• Picturing and Poeting by Alan Fletcher (a follow up to his The Art of Looking Sideways, which sits on my desk)
• Ignore Everybody (and 39 Other Keys to Creativity) by Hugh MacLeod (You can download the manifesto this book is based on here)
• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (I mentioned his book in an earlier post. Seriously, anyone remotely interested in creativity or just being an interesting person should read this book.)
• HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett (Designed more for the visual/design folks. Same info as nerdy textbooks, but visually interesting to read.)
• illustration school: let’s draw happy people by Sachiko Umoto
• Hand Job: A Catalog of Type by Mike Perry (And yes, the title makes me snicker like a ten-year-old boy. It doesn’t help that when you search “hand job” on Amazon to find this book, this is second on the search list.)
• Quoteskine: Vol. 1 by Lee Crutchley (Lots of hand lettering of quotes and whatnot, something I’m enjoying myself these days.)
• illustration school: let’s draw cute animals by Sachiko Umoto (used this to draw my animal doodles for last week’s Oh My! Handmade post)
• illustration school: let’s draw plants and small creatures by Sachiko Umoto
• “MoleZines 1 & 2″ by Andrea Joseph (wicked talented illustrator/artist)
• “How to Draw Like a Loon” & “How to Draw Like a Nut”  ballpoint zines , also by Andrea Joseph (because I need more reminding of how unawesome my drawing skills are compared to hers!)

Obviously drawing and creativity are on my mind these days…

BUT…I said earlier this year my intention was to “ABSORB” more, so to ensure that I don’t continue to be a collector rather than a user of books I purchase, I’ve decided that all purchases need to fit on the book case in my studio. Therefore, books that no longer have any relevancy or use to me are being moved out. This is the pile I’m getting rid of so far-

• Quick & Easy Home Sewing Projects by Gloria Nichol
• HTML, XHTML & CSS Quick Steps by Guy Hart-Davis
• The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success by Jeff Fisher
• Anatomy for the Artist by Daniel Carter and Michael Courtney
• Secrets of Simplicity by Mary Carlomagno
• Graphic Designer’s Color Handbook by Rick Sutherland & Barb Karg
• Color Design Workbook by Adams, Morioka & Terry Stone
• Mixed-Media Collage by Holly Harrison

There’s nothing wrong with these books per se, just a matter of thinning out my collection. If I’m honest with myself, there are more that could go, but I’m just not ready to let them go just yet.

If anyone is interested in any of the above books, make me an offer and we’ll set something up through PayPal, otherwise I’ll probably list them on Amazon and/or donate them to the library within the next week.

If you click on the image above, you can download a PDF file of these reminders to post as reminders for yourself or others. Or you can go download the other critter doodles from oh my! handmade and make yourself a banner.

Like I said in my original post, if they make you smile or giggle, great! If they inspire you to lead with humor in your own life, then mission accomplished.

To lighter days…

(That’s not a line from a Kotex ad, is it?)

I love the simplicity of the page layouts, as well as the animals themselves. This book even includes little facts about the animals you’re learning to draw. J loves flipping through this book, picking critters for me to draw like I’m his trained doodling seal, and learning new things about the animals.

(I’m also working on a post for another site which will likely include illustrations inspired by this book, so stay tuned for that…)

I had to laugh about this page from the Happy People book, which shows how to draw a teacher (I used to be one), as well as an artist (I am one now?). Admittedly, the people drawings are a bit stereotypical (where IS my beret?), but it’s still great for getting a basic feel for drawing people in different poses and whatnot.

There’s also a third book, Let’s Draw Plants and Small Creatures which I went ahead and ordered during the writing of this post. I figured I might as well complete the set…

“Ob”, his new invisible pocket-sized pal, joins the Rocket the Rainbow-Swirled Manatee, Mr. Elephant, Green Blankie & Blue Blankie as part of the sleeping and traveling procession. Fortunately, only Rocket and Ob accompany us into stores and out on walks these days. One of these days I’ll get a photo of Jack with Rocket & Ob, as it’s really quite adorable to see him with Rocket under one arm and Ob carefully cradled in his cupped hand. Unless it’s windy, then he has to use both hands to create a “safe house” to keep Ob from blowing away…

I have no idea where his imaginary friend came from, nor do I have any recollection of having one myself as a child (I just talk to myself a lot, so maybe that’s the same thing?)

What about you? Any imaginary friends? What about your kids?

I’m currently fighting
to work out in writing
why people tend to seek
any ol’ reason to freak,
or strive to distress
vs. “hooraying!” success.

I want to inspire
a stronger desire,
to instead chase after
more humor and laughter,
because, shit, isn’t that more fun?

I’ve recently finished Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek for work (LOVED!) and A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan for my book club (good, but emotionally heavy.) This weekend I’m finishing Austin Kleon’s How to Steal Like an Artist (a must read for all creative types!)

What about you? Are you a one-at-time reader or multi-book reader? Read anything funny or interesting lately?

Plus a white ink pen (mine are from JetPens.com)…

Park you ass on the couch and zone out making swirly doodles and dots all over the album until you end up with this-

(Note: Ink will smear until it dries, so be mindful of that when you begin doodling and working your way across the album cover.)

Nervous about “screwing it up”? I think that might be impossible, but you can always practice doodles ahead of time on scrap paper. The coolness of the design comes from the repetition, so trust in the process and wait until you have at least one side down before you start getting all judge-y with yourself.

I love this size album because it’s not so too big, and it holds all my photos and doodled Me-Mo cards!

A good day.

Nothing big or amazing happened, just a series of small events. Things like:

• Finally feeling like the plague that’s had me on couch quarantine for the last week is lifting.
• The nuclear meltdown my son had yesterday giving way to a cooperative, calm day together today.
• Steady, gentle rain all day to keep things mellow and relaxed.
• An urge to tidy up & spend time in my studio for the first time in weeks.

Put it all together, and it makes for a rather serene day, one that I intend to go celebrate right now with a crisp, tasty cider, something I haven’t been able to enjoy while the crud was occupying my sinuses and chest.

Have a good weekend!

I hope all you have had a chance to share the love yesterday with friends and family. I’m slooowly recuperating from some form of the plague, but I wanted to share a little love project I made for my honey in lieu of a card. I usually do get him a card, but with the way I’ve been feeling, venturing out to stand upright for a prolonged period in a card aisle, plodding through a lot of bad cards to find that one perfect one just wasn’t happening this year.

Instead I made him this-

A handful of card stock, cut into business size cards, hole punched & bound with a book ring and you’ve got a mini book, ready to fill with ooey gooey sentiments of love. I won’t share what I wrote on the cards, but I will say they were all things that I love and admire about my husband.

I had so much fun making this for him, that it’s inspired me to make more. Linda of a la mode STUFF created “Project Letter Writing” this year as motivation for herself and others to bring back all that’s awesome about snail mail.

I hesitated to join at first since I have so many project & ideas of my own I want to act on this year, but when I saw the potential to incorporate the two, I signed on. So for this month’s “project letter writing”, I’m working on a mini book of doodles and memories to send to a friend, similar to the one I made for my husband. And while it’s not a letter per se, it is a little pocketful o’ joy that I’m sending her way, which is the whole point of the project.

Interested in joining? Click here.