Ready To Work, Ready To Play

Happy Thanksgiving! I have a lot to be thankful this year, like a fantastic community of crafters filled with wonderful people for the girls to look up to. Food on the table, and work for our hands to do. I'm thankful for my family every day, even when they try to make me work when I want to play.

I really wanted to do three strips a week with the new story lines, but apparently my work load is going to make that impossible, so I'm going to settle for a two strip a week schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll try to get some extras out there too in the blog to fill in some of the gaps between strips, as well as starting Watercolor Wednesdays as soon as I get the shop on the new site in order.

Speaking of shops, the Life With Girls Fairy Tale calendar is available in out Handmade Family store at http://www.handmadefamily.com, along with a ton of other cool things from super hero capes, to baby blankets, games, comics, prints and original art. We're offering free shipping through Christmas with offer code SAINTNICK.

Coming home from work to playtime

You know how sometimes you get home and just want to sit and stare off into space for a bit? There are always people who are excited to see you, when there are little people in the house. It's kind of like in "Cheers" when Norm walks into the bar, except there isn't a beer, and there's usually something that needs to be done. That first moment though, in between the sigh of what's ahead of you, and having to move forward, when you're the only person in the world that matters to them, is sort of magical.

Just a reminder, sometime in the month of December, the LifeWithGirls.com address will start redirecting there. I'm really excited about this change, and hope you all like it too. If you'd like to get a jump on the change, you can check it out at www.LifeWithGirls.net

ALSO, the Life With Girls Fairy Tales calendar is now available in our web store along with a lot of other cool artwork, games, pins and books. www.handmadefamily.com

Driving

A couple of quick housekeeping notes while I've got you here. A couple of months ago, I decided to build a new website in order to consolidate our online presence into one place. I've nearly got all the blog posts from Penny Candy and Shady Characters, Handmade Family, and Life With Girls migrated over to the new space and most of the rest is at least built if not fully fleshed out. Sometime in the month of December, the LifeWithGirls.com address will start redirecting there. I'm really excited about this change, and hope you all like it too. If you'd like to get a jump on the new site, you can find it at www.LifeWithGirls.net

ALSO, the Life With Girls Fairy Tales calendar is now available in our web store along with a lot of other cool artwork, games, pins and books. www.handmadefamily.com

End of the Work Week

I'd been building up to this day for literally six months, as we waited for our second daughter to be born. Leaving the 9-5 in order to leap into the world of full time freelancing and being a stay-at-home dad. Ultimately, it ended up being rather anticlimactic as the day ended pretty much like any other. There were the usual "Keep in touches", of course...maybe it was because it was something that we'd all been moving toward for so long, that it was just another part of the day. So, this is the beginning of our adventure. :)
 
A couple of quick housekeeping notes while I've got you here. A couple of months ago, I decided to build a new website in order to consolidate our online presence into one place. I've nearly got all the blog posts from Penny Candy and Shady Characters, Handmade Family, and Life With Girls migrated over to the new space and most of the rest is at least built if not fully fleshed out. Sometime in the month of December, the LifeWithGirls.com address will start redirecting there. I'm really excited about this change, and hope you all like it too. If you'd like to get a jump on the change, you can check it out at www.LifeWithGirls.net

ALSO, the Life With Girls Fairy Tales calendar is now available in our web store along with a lot of other cool artwork, games, pins and books. www.handmadefamily.com

Coworkers

New Strips at last! Starting from the beginning, we get a nice introduction from my friend Hannah, who I worked with before becoming a full-time freelancer and stay-at-home dad.

A couple of quick housekeeping notes while I've got you here. A couple of months ago, I decided to build a new website in order to consolidate our online presence into one place. I've nearly got all the blog posts from Penny Candy and Shady Characters, Handmade Family, and Life With Girls migrated over to the new space and most of the rest is at least built if not fully fleshed out. Sometime in the month of December, the LifeWithGirls.com address will start redirecting there. I'm really excited about this change, and hope you all like it too.

ALSO, the Life With Girls Fairy Tales calendar is now available in our web store along with a lot of other cool artwork, games, pins and books. www.handmadefamily.com

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

Thumbelina

The hardest part of many bad situations is just leaving them. Thumbelina is a story of both finding your place in a world that can seem so big and overwhelming, and also about escaping situations that make you feel small and worthless. The story, rewritten by Rob Lammle 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.

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.

Life With Girls - Goldilocks and the Three Bears

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 Seven Ravens

When I was looking for story ideas for this project one of my friends Suggested the Seven Swans. As I worked on researching the story, I came across the Seven Ravens variation, which I thought was much more compelling than the swan version. It's a fantastic tale of compassion, determination, and sacrifice and my friend Leighton Connor did a fantastic job retelling 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.