Zelda

Every Nintendo I've ever owned, has been because of the Legend of Zelda. From the opening line "It's dangerous to go alone, take this." all the way through to defeating Gannon and saving Zelda and Hyrule, I've always been totally hooked.

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - Ghostbusters

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - Firefly Serenity

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Life With Girls - Akira

In 2012, I created a calendar featuring the characters from Life With Girls dressed as characters from movies that I loved and still love. Calling it my "poor man's portfolio, it was a way that I could offer 12 high quality illustrations for a very reasonable price. The concept behind this personal project was that the kids would have super high quality, movie authentic costumes, and the parents would have the kind of crummy "mom and dad made these" costumes. Each scene had to make sense in a setting that we could reasonably be expected to set this up if we'd done it for real. It was a lot of fun researching the real costumes, as well as figuring out a way to make the parent's knock offs and settings. 

Daily Life 025: Ice Skating

April 12, 2011 - Daily Life 025: Ice Skating

The other day, we watched the movie "Ice Princess" starring Joan Cusack and Michelle Trachtenberg. The movie is about a physics student who begins a project based on ice skating for a scholarship competition, and as she learns more about skating by applying what she learns, finds that she really loves skating.

About half-way through the movie as I'm making dinner in the kitchen, I check on the girls and Abby is spinning in the living room. She say's "Look daddy! I'm ice 'kating!" Ha-ha-ha! So I help her with some more spins, and then we pretend to do some other of the other tricks (is that the right word?) from the skating portions of the movie. Now, any time she's posing with one food behind her, she tells me to "look at her ice 'kating moves."

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

December 2010

December 2010

Television would have us believe that on Christmas morning all kids (after having dreamt of sugar plums and such) come tumbling down the stairs to pillage the tree. All the while, mom and dad watch the carnage while sipping cider, hot chocolate, eggnog, or whatever...

Spending Christmas morning with my parents is important, and in many ways similar to this, but it starts off in a very different way.

I wake up early, before the sun rises, put the kettle on and wake the kids. As we're getting some breakfast ready and packing up the car, mom comes shuffling down the hallway like an extra from a zombie movie.

This is where I get some measure of retributionfor our Fourth of July shenanigans...driving across the state for Christmas morning and cinnamon rolls with my folks.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

November 2010

November 2010

Baking in November is so wonderful...the house fills with the smell of fresh bread and becomes warm from the oven, while the activity warms us. Abigail is an eager helper and has become a whiz with the mixing spoon. Kneading the dough and scooping flour off the countertop are also favorite baking activities for her. The joy of time spent with this wonderful little helper outweighs the fact that she is covered in flour and her clothes usually need to be changed when we're done.

Sometimes though, her willingness to help out can be a bit much. It can be difficult at times to convince a two and a half-year-old that, in fact, you do NOT need help taking the bread out of the oven.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)