Nap Time

I try to regularly draw things...Wait, let me start over.

Part of my daily routine, when I'm not just too crazy busy is doing warm up drawings and paintings. That's where the Watercolor Wednesday paintings are often made, as well as where I manage to get work done a little bit at a time on ongoing projects. It's also where I'm able to experiment with new ideas, techniques and materials.

Crow quills aren't really new to me, but honestly I don't use them that often. I thought I'd get them out the other day and play with them a bit. I've got a big project coming up that I'd like to use them for. I love the thick to thin that they naturally give line weights, and I have the feeling that as I use them more, I'll grow to love them a little bit.

This fox warrior is the result of me working out some ideas for another comic project that I'd like to do. The story outline is coming along nicely, and I'm excited to share more of it a bit at a time.

I Can Watch Whatever I Want

I watched a lot of movies that first couple of months during naps and feeding times. This was before they were big enough to have an opinion about what we watched, of course. These days I end up watching a lot of My Little Pony. In other news, we've discovered a station that has a lot of musicals on it on Pandora, including Disney and Broadway...So I've been listening to a lot of songs from Frozen and Tangled, and Wicked. They're really good. We saw Frozen over the Christmas break, and enjoyed it a lot. For a lot of people of my generation, I think Disney got a bad reputation during the 90's. There were just so many straight to video movies, and even the theatrical releases were only so-so. It's been great to see so many quality films coming out of the studio, and also to realize that they've been doing some fantastic things for several years now. Not just in animation either, the recent Marvel movies, Narnia, and John Carter were all incredible, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they have planned for Star Wars.

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.

It's Great Being My Own Boss

It really is great. It's funny now though, looking back at it how easy it was at first because I could mostly concentrate on the kids. I can hardly believe how lucky I am to have been able to do some of the things that I have over the last three and a half years, and how slowly we were able to start. BIG thank you to every one who helped us on the way.

This past Friday, I participated in the First Friday event at the Saint Louis Science Center and was interviewed for this little promo video from it. I talk a little bit about Handmade Family, and a little bit about the Zombie Panic board game. Pretty cool, huh?


F3: Board Games January 2014 from F3-First Friday Flicks on Vimeo.

First Day At My New Job.

The first strip of the new year and the last strip of the first story. That first day of not going to work was a little awkward. I remember feeling like I did in high school and was home sick. Like anyone who saw me was thinking "why aren't you at school?" It took awhile for that feeling to wear off.

Happy New Year! I've been seeing a lot of posts telling 2013 to not let the door hit it on the way out...the year was definitely tiring, but pretty fantastic around here at the same time. I'm looking forward to seeing how the new year treats us though. I made a short list of goals for the year. They seem kind of general, but I feel like they pin point some things that I really need to work on, and something that I just need to remember to try to continue doing.

Goals for 2014
1.More quality work time
2.More quality play time
3.Garden
4.Be awesome

If you're in the Saint Louis area, I'll be at the Saint Louis Science Center on Friday night for their First Friday event. It's super game night so stop by, say hi, and maybe play a game.

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!

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