A big thank you to Nate & Salli at They Draw & Cook for rerunning my Holiday recipe.  This past Christmas week they highlighted recipes that featured a Santa.  On Friday, Dec 27, they posted my holiday submission from 2010. Someone commented on the site that it would make a good Christmas card.  Why, yes, it was my card that year.  Check out my 12/26/2010 post to see it in full. 

Wishing all a very Happy New Year.

It's that time of year again.  Since 1997 I have sent out a motorcycle-themed Christmas card.  This year the card does not feature a Harley but you need to shake it up now and again.  A Christmas Guzzi is on the menu instead, with the sentiment:

May the gifts of the season 

accompany you throughout the new year.

Despite all the hoopla, I would like to add what I believe is a perfectly lovely, all inclusive greeting,

 Happy Holidays!

Nothing says the Holidays like the desert. A special holiday card design above and the perfect mailbox to put it in.

The Christmas cards have been designed, drawn, scanned, colored, printed, glittered, folded, stacked, signed, enveloped, addressed and finally, mailed.  Almost sixty hand-made cards will make their way to Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.  Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus card on the way!  This early completion is almost a record for me in the decade and more I have produced them.  They are labor intensive (a labor of love) and more often than not have arrived in their recipients mailbox on the eve of the holiday.  Not by plan, of course.  But this year they are on their way in mid-December.  It's a Christmas miracle!

It is scary how quickly this year has flown by.  It is December already and the new year is almost upon us.  The pumpkin was carved and our turkey-less Thanksgiving meal consumed, all without a single post.  Now with the winter chill in the air, the Christmas card production line is under way.

My zombie inspired Jack-O-Lantern for 2013 is pictured above.

August 26 is National Dog Day.  According to its website, the honor was created to show appreciation of dogs "for their endearing patience, unquestioning loyalty, for their work, their capacity for love and their ability to impact our lives everyday in the most miraculous ways."  And no one shows that loyalty and spirit better than Charlotte whom I met recently.  The pittie/boxer mix was found in East St. Louis, Illinois, by Gateway Pet Guardians (GPG) volunteers on their daily rounds. Charlotte is on the road to recovery now and, despite her trials, is a loving, trusting girl that charms everyone she meets--including me.  You can read Charlotte's story here.  Her wonderful rescue organization now has the t-shirt I designed available through on-line sales.  100% of the proceeds go to GPG. 

The illustration above is of a Yorkie named Chance who found his second loving home through the Humane Society of Missouri.  Please don't forget rescue organizations or shelters when looking for your next pet. 
Happy National Dog Day!

 

I have been drawing a lot of hippopotamuses lately.  Becky Schantz's newest self-published book, "How to Grow a Hippo," should be available for the holidays.  This sweet story was inspired by a study out of Washington University-St. Louis on the connection between nurture and brain development in children.  It is a fun story that will make you love science even more.  Hippo-hurray!

The monkey is courtesy of my niece, N.