IF- Atmosphere

The atmosphere during story time was electric with the children's wild imaginings of fantastic, underwater worlds.

This is an older plasticine illustration, but a real favorite.  I thought it would be a fun fit for this week's IF theme atmosphere.

:)

Dog Days of Summer

"Dog Days...First jump off the dock with the encouragement of big brother"

I arrived home yesterday evening after 4 days of awesome productivity at my cottage! I worked my butt off and managed to complete 3 new plasticine illustrations, and start on the background of a 4th!! Yipeeee!! It was so nice to really get into the groove and get lost in my work for hours at a time with the music cranked and the creativity flowing. My wonderful hubby held down the fort and was sweet to send updates via text message so I didn't feel too out of the loop.

The illustration you see above was based on this months "Dog Days" theme over at the We Love To Illustrate for Children Group Blog . It is so fabulous of the ladies over there to open up the floor to all of there followers, and encourage their participation...such fun. And it is really cool to see everybody's interpretation of this month's theme.

I hope you like it! Dog Days made me think of those hot summer days at the cottage watching the kids learn new things like taking that very first leap off the dock into the deeper water. It is aways so heart-warming to see siblings offer encouragement and support to the younger ones. It is a universal " moment" I know all parents of multiple kiddies savour, as it often only last a little while and then they are back to bugging each other (geesh).

Snorkel boy, bird feeding frenzy...and other random cottage snaps...

After beautiful sunny weather all week at the cottage, we were hit with torrential rain on Sunday...all day. After trying to entertain the kiddies inside for the day with baking, crafts etc, we decided to head home a day early :(.  We had a menagerie of birdy families visit our dock...maybe they spread the word to each other that our dock was "the spot" for free cracker and bread crumbs??? We had ducks, mergansers( see above) and  even one lone ducky who was brave enough to swim around with my boys in the water.

 

My second youngest amazed us all, he is only 4 yrs. old, but he was swimming all around the bay with my hubby in his snorkel, mask and fins....my little fishy.

I got a cool photo of this gigantic dragon fly. Not to bad for a point and shoot camera....oh I can't wait to buy a Canon DSLR soon. This little guy would make a great sketch!

I also snapped a photo of the flower box on the boathouse....flowers in full bloom are so pretty.

We had a great time at the cottage and I am very lucky( thank-you my most wonderful hubby!!) to be going up again this Friday for a few day SOLO...yes that's right...by MYSELF!!! Yippeee! My hubby is "manning the fort" for a few days to let me go up north for some uninterrupted "art time" to get some portfolio pieces finished. Then I can hopefully get my website up and running??!!

Rachelle Anne Miller Giveaway!!!

Rachelle Anne Miller is having an adorable giveaway over at her blog here. She is an amazing illustrator (one of my favorites actually) and does the most adorable artwork...if you haven't seen her work before then here is your chance! Hurray on over to her blog as she is offering a great giveaway until this Wednesday...if you comment on her blog you get a chance to win one of these super cute backpacks from Dante Beatrix.  Aren't they so adorable? And they come with the most hilarious names! Enjoy! 

Going to the cottage for a week!

I haven't been able to post as much as I would like this summer, as the hustle and bustle of having everyone home has left me little time for blogging and artwork. But as summer is quickly evaporating, we have decided to go up north for a week or so with the kids to soak up some sunshine, and get water logged in the lake.
Then the following week I plan to return SOLO :) for a few days, to get some artwork completed. It will be so refreshing to get up north again!!! Yipppeeee!!
So I guess I should get starting folding my piles of laundry so I can get packing- argggg
I also wanted to wish all my fellow Canadians a Happy Civic Holiday today!! Yeah long weekend! :)
See you in a week or so!

IF-Double

"Double Trouble" turns into "Quintuple trouble"!

This weeks Illustration Friday topic is "double". The first thing that popped into my head was twins and the "double trouble" they can get into...so I thought this plasticine illustration I did for my good friend a while back, would be perfect. She has 5 great kids...the last 2 were twins!! She is one great mommy, who is a master multi-tasker. She even chronicles some of her hilarious family stories on her blog Five All Mine.

In this illustration the twin are in the middle goofing around with the rest of her bunch...now that is double trouble...maybe even quintuple trouble!!! I'm sure all of us with kiddies can relate to this one!

Enjoy :)

My first Illustration Friday- Breakfast!

"Ohhhhh, look Wilbur... mmmmmmuffins for breakfast!!"

I have wanted to start taking part in IF for a while now, and worked late last night to get one done in time. I doubt I will be able to participate every week, but it is a great way to get the creative juices flowing, and add portfolio pieces :)

 My take on "Breakfast" is a cute little girl with a head full of unruly curls(bed head-heehee) sharing  yummy blueberry muffins with her beloved teddy, Wilbur. I tried to use a limited soft palette of colours, and lots of fluffy, and soft textures. 

I hope you enjoy, and it reminds of you when you were little and loved having breakfast with your favorite furry friends(real or stuffed) :)