Bats, Hats, Cats, and A Big(ish) Announcement

Hello there, and hope you're thriving.

And just like that, we are knee-deep in the bats, cats and hats season, (a.k.a) Halloween. 

It's something with which I haven't always felt completely at home. One the one hand, I love fun, but on the other, scaring people or being scared is very much not my thing.

This year though, I decided to really go for it in my own style, and just make everything in my Halloween design as cute and whimsical as possible.

You can judge for yourself whether or not I've been successful...

Happy Halloween Scoop T-Shirt

But I was much encouraged when even my husband (a.k.a. The Computer Man) who had not been privy to my "make it cute and whimsical," idea for the design said, 
"You've really put the "happy" into Happy Halloween here-even the ghost is smiling."

So I figured that was a good sign of "mission accomplished", especially as the cat, bat and pumpkin are all smiling too, as you can see really well on this magnet:

Happy Halloween Fridge Magnet

So, if you're up for a really happy Halloween with the emphasis on the happy, too, then do check out everything you can use and wear to promote the *happy* Halloween vibe, 

*and*

My fun new printable witch's hat-shaped card at Craftsuprint, that's really easy to make, but has plenty of "wow" factor.

That Big(ish) Announcement

It's OK, it's a happy one too, (or at least, one that should make life considerably easier when navigating this site). You can now visit one page to a beautiful smorgasbord of my designs in one place (the "browse and buy" page), with easy links to more info depending upon the type of lovely thing you seek.

This one page gives you *lots* more images than before, and replaces both the stodgy text on the old "stockists" page, *and* the old (and often temperamental) "shop" links. 

So, after a busy (oh crumbs how busy-art is so much easier :-) ) week making this page work, it only remains for me to ask you to tap or click below to:

Try Out The New "Browse And Buy" Page Here

(and please click its links through from there to anything you fancy).

Many, many  thanks, and hope you like it.

More soon.

___________________________

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Free Bouncing Bunny Animated Gif for Spring

Tap (or right or left click,
depending on your device)
and save this image to
 download it.

Hello there

As ever, I hope life is treating you well.

Today, as promised (and now that it finally actually feels like spring here) am back with a gift for you.

 In celebration of all things spring-like, happy and fun (including any flavour of festival into which you might be at this time of year), this bouncing bunny animated gif is yours to download if you wish. (The image is already deliberately small and optimised for phone screens/the web).

Just right-click and save (or tap and save, or left-click and save, depending upon your device).

As ever, credit is *always* appreciated, but never required.

And if you'd like more rabbity goodness...

And if one rabbit simply isn't enough for you, you might also like:

The new easy-to-make rabbit-shaped card in my Craftsuprint shop...

Or this  lovely rabbit-patterned background (also at Craftsuprint).

Rabbit-Patterned Background,
 available at Craftsuprint

Or if you just want to grab something funny and go, my Easter-Rabbits funny cartoon card is ever-popular on Zazzle (and downloadable for the first time, this year, so it's not too late to grab it).

Funny Cartoon Rabbits Printable Card

*More* freebies...

If that's still not enough (and/or you'd like more freebies), you can also check out some springtime gifts from previous years, such as:

This Happy Easter Chick Animated Gif

or this Easter daffodils image/ecard

That's all for now, and I'm going to wish you a happy few days, whatever you're up to. I'm taking a short break from the blog for a week or so. But, as ever, there will be...

More soon.

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Christmas Foliage Graphics...and a Quiz

Picture 1-Right-click, click or tap here to download if you wish.

Hello there

Hope you're well and thriving, and ready for some fun, as well as a not one, not two, but three freebies to download, as befits the approaching festive season.

You're welcome to use any of the set of three graphics in this post, in any way at all that matches my angel policy. Just right-click, tap or click (depending upon your device) on the graphic(s) you'd like to use, and the graphic should download.

And if you're not in need of freebies right now...as well as if you are, this post is also a quiz.

Picture 2: Right-click, tap or click here to download

Each of the pics in this post was created in a different way. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decide which method (A, B or C) matches which Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3.

Picture 3: Right-click, tap or click here to download.

Painting and Drawing Methods Used

Which of these methods do you think matches which picture? (You may have to scroll up  from here to see the pictures again).

Method A One of the pictures in this post was created using 100% digital watercolour painting and digital ink sketching,  in the wonderful Rebelle 5 app, (not an affiliate link, I just enjoy using it).

Method B One of the pictures was created by wetting hot-pressed, (ie smooth) 300g Bockingford Watercolour paper, splashing colours into wet areas, and then, when the areas were dry, inking in details with a black waterproof pen.

Method C One of the pictures in this post was created by sketching onto 300g cold-pressed Bockingford Watercolour Paper first, and then painting in details wet-on-dry (though white highlights were still added later).

Your answers

When you think you have your answers, check the PS at the bottom of this post, to see if you're right.

Please note, this quiz is just for fun, there are no prizes, and the answers are at the very bottom of this post, in the P.S. section.

Whilst I'm in the business of making sure that there's enough text here to obscure the answers, this is probably a great point to remind you that my Redbubble shop is still a great place to look for gifts (most still in time for Christmas, or of course, any other time of year), and that  the printable designs in my Craftsuprint shop can be downloaded 365 days a year.

With that said, I hope you had fun with this post today, and/or found something you wanted in one way or another. It's only left for me to wish you a happy week, and promise that there will be more from me soon as well as...

A P.S with the quiz answers...

And the answers are:

Picture 1 was painted using method B. The surface is smooth (ie hot pressed) and the end result has a pretty sploshy wet-in-wet look.

Picture 2 was painted using method A, and is therefore, 100% digitally painted, (even though the digital paper behind it has a really convincing rougher/"cold-pressed paper" look).

Which means that Picture 3 used method C, with its rougher paper and penwork that am feeling now might have been a little over-the-top :-) .

Whatever your answers, hope you had fun, and see you next week.

More soon.
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Driving Gnome for Christmas...

Hello there-hope you're having a great week.

It's definitely time for some silliness, whimsy, and quite possibly the worst pun I've ever inflicted upon anyone....In the form of the new "Driving Gnome for Christmas," design...

Buy and customise this card on Zazzle...

If you like the gnome but not the caption, you can customise it as much as you'd like by clicking here.

And if you'd like some red and white whimsy that's quite a lot more subtle, the gnome theme turns into red and white paisley-type patterns in my Redbubble shop.

To see what I mean, take a look at the pattern on:

Ever-popular cushions and pillows...

Christmas Gnome Cushion/Pillow

An apron that could really kick off some festivities...

Christmas Gnome Apron

A nifty alternative to the Santa sack...

Christmas Gnome drawstring bag

A great gift for any gnome-lover with an Iphone...(What an interesting Venn diagram that would be...)

Christmas gnome Iphone soft case

Or a stylish alternative to the Christmas jumper...

Christmas Gnome Sleeveless Top

Hope that these spark some ideas for you, or in any event, make you smile.

Onto something very different in the next post, I promise.

More soon.

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A Wedding Cartoon With A Difference?

I'm not sure where the idea for this cartoon (hopefully a *funny* wedding cartoon) came from. Except that as someone married (and happily, luckily, and v. grateful for it)...I was musing the other day about how the spun-sugar, soft focus, wedding-industry version of marriage doesn't always focus much on the nitty-gritty  aspects that underpin most successful relationships of all  kinds, whether formalised or not.

This led me to thinking about the scarcity of really funny wedding cartoons and cards out there.

Perhaps you could let me know on the Facebook page if you find this fun. And, if you're reading this in the USA, please also let me know whether you think this needs a separate US version that refers to "trash," instead of bins?

Many thanks, and have a lovely weekend!

Update on May 20th 2022: This cartoon is now available as a greeting card here.

New Inspiring/Funny Quote Illustration: Life *Is * A Bowl of Cherries. But...

It's cherry season here. Somewhere in the course of the first few this year, I got to thinking the thought, "Even cherries have pips". Which evolved as you see below.

Find this magnet on Redbubble

Just a fun thought for a Friday, which you're also welcome to share via the image below if you'd rather.

Hope you have a happy weekend. More soon!

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New Elephant Cartoon-And a "Creative Block" Solution...

Hello there. Hope everything is going well for you. And that you've had a smooth and peaceful week.

If, like me though, you've had things turn out now quite as you'd hoped, and a little trip into Creative Block Land, then am going to share a tool I found that may help, and the story of how it helped me.

Which, believe it or not, is linked to this new elephant cartoon:

There I was, frustrated by project roadblocks, and feeling distinctly un-creative. (Which, thank goodness, is rare for me...but all the scarier therefore, when it strikes).

"What I need," I thought, "is a way of breaking old patterns, and creating new ones..."

And somehow, from that, the almost-magical discovery of the random word generator at, wait for it, randomwordgenerator.com.

At random, the generator presented me with five words. One of which was, "adoption". Which got me to think about those, "adopt an animal and get a cuddly toy and progress report," schemes run by animal charities...

Which led me to wonder what it would be like if a person ended up with more than they'd expected...And hence the cartoon.

Hope this has give you a laugh, and/or, an idea to try next time you need your mind to break free.

Have a lovely weekend. More soon.

Day 93/100 : "Deck the Halls...Cartoon

 It's day 93, and time for another cartoon...

More tomorrow!

Day 39: Polar Bears and Northern Lights Cartoon

 This seemed appropriate as the nights have started drawing in and the clocks have just turned back...

Halloween Ghost Gif (Day 37)

 Hello again.

Day 37's offering is in preparation for Halloween next week...a friendly ghost who goes "Boo".

If you want to download and share this image in social media posts, texts or emails (keeping the watermark), please do. The download link is: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4DybfAzd3936Y0P9lkKWgMex2rkAphUN6pliFj-1ryGZ2p4ccv4ePYvVJhwBhW55zo5bd4foqzsLZCI-3LYMak2gDXZ5G58aymgFxJtp_F0FIIzo7-9MlDunIkc38nVKWZNosa7zUse_/s800/boo-halloween-ghost.gif

It inserts into these places just like a still image.

Anyway, hope this is fun, and finds you well.

More tomorrow.

Day 36: "Good Spirits" Cartoon

 If you think this cartoon is about you, then please know that it's been inspired by three separate conversations I've had with different people within the last week...

More tomorrow.

Day 24's Sketch: Work-in Progress "Punny Dog" Number 2-"Border Collie.."

 

This is work in progress-it still doesn't look in the least like it does in my head (!). But in the interests of keeping up with the challenge, am posting the concept of this now, to polish later.

Hope you're having a great weekend. 

Free 2020 Clip Art Printable

Hello again.

Thanks so much for being here on the blog with me this year. Today, I have a gift for you that should literally last all year, a fun 2020 printable jpg that spells out the year in a way that includes "2020 vision" as well. You're free to use this image in any project you personally make using this printable, (including, with this one,  personal blogs and videos too).

(To save this: Right click and save image on a PC, Control click and save on an apple, tap and save on a mobile device).

Have fun with this and as am taking some time off, will see you in 2020!

Update: May 2020. In the light of everything that's happened globally, am considering a "shocked face" 2020...What do you think?

Free Printable: "Election Bingo" Card (AEDM 15)

It's Friday, and time for a bit of fun...

Here in the UK, politicians have been released back into the wild for another election.

So, in order to make the tedium of watching it all a little more fun, I've designed this bingo card, that helps the user to spot all the various kinds of behaviour that politicians tend to exhibit, and which becomes exaggerated during election periods.

This card deliberately applies to politicians of all political persuasions (and probably in many countries outside the UK, too).

So, if you feel like printing this off for your amusement whenever there's an election where you are, please feel free.

There are no prizes for this, obviously-just the satisfaction or otherwise of a completed card.

And finally, there was no political intent behind these colours. It's hard to find a colour that someone somewhere hasn't used for political purposes. And it's cold here at the moment, so I went for warm colours.

More tomorrow.

New "Happy August" Challenge: Day One

I'm challenging myself to create some kind of  inspiring, fun or otherwise uplifting image each day in August. Here's the first:

This challenge is entirely self-imposed. But if you'd like to join in, feel free to #happyaugust any of your own images too. Let's have some fun this month!

So as not to overwhelm anyone who prefers this blog for other reasons, subsequent posts in this project will be on Instagram (details below).

More soon!

P.S. Update: this rabbit is now available on a printable craft sheet...

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New Cartoon: The "Odd Sock Mystery"...

Felt like time to blow away the Christmas cobwebs with this new cartoon...Enjoy!

Christmas Cartoon: "Brexit-Neutralising Headphones"

Happy Christmas everyone. (If you happen to be reading this from outside the UK, please just substitute your own brand of national chaos for the "B" word).

Fun Bookmark (and Daily Illustration #27)

Something completely different today. Have just entered the unwatermarked version of this into a contest/call for contributions here. (The call for entries is open until Jan 31st 2016, if you fancy creating a bookmark too).


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Daily Illustration Day 13: Typography and chocolate

Most of the image on the right is just typography. (The quote came to me when there wasn't enough milk left for hot chocolate, but that's a whole other story).

But this is an attempt to integrate typography with my new illustration style.

What do you think. Please comment and share-many thanks!



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A Meditation Cartoon

 Feels like the world could do with some fun. (Also posted this to my meditation blog, if that kind of thing floats your boat).

Either way-enjoy, share if you want to, and leave a comment if you'd like. Thanks!

Update: You can now buy a copy of this image for your own personal or small business use. Click here, or on the button below, to find out more.

Buy Now