Starhead in NYC...who put that there?

Starhead in NYC

One day I got a sticker, and then I found just the right spot to stick it. I hope you are all living it up like this little guy. I'm on the road saying hey to the family and enjoying some of that Christmas cheer. Where's TM#3? It's coming, hopefully sooner than later. Maybe January will bring more time for cutting and pasting. I've been busy with the Travel Kitty Project and the word is getting out there! Thanks to all of these folks below...check out these links if you have a minute: Craft Etsy Plush Street Team Newsday Cheap Thrills

Craftzine.com giving the Travel Kitty Project a little love

Thanks to Craft for mentioning the Travel Kitty Project today on their blog. Go check out thier site for all the crafty action you can handle!

Cool stickers...soon

I woke up in the middle of the night yesterday and then couldn't go back to sleep because I was thinking of all the cool stickers I want to make. I could have gotten up right then and got to work, but since there is no sleeping in when you have a wee boy living with you, I decided it was not in my best interest to sacrifice the whole next day to the tired gods...I hate being tired. I've been working on drawings for stickers though...gonna be cool I tell you. If anyone has had stickers made and has a good person/company to promote here's your chance.

I'm a sucker for the snail mail

I've had some amazingly good mail days over the last few weeks.  Zines, letters, postcards, art, trades, Chrismas gifts I've ordered for people, some with the added bonus of drawings and other fun on the envelope.  It's all very exciting. So, really this is just a Public Service Announcement for snail mail...Send it, it will make someone happy.

Get to know Dave Bloomfield...

Here is another artist who makes me happy. Dave lives in Seattle and enthusiastically joined my Travel Kitty Project a week or two ago. I'm lucky enough to have some of his work hanging on my walls (Thanks Dave-the paintings you sent are terrific!). If you are in the Seattle area go check him out. He is having shows almost every week. If you are not in the area, well, tune in to the TKP as his kitty, Sodabread McGrath, will probably make an appearance at one of his shows. Here are some links to his work: Imagekind online gallery Dave's MySpace page Here are some of my favorites from Dave:

I've been meaning to share this with you

Right before I moved I got this letter from Ed Emberley. I was overjoyed to get the letter, but I was in the process of moving and I stashed it away for safe keeping. Well, I just found it. If you read my zine or my about page you know I mentioned this fellow. His book sits on my desk to remind me I can draw even on the days I don't think I can. I sent him one of my zines and thanked him for his cool drawing books that I looked at over and over as a kid. He was kind enough to return a note. Thank you Ed Emberley. You are cool.

My Halloween handy work

For those of you who wanted to see the Kermit the Frog suit I made for my little guy...

Tree huggin' and cool envelopes what more could you ask for?

All these fancy catalogs come to my house... I can't afford to buy anything out of them, but I turned them into some cool envelopes. I even recycled the cardboard template from a UPS envelope. nice! Thanks to Paperseed for the great idea. I'm making the paint chip card holder and messenger bag next!

IF-Grow

Remember that bean plant you watched grow in kindergarten?

IF-extremes

 

IF-extremes

My goal with IF is to stay away from what I think are the obvious ideas that would pop into your head. This week for "extremes" I didn't want to do anything about bad/good, hot/cold, light/dark...that sort of thing. So, welcome to my world... I love sushi and spaghetti O's (just not at the same time).

See ya later kitties!

Happy to report that three more Travel Kitties have joined the world of travel.  I started out my little etsy shop with seven official Travel Kitties and after one week I only have two left.  That's pretty cool.  Hopefully I get some pictures rolling in soon.

Today I decided to join Monday Artday

Yup, Monday Artday. It's another reason to do something creative on a topic that I wouldn't normally have thought about. We'll see how it goes. This weeks topic is "retro." On a side note, I got some supplies for my Travel Kitty Correspondence Kit today. I already got started on it. I should however be making a Kermit the Frog costume...that project actually has a due date!

Art on Paper

I am very fortunate now to live in a town with a great library that has a huge selection of art books as well as periodicals. I've been reading issue after issues of Art on Paper and I thought I'd share some of the interesting bits here with you. In the May/June issues, 2006 was the article Floored. A Swiss artist named Joseph Felix Muller carved all the wood floors in his rental house to make four gigantic woodcut prints--how terrific! Huge, huge prints! Here's one picture: I found a few more pictures here. Getting the word out about the TRAVEL KITTY PROJECT continues,as does the work on a Travel Kitty Correspondence Kit I've been thinking about.

Finally, a blogroll.

I've been procrastinating about the blogroll for sometime now. Mostly, because I wanted to have it categorized and this theme wouldn't let me do it that way. Bummer. I realized I could add those little scroll-overs to tell a little about each one so you know what kind of site you're going to click. Anyway, check 'em out...I'll probably be adding a few more, but this was a good start.

Makin' friends at Etsy

Surprisingly after day one at Esty, I made 10 friends. I also had two of my little Travel Kitties leave the litter. Sad, but exciting. I look forward to the pictures from the owners. Cheers to old friends and new today, as I also received an email from a friend I've been missing. *Photo courtesy of the cool mac my husband got from work.

Illustration Friday-Open

 

Illustration Friday-Open

Just a quick one for IF folks out there. Thanks for coming to visit. Leave me a comment so I can come and check out what you're doing.

Travel Kitties on Etsy

Today I loaded up all my Travel Kitties over at Etsy. We'll see how it goes. It's been fun putting everything together for the Travel Kitty Project so, I hope some of you will want to play. I still have some things I want to add in the upcoming weeks, but I finally felt ready enough to list my stuff. Now I'll finally get back to Temporal Millionaire issue #3 which i've put on hold for a while. Thanks to those of you have been emailing me to trade or buy zines. It's always great to have some new reading material and art work around as well as some new pen pals!.

Where's the Travel Kitty?

Tyker Funf in Treir, Germany

See him in the statue's hand? This picture cracked me up, mostly because that's a little Travel Kitty I made and he's in Trier, Germany kicking back with this statue boy!

I've been consumed with the TKP in my free time, but it's finally getting close to getting officially started. I have the blog for it set up and looking pretty good. Tomorrow I upload the pictures for my esty store and then we'll see who wants to participate from there.

Here's a link to the Travel Kitty Project if you want to check it out.

Travel Kitty Project

This is Perth Amboy. He is getting ready for a trip with you. He is 5" tall and made of felt.

 

.....

 

Here are some of the Perth's friends.

Hey everyone! It's been quite a while. I'll get back to visiting all of your sites soon. I've been really busy trying to write Temporal Millionaire #3 and get the Travel Kitty Project started in my spare time. I figured it was finally time to start getting the word out about where i've been...just making little poseable kitties. I still have some writing to complete on the Travel Kitty Project site and getting my esty store finished, but it's close now. The kitties are ready the pictures all uploaded. So you can start checking them out and let me know what you think. Flickr Pictures Travel Kitty Project Blog Off to a friends wedding in D.C. tomorrow...have a good weekend everyone.

Illustration Friday-alphabet

Illustration Friday-alphabet

Here's my IF drawing for the week. I'm trying to spend more time drawing and working on projects this week instead of sitting at my computer. So if you want to know something about this drawing you'll have to leave a comment. Cheers!

Zine World #25 Reviews My Zine

I sent my first issue of Temporal Millionaire out for review last year and the review will run in issue #25 of Zine World, excellent. Go buy a copy! It looks like this:

Here's the text of the review (Thanks to artnoose for the review and for Laura B. for sending me the text via email):

Temporal Millionaire #1: This is a great first zine. Lisa takes the moments when her toddler son is sleeping or occupied with a toy to draw the things around her and write about the vignettes of her life. Some of them are about being a parent and some are about being a drummer. I hope she continues doing this zine. Lisa M. Dalton, PO Box 92, Lake Helen FL 32744, lmdalton1@hotmail.com, temporalmillionaire.wordpress.com [$1 + 2 stamps or trade, not ftp 30XS :15] –artnoose

Here's a link to a few of the pages I've scanned from TM-issue #1 if you haven't gotten a chance to check them out. So, my friends, that's the good news of the day...now back to the projects at hand.

 

Finally a drawing for Illustration Friday again

IF-visitors I just moved to NY in July so this was the first thing that popped into my head when I thought of the Illustration Friday theme, visitors. That feeling that you are in someone elses house. Once you unload the boxes and make that call to your mom though, you're home.

All good things

This day is going so well that I might be in for a whole week of good, maybe even a whole month, kick started by today's good vibes. These are the good things that have happened to me so far today:

1. I got to sleep in...Daddy-o got up with the sweet boy at 6:45, yikes!
2. We got fast food for breakfast (my vice, soda and junk food.  Yes, I know it's not good for me, but this is why I run :) ).
3. I went to the beach for the first time here in NY and found many interesting rock, shells and sea creatures.
4. Went to the local seafood store we found and got some treats for dinner tonight...and a few barley pops too.
5. Talked to my parents who are nice.
6. It's super sunny.
7. I have had time to draw.
8. I am not tired.
9. <>I got this cool award from teeni.

 

I hope all of you are having a good day too.

Zine #3 is on the way!

Issue #3 of Temporal Millionaire is in the process of being assembled finally. It took me a while to get settled here in NY and find some cheap copies (6 cents each versus the 4 cents I was paying in FL...bummer), but we're rolling now. I'll will be cutting and pasting together bits of my art journal for you over the next week or two. It's always an enjoyable process that I rarely have enough time for, so it will be the priority for now. Issues #1 and #2 are out and you can buy them through one of my distributors or right from me.

Eli officially becomes a city boy

The visitors have left and we are getting back to business around my place, this included some morning Wiffle Ball with the little guy. Sadly, after a good hit the ball went into the street and despite my run at full speed it went down the sewer drain. The boy cried as I tried to explain to him that I couldn't get it out. Oh, such sadness. I have lost many a wiffle ball in my time, but mostly into big fields of weeds in the area I grew up. The sewer thing is new to me, but even more sad because you can't even look around for the ball...it's just gone. I caught myself just looking down the drain even though I knew I couldn't get it. Don't worry the story ends with a smile...we went out on the town and got a new Wiffle Ball for the boy and a Big Gulp for me. Ahhh, happy times...

Hey I'm nice...really.

Here's the award I received from teeni (one of the nicest bloggers I've met!). Teeni you have definitely have your spot reserved on my blogroll. :) It seems I have chosen the only wordpress theme that doesn't allow you to categorize your blogroll, apparently a real hang up for a recovering perfectionist like myself.

 

 

 

 

My First Illustration Job

Well it's official folks, I got the job. I'll be working on the illustrations for a educational (ESL) book. Thanks for all the encouragement. That's it for today. I am lucky enough to have one of my good friends coming to visit me at my new home. So the focus will be less on drawing over the next few days and more on beverage consumption while my cool husband has volunteered to take over all parenting duties while I get a break. I am a lucky gal.

Cool Lettering

Hand LetteringI saw this the other day on the credits of "I Dream of Jeannie" while my husband was playing the beginning cartoon part for my little guy (ahhh... youtube). I really like hand lettering. I like that it is not perfect, that not every "e" is the same. I worked on this last night. It came out pretty well for not penciling it first. Do you see my favorite pen on the side there? Have I told you I'm in love with Sakura Micron pens? I am, and now you know.While I'm sharing youtube moments, I'll tell you that I also found this one for my little guy. Excellent. We've been singing it with him to learn the numbers and finally he knows the real thing! He seemed intrigued that they were singing the same song on the video.

Will i get the illustration job? What do you think?

Here is one of the pictures I sent off today for a possible illo job. The person is putting together an educational classroom set. We'll see what they think. What do you guys think? I was debating a background color, but obviously didn't do it. I sent off a bunch of black and whites too. I'm glad I sent it either way.  It was one of my goals for the year to get work out there, wherever out there may be.  Just a goal not to over think things.

Tag, I’m it.

hrsj tagged me a while back so here goes... Go check out her art work here. INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so: 1. Blairs Boys 2. Harmonia’s Cuppa Tea 3. Vaguetarian Tea Room 4. drawing on the walls 5. temporal millionaire Next, select five people to tag: 1. ialwayswantedtobeatenenbaum.blogspot.com 2. frizzillustration.blogspot.com 3. williebaronet.blogspot.com 4. http://colesedwards.wordpress.com/ 5. http://noveltyknees.wordpress.com/ What were you doing 10 years ago? I was working on courses for my teaching certification in Illinois. What were you doing 1 year ago? I was teaching Special Education at a public school in Florida. Five snacks you enjoy: 1. Soda (Does that count? I really love it, and it's bad for me which seems to put it in the snack category.) 2. Snickers candy bars 3. Speghettios 4. Salt and Vinegar Chips 5. Flamin' Hots-Cheetos Five songs that you know all the lyrics to: 1. Jellyfish: Baby's Coming Back 2. Tom Petty: Two Room Apartment 3. Jack Johnson: Better Together 4. Indigo Girls: Closer to Fine 5. Grateful Dead: High Time Oh, so many to put on this list, but these are ones I like to play on my guitar. Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Restore my VW.
2. Work on my house. (an air conditioner for starters!)
3. Take my whole family traveling with me.
4. Start a charter school with my like-minded teacher/social worker friends.
5. Be an artist, who's not starving.

Five bad habits:

1. procrastinating
2. eating junk food
3. being a perfectionist
4. staying up late even though I know I have to get up early
5. not confronting people

Five things you like doing:

1. drawing
2. sewing
3. running
4. playing on a drumline
5. playing with my little guy Eli
Five things you would never wear again:
6. Tightly cuffed jeans
7. Shoulder pads
8. Acid washed jeans
9. Moon boots
10. Leg warmers
Five favorite toys:
11. shrinky dinks (I loved these! I don't even know if they still make them.)
12. legos
13. bike
14. wiffle bat/ball
15. Nintendo...how could I forget! I used to play Zelda with my dad.

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Sewing Machine

Finally, after days of searching through boxes at our new house, my sewing machine has been found!  It was in one of the many unlabeled boxes that were hastily packed on moving day (oh, to remember that crazy day...glad it's behind us!).

The project that was boxed before we left Florida is now out and ready to be worked on at my new pad. Get excited kids! The unveiling is now only a short time away. What?  You want a clue you say?  Time for another zine?  Nope, it's not paper and it's sewn by me with love.  I will tell you this, it satisfies all the things that make a toy good.  1. It is small enough to put in your pocket and take with you. 2. It's cute (what can I say, I like cute...maybe you don't) 3. It's fun to share with your friends.

More to come...

I'm back...finally!

Thanks to those of you have still been visiting my site even though I wasn't.  I've been busy moving.  Moving, as much as I planned for it still came up on me quickly and then the whirlwind of packing, closing, driving (FL to NY with two cats and one sweet boy), closing, unpacking, fixing, fixing, fixing and trying to live normally seemed to take up weeks without me even knowing what day it was...it's been crazy. But, I'm back, and I'm drawing and making cool things again and will be updating you all on the ongoing fun as it happens right here!

Stationary for my mom

 

So many things to make these days that there is little time left for writing about it all. Tonight I finished making some stationary for my mom. It's her birthday this weekend. I carved a linoleum block with a simple, happy, circle design. It took forever to carve because I had to be really careful with all the curves. It really came out well and I think she will like it. I was going to do a two color print, but I liked it with the single color and left it like that. It's a turquoise ink on a periwinkle paper (I wish I had more opportunity to use the word periwinkle!). I tied up six cards and six off white envelopes and will send it off to mom tomorrow.

By the way, carving lino blocks makes me think of the dentist scraping my teeth, and I can see why they never seem to be in a hurry to finish...it's kind of fun.

Illustration Friday-Your Paradise

Click on the image if you want to see it close up.

Your Paradise

Ink on some crappy paper

Here is my latest entry for IF. I started drawing this one tonight on some paper I hadn't used before and realized when I went to ink it all in the ink was going to bleed. nice. I also wanted to paint it with water colors but ran out of time. Maybe I'll do it this weekend. Anyway, that's me and my sweet boy and husband. We're taking the kid-o to see the shuttle launch tomorrow. He loves rockets and the shuttle...you can guess where I started on the drawing. Oh, sorry for the bad lighting on the picture...it's late.

I'm the Featured Art!

 

Hey check me out! I'm the featured art on The Mile Project today! Excellent. If you haven't clicked on my link to Joe's site do it now and go draw him a picture while you're at it! I drew him my self portrait that I use on the cover of my zine Temporal Millionaire. Hopefully it will end up on the mile of drawings one day.  Take care everyone...happy drawing to you!

Temporal Millionaire-Issue #2 gets another distributor

 

Stranger Danger Distro, who distributed my first issue of Temporal Millionaire, is now distributing issue #2! Terrific news! It should be up on their site in the near future. Click here for more information on zines, or here for more information on getting mine.

Illustration Friday-Signs

Illustration Friday-Signs

Round two for me on Illustration Friday. Thanks to everyone who visits from IF, your comments last week were great. They made me so happy that I made this sign. Ahhh...feeling so inspired some days. I think I'll tape this to the wall where I draw.

Little, tiny MONSTERS...are not scary

Monster

ink and watercolor on paper, 1" by 1"

I tried to draw a monster that couldn't possibly be scary. This little guy is only about an inch tall and is really skinny. I was imagining if I saw a bunch of these little monsters running around my place that I wouldn't be scared. It would actually be kind of cool to see a bunch of little monsters running around that wern't scary.

I joined Illustration Friday...

 

Citrus

ink and watercolor on paper, 9" by 12"

Here's my first submission for Illustration Friday. The topic for this week was citrus. This idea came to me while I was busy not sleeping last night. If you want to check out the Illustration Friday site I have a link on the side bar.

Support DIY, buy a zine!

Temporal Millionaire-Issue #2 pages 10, 11, and 23

(If you click on the image you can see a larger size.)

Here are some pages from my latest zine, issue #2. It came out a couple months ago. I'm working on number three now as well as doing whatever I can to be creative everyday. It makes me happier than I would have imagined to get to make something everyday. I'll be posting some of the other projects I'm working on this week.

Pages from my zine

Temporal Millionaire-Issue #1 pages 25, 26, and 11 (If you click on the image you can see a larger size.)

Here are a few pages from my zine where I compile most of my journal entries and ink drawings. If you want to check out (and hold) the work of some artists and writers on the cheap go buy some zines. Really, they're all a buck or two, and a lot of folks will trade you for their work if you ask. Zinewiki.com is a good place to start learning about what's out there or you can go right to some of the distro links I have for some descriptions.

Pages from my zine

Temporal Millionaire-Issue #1 pages 25, 26, and 11 (If you click on the image you can see a larger size.)

Here are a few pages from my zine where I compile most of my journal entries and ink drawings. If you want to check out (and hold) the work of some artists and writers on the cheap go buy some zines. Really, they're all a buck or two, and a lot of folks will trade you for their work if you ask. Zinewiki.com is a good place to start learning about what's out there or you can go right to some of the distro links I have for some descriptions.

Temporal Millionaire-Issue #2

Temporal Millionaire-Issue#2 1/4 size, 32 pages, sewn binding, $1.00 or trade

Finally a picture of issue two's cover. I'm going to add some pictures out of each issue in the near future. So, check back if you want to see more of what's inside.

Issue #2: Continue following Lisa as she explores her world with less money and more time, oh, and a drawing book. Also includes: -a trip to the Lue Gardens -a few days feeling crappy -percussion rehearsals -uh, I think I'm pregnant -how to jump-start a car -a Sunshine Sally comic -a bunch of drawings -and of course, stories about hanging out with little Eli

Temporal Millionaire-Issue #2

Temporal Millionaire-Issue#2 1/4 size, 32 pages, sewn binding, $1.00 or trade

Finally a picture of issue two's cover. I'm going to add some pictures out of each issue in the near future. So, check back if you want to see more of what's inside.

Issue #2: Continue following Lisa as she explores her world with less money and more time, oh, and a drawing book. Also includes: -a trip to the Lue Gardens -a few days feeling crappy -percussion rehearsals -uh, I think I'm pregnant -how to jump-start a car -a Sunshine Sally comic -a bunch of drawings -and of course, stories about hanging out with little Eli

I Love Sushi

I Love Sushi ink and watercolor on paper, 1½" by 1½"

Here is another one of the watercolor paintings I did this week. My friends were talking about getting sushi for lunch, and I started craving it. Yuuuuummmmm...sushi. I started making sushi a few years ago because it's really beautiful if you make it well.

I Love Sushi

I Love Sushi ink and watercolor on paper, 1½" by 1½"

Here is another one of the watercolor paintings I did this week. My friends were talking about getting sushi for lunch, and I started craving it. Yuuuuummmmm...sushi. I started making sushi a few years ago because it's really beautiful if you make it well.

Miss Katie's Turtle

 

Miss Katie's Turtle ink and watercolor on paper, 1¼” by 1¼” I took Eli to his reading group at the library a couple days ago. His teacher was reading about turtles and brought in her tiny turtle to show the kids. Eli loved it. I painted this for him when we got home.

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