28 posts tagged “illustration”

Originally published at sixhours.net. You can comment there.

It's contest time, all! I think you're going to like this one. The grand prize....

A 12x18 Alphabet Soup poster print!

This was the doodle that started it all, and easily one of my most popular items. If you don't have kids, consider it a jump-start on your Christmas shopping for your family or friends who do.

If that doesn't motivate you, I'm also giving away some runner-up prizes--4 $10 gift certificates to use in either of my shops. That means there will be not just one but FIVE lucky winners.

There are four ways to enter, which means you can have up to four entries in the contest:

1) Leave a comment on this blog post. Visit either of my shops (sixhours or calobee) and tell me what your favorite item is. Make sure to leave a way for me to contact you, too!

2) Re-tweet the contest on Twitter by copying and pasting this message:

RT @sixhours Please enter me in the Calobee Doodles contest! http://www.sixhours.net/2009/11/23/yay-for-free-stuff/ #calobeedoodles #contest

3) Become a fan of Calobee Doodles on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall naming your favorite Calobee Doodles print.

4) Blog about this contest, making sure to include a link back to this entry - http://www.sixhours.net/2009/11/23/yay-for-free-stuff/

The contest runs until 11:59 p.m. on December 6. On December 7 I will collect all entries in a list and generate a random number for the grand prize winner, then four more random numbers for the gift certificates (one prize per person). This contest is open to U.S. and international participants alike! Gift certificates will be sent via e-mail with a code--you can use this code in the "message to seller" box at checkout and wait to pay until I've sent a revised invoice.

Good luck!

It’s long overdue, but I’m happy to announce the brand new Calobee Doodles Web site!

It’s a showcase of my doodles, as well as an archive of past custom orders. I needed a separate place to show off my illustrations, because let’s face it–my photographs and doodles are two very different beasts and at times it feels as if I’m catering to different audiences.

Besides, I’ve been looking for an excuse to geek around, and what better way than to build a new Web site? This one was particularly fun because I got to be a bit more playful with the layout. At some point in the near future I hope to redesign sixhours.net as well…  it’s been over a year (where does the time go?). As if I don’t do enough of this stuff at my day job… I’m practically dreaming in PHP and CSS these days.

Speaking of which, I’ll tell you a story. You know how I posted earlier about Elspeth and how she’s typically a great sleeper, right? Well, I totally jinxed myself with that post, because suddenly the little bean is waking up in the middle of the night to eat–after almost eight weeks of sleeping through without so much as a peep. Apparently someone’s going through a growth spurt.

Anyway, at 3 a.m. last Saturday, my sleep-deprived brain had the craziest thought:

I bet I could write a PHP function to illustrate Ellie’s sleep habits.*

Yes, I actually thought, “I could probably program my daughter in PHP.” That’s how bad it is, people. I’m now applying computer coding principles to completely organic situations… I think it’s time to step away from the computer and get some sun.

What is this “sun” you speak of? Never mind, I’ll just Google it.

* What would that function look like, anyway? I’m so glad you asked…

function sleep_baby_sleep($baby, $the_fussy)
{

if ($baby == $the_fussy)
{

if (apply_binky($baby))

$baby = “This isn’t food. Where’s my damn food? Scream!”;

else if (apply_bottle($baby))

$baby = “This is food. Yum. But now I’m gassy. Scream!”;

else if (apply_gas_drops($baby))

$baby = ” I feel better. But now I’m WIDE AWAKE. What’re you gonna do about it, punk?”;

else if (apply_snuggles($baby))
{

$baby = “So… sleepy… must… fight… urge… to… zzzzzzz”;

if (put_in_crib($baby))

$baby = “Hey, wait! I’m still awake! You can’t put me in my crib! Scream!”;

else (three_hours_later($baby))

$baby = “Ok, fine, I’ll sleep. But I’m totally waking you up in two hours.”;

}

else if (is_asleep($baby))

$mommy = “*twitch twitch*”;

}

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

I listed my photographs at Artfire.com this weekend, in the interest of finding a promising alternative to Etsy and just generally trying to get my name out there... and I'm off to a really "fiery" start! Someone posted my "roast" print on a popular scrapbooking forum, and just a few short hours after launching, my brand new Artfire shop has almost 400 hits and 1500 item views. Wow!

Unfortunately, most of the comments toward my photos are negative, and some of them are downright mean (who knew scrapbookers were such a grumpy bunch?), but hey, exposure is exposure. Calobee Doodles is getting some positive attention as a result of all the extra traffic, so I can't complain!

It will be interesting to see how the Artfire shop does given its unique start. I'm always surprised by what appeals to people (and what doesn't). My photography gets much more attention at Etsy--in the form of treasuries and front page features--than my doodles... but I've sold equal amounts of each type. I suppose there's something to be said for making art that appeals to two drastically different audiences.

Speaking of which, I'm in the process of redesigning sixhours.net to add my illustration. I'm not doing much photography right now (unless adorable baby portraiture counts) and it seems silly to keep sixhours exclusively for photography when the portfolio hasn't been updated in over a year. At least it will look somewhat current with the illustration included. Now I'll be lucky if I can find the time to sit down and code it.

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

It's been a busy week here! Between custom orders and new doodles and shop updates and baby fun, I'm learning to juggle many roles, old and new. Tomorrow we throw another into the mix: The Day Job.

If you'd asked me 8 weeks ago how I was feeling about going back to work, I might have thrown the baby at you and said, "I'll see you at 5!" Now I'm feeling more ambivalent, but I think it will be OK. If parenthood has taught me anything, it's that plans and expectations are for people without kids.

For example:

• We planned a drug-free home birth and ended up at the hospital saying "Epidural, please!"
• I planned to breastfeed exclusively, but milk supply issues nipped that in the bud, so now Ellie is all too familiar with Mr. Bottle and Mrs. Enfamil.
• I spent most of my pregnancy reading anything and everything about sleep training, fearing I'd never see an eight-hour stretch again, only to discover our daughter is a champion sleeper.
• I planned to cloth diaper almost exclusively, but my first encounter with formula poop was enough to convince me that $40 for a bulk box of disposables at Sam's Club is money well spent.
• I told myself that no baby needs fancy schmancy toys to thrive, so we would not be spending money on the latest and greatest baby swings, bouncers, or playthings... she'd live on love and her imagination. And then I met Mr. Fisher Price and the Precious Planet series.

So although I'm feeling a little sad about heading back to the office, I've decided to approach it like everything else in my life these days... with no firm expectations whatsoever. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

I know it's been nearly a month since I last posted, but how do you expect me to get anything done with that adorable face looking up at me? She's just begging to be hugged and cuddled and, in the words of her uncle Julian, spoiled rotten.

But the clock is ticking, and my maternity leave is winding down. I go back to work at the beginning of March. I'm both looking forward to it and not... I know the change of pace will be refreshing, but the time has gone too fast. I feel like I'm just getting to know this amazing little person, and now I'm going to be pulled away from her. It's so unfair. Thankfully we're able to leave Ellie in the hands of a dear and trusted friend while we're at work, and I know she'll be quite happy and safe. That makes the transition a little easier, at least.

In business news (oh wow, that's right, I have an Etsy shop!) Calobee Doodles is taking custom orders again! The break was nice, but now I'm itching to get back to work. I already have some new orders in the pipeline, so this is good. I also miss taking photos, but I have a feeling it will be a while before I can focus on a project of that scale... best to start small. Besides, I maintain that any long, uninterrupted stretches of time will be spent exactly as they should be--napping!

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

Apparently our daughter is a champion procrastinator... we had a consult with a breech specialist last Monday, but when the doctor examined me, she'd already turned. At some point last weekend she must have flipped around. Hurrah! Thanks everyone for the advice and well-wishes. It looks like the home birth is still a go!

So now we play the waiting game. 12 days (not that I'm counting or anything...) until her estimated due date. Earlier would be just fine with me, though! *hint hint, baby girl*

In the meantime, I doodled this little portrait of our soon-to-be family... aren't we cute?

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

It's SPRING! Spring spring spring spring SPRING! I am manic, what with the 70-degree temperatures and the green grass and the buds on the trees and and and !!!!!

It feels so good to be alive right now, I can't even tell you. A co-worker mentioned the nice weather to me the other day in passing, just making polite conversation, and I was all, "Oh, I KNOW!?! Isn't it wonderful?!? I'm so ecstatic!!! I love it so much!! I want to roll in the grass and frolic through the fields and hug a tree!! Let's go!"

They backed away a little, understandably so.

I'll be abusing my adjectives and my exclamation points until at least June, when I finally settle into this beautiful lovely gorgeous magnificent superbly spectacular weather! You've been warned!

As you may remember, T & I gave up our cable a while back, because we weren't really using it. We decided to switch to a larger plan on Netflix and get our media fix there. However, there's a slight problem... see, Tim has something like 60 movies in our queue, and I have a grand total of, uh, 2. That's right, 2 movies that I actually want to see vs. 60 that I don't because they're really bad sci-fi. This is not good, people. I need your help!

What's good in movies these days? I like documentaries (mostly for present-day subjects, not so much historical), indie films, creepy horror (not gory horror), good science fiction (note the part about "good"), comedies, etc. I'm not so much into action movies, but if it's a must-see, throw it on the pile. I'm trying to avoid a whole summer of really bad B-movies, and given our track record with movies, I definitely need outside intervention to do so.

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

Tim's birthday was on the 8th (happy 26th, hon!) and then I got a surge of custom orders, so I've been absent from blog-land for the last few days, and I don't think it's going to slow up any time soon! I was lucky enough to be featured in yet another edition of Etsy Finds (thanks, Anda!) and have since found my sales at Calobee Doodles a little overwhelming. But overwhelming in a good way!

Speaking of Etsy, I'm quite excited about the upcoming EtsyMaineTeam meet-up this weekend in Augusta! The last meeting was snowed out and rescheduled to a time when I couldn't make it, so I'm eager to catch up and meet everyone.

Now, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a dose of girl-talk, of the "OMG SHOES SQUEE" variety. Please forgive me in advance:

On Tuesday evening we took a trip to Target, where I found not one but two pairs of cute shoes. This is amazing, because I haven't bought a pair of shoes in a retail store in years (save for the occasional $5 flip-flops, and my annual trip to the Saucony outlet for new sneaks on-the-cheap) because they never fit. My feet are very short and wide and tall--a shape that pretty much rules out anything that has a pointed toe, or even the slightest hint of a pointed toe... in other words, anything that isn't designed to be worn by a duck. In fact, every pair of dress shoes I've ever owned (that would be 2 pairs, mind you) in my adult life came out of a "special" mail-order catalog for people with ridonkulously weird feet.

That's right, folks, my feet are "special." And now you know why I spend 99.9% of my time in sneakers.

But my new shoes? They're cute. And when I say cute, I mean, adorably perfect in every. single. way. They're comfortable and stylish, dressy enough for the office but casual enough for weekend wear. I bought two pairs--one in the ribbon style, one in black--because I'll probably never find any shoes so perfect ever again. In fact, I recommended them on ThisNext long before I'd seen them in person, so it must be fate! The shoe gods are smiling upon me.

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

More doodling for your viewing pleasure! I'm really kinda proud of this one... partly inspired by my father, who said, "You should draw a little girl with an umbrella." So, here you go, Dad. Little does she know that her umbrella has other plans aside from just sheltering her from the rain... she's also available in the shop!

Today was a beautiful day. I woke up to a sale (YAY!) and I took a long walk to work and back. It's just warm enough that I think there may be hope for spring after all. Bring it on, I say!

Now T and I are settling in with some Ben and Jerry's to watch Pursuit of Happyness. Goodnight, dear Internets!

Originally published at sixhours photography by caroline moore :: blog. You can comment here or there.

I know I've been remiss in my blogging duties--things are finally slowing down a bit, though, so I don't have as much to write about! I've finished the last of the custom work I had to do this weekend, so I spent a little time in Illustrator working on something for myself. We're visiting my folks for the weekend, and it's quite snowy up here, so I needed a quick reminder that spring really is just around the corner and not just a cruel, torturous figment of my imagination.

I can't wait until it's warm enough to plant flowers and watch them grow!