The Versatile Blogger

Thanks to Tasha for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award!!! She has a wonderful blog and I hope you'll all check it out!

As part of the nomination, I have to share 10 things about myself and nominate some other deserving blogs, so here it goes:

1. I love glittery pastel nail polish. It makes me feel like a Sailor Scout.

2. Despite my girly-girl complex, I loooove reptiles and just came back from a reptile show! Here I am holding a GORGEOUS king snake (I wanted to bring her home with me so badly!) and then with my new crested gecko, Cornelius.

3. I'm also a dragon freak. The crested gecko is a substitute because I can't find anyone that will sell me a REAL dragon.

4. Fairy tales are my obsession. I'll spend hours on the Surlalune Fairy Tales website.

5. I love comic books and lately I can't seem to make myself read books without pictures.

6. My hair is a hydrometer. If it's big, it's humid. If it's bigger, it's more humid.

7. I'm a little bit obsessed with my pets. Here's another picture!

 8. I used to think that flowers were a waste of time and I would only grow vegetables, but recently I've fallen in love with beautiful flowers and want to be surrounded by them! (Like these stunning ones that I saw at our local Tulip Fest!)

 9. I've been a vegetarian since I was 11 and it has become a very important part of who I am.

 10. I am still absolutely heartbroken at the death of Diana Wynne Jones. She was my favorite fantasy writer and her books and characters will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Now for the important part! I nominate:

The Inexplicable Rabbit

Diana Evans

Pipi La La

City of Blackbirds

Brown Paper Bunny

Juliette Crane

Not on Shelf

Translucent Blue

A is for Anika

Rose Hill Designs

The Wonderfully Talented Peter Chan

I have to say, something about blogging has made me luckier. Tangibly luckier. Like the other day, when I went to my mailbox, I found this envelope from Peter Chan (an FSC certified envelope, I might add), containing the most beautiful limited edition gocco print. Peter Chan had a contest on his blog, and I was one of the very lucky winners!

 Isn't she insanely gorgeous? I guess it's only to be expected from Peter Chan, whose gorgeous illustrations appeared in The Familiars (see below). He is currently working on images for the second book in the series, due out in September 2011.

You can't tell in the photo, but the pale pink ink has a beautiful shimmer to it.

I love the subtle variation in color here...

Anyway, if you want to be impressed, visit Peter Chan's website & blog!

Thank you so much, Peter!

The Coolest Thing Ever...

...is when you come home to find a package on your porch. A package that has come all the way from Australia and has the name of an awesome illustrator on it.

Even cooler is when you open it to reveal this:

You can't tell how cool this frame is from my crappy photos. The canvas is enclosed in a box, but there is a little space around all of the edges so it looks like it is floating. So. Cool.

This is Paulie, a painting that I won in Rachael Jackson's generous giveaway. I wanted to win SO badly, but didn't really think that I would. I now have this adorable little guy hanging in my dining room. Sometimes life is good.

 I loved this painting when I saw it online, but it wasn't until I had it in my hands that I could see all of the AMAZING texture it has! I'm pretty much in love with it.

Anyway, I guess what I really want to say is check Rachael's blog, Little Jackrabbits. She is fantastic.

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This is a pretty late post, but I received this gorgeous Christmas card from my awesome friend, Cecillia, who is an incredibly talented illustrator. This card is one of her designs and you can't tell, but the houses are BUMPY! I love textured cards!

You can see more of Cecillia's illustrations on her blog!

Little Pink Fairy & Some Stylish Blogs...

Another little Earth Fairy (in case you are wondering why these guys don't have wings, I'm planning on doing a sky and water series in the future). Hope you like her!

5x7" on bristol board

Now for the stylish blogs! Yeevon and Vanilla have nominated me for the Stylish Blog Award (aww, thanks, guys)! They have two of the BEST art blogs I have ever seen and you must, must, must check them out!

The award is a bit like tagging, and here are the rules:

Thank and link back to the person that awarded you.

Share 7 things about yourself.

Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered bloggers.

Contact those bloggers about the award!

7 Things: 

1. I have two Cornish Rex, a type of semi-hairless cat. Some people think they look strange but they are my babies and I love them with all my heart.
2. I love Disney Princesses and I love Disney Princess dolls. I have quite a few and even had my fiance go on ebay to buy me the Jasmine doll I had when I was a little girl! (P.S. I loooove Tangled! tehe)
3. I am VERY interested in fairy tales and I love finding different versions and translations. I own several books, including three different versions of Arabian Nights (or 1001 Nights, depending on the work). One has three very thick volumes and accounts for all 1001 nights!
4. Some of my favorite fairy tale illustrators are Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, and Virginia Sterrett.
5. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I'm dreading taking down my Christmas tree!
6. I've had recurring tendinitis in my hands and wrists since the age of 16, so I can only draw and type for a limited amount of time before taking a break and I usually sleep with a brace on my right hand.
7. Tiny toys make me happy! I love My Little Ponies and Pinky St. figures and have a few on my computer desk right now!


15 Fabulously Stylish Bloggers:


Pipi La La
Translucent Blue
Little Jackrabbits
Ramblings of Poof
Mika Art Blog
Have a Merry Day
City of Blackbirds
BitterSweet
Jessie
Le Grand Lapin
Juliette Crane
The Art of Sara Holbert
Claire Barone
Johanna Urban
Little Green Jellybean


They are great blogs and I hope you will take a look at them! <3

Little Jackrabbits: Rachael Jackson

I have been lucky enough to be the winner of  this gorgeous Rachael Jackson (of Little Jackrabbits) painting!

 This work is called Paulie (look how gorgeous it looks in the exhibition below!). I feel so lucky to be taking Paulie home with me!

In order to enter Rachael's generous contest, all you had to do was tell her who your favorite artist was. I said Mary Blair, and Rachael created a FABULOUS post about Mary Blair that you can see here. I highly recommend taking a look at this and the rest of Rachael's gorgeous blog!

Thank you so much, Rachael! What an awesome way to bring in 2011! <3

Happy New Year!!!

 

 Little Blue Fairy

5x7" - Graphite & Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

This one is a very late Christmas present for my fabulous Aunt, who is the best and most supportive aunt anyone could ask for! (But Shhhhh! Don't tell her, she doesn't know yet! ^_-)

 

One of the reasons I was so late with everything this year is that my little white cat Bonnard got very sick the week before Christmas and had to stay at the animal hospital for several nights. He finally came home in time for Christmas because he wouldn't eat when we weren't with him! He's on several medications right now and still needs more tests, but he is doing so much better and we are so happy to have him back. (So is his brother, Berlioz, who has barely left his side since he got home! That was the first time they have ever been apart.)

 And, right in time for this blog post, look at what I got in the mail!!! This is a gift from my very talented friend Anita (go check out her website and her blog)!

She made the most beautiful cards, which are printed on such gorgeous paper! I'm so happy to own a card with her illustration!

She also included gorgeous handmade ornaments and the cutest little lion sticker! You can't tell, but the sticker is glittery and has the coolest texture. Also, the ribbons for the ornaments are so nice and velvety...

Gosh, I am going to have to step my cards up next year! tehehe

I hope that you all have the most wonderful New Year! Do any of you have resolutions for the new year? Any special events to look forward to?

<3