some firsts

holiday card sketches

why yes that is a beagle on a bicycle!

i have been insanely busy, in a very, very good way these past several weeks. this has made me feel very productive on the business front, but i am starting to feel a bit burnt out.

so for the first time in the history of freelancing full-time, i'm going to shut down happy D designs for a full two weeks. i'm so excited but i'm also a little nervous to do so.

my clients have been notified and i hope to get some relaxation and rejuvenation time in so that i'm itching and roaring to go in the new year.

until then there are a few big projects to tackle, lots of small jobs to complete, a holiday card to finish, christmas shopping to be done and lots of stuff to be mailed. ... but i'm feeling really good about everything, which is a first during this time of year!

i hope that this momentum continues for me in the new year!

it's ice-cream season!

some of my favourites for this season!

the scribble project

i stumbled upon a great collabo site called the the scribble project where people can download templates, draw on them and submit them to big team scribbles.

it is run by a cheery illustrator named oppy and she has been doing different collaborative projects every year.

last year it looks like over 100 people submitted their version of a totem pole.

now she is hosting a team scribble of carriages that will be put together to create a long train! my submissions are above.

you still have time if you want to participate! only 2 rules, it has to be black and white and it has to be hand-drawn - no digital drawings!

the weather has finally warmed up and thoughts have slowly turned to gardening. i better hurry up and make some decisions!

have a great weekend everybody! i'll leave you with some links to some lovely illustrators:

• evan b. harris and his photostream
• saelee oh's blog
• c.w. roelle's wire drawings

happy howlidays!

happy howlidays and a happy new year!

we've moved

i had this image sketched out for a while now, meaning to create some change of address announcement cards. well, we've only been here for 2 months so it's not that late!

i also realized that this fits in nicely with this week's illustration friday topic, 'packed'.

this turtle is all packed and ready to move!

mon appareil-photo est dans l'hôpital

for the 2nd time this year, my camera is at the camera hospital. this time it's been there longer than it's first stay. i guess things have gotten a bit serious - doesn't focus on subjects that are in the focussing areas when on auto focus mode.

please get better and stay better - the warranty on you is up at the end of this year!

can you tell why it's 'sale' and not 'sail'?

Sailing over wave and tide oh ho ho
Fantastic waves against our sides oh ho ho
And I'm not so afraid
Lost at sea, as i should be
And I'm not so afraid
Lost at sea, you and I, you and me

Congratulations
Cause we've made it
All the way home
All the way home
And you know that
Until the stars fall
I'll always love you
I'll always love you

~eisley's 'lost at sea'


i-friday topic: sail

dr. sketchy's anti-art school

1 min and 5 min drawings


andre's drawings

finally!! i made it to a dr. sketchy's session. orginally started by molly crabapple in nyc, dr. sketchy's is an alterna life-drawing class where models are usually burlesque or exotic dancers and the sessions have wacky contests for prizes. sessions are usually held in bars so you can drink and draw!

i was intrigued when a few of my favourite artists talked about attending dr. sketchy sessions in the states. and needless to say, very excited when one started in toronto.

it was a fun 3 hour drawing session, especially since andre came out. (we made up for all the evil glares and mean jabs we made to each other back in our high school art class.) dom rounded out our trio and some of our sketches were done on old time cards that i found outside a restaurant 2 years ago (the bag of time cards probably weighed 30 lbs and lugged it home on a route that was probably about 3 kms).

our model for the night was laura selenzi, a belly dancer with gorgeous costumes.

andre and i have decided to attend regularly. i'll definitely be there if they can bring back past models like coco framboise or mina lafleur (her resemblance to dita von tesse is uncanny!).

illo-friday topic: fierce

dream street

sometimes i dream about how lovely it would be to have a street where all the people i love would live all together. the little bungalows would be where my sisters and our significant or parents would live. the two story with roof top patio building would be an art/office. the high-rise is a place where friends visiting from out of town could stay and the long one story is a dog training/rescue rehab centre.

of course the environment would be priority number one on this street. each building has it's own sustainable power supply.