Scratchy Hippo

I found a kit of the scratchy paper I remember using in grade school. It is that paper covered in rainbows and then covered in a thick black waxy material you scratch off with a stylus. I didn't bring the package to work so I can't recall it's official name :) [edit - It is scratch magic paper!]


This kit has safari animals you can scratch and punch out. I think they could be fun gift tags or name tags of sorts. My three year old art collaborator helped scratch the hippo feet and told me it needed an H on it for Hippo. Hhhhhhhhipppooooooo :)

Oops

I didn't get my weekend posts up because of the holiday. I'll be remedying that very soon!

Mouse - a collaboration with a 3 year old

First the mouse was an adorable marker drawing, hanging out alongside a bear.


Then, the artist said the mouse had to be blue and goo and boo! Well at least I could make it blue.


I pinned the drawing to the felt and traced it in embroidery stitches.


When it was time to sew the matching pattern piece on, my 3 year old collaborator insisted we stuff felt scraps and stuffing inside the mouse. Recycling! I like the two different sized ears.

A Fish - a collaboration with a 3 year old

First the fish was an adorable marker drawing.




Then the 3 year old artist handed me orange felt. I cut a pattern an copied the fish face and tail in some backstitching.



Sew it all up and voila - a fish! Ready to swim around the living room :)

Happy Birthday Pawpaw Bear!

Happiest 85 years young PawPaw! I drew this stuffed build-a-bear that he has had that gets dressed up for the holidays an sports games. Stuf also really likes Klondike bars and naps :)

I started out paintin Stuf in watercolors and had a massive water spill on his poor face so I redrew him with colored pencils in a Red's baseball shirt :)

Bookmark Week - Doodlemark

And now a completely different kind o' bookmark! I traced a post-it on printer paper and then spent a few hours at work doodling tonight's bookmark. I doodled between job duties when the computer was running sooooo sloooooooow. I drew the bear with the crown first and then added other critters here and there. I especially like the purple rhino and the orange flamingo :)



The doodlemark is sticking out of book 3 of the Mage Storms trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. The book is called Storm Breaking and I've read it once many years ago. I've been working my way through the trilogy at lunch and dinner this week. And now it is the weekend YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAY!

Bookmark Week - Fuzzy Ladybug and Friend

This is the last of my fuzzy Michaels bookmarks this week. There were 6 in the pack but one was just floral. This one is floral and bugal :) This ladybug is actually a dude and his name is Alberto.

Bookmark Week - Fuzzy Frogs

They don't have moss growing on their butts - they are just fuzzy frogs! I think these jumping frogs look gleeful. I also like the stylized dragon flies on the design.

The bright blue and bright orange remind me of the brilliant colors poison dart frogs come in.

Bookmark Week - Fuzzy Bug Parade

Hey guess what! A fuzzy bookmark! This time we have a fuzzy bug parade of a snail, ladybug, dragonfly/butterfly thing, and a bee. I like how all of them have cheery rosy cheeks.

I have a week and a half of my temporary evening job left so soon the 12+ hour work days will be done and I'll have more time to blog. And look for an awesome job of awesome. Right? Right!

Bookmark Week - Fuzzy Bee

Another fuzzy velvety bookmark from Michaels. I really like this cheerful bee. Bee's are one of my favorite things. I want to have a hive of them. And hug them. And make them tiny hats like train conductor hats.


It's sitting in the book "Cute Pups" which is a crafting book on making tiny tiny fuzzy dogs. I haven't made anything from the book and have to return it to the library tomorrow already. Booooo. I'll just check it out again.

Bookmark Week - Fuzzy Lizard

I had fun putting post-its in books earlier in the month so I decided to do it again. This time I'm putting bookmarks in random library books later this week. I'll be posting a different bookmark everyday this week. This first one is a fuzzy velvety lizard bookmark I bought at Micheal's Crafts.


It's sitting in the book "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I just finished the book and it was very moving and quite sad in parts. But I'm happy to have read it. I look forward to the movie coming out this year.

Fuzz Frogs and Bugs

Fuzzy velvet poster from Micheals Crafts $1 aisle + markers = goofy cuteness


Fuzzbugg

Not-Quite-Dry-nosaur

I got home late from work at 11:30 PM and Sharpie colored this Doodle Budz Dinosaur in about 15 minutes. He isn't dry and I had to very very gingerly set it down to photograph. It needs more doodles on his caboodle!




Quick - what movie is this from - Trixie: It's just a dinosaur! 

Animal Cracker Recycling

I enjoyed a box of animal crackers tonight with a special box design from Lilly Pulitzer. The design was so cute I thought I should recycle it. I cut around the design, cut the string off the cracker box, and threaded it through the cardboard.



I saved a koala, a sheep, and a kangaroo to eat later :)

Gregory Fishlips and Noreen Orangestar

Hello Gregory and Noreen, what's going on down in the Highlighter Sea?
Nothing much?
What? No I'm not sleep deprived? Why do you ask?

;)

Zippy McFloof, the Considerate Squirrel

I asked my sister "What animal should I doodle at my desk at work tonight for my blog?"
And she replied "A squirrel, eating bread on my garage roof!"


I decided the squirrel should be eating toast with grape jelly. And it is a really nice squirrel and politely wants to share with you. Now, I know the squirrels in her neighborhood are resourceful and have been seen taking food out of trash cans so maybe you don't want to share..... But maybe this one has a tiny kitchenettes somewhere with a wee toaster oven and sneaks into KFC for jelly packets or something? Hee hee!

Lime-a-roo

I doodled this kangaroo on my dinner break with some highlighters. Bright lime green and super lemony yellow are some of my favorite colors so naturally I grab those highlighters first. This job is classy so I have lime, yellow, blue, pink, orange, AND purple. Sweet!

Origami Whale

The website says this is a Killer Whale origami pattern but I can't imagine a purple killer whale. So I'm going to call it a Hugger Whale. It hugs with it's big flippers and makes woeeeee-ooooooaaaaa-eeeeee noises. Very soothing :)

Make a whale of your own here.

Sea Otter

Otters are illegally cute. Any animal that floats around on their back eating and has tiny ears is just....super-adorable-cute-awesome. It's a fact.

Instructions for otter origami found here.

Good Luck Black Kitty

Happy Friday the 13th! I have a black cat that lives with me and crossed my path a bunch today. I got a free extra soda from the vending machine, delicious homemade cake for breakfast at one of my jobs, and had a fun day. Lucky black Neo cat!

Neo and her mini-me.

 

Midsmack! Origami is an inexpensive cat toy. 

Here are the instructions I found for this little black kitty origami.

Blogger was down and ate my posts like nom nom nom

I posted on the 11th and the 12th but the posts got nom nom nommed by blogger. I will repost them tonight at work and post tonight's too. Hopefully these posts don't taste as good!

[EDIT] - I have the last few days reposted :)

Post-it Surprises

I doodled some cuteness and snuck them into books in the shared library at work.


You may recognize some of the critters little faces.


I hope someone finds them and smiles.

Monster

Today my sister asked me "Hey, Bean would a Monster Asparagus count as a critter for your blog?"

Why yes it would!


In other news, my finger is starting to feel better and I didn't wear my splint for part of the day so I should be able to start making more elaborate stuff this weekend!

Iowa T. Frog

*sing-song*
Little frog in a coat,
Little frog in a coat,
looking so dapper,
frog in a coat!


Frog coloring page found here. And the frog was named by my friend Shannon :)

Chloe Photos

I took these pictures of my mother-in-law's dog on Saturday. She is a Jack Russell, Beagle, and something else mix. I used my camera+ app on my phone to fancy them up some. Purple dog and old timey dog.

Caticorn

My friend Luke is visiting and we had this conversation

Bean: What animal should I make tonight?
Luke: A unicorn......cat.....
Bean: What color should it be?
Luke: Purpadurple!

So.....that's what this is. A purpadurple unicorn-cat.....in Space.....wheeeeeee

I smushed my hand in my car window Friday night so I'm hampered by a splint for awhile. I drew quite a bit of this cat left handed .....and I am totally not lefthanded. It looks durple but I like it.




Bonus Cute Farm Cat from Mother's Day visting family - her name is Margaret

Let's Color a Fox

Let's print up this fox coloring page and color a critter. Happy Saturday night! I colored mine while watching Tina Fey sing on SNL :)

Finger-puppet Elephant

I am blogging this from the parking lot at work tonight. I didn't make this little finger-puppet in the parking lot though :)


I made him after lunch with the thinking that a set of safari animal finger puppets could sell well. I'm going to be participating in my first craft fair as Everyday Critter towards the end of May and need to come up with more of my own patterns for soft creatures to sell. I like this guy's trunk. What do you think - too big for a finger puppet?