BRING IT ON.

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So here in the UK the temperatures have dropped and we are heading for minus double figures and snow! How are my tiny, naughty little dogs going to deal with that? The same as they deal with pretty much every day - curling themselves up in bed or piling onto my lap. They also have a wide selection of winter coats and jumpers that they enjoy wearing, including 70s style parkas as modeled above by my tiniest chihuahua, Mr. Billy Bongo.

Have a great weekend, y'all and keep warm!

NEW STUDIO!

I've moved into my new studio. As you can see 'some of us' are making ourselves right at home. Bella the other dog was feeling too shy to be snapped! The window in front of my desk is proving very distracting!

Grandma to the Rescue

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Sorry for a another post featuring a bike - I've just worked out how to draw them and am making up for lost time!

Benji Boy

Meet The Dogs

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My parent's came to visit this weekend and brought with them their three dogs. So combined with our three, we had six nutty pups dashing about the place. Here's a little portrait I did.

From left to right:

Billy Bongo (Our Tiny Chihuahua)

Maisie Mouse ( My parent's Yorkie/Chihuahua cross puppy and Billy's girlfriend)

Bella Boo (Our Chihuahua/Jack Russell cross)

Murphy (My parent's West Highland White/Small Poodle cross)

Barney (My parent's Border Terrier/ Small Bear!)

and...

The One and Only Lucy Locket (Our 14 year old Yorkshire Terrier. The Boss)

Book Sniffing

Have you all found The Book Sniffer yet?!

It's a new, utterly brilliant and very, very funny children's book reviewing blog. It have book reviews, interviews with authors and illustrators* and now every Friday is Doggy Doodle Friday when illustrators send in their doggy doodles! And I've done one this week. I'm delighted to introduce Prunela to you. She's a Chinese Crested and doesn't let her lack of hair stop her from getting glamorous with the accessories!

The genius behind The Book Sniffer is the lovely Emma who used to work for one of my publishers Hodder, but then left ( still sad about this :-( ) to work at Templar Books. Emma is one of the very nicest and hilarious people working in the children's book world. And so very kind. Whether it's emailing me funny pictures of animals in costumes or sending me ACTUAL presents such as a chihuahua pen and a cowboy badge to say thank you for the littlest thing I have done for her, she goes out of her way to support picture books and the work that authors and illustrator's put into them. So do go to the Book Sniffer website and book mark it! It's brilliant, just like Emma!

* it also has interviews with illustrator's dogs... Including my three little nutcases. Read what they say about me here!

Dog, floating.

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Oh, I do love you...

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Bella and the Snowflakes

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Well, I appear to be living in Narnia!

Outside my studio window the snow is falling thick and fast and everything is under a duvet of the chilly white stuff! I love it and I'm not the only one! Bella Boo, our chihuahua/jackrussell cross is finding the whole thing very exciting. She likes nothing more than scampering about outside, nosing the snowdrifts and making patterns of footprints all over the garden.

It's all very cute, but I'm exhausted from having to have a series of tiny jumpers warmed and ready for her to change into when she bothers to come back in! The other two dogs are much more sensible - they are having a brilliant time WATCHING the snow from the snuggly safety of their blanket on the sofa.

Billy Bongo: chihuahua, muse, icon

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My poor little chihuahua - I'm constantly drawing and photographing him and all he wants to do is play with his best toy - a stinky, very chewed little pink foot one of the other dogs bit off one other their other toys....

Murphy

My parents came up to York last week for a visit, bringing with them their two dogs Murphy and Barney.

Barney is a big, tubby border terrier with a sweet little face which looks like he's run very hard into a brick wall and Murphy is a Westipoo - half West Highland White Terrier, half small poodle.

I couldn't resist sketching Murphy over the weekend. He has such a strong character. I don't know whether it's the combination of his long ears and bushy eyebrows, or just the way that he is a big baby (encouraged by my mum!), but I just find him hilarious. He's a massive fuss pot, can't bear anybody playing with his toys, likes to be involved in everything that's going on, loves to be dressed up in ribbons and bows left over from Christmas presents and absolutely refuses to eat his lunch unless it has a light sprinkling of grated cheese over it.

The thing I find most funny about Murph is that when he's had his haircut he reminds me of Anna Wintour! But I think he's a lot nicer...

Pet Lovers

I'm not sure why this hasn't scanned very well....?

In other pet related news, my sister-in-law-to-be is coming to visit today. I don't think I am ready for the level of hysteria and excitement this will create amongst our dogs. They will literally not calm down for the entire time she's here.

Helping Paws...

Shoddy phone picture of Bella and Billy helping me at the light box by clambering on my lap and settling down to sleep. *They* were extremely comfortable. I wish I could say the same for myself...

Snow! Snow! Snow!

We are under a thick, thick, thick blanket of snow here which is making me want to roll myself up in a blanket and sit by the window drinking frothy coffee and scoffing cake.

No change from normal really....

Above is a little sketch I did of Bella, our middle dog ( middle in age, but the biggest of all three) who is a gentle little sausage and finds an enormous amount of things in life of which to be scared. At the moment snow falling from the sky is bothering her immensely. Instead she is choosing to spend the day curled up like a doughnut on our bed  slowly blinking and occasionally going cross eyed as she watches the snowflakes tumble by outside. I don't blame her.

I've started a brand new sketchbook for the new year and will be uploading images from it most days ( along with other things) at my new flickr page. Go here to have a nosey!