Hodge, Yoshimi & Acorn

This statement will not surprise anyone: I completely adore my pets- and the pets of my friends- and the pets that walk past me on my way to work- and the entertaining pets that make up much of my internet fun time (I'm looking at you Cute Overload). It takes an effort to edit myself and not just coo over fluffy creatures all day. But sometimes, it is Friday night and you are coming down with a cold and your bunnies are sleeping nose to nose in a little heart shape and you need to just let it all out.


A few days ago, I had some friends over and Acorn got a bath before they arrived so he could look presentable. He still had no manners but at least he wasn't offending anyone's nose. The picture looks like I'm being all mean and splashing his face with the water but the silly guy just walks right under the stream and gets all huffy and mad. The photo up top is post-bath drying session. Please note the back foot in the air yoga action. So after he was all washed and dried, I let him waddle around the kitchen for a few minutes and made a beeline straight into the dustpan and got his quills all wound up with Hodge and Yoshimi's shed fur! I'm beginning to think he likes being dirty.


Hodge and Yoshimi are the opposite. They love being clean. They lick themselves and each other for the better part of the day. Sometimes they offend me by cleaning themselves after every time I pet them. My hands are perfectly clean guys!


As pretty and tidy as she is, Yoshimi isn't above jumping on top of my belly and stealing a bite of my banana.

And Hodge eats hay that he finds under the bed. So, whatever dudes.

After I finish writing this, and watch Maru fit into a small box and a Corgi tresspass on a golf course, I'm going to go drink some tea sitting down on the floor hoping some bunny friend will join me.

Recently, my friend's pet rat passed away and someone else I know has a dog that they love very much who is currently missing so I'm appreciating my animal family even more than usual... which is a whole lot.

Animal Advice series

I just want to share a sneak peek of a new (first ever!) series I'm brewing up for the shop. The animal advice series will be a small collection of prints highlighting one particular animal and the advice on life I expect it would give if it could. I'm considering the natural habits and peculiarities of a few species and then translating those features into little pearls of wisdom from the animal kingdom.

The only one I've finished is the goldfish. Considering the goldfish's reputation for having a short memory; it's bit of advice is "fuggetaboutit". "Fuggetaboutit" has been a popular phrase in my home since Justin and I saw a hilarius skit about "fuggetabuddies". I hope I can find it on youtube to share.

The next few I have are sketches waiting to be printed. I have the serene whale advising us to "take a deep breath" and an upturned beetle realizing that " a little change can be refreshing.".

I'll probably make a bee, a sloth, a squirrel and a rabbit (of course) in the next few days. I'd love to hear what you think about these (especially since I haven't printed them up yet).

Platypus preoccupation

I've been wanting to try and make zippered pouches for awhile. I think they are cute, handy and a good way to use up leftover fabric from my Lazerbeanz days. I just took a long time to make a design to print on them.

I thought that the kangaroo would be a perfect mascot for my pouches but I had a really hard time drawing one. For some reason, all my kangaroos came out with bitchy looks on their faces. I could not get them to look friendly! Koala was the next likely candidate but the tree element of the koala lifestyle was a hindrance to my layout. I thought of the platypus but wasn't sure if they actually had pouches so I began searching the internet. Well, I did not expect that a quick Google check would lead me to four hours of intense platypus research! They are very perplexing creatures full of contradictions! I actually had a hard time nailing down anything about them. I found sources claiming that they do have pouches and ones that say they don't. I've decided that I personally prefer a pouch-bearing platypus so that is what I choose to believe.

My favorite undisputed platypus factoid is that they have no nipples but still produce milk. They nurse their young with milk secreted from their pores which the babies lick off their mother's coat. That blew my mind. I think I want to be a platypologist when I grow up.

I made two wonky pouches already and I plan to spend the rest of today practicing so I can have some nice enough to sell in my shop soon. I also made Justin a platypus shirt on a whim while he was headed out the door to a concert (see the shirt here.). I'm all about platypus embellishments right now. Platypus could become the new houndstooth.

Infinite Lemmings

Newly added Gocco print to the ol' Argyle Whale shop. I really enjoyed making this drawing. I had the idea before I really knew what a lemming looked like so I spent a long time looking at pictures of their striped little bodies. Oh they are so cute!

This drawing was based on the idea of lemmings following their leaders off cliffs to their doom. I arranged them so they could all follow and graze peacefully forever. It may not be any help to real lemmings but at least my imagination feels better. This drawing made me wish I knew how to do animation. I'd really love to watch the lemmings bustling around and around in a figure eight.

Featured Maker: Ashley Anna Brown of Fern Animals

It is a challenging thing to be proud of a friend and not sound maternal or condescending but I must say it. I am so extremely proud of my friend Ashley's success with Fern Animals. People can't seem to get enough of her tiny stuffed creatures that are thoughtfully hand-stitched and full of personality.

When we were in college together at Montserrat (represent!) and she had just started making her first handful of little guys; she'd be sitting in art history class with her needle and thread busily sewing up a little suit or a pair of ears for a future critter. Of course, it wasn't long before students and professors were calling dibs on their favorites. Believe me, I'm still sore over losing out on a little white bearlike fella with embroidered hair and a velour hoodie to our printmaking professor.

It is thrilling to see that people are still battling for the opportunity to snag one. She can't sew fast enough to meet the demand! How wonderful to see a hard working creative person succeed by doing what they love.

FernAnimals.com

PS: Go vote for her at the Softie Awards!