DIY : COMIC BOOK BIRTHDAY GIFT WRAP

That guy I like celebrates his birthday today. He's 30, which is kinda a big deal I do believe, so I wanted to show him I cared by putting a bit of extra effort into his gifts and gift wrap. There's a theme going on here though he doesn't know this quite yet. But if you know me, you'd know I love wrapping presents. The idea of the overall final result, that pretty wrapped gift when presenting it to the giftee, it just makes my heart smile. My guy is pretty special an over all amazing guy, but to nicely put it, he's also a big geek, which I love. Comic books couldn't be more appropriate for the occasion, so I took a few older ones I had stashed away and put them to good us. He already saw a photo of the picture above an he seemed to like it. So yay me, extra girlfriend points. I hope you have a wonderful birthday handsome and enjoy all your gifts!

COLOR PALETTE 55 : CLARE OWEN

Today's my guys birthday, and I've had sweet treats on the brain for a weeks gearing up for today, so this color inspiration by the talented artist, Clare Owen, only seemed approriate. To see more of her beautiful works please click on the link below. Happy Tuesday and Happy Birthday Handsome!

IMAGE CREDIT

SANDI DOODLES : BOTANICAL TATTOO

A little under two years ago, I decided to get my first ever tattoo. Now it wasn't that I didn't want a tattoo before this, because I surely did, but it's that I really wanted something that spoke to me. There's nothing wrong with going and picking something off a wall, or printing out an image you find online that you may like, but for me, I want something original that spoke to me... So with my first tattoo, I hand lettered my children's names, which I really love how this piece came out. So fast forward to last week and I finally got around to getting my second tattoo (above & below). I find simple line work very aesthetically pleasing. If you've seen my artwork, my personal style reflects this. I had seen a few botanical pieces out there and really wanted my new piece to be a floral arrangement, and to have some meaning behind it too. It took me a bit, but I illustrated elements I loved to create this larger piece. One of my favorite flowers is the Ranunculus (the largest flower in my piece), I also like Lily of the Valley, Marsh Marigolds, Lady's Thumb, Geissorhiza, you'll see all of these in here, also there's raspberries (yum) and the Massachusetts (my home/birth state) state bird, the chickadee. So overall though this piece is like every other botanical looking piece, it's non the less entwined with things about me which I love. Does your tattoo speak to you or have some meaning behind it?

And a big thank you to my tattoo artist, Mikey Wheeler down at Mercy Seat in KC, Missouri. If you are local looking for a tattoo I highly recommend Mikey. Though he illustrated a piece I provided, his work (photo below of doodles) is beyond amazing and I'll certainly have him design me a another piece in his own style someday soon.
 

SANDI DOODLES : ALLOW YOURSELF TO LET GO

Sometimes it's not an easy choice to let things go and move onward, you may not know what lies ahead of you, you may be comfortable with the way things are, but sometimes letting go to move on can be more rewarding in the grad scheme of things. An as I go thru life these days, I remind myself this. I have been parting with a few items to downsize the amount of stuff we live with because we don't need it all… And though it's hard to part with old things, especially those things that remind me of my past and where I've been and where I am now. It's just stuff... and there will always be more stuff. But a reminder to myself to "allow yourself to let go" because in the end it will be better off…


More Sandi Doodles via IG (Instgram) >> HERE
Doodles shared on my prior blog >> HERE