Costa Rica Crasher Squirrel

I had a little fun with our Christmas card this year. I painted a "Crasher Squirrel" and photoshopped it on a picture of us. Does anyone remember the people and their Squirrel photo from earlier this year? It was all over the internet and TV. I thought it was a hoot! While on vacation the "Crasher" couple set up a tripod by the lake. They got into position and smiled. And just as the camera snaps the picture a squirrel steals the show. He didn't smile and wave like my squirrel though. The photo I chose is at Volcan Arenal in Costa Rica. If it wasn't for the clouds you'd see a classic cone shaped Volcano behind us. And it's active. You can see and hear rocks tumbling down the side. At night the crowds are dazzled by the red hot lava flow. This will be my last post of 2009. And will mark a full year of blogging. Look for my first giveaway to start off 2010. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year blogging friends!

Akua On Tuesday

I left the kitchen while making dinner the other night. Boy was I surprised to find Akua on the water pitcher when I returned. The cute-o-meter was turned way up. So I had to get the camera right away. I guess he was one thirsty kitty! For more kitty action visit http://www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com/

Have A Meow Meow Christmas!

I painted this illustration in November for a holiday card contest. My last minute entry didn't win. But I recieved 48 votes in less than 2 days thanks to my friends and fellow MNSCBWI members. I should be sending it out as my Christmas card. Maybe next year. I definately think it's a hoot. In fact my cat Akua has already climbed the tree this year. Hana and Akua are still full of youthful shenanigans. In March they will turn two. I wonder if they'll calm down a bit? NOT!

This Old House

This old house definately is not my house. I wonder who lives here? If walls could talk they might say...An honorable group of bats pay top dollar for the attic space. Unfortunately a freeloading family of squirrels noticed the bat's nightly migration. Now the freeloaders sneak in every night rent free. A squeaky clean family of mice have rented out the interior. Meanwhile a posse of masked bandits have taken over the kitchen. They are able to do what ever they want since they are the only animals capable of carrying a gun. (with their opposable thumbs) The basement has been completely taken over by spiders. Can you imagine the nerve it would take to build a house on someone else's property? Well, spiders do it all the time with their webs. And then there are the centipedes. They are under the impression they can out run the landlord. Have you ever seen one streak by at night? And speaking of things that go bump in the night. Try collecting rent from a ghost sometime. No wonder this place needs a coat of paint.

Instructions: House, Napkins Included.

My friend Nina and I did an exchange of goods and services. I made her enough napkins to make it to laundry day and she illustrated my house. If you click to enlarge you can see two naughty little kitties sitting in the window. My house never looked so cute. Thanks Nina! You can check out her blog at http://www.ninacrittenden.blogspot.com/ The fabric in the next photo was for Nina's napkins. And the next two pictures show one of my napkins and some placemats I made. I included the placemats because lets face it. Napkins are boring! I made a basket full out of old fabric. So instead of using (and throwing away) a paper napkin at each meal. You have a cloth one. Cloth napkins are not exactly a new idea. But making them the size of a regular napkin might be...who knows. I'll let you in on another little secret. The napkin in the photo has never been used. It is strictly for photo shoots...or maybe company.

A Quetzal for Christmas

It's time to put up the Christmas tree. And it's time for a new blog post. So I put the two together and came up with last year's new ornament. Plus it's the only thing I've created that even comes close to resembling a turkey. I've painted a new ornament for every year that my husband and I have celebrated Christmas together. Last year was Christmas 13. And it was the year of the Quetzal. A nod to our upcoming Costa Rica trip. I also posted some peeping tom shots of the real thing. The pictures were taken through a scope in Costa Rica's Cloud Forest. The elusive Quetzal is a beautiful bird. The males have a long tail of feathers that trails behind them in flight. But we were just happy to see one sitting in a tree.