Hi all. I've been out of town for the past two weeks and the only thing I've accomplished for my business is putting my new greeting cards into bags. Oops. Oh well. For the past three years, I haven't accomplished anything for the second and third weeks of July because I teach art at a summer camp near Rochester, NY. And I love it. If you don't know, I'm not just your friendly neighborhood monster maker! I went to school for Art Education and LOVE teaching. Problem: there aren't too many teaching jobs for art in my area. This is the two weeks out of the summer that I get to put my Master's degree in teaching to work! And I don't have to give standardized tests! [Grumble, grumble, NYS... but that's another rant for another day.]

Here's some pictures! First, if you follow me on Instagram, you know I got some new greeting cards! They'll be for sale at my next events in August!
[Chalk Art Fest Aug. 3 and during the Elmwood Arts Fest Aug. 24+25]

I got new business cards too:

And redesigned the top header on this page and on Facebook:

I did all of the above in a bout of nervous energy while I was getting prepared for camp. I don't know why I get nervous because the kids at camp are always great and fun and wonderful and I already miss them and they make super fun stuff like this:

We accidentally -but kinda on purpose- had a bit of a lizard theme this year, which was really fun! The drawings were done on tagboard and campers created backgrounds using Zentangles or "marker painting" techniques. They lizards were made using Sculpey clay and then painted with acrylics. I love kid art.

I had a really great stay in Rochester! Every night was busy! I got to see a lot of friends [including @merrypad and @dadand] and I even was able to go sailing! Here's a pretty sunset at the Yacht Club:

The two weeks ended with the very nice outdoor wedding of two of my college friends. They were married on a farm near Utica, NY. They seemed to like the Name Design that I gifted to them. I wish them many years of happiness! Congrats Amanda + Greg!

Now back to business. The Chalk Art Festival and Billapalooza are this weekend. Play time is over. Time to get back to work!

Hi everyone! I have really exciting news to share, but first I want to remind you [especially if you live near Rochester, NY] that I'll be vending at the Mini-Mayday! Underground show on Saturday. The address and times and all that are under the "WHERE TO BUY" tab up top.

And now for the exciting news. Last week I asked for some feedback on some T-shirt designs. Although T-shirts are coming later in the summer, I decided to start off by putting the designs on baby onesies!

Marinette, owner of Inspired Buffalo, is helping me with these. I was able to meet with her and she showed me her new, super awesome, HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR THAT! direct-to-garment printer. If you don't know what that is [I didn't] YouTube a video of one in action because it's seriously magic. I chose to try this printing method for now over traditional screenprinting because I wanted to launch 3 designs at once and there isn't any extra fees for screen set up. The design goes directly from the computer onto your shirt, or in this case onesie. Plus you can use as many colors as you want and it doesn't cost extra... and we all know color is kinda my thing. I priced out what it would cost to screenprint with at least 6 colors and it's a lot... unless you buy hundreds. Which is too much of an $$$ investment at the moment... So I'm starting small with 50 onesies. Baby steps.

Literally baby steps. They're baby onesies.

Want to see them. Here they are! All the designs are available for preorder through my Etsy shop. I now have direct payment set up so you can use your credit card without having to go through PayPal. All preorders will be ready in July and I will email you to let you know when they are being shipped.

Click the image to take you to the shop listing for that item. Onesies are $20 each or 2/$30. Sizes range 6 - 24 months.

These are so fun and perfect for gifting... or for your own little monster.

I just finished another pet drawing! I absolutely love drawing animals. This guy is named Simon and he's a black lab mix. The drawing is a surprise gift for a couple's new home! I hope they love it. He's a cutie. 

If you're interested in a portrait of your pet, there is more information in the PORTRAIT INFO tab above. 

I thought yesterday was pretty productive. Not only did I finish knitting the bodies for three small round guys, but I also finished up this drawing of Cody, the large furry friend of Emily at merrypad.com. 

Mostly I put up monsters here in the bloggy part of the site, but I also wanted to let you know that I love doing custom portraits of people and animals. I updated the "PORTRAIT INFO" tab up top to include examples of my work and pricing. 

Here's Cody!