Black Cat Designs

Pupdate

2011-12-07T21:31:00.003-05:00

Sketch is now almost 6 months old. These are a few pix from the last month. He's growing like a weed!

November Postcards

2011-12-02T20:38:00.003-05:00

A sneak peek at the postcards being mailed out for the November swap. The fall colors have passed us here but I still wanted to share them.

Growing...

2011-09-24T20:41:00.004-04:00

For the record, Sketch's ears were cropped before we got him. We did not choose to have them done. Things changed before we were to pick up our puppy and we were placed with a different one than originally planned. Unfortunately the cropping was already done at that point. We are overjoyed with Sketch and the breeders and are becoming pros at ear taping. I'm just getting a little tired of all the flack I get for his ears being cropped.

These are some pix over the past couple weeks when the tape is off.

Gotta love the schnoz!

Getting Big

2011-08-27T09:49:00.002-04:00

Sketch is now 11 weeks old and growing like crazy but I can still pick him up and hold him. He also likes to crawl on your lap and snuggle. I don't think he will outgrow that- he's just going to be a 150 lb lap dog!

Meet Sketch!

2011-08-27T09:42:00.003-04:00

He's heeeeere!!! This is Sketch, our brindle Great Dane Puppy. These pix were when he was 8 weeks old and had just come home. I have barely had a chance to do anything since he came home, but he's finally here! It's a lot like having a baby in the house again. He needs to out a lot and eats EVERYTHING in sight! It's a lot of fun though.

Smoky Mountain Puppy High

2011-07-12T17:20:00.004-04:00

We have waited almost 6 years to get another Great Dane and we are finally ready to add one to our family! We climbed the Smoky Mountains to meet a breeder and litter of 4 week old pups. In a few weeks one of these beautiful boys will be coming home with us! I'm SO excited!!!

Good News and Bad News

2011-06-21T16:08:00.002-04:00

I actually figured this out last year but finally got around to sketching it after a deer desecrated my garden again this year. I had no idea the deer were eating my tomato plants. I thought I was failing as a gardener and blamed it on the heat down here in the south. Oh well. I guess it's another year of having to buy tasteless tomatoes from the store. At least I can still grow my own herbs. Not all is lost.

Cat? What Cat?

2011-06-21T16:05:00.001-04:00

Just because she can't see ME she thinks I can't see HER. She thinks this is the greatest hiding spot ever. Silly cat.

Color Drops

2011-05-27T20:07:00.004-04:00

I've been having some fun with Martha Lever's online class Color Drop Flowers and made these cards for some things coming up.

Sweet 16

2011-05-24T12:39:00.003-04:00

Blogger wouldn't cooperate so I didn't get to post this on the actual day. My first "baby" turned 16 on May 20th! I think I might start calling her Toonces now.

Birthday Card

2011-03-16T13:19:00.002-04:00

A card I made for my niece's birthday next week.

DIY Planner March 7-13, 2011

2011-03-16T13:18:00.002-04:00

And I'm on again...

DIY Planner February 7-13, 2011

2011-03-16T13:17:00.002-04:00

I'm on again, off again with these.

The Fabulous Felyne!

2011-03-16T13:10:00.003-04:00

I love how the internet connects people. My artsy friend, the fabulous Felyne on Flickr, creates these incredibly cool designs that I just love. She commented on one of my drawings which turned into an artsy exchange by mail. This is what she sent me- and I'm pretty sure I got the better end of the deal :)

Painting From Photos

2011-02-25T19:48:00.004-05:00

I'm loving Alisa Burke's Sketchbook Delight online class. She's so creatively cool. For some reason I have always felt guilty painting from photos, even if they were mine. Not anymore. I don't feel very creative out in public where people are watching so working from photos makes perfect sense. Here's a peek at my sketch of The Necessary, that cool little house at the JC Raulston Aboretum in Raleigh. Thank you for the inspiration Alisa!

The Selby

2011-02-23T10:45:00.002-05:00

I've never heard of this before but I will definitely visit this site again. The Selby has tons of photos of creative people in their spaces and I could spend hours going through them. Not only are the spaces cool but the photography is amazing.

Finding My Muse

2011-02-18T12:31:00.003-05:00

I took this photo the other day while I was at the arboretum finding my muse for week 2 of Alisa Burke's Sketchbook Delight online class (which I LOVE). It's a Japanese Crepe Myrtle and it's the biggest one I've ever seen. The Crepe Myrtle is one of my favorite trees here in North Carolina. In the winter you notice their strangely beautiful bark that almost looks like it's diseased but in the summer they are covered with beautiful flowers.

And here is my sketch of it.

Love Note

2011-02-17T10:34:00.005-05:00

I was crabby this morning until my 6 year old tucked this note in my pocket...

...and this is the t-shirt I'm wearing that prompted her to write that love note. That's my girl! <3

Winter Walk

2011-02-16T20:59:00.003-05:00

I took a walk around the JC Raulston Aboretum today and was surprised to see some flowering trees and honey bees already! I know it's warmer here than up north but this is the only place I've seen anything blooming already. I'm looking forward to going back when more things are blooming. What a pretty place! I fell in love with the cool little house and as I got closer I realized it was a bathroom! The call it "The Necessary". How funny.

I love this rain chain:

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:25:00.003-05:00

It's not exactly my favorite holiday, but I don't hate it. You can't be a putz the whole year and expect to make up for it on one day. I prefer balance. I do like drawing hearts and giving cards so it's not all bad ;)

...And here's a little peek at some watercolor splats in my sketchbook. These are always fun.

February Postcards

2011-02-14T11:23:00.002-05:00

For an online swap. The salt didn't quite work out this time but they turned out ok anyway.

DIY Planner January 31- February 6 2011

2011-02-12T17:38:00.000-05:00

And here it is finished.

What The...

2011-02-12T17:37:00.003-05:00

These are the BEST initials EVER. If they were mine I might be tempted to put those goofy initial stickers on my car too... Nah, probably not, but they made me laugh!

Love Is In The Air

2011-02-12T17:35:00.002-05:00

This floated right above my head yesterday.

DIY Planner January 24-30, 2011

2011-02-01T12:28:00.002-05:00

I haven't done one of these for a while and I kinda missed it.

Brush Lettering Postcards

2011-01-25T13:37:00.003-05:00

A little brush lettering practice a la Martha Lever . I love her Calligra-Fun class and thought I'd test out my skills on an envie for a friend in CA. (Hi Gina!) I blurred her address but it's just written in monoline.

Kindergarten Project

2011-01-24T12:25:00.005-05:00

The kindergartners are getting ready to decorate their bulletin boards for Valentine's Day so each kid brought home some homework for their parents. We were given the pink heart and asked to describe some things we love about them and we could decorate it any way we chose. There are so many more things I could have included but I had to be careful not to embarrass her. This is what I came up with and here she is with her new smile.

Girly Drawer Pulls

2010-12-10T14:39:00.005-05:00

We got a new dresser for Piper's room and I painted it white along with the old tall skinny drawers we already had. I wasn't going to just have plain old white drawer pulls and I definitely wasn't going to pay $8 or more apiece for cute girly ones- so I made my own and they turned out pretty cool!

Moose

2010-12-10T14:36:00.002-05:00

I just love these two! I found them at Lowes and just had to have them. They weren't in the holiday section so I plan to keep them out all year. Maybe I'll just decorate their antlers for each season...

(Environ)Mental

2010-11-24T19:44:00.003-05:00

Tea anyone? I've reached a new level of environmental dorkiness. I love tea and I love having the string and tag to play with while I drink it. Loose tea tastes better but you don't get the attached toy so I thought I'd remedy that. I made a few of these and they only took about 2 minutes to sew even though I'm not very good at sewing. Now I have the best of both worlds- loose tea AND a tea bag. I'm easy to please.

Winter Color

2010-11-24T19:41:00.003-05:00

Just planted a few of these by the mailbox yesterday. I LOVE this color and I really hope they survive and keep blooming. Not a bad pic considering I took it with my phone.

My New Sketchbook

2010-11-22T09:27:00.004-05:00

I found about a half yard of this material in the scrap bin at JoAnn for around $3 and decided to turn it into a sketchbook. The back side of the material was white so I painted it with brown ink and now it looks very leathery. When closed it's about 6" x 8" and is filled with 90 lb watercolor paper.

Brush Lettering Postcards

2010-11-22T09:26:00.003-05:00

I'm new to brush lettering but I love it. These are some postcards for an online swap for November.

Piper's New Sketchbook

2010-11-06T20:08:00.004-04:00

Piper and I have been working on some new sketchbooks and this is hers. The cover is a watercolor painting she did and we bound it with watercolor paper and plain copy paper. She loves it!

2010-08-20T21:19:00.002-04:00

The longer I live in North Carolina the more I appreciate those long and bitter cold Chicago winters. I found this in our driveway tonight. I had only seen them in museums before this and I sure hope I don't see another one.

Caribou Coffee

2010-08-11T13:04:00.002-04:00

I have a thing for Caribou Coffee. We used to live down the block from one and I've loved them ever since. The closest one now is a 40 min drive. I rarely buy coffee but I can't resist when I see Caribou.

Rewards?!

2010-08-11T13:03:00.003-04:00

These "rewards" cards drive me nuts. Why can't they give everyone the sale price? Why am I special only when I carry around these stupid little cards? Annoying. I just found an app for my phone that stores all the cards and #s so maybe I won't have to carry these anymore...

I just noticed that I spelled weigh "way". Ugh. I must have been tired.

Hummingbird Rescue Mission

2010-07-14T20:30:00.001-04:00

My daughter found this poor little guy in our garage barely alive today. For a while it looked like there was no hope for him but my friend and I gave him some sugar water and TLC for about an hour and amazingly it flew happily away. I love a happy ending :)

New Planner

2010-06-27T12:22:00.003-04:00

Some sketches in a new planner. Going back to a bigger size planner for now to see how that goes. I'm hoping to use it for everything- planner and sketchbook all in one.

Some New Sketchbook Pages

2010-06-24T11:23:00.001-04:00

A Few DIY Planner Weeks

2010-06-24T11:12:00.001-04:00

June Pix

2010-06-24T10:49:00.005-04:00

Recent pix of the kiddos. Some nice, some silly.

Road Sketch

2010-04-04T11:38:00.002-04:00

We took a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC last weekend and I sketched this in the car on the way down.

DIY Planner

2010-03-22T19:07:00.003-04:00

Haven't posted any of these in a while. Just some doodles in my Filofax.

Some New Stuff

2010-03-15T21:38:00.003-04:00

Starting out a new sketchbook and sketched my current supplies. I'm not too sure about the color choices right now but I am annoyed with the fact that the Daniel Smith paint keeps falling out of the full pans...

I also played around with my new macro camera lens today too. Very cool!

Another Snow Day!

2010-02-13T14:59:00.002-05:00

We got about 4" of snow last night so we took full advantage of it today. We built 2 snowmen for the birds and animals to snack on. Looks like they approve already too.

Snow Day in NC!

2010-02-01T21:17:00.004-05:00

Enjoying the snow here in NC. I swear they said "it never snows in NC" when we moved here. So far we've been here 2 winters and both winters we've been lucky enough to get some snow. I'm not complaining, I LOVE it.

More Family pix

2009-12-25T15:40:00.002-05:00

Some Xmas photo attempts

2009-12-06T20:52:00.003-05:00

Two of my faves- out of about a billion that I took today...

Such sweet little faces!

Hmmm, there might be too much vampire talk going on around this house...

Spider Love

2009-10-28T16:42:00.002-04:00

These strange spider webs show up on our grass some mornings but this one was pretty cool. She must be in love. If you look closely you can see the little spider artist sitting in the middle of the heart.

Catching up

2009-08-12T19:48:00.003-04:00

Things have been busy around here but I managed to squeeze in a few things.

Planter VS Planter

2009-07-12T19:37:00.003-04:00

I spent most of my time in Cameron Village painting this planter outside the Noodles & Co after eating lunch there. This painting is my favorite of the day.

Long Distance Sketch Crawl

2009-07-12T19:32:00.003-04:00

Went on a long distance sketch crawl with my friend Mitzi who lives in New Orleans. We chatted on the phone, took pix and sketched. It was VERY cool and we will definitely be doing it again.

Recent pix

2009-07-10T16:24:00.003-04:00

I've been taking more pix than drawing them lately. Here are a few:

Bambi, Mama and Thumper

2009-07-01T14:07:00.002-04:00

I was really annoyed last night when I opened a brand new 5lb bag of carrots only to find half of them slimy. I decided to toss them in the yard and sure enough we had visitors this morning. Had to take these through the window, screen and my son's reflection, so please excuse the poor quality.

My Garden Hates Me

2009-06-28T17:31:00.004-04:00

I thought I wasn't watering enough so I watered more, then it seemed I was watering too much. Nothing works and everything looks really sad except 1 pumpkin vine. I think pumpkins like it dry so does that mean I'm not watering enough? Who the heck knows? Here is one of the saddest tomato plants I've ever seen. I had to capture it before it dies completely. I'm afraid if I pick the tomato it's growing I'll take away it's only reason to live.

Fairy Sketches

2009-06-27T20:18:00.003-04:00

Since Jackson has a new journal, Piper wants one too. She wants a fairy on the cover of hers so I'm trying to come up with one of my own so I don't just copy Tinkerbell. The one on the bottom right reminds me of my niece, Erin.

Crazy Blue Hair

2009-06-27T20:15:00.002-04:00

And lots of it. There are so many things wrong with this one but I'm just trying to fill up the last few pages of a sketchbook.

Journal Covers

2009-06-27T20:07:00.002-04:00

Jackson needs a new journal and I can't seem to find one I really like so I decided to make my own this time. So far these are the covers. When it's open flat you'll be able to see the whole basketball. I haven't figured out what type of paper to use inside but I'll be able to switch around since I'll use binder rings to hold it all together.

Now I'm thirsty

2009-06-18T16:05:00.001-04:00

Trying to draw more stuff lately. Here's my water bottle.

Everyday Matters #226

2009-06-18T16:01:00.002-04:00

This is the latest challenge for the Everyday Matters group.

Wish I had a macro lens...

2009-06-07T20:54:00.006-04:00

All sorts of critters came out to play in our yard today. Here are a few I captured on film. I'm pretty sure that dragonfly was posing for me after a while. There's one shot where I swear he's smiling. I posted more pix on flickr.

Back to the sketchbook...

2009-06-02T20:36:00.004-04:00

I hit a wall with the planner. I'm still doodling in it sort of but I wasn't doing much else so I'm taking a break. It's nice to get back to a sketchbook again.
Happy birthday Michelle!

It's June!

2009-06-02T20:33:00.003-04:00

I can't believe how fast the months are going by. Wow.
I'm not sure what kind of flower this is but I saw a photo of it in a magazine the other day and thought it was cool.

DIY Planner May 18-24, 2009

2009-05-26T19:46:00.003-04:00

This week has me visiting Great Dane rescue sites. I really miss having one.

DIY Planner May 11-17, 2009

2009-05-19T19:04:00.003-04:00

Back to the compact size. It's much easier to carry around.

Back to the compact size. It's much easier to carry around.

DIY Planner May 4-10, 2009

2009-05-12T20:06:00.003-04:00

Mother's Day Cards

2009-05-05T13:44:00.003-04:00

My mom's favorite color is purple and my mother in law's favorite is blue. Here are there cards for this year.

DIY Planner April 29- May 4, 2009

2009-05-05T13:42:00.002-04:00

DIY Planner April 20-26, 2009

2009-04-29T14:11:00.002-04:00

I can't believe April is almost over!

Some Whimsy People

2009-04-29T14:10:00.001-04:00

Here's some practice from the Whimsy class.

DIY Planner April 13-19, 2009

2009-04-21T19:13:00.003-04:00

It took me a while to add color to this one but I finally got to it.

DIY Planner April 6-12, 2009

2009-04-15T10:07:00.002-04:00

I'm a little late adding color to this one, but here it is.

Our trip to the Outer Banks

2009-04-14T19:16:00.001-04:00

Man I love spring!

2009-04-14T18:50:00.001-04:00

This tulip is just one of the reasons why. I love tulips.

How my family usually sees me

2009-04-14T18:46:00.003-04:00

...and why I'm rarely in the photos.

Where's my pot of gold?!

2009-04-14T18:43:00.004-04:00

Check out the rainbow coming through the trees into my neighbor's yard! So cool. Didn't find that pot of gold though...

A Wee Bit Of Whimsy

2009-04-12T20:25:00.003-04:00

Every life needs a little bit of whimsy every now and then so here you go.

DIY Planner March 30- April 5, 2009

2009-04-07T18:56:00.002-04:00

New week, new page design.

DIY Planner March 23-29, 2009

2009-04-02T19:46:00.003-04:00

I changed a little around last week. It was a busy week so there are less drawings.

Birthday Card

2009-03-24T14:56:00.002-04:00

Just finished this one. I'm still loving the Inktense pencils- and flower images.

DIY Planner March 16-22, 2009

2009-03-23T11:07:00.002-04:00

Another week, another doodle. Had to go with the shamrock theme this week. Corny, I know.

DIY Planner March 9-15, 2009

2009-03-15T19:19:00.002-04:00

Another week in my world.

Jeans

2009-03-09T11:24:00.004-04:00

Why is it so difficult to find jeans that fit right these days?

DIY Planner March 2-8, 2009

2009-03-09T11:14:00.001-04:00

Here's another week.

A Day At The Beach

2009-03-09T10:59:00.005-04:00

I love the ocean. Here are some pix from yesterday.

Another Week In The Planner

2009-03-04T19:49:00.002-05:00

Here's another week. This is becoming quite fun. It sure beats boring white space all the time.

Watercolor Journaling

2009-02-26T19:21:00.005-05:00

Here are some new journal pages. Some are from January but I'm just now getting a chance to upload them. These are Karen Blados style.

DIY Planner- After

2009-02-22T20:15:00.003-05:00

Here is the "After" shot of my week after doodling all over it. Much better to look at than the boring "Before" pic. Gotta squeeze some creativity into daily life, even if it is just doodles.

DIY Planner- Before

2009-02-22T19:35:00.003-05:00

The obsession continues. I love my planner and have decided to get a bit more creative with it. I've been making my own pages for a while but now I'm trying out a new format with lots of white space to doodle. Here is the "Before" pic for this week. I will post an "After" pic as soon as I finish it.

New Cards

2009-01-16T12:17:00.003-05:00

I made a couple cards today on watercolor paper. I used Inktense pencils this time and I love the boldness of color. These are going to 2 different neighbors that lost their dogs this week. So sad.

Yum!

2009-01-14T20:41:00.003-05:00

'Nuff said.

What I Carry

2009-01-14T11:58:00.002-05:00

Certainly not ALL that's in the bag, but these are what I used most. This reminds me of those "What's in YOUR wallet" commercials.

Doodles

2009-01-09T20:21:00.004-05:00

A few doodles since I haven't done much or posted lately.

Got a tree today!

2008-12-06T20:35:00.004-05:00

We continued our tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree today. This is by far the biggest one we have ever had. It's a really pretty one though, and looks even better all decked out in the living room.

2 Munchkins

2008-11-23T15:30:00.003-05:00

Man these 2 are CUTE!! I know I'm biased but they ARE cute. I'm pretty proud of the shots I got in our little homemade photo shoot too.

Watercolor Journal Pages

2008-11-23T14:29:00.002-05:00

Here are some recent pages from my watercolor journal. This one is sheets of 140lb CP Fabriano watercolor paper bound by rings. The first one is of our new house here in NC and the second is a little bird that was sitting on the deck railing singing to me for a few days. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is.

Sterling Hoopla Earrings

2008-11-08T16:41:00.002-05:00

I MADE THESE!!! And they turned out pretty cool! I took a class at Panopolie, a cool bead store in Raleigh. They are made of 14 gauge sterling silver wire which I soldered, hammered and textured. Veeeerrrry fun. I've been wanting to get back into more 3D art and this was definitely a fun class. Now onto finding a kiln to replace mine that bit the dust after 2 moves. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands muddy again, it's been too long...

Beeswax!

2008-10-28T10:10:00.002-04:00

I took a Beeswax Postcard class at a store here in NC called Artists' Oasis. LOVE the store, LOVE the class, LOVE the result! I just wish I lived closer to the store...

September Doodle Diary

2008-10-28T10:07:00.002-04:00

I FINALLY got my scanner to cooperate so I'll post the doodle diary I did for September. I haven't been able to do too much lately with the move but here it is. This was for the Blue Haze yahoo group swap.