Paws For Charity 2014 ~ The Art Book, Notebook and 2015 Weekly Calendars are ready!

 

Happy Monday Everyone!

R-Chee and I are so proud to be a part of the wonderful Paws For Charity 2015 Weekly Calendar and Note Book!

My pug drawing of Archie sleeping on a chair is in the calendar the week of June1-7 2015 and is also featured in the 2015 Notebook.

Weekly Calendar:

http://www.blurb.com/b/5577801-2015-two-page-per-week-planner

Note Book:

http://www.blurb.com/b/5572097-notebook

The Soft Cover Art Books are also available here:

http://www.blurb.com/b/5210564-2014-paws-for-charity

and the e-book version can be purchased here:

http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/468601-2014-paws-for-charity

This is our page in the Art Book for 2014

All funds raised from book sales are donated to Sheltering Helpless Animals in Distress (www.SHAID.ca), an animal shelter in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada.

R-Chee & I are so proud to be a part of this wonderful Art Book Project to help so many needy animals!

xoxox

Melissa & Archie

The Blob Book is Complete!

Happy Monday everyone!

I am so excited to show you the last two inside pages and the front & back covers of my BLOB Book that is now complete!

I started it last Fall in October 2012 at my Sister's Art Retreat!

Melanie and I took a wonderful Drawing Workshop with Carla Sonheim through Art Camp for Women.

Here are all of my posts showing all of the drawings in my magical Blob Book that I just LOVE.

October 2012

November 2012

March 2013

June 2013

It was so FUN to see these splashes of paint show me shapes to trace and color in whenever I wanted to just relax and create!

Each character seemed to just arrive and say hello every time I pulled out my pencils, markers and glitter glue pens!

Here is the page you saw above that I made using a simple set of kid's watercolor paints!

All you do is lightly swirl, splatter or swish the paint on a piece of watercolor paper leaving space for the white paper to show.

You do not have to lay a lot of swishes down, and it is best to really water down your colors to keep them light and transparent for you to be able to see your creatures in your blobs.

Then I just let them dry, folded the pages and cut random scallops on the edges to make a FUN edges instead of hard corners.

It also made the pages different sizes from each other which allows you to draw creatures that actually are partly on one page and partly on the one underneath if you would like!

Then you just take your pencil and find the creatures in your blobs and trace around them.

There are no rules!

You add any faces, expressions and colors & textures that you want when you color them in!

I just used colored pencils, watercolor paints, markers, and glitter glue pens to color mine in.

It was so FUN, easy and relaxing to do!

Front Cover

Back Cover

Ta Da!

My first Blob Book is complete!

I cannot wait to make more!

I love that I did not rush through this process and just let the book evolve over 6 months.

If I would have done it all at once, each page would have looked the same!

But by spreading it out, I was able to have a clean slate each time I sat down and pick up new colors, markers and even glitter at the end!

These are things I never would have done if I did it all at once!

Now my book is even richer and, in my mind and heart, has a whole life and story on each page that I created!

Thank you so much for always looking at what I am making!

It is so FUN to share it with you!

You really make my world a very special place to be!

xoxoxo

Melissa

A Call for Entries & An Honorable Mention! 1000 Dog Portraits ~ The Book

Happy Thursday everyone!

R-Chee & I are so exited to share a new book project that is set for release in the Spring of 2014 by Modern Dog Design CO.

It is in the Call for Entries stage and we just submitted several of our pug and dog drawings, doodles, collages & paintings for their consideration to be included in the publication.

If you have any kind of dog illustration you would like to submit, please do!  Wouldn't that be FUN if we were all published together in one book honoring our favorite creatures ~ dogs ~ and ART!

They are taking submissions until April 15th, 2013.

We will not hear if we made it in until NEXT Spring, but we did get a FUN surprise yesterday to see that our Beagle Painting was included in a blog post by the publisher, Rockport Publications, about the book's Forward dedicated to honor the regal Beagle breed!

 

Please click here to read the post!

How FUN & what an honor to be mentioned!

R-Chee is so excited about all the stuff we are doing!

I have been busy painting this week and will have a new Pug painting to show you on Monday!

Please stay tuned tomorrow for R-Chee's Funny Friday Post!

It is his favorite day of the week!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee

2013 Paws For Charity Art Book Project

 

Happy Thursday everyone!

  

I am sooooo excited to announce that the 2013 Paws for Charity Art Book is now available!

The 2013 Paws For Charity Art Book contains images of dogs and cats submitted by 90 artists and photographers (professional and amateur) in 5 countries.

Both the front and back covers capture the spirit of the Project beautifully!  Read more about the images and the artists on the Paws for Charity blog.

All funds raised from book sales are donated to Sheltering Helpless Animals in Distress (www.SHAID.ca), an animal shelter in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

R-Chee & I are honored to have two of our images included this year, Pretty in Pink & Pug Bliss - (Pug designs A83 & A81) on page 71.

 

To celebrate the book's release, I have set up a special listing in my Pug Notes' Etsy Shop featuring these 2 images in a pack of 10 cards with Free shipping. :)

 

If you would like to preview the whole book and/or purchase a copy, please visit the 2013 Paws For Charity bookstore.

I am honored to be included among such amazing artists in this wonderful project that raises funds for beautiful animals who are in need just a little bit extra love right now.

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie 

New Blobs ~ Seeing Silly Sea Creatures!

Hi Everyone!

It is a whimsical Wednesday here! :)

R-Chee & I are seeing sea creatures in our blob book and coloring them in today!

How FUN!

We pulled out all of our colored pencils and markers and just let GO!

It is a super FUN & Fast way to relax and feel good anytime during your day!

You do not even have to create a whole page at once!

You can just do this for 2 minutes a day and I promise it will make you smile!

New ideas and FUN things will continue to show up in your day for you to appreciate and enjoy!

Carla Sonheim is an amazing teacher and helped me to create my blog book in a workshop she taught for Art Camp for Women.

Just in case you cannot get to one of her workshops, she has generously created FREE tutorials & blob booklets that you can download, save and print to create smiles & magic for yourself and others too!

I have downloaded the first of 4 FREE issues that she will share with us in 2013.

She makes it so easy for us to play & learn something new everyday!

Please sign up for her newsletter to get a link them each time a new booklet is released.

R-Chee & I cannot wait to see what magic you create!

Have a Super day everyone!

xoxoxox

Melissa & R-Chee

PostCard Book 2 ~ Ooodles of Doodling FUN!

Happy Monday everyone!

I had so much FUN this weekend making a book out of the regular old postcards I got in the mail from companies advertising their services and upcoming events.

I love to save ones that are different sizes to use for a rainy day.

I learned how to make these books from the super talented Carla Sonheim in the art retreat Melanie and I took last last Fall by Art Camp for Women.

Here is Melanie's book, and here is mine from our class.

She also has the complete drawing and book project instructions in her new gorgeous book, Drawing & Painting Imaginary Animals.

Melanie and I loved making these books so much that I have been just waiting for a quiet weekend to sit down and make another one!

These animals and books are so magical because you never know what you are going to see, make & create on every page!

I was even surprised that this book evolved to be vertical in orientation instead of horizontal although the pages do whimsically spin from vertical to horizontal within the book too!

You do not have to buy any expensive art materials to make these.

As I described above, the postcards were free in the mail, and I just used some of my gesso, kid's dry watercolors, a white paint marker, colored pencils and a black sharpie marker to make all of these amazing creatures.

The black tape I used was actually just regular old electrical tape I found in Fred's tool box!

How fun is that?

The whole book has a wonderful flow and unfolded in the photos series documented for you below.

What a FUN way to spend the weekend!

I felt like a little kid again.

R-Chee slept on my feet while I colored. :)

Please let me know if you make one of these books too!

I would LOVE to see!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee