Featured In Art Doll Quarterly!

Hellooooo! First I want to apologise for last week's sorta dark post that I wrote.  I've made a note that when feeling lower and low and not my happy self, leave blogging till that passes. *laughs* So, I'm also sorry for not going around to visit. Forgive me, please! *Giving Sad Puppy Eyes*

Anyway...I'm feeling sky high happy today, which is such a great feeling to have again. I think I said some time back that I would have some news in November? Riiighhhtt?? And if you've been with me on Face book during the summer, I kinda blabbed early, but I was so excited!  I'd like to announce now that one of my paper dolls, Toko has been featured in Art Doll Quarterly!!!  I'm still excitedly waiting for the issue to arrive in my mail slot, but I just couldn't wait to share!!

And here's the little lady:

And the gorgeous front cover this the winter issue:

I'm just so super happy to be part of this issue, with all the marvelous doll artists that are are always in there and to share a page with them is such and honour and treat that I could ever hope for!
So, in my uber excitement, I'm going to create some new paper dolls this weekend.  I have one here that is actually part of the book I'm working on:

Her name is Fable and I'll have a better photo shot of her up a little later on. She's fully articulated, her wrists, ankles, head, torso, knees, elbows and shoulders all move.  My first time making a larger paper doll.  I have another one waiting, for the past two months actually, to be inked and coloured, then put together.

My gosh, I still cannot go on about how happy I am.  I've spend the last four years really pushing at the direction I really want to go in.  Submitting things and submitting things and feeling like I've been getting no where. No even getting rejection letters....just a void of silence.  But with this, I strongly feel a change in that, I see a light at that dark tunnel's end.  Seeing that email in the summer, that joyful acceptance letter....someone saying "yes" and thinking that it fits in with their publication, has given me the courage and strength to keep fighting for longer now. You guys have given me that too! So thank you all and Art Doll Quarterly!  The future looks bright again!

Ooh! Before I go, I'll share a little sketch:

I originally posted this on Face book. This is "Juliet" from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Just a simple pencil sketch while watching a movie.  I always liked Clare Danes outfit from the 1996 film version and I wanted to draw something like it.

Well, that's all for today. ^_^ Wishing you a wonderful, happy and creative week! Cheers my friends!

I Will Wait For You: Coffee Sketch

Good Wednesday to you all!  Hope you are having a good week.  So far so good in keeping myself to stick to a proper schedule of blogging at least once a week, woo to the hoo! I've been so busy in getting the drawing done for the upcoming June Auction over on the Femme Thou Art Collective Face book page, that I've quite left behind my other projects for the moment.  I've never been apart of an auction before, so I'm equal parts nervous and excited.  I have until this Sunday to have it done and up, and I'll be posting it here with a little link as well.

Anyway, I feel a little sad that I've just left the last end of the short story unfinished in the editing stage, and, still have put it up for you wonderful people to read just yet.  Once the auction is over for this month, I'll get right back to it.  The poor prince has just been left to sit quietly on the sea, I am a cruel writer.

As a thanks to you all, my bloggie buds, I took some time out to quickly paint a "Thank You" picture....as, well, a thank you for waiting and always sending me honest and cheerful comments.  I truly admire all of you....you are the butter to my bread. So thank you!

I know it's not much, but, I had some extra coffee grounds laying about in the cupboard.  They were too small to even make up a small cup, so, I brewed it and set about painting with it.  This is my second venture into painting with coffee...it always smells super nice for a few days when it's done.  I added some dark brown to the coffee to help darken some areas and taking a separate tiny paint brush, started brushing in white for highlights.  The coffee removed some of the ink I had laid down earlier, so, I had to add those back in after this was totally dry. I also used heavy Arches Paper to avoid too much paper wrinkling. Later, I dragged this onto CorelDRAW to clean this up a bit more and to smooth out some stray lines.  I would love to turn this into a journal notebook cover, but I have no idea how to do that. *laughs* Something new to learn! To the Library!

Psst....I hope you enjoy the new banner.  Felt like a change was needed.

Wishing you all a creative weekend ahead. Cheers!