Cottage QUEST.

Ever felt like you wanted to get away from it all, and relax, just for a day or two?

@Francesca__ah_ and her friends are hardworking women. They're desperately seeking a cottage weekend to hang loose, drink wine and just chill. In a half-hearted (yet somehow hopeful) tweet to see if anyone would loan them a cottage, a hashtag was born:

#CottageQUEST.

Francesca, @KimberleyCanada, @laurie_pringle, @LeahEustace, and @daniellaanne I drew this for you and me and everyone who wants and needs a break. It's not a cottage per se, but it's a lovely view.

And look friends, there's an extra woman in there; maybe it could be you..?

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THRILL Rides.

My friend Robin and I took our boys to the Montreal amusement park, La Ronde. Her son had made a fabulous recovery from appendicitis thanks to my PICKLEWeasel Bandaid, and had just been given the Doctor's all clear to celebrate by being hurtled through space on a number of death-defying thrill rides. Factor in the junk food and this place is paradise for an eleven year old.

Everyone knows that if you don't want to lose your lunch on a ride, the best thing to do is to scream non-stop. My screaming muscles were in tip-top condition. I was ready!

The first really scary one we went on was called The Vampire, aptly named as it will suck the life right out of you.

Robin sat this one out. I swear I could not figure out where the ride began and ended, it really looked like a bunch of spaghetti to me. Which is pretty much how I felt when I got off it.

We decided to recover on the kiddie ride that looked like it was made of Swiss Cheese.

Then the boys managed to convince us to go on The GOLIATH. Even Robin decided to join us. This rollercoaster is huge! I mean it covers a lot of distance. No way could I fit it all on one drawing.

They start you off by slowly cranking you up a 175 foot incline and then drop you almost straight down. And up. And down. Etc. Crazy fun I tellya.

Just as you're dropping down that first big drop they take a picture of you - FLASH! - so not only are you terrified but you're also seeing spots everywhere.

Unless you're Robin, in which case your eyes are shut tight pretending you're at the spa.

Afterwards, Robin said my hair was "bigger". I won't need another blowdry for at least a year. We agreed the Goliath was the funnest. But I'm all screamed out!

Most terrifying thrill ride you've ever been on?

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The Bed's TOO Big.

I miss him already.

The Huz has gone to London to hang with his family and friends. I do get him 11 months of the year so I mustn't complain. And he always leaves something behind...

Hug?

Thanks to @Gerbalaya for inspiring this drawing.

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The Most EPIC Contest Evar.

In celebration of my (hopefully) imminent 10,000 followers on Twitter, my ONE YEAR blogging thing, and my sudden overwhelming desire to draw myself as The Queen, I'm having another contest.

I've done contests before but this one's a little different. First off, some unsuspecting person will be my 10,000th follower and that person will get a t-shirt with The Queen on it. Who knows? I may even do another Twitter Stiptease.

For my AWESOME loyal following, I humbly offer to draw YOU*.
*If I've already drawn you, I guess I could draw your pet or your kid instead.

Third Prize: . Your face will be put on a t-shirt and sent to you. You'll wear it so much that eventually it'll be all faded and limp, but you'll refuse to throw it away because it's a drawing of you. Well, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, right?

Second Prize: Your face will be put on a high quality Zazzle mug and sent to you to drink coffee or tea from for all eternity. You'll have your 'mug' on a mug.

First Prize: You get the T-shirt AND the mug. YAY!

You may only enter ONCE:

1. Comment here saying how I should draw YOU. Don't tell me WHY, just tell me HOW you'd like to be depicted. Think carefully about this.
   
2. Answer this skill testing question: How many of YOU have I drawn on this blog? I know. Math is hard.
   
3. Lastly, hit the Tweet button below, and HUG someone on Twitter, copying @littleanimation. You should also say that this contest is fun so other people can find out about it. Oh yeah - you'd do that anyways...! Riiiiight.

How will I know you've done all three? I have my ways. Check out my Queenly gaze.
The three winners will be the ones that inspire me the most. Contest closes Thursday June 30th 2011 at midnight EST.

By entering this contest, you agree to allow me to draw you and to blog the drawing of you. I own the artwork but you can use it as your avatar if you want!

Find out who won.

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The FirstBORN Graduates.

Ticking off the milestones, in this case, the 17 year old daughter's High School Graduation Ceremony. I was sitting in the auditorium, with all the other parents. The students started filing in. My camera was all charged up and ready. Then it wouldn't turn on. I realized I wasn't going to get any photos of the entire event.

I admit I sobbed like a big baby, which I would have done anyway. My mascara didn't stand a chance....

Good thing I know how to draw.

She got her diploma and an Award in Current Events. She also had the recognition of her peers for math, since she organized study groups and helped many other students to learn math. My heart is bursting and I'm so proud of my girl!

What milestones have your little ones passed?

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One Year BLOG-iversary

One year ago today I became The Animated Woman! I've always been animated but, you know what I mean, I started the BLOG. My first post was more of a test run, so it's the second post that counts really...it was animated! And FUNNY.

After one year at the bottom of the Blogger Abyss, I've done many drawings and made a lot of you laugh...

...and even moved a few of you to tears.

I've drawn many of you!

I've helped some people, and hopefully made their lives a little better.

Twitter has played a big part in inspiring me.

When things were bad my fans and friends have been here.

Some of you have helped me find my way in the Abyss and I'm so grateful for that.

Cuz it's dark down here!

And there are now so many of you who come and visit me...

...and leave me nice little comments that I can drool over in quiet moments.

And rain or shine, I'll be drawing. I don't know how long I'll be blogging, but let's try to make the most of it.

I love you all!

So...what's your favorite post?

I would be grateful if you would nominate me for this Forbes Top 100 thingie. If you think I deserve it. Thank-you to those who have already done so. I'm deeply honoured and touched. But not in a dirty way.

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YOU. @dadgineer.

Do you know the Steve Cole the @dadgineer? He did something really nice for me last week - he put me on Wikipedia. He just volunteered and he did it. So I decided to send him a t-shirt with his face on it.

SURPRIZE!!!

But there's a little more to the story...you see his fabulous wife, @theblondeview, had already contacted me secretly to ask if I'd draw her husband. Isn't that sweet?

If you are an engineer chances are the inside of your head looks like this: 

I like these two people a lot, they've got a sweet family vibe and are fun and helpful. @theblondeview wore the Autism April Twibbon on her Twitter avatar for a whole month. FUN!

So there you go, a little kindness got passed around and everyone is smiling. I love Twitter for this kind of thing!

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Class of '11 - High School MUSIC Video.

Tomorrow our daughter graduates from high school.

My 17 year old played me a song these three friends of hers had done on their iPhone with Ladida. I was immediately struck by the words "we'll be kids forever"... I'm like, this is loaded with school spirit! It's like ...an anthem. I simply had to animate the music video.

The guys came round and re-recorded the song at our place. The Huz laid down the backing tracks and produced the music. He's played with a few talented peeps like Seal, and Fatboy Slim so he knows his stuff. The original song was rebuilt with some groove.



The daughter photographed and organized and critiqued every step of the way. She's already an awesome slave driver producer. And I have to thank the guys, Buddha, Zac and Joey, for allowing me to back their amazing song with animation.

Best wishes to all the Graduates of 2011!!

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Happy FATHERS Day!

Video originally posted at WhyIsDaddyCrying.com.

Have you ever seen a grown man cry?

This is a perfect Fathers Day gift. So if you know a dad, send it to him and say "Happy Fathers Day!". Also give him a hug whilst murmuring "there, there. It'll be all right."



But don't show him the sequel....



...unless there's a box of tissues handy and you've gift-wrapped a whole bottle of Crown Royal.

In this particular case, it's perfectly acceptable to laugh out loud at the misfortunes of others!

Before I had this blog, I met this one dude on Twitter called @WhyIsDaddyCryin. He's a daddy blogger and his writing is pee-your-pants-hilarious. It actually inspired this little film which in turn gave me the idea to start The Animated Woman. So you can just totally go and blame it all on him.

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The LOST Marbles.

More Low Hanging Fruit* from Twitter!
*Also known as "inspiration for funny drawings".

@MamaBennie said her daughter had "curb stomped her last nerve" and was desperately looking for her lost marbles. Then she posted this awesome description on her blog; go read it, I'll wait... In my view, it needs no drawing to illustrate it. But I did find her marbles...

Be careful what you wish for. I might just draw it.

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X-Men WHEELS Are The New Black. AND Blue.

Twitter convo yields low hanging fruit sometimes. Here's an example:

Anissa Mayhew asked for X-Men wheels for her wheelchair. And One Chunky Mama suggested I help out with that. Me being a recovering YES-aholic, I can certainly recognize when I'm being voluntold.

Since I've already drawn Anissa, I simply made a few modifications to the original design... ...and presto! X-Men WHEELS.

So yeah. What's the name of the blue lady in the X-Men movies? Smurfette?

Now do the sharing thing.

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BOY Shaped HOLE.

The eleven year old boy has gone off on a two day sleepover school camping trip with his whole class. He's going to romp in mud, rope swing into a lake and burn marshmallows over a camp fire. He'll be with all his friends (except the one who had his appendix out) and having a blast!

So now I have a boy shaped hole. And I'm not the only one...

The dog misses him too.

*sniff*

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How To Make TV.

Sometimes you just get an idea, you know? This is the story of how I was inspired...and a TV series was born.

It took two years to make the show. At the end of the production I was asked to give a speech to the animation team. I like to illustrate my presentations with funny drawings cuz it's more fun for everyone. Afterwards I turned it into this little film.



It takes a lot to make something like this happen. Sharing and collaborating and team-building; my best friends tell me it takes leadership. Whew. About time I owned that. And about time I shared it on this here blog.

More about My Life ME, the TV series here and here. Oh and there's also MyLifeME.com.

Oh gee, uh...what pretty share buttons...!

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Lil' Web TROLL

Drawing Trolls is fun! Who knew???

Here's a Baby Troll, practising his meanies. He'll grow up to do some great web trolling some day.

And look! He's left me a little present. How cute! Awww...don't you just wanna hug him? He might bite you but hey, cute puppies bite too.

Baby Web TROLL gear is now available in my Zazzle shop.

You can make someone else smile by sharing!

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WTF vs OMG -The Epic Battle Of The Acronyms.

WARNING: Parental discretion. And quite possibly earplugs.

Don't you just love Net-centric Abbreviations! I say "love" but it might be "love/hate". Everyone says "WTF??" and "OMG!!". Even me. But which one is more winning?

So tell me - does this film get a "LOL" or a "LMAO"? Or possibly a "ROFL"? Should I give up my day job and become a voice actor?

More EPIC battles to come!

Thanks to @YouGoMedia, James Cordeiro from You Go Media. He made this and this.

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ZOMBIE Phone.

You've seen the ZOMBIE Dishwasher. You've witnessed the ZOMBIE Fridge. And now the smart phone keeps dying and coming back to life. Cripes! I've only had it for a year and a half...

It must be a ZOMBIE Phone!!!!

Green dribble and red oozing pustules are a sure sign. That and the fact that it keeps trying to eat my brains. Time to do another back up.

What kind of smart phone should I get next? iPhone? Blackberry? Another HTC? Halp!

Thanks @BigDaddySaid.

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LOVE Thy TROLL.

It was only a matter of time before a Troll finally turned up here on my blog. If you are that rare innocent who knows not what a Troll is, feast your eyes on this Wikipedia definition.

Plain English? Someone who comments mean things just to get a reaction.

There are ways of dealing with Trolls. Some like to engage in a game of One-Up-Manship. This could produce a large amount of heated comments which have nothing to do with the original blog post.

And there are those who say it's best not to feed the Troll...just ignore it and it will go away.

But I say - TROLLS! You are welcome on my blog!

You will be greeted with LOVE!

You will be OVERWHELMED by it!

Until you are rendered harmless.

And cute.

Trolls are people too, right?

So tell me about your Troll stories!


Love Thy Troll and TROLL Kitten t-shirts are now available in my Zazzle shop.

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Get WELL Soon!

My friend's son (who is the same age as and is friends with my 11 year old son) just got his burst appendix out, so he has a very BIG owie. He's very brave! And I was making him this "get well soon" card when I thought, hey, maybe some of my followers have a friend with a very BIG owie who could use a card like this.

The thing that is awesome about this card is that it has a PICKLE Weasel Bandaid on it! That little rascal; he gets everywhere. I love him!

So if you know someone who needs a "get well soon" card, print this one out and give it to them.* Just let me know in the comments below if it cheered them up. I hope it does.
*No selling though. That would be uncool.

It's totally FREE. You're welcome!

UPDATE: June 13, 2011.
I gave this little boy the card and his face lit up. His mom said he hadn't smiled like that in weeks. Laughter makes the best medicine!

Also: You may notice that a Troll has visited the comments below. And this is how to deal with a Blog TROLL.

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Bungee GOLF.

In the Spirit of Incongruity* I give you a brand new Made-UP (by moi) Extreme Sport...
*Pickles and weasels don't usually go together.

It's Bungee GOLF!! 

Brought to you by the King of Incongruity himself...PICKLE Weasel!!

Never has the blood rushed to your head with such eloquence and style. Yes, you can now merge your two favorite pastimes, satisfying cravings for both social games and death defying foolishness. Bungee GOLF takes "multi-tasking" to an extreme!

Witness the birth of the PICKLE Weasel.

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The SLEEPIES.

If you're like me, you wake up every day. And then, some time later, usually when you're expected to be most productive and impressive, you get....The SLEEPIES. 

You try to fight but it's no use. Your eyelids are heavy, the coffee is miles away and you've already forgotten how to stand. Just put your head down and give in.* Try not to drool on the important contract you were reading.
*Unless you are driving.

My SLEEPIES are green. What colour are yours?

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Drawing FITNESS.

WARNING: Never stand on a chair with wheels.

Here's another FREE drawing lesson from me, your old pal JC. Today we're going to talk about Drawing FITNESS!

Your drawing ability will benefit from regular exercise, just like any other extreme sport. You hafta stay in shape, you know? Here's one I like to do - practice drawing something from memory whilst blind-folded with one arm tied behind your back.

Make sure to crouch with your feet shoulder distance apart; and if you stick your tongue out it really helps a lot. If it's your first time, consider wearing a helmet and elbow guards.

Challenge yourself! Don't be concerned with what your drawing looks like - it's the process that counts here. Trust me, Leonardo did this exercise all the time.

Drawing is fun, right? You're welcome!

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National DONUT Day.

WARNING: Silliness abounds.

My friend @IamthePeachy1 just told me it's National Donut Day. But which nation?

Donuts are cross border treats!

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SHARK Dog.

Animals love my Mother in Law...you know that Disney princess who's singing in the woods and all the animals flock around her? The birds land on her finger and the deer nuzzle her lovingly? Well, that's my MIL. She's devoted her life to helping animals.

Over the years she's taken in many animals that would not have made it without her TLC. One of these is SHARK Dog. It's not his real name; I call him that cuz, well, see for yourself.

SHARK Dog was a racing greyhound. He had been badly treated and had a lot of damage by the time my MIL took him on. But she nurtured him and he's a very loving and rewarding dog for her. There's a lot of management around special dogs like this, and not everyone should take it on.

Cookies are not safe around SHARK Dog!

He was lucky to have my MIL But many animals are not so lucky - and most of them are gentle and loving and don't require special management like SHARK Dog. Even I have an adopted dog!

If you're thinking of getting a pet, consider the adoption option. And keep your cookies in a tin.

UPDATE - January 26 2012
Sharkdog passed away last week. He had been so well looked after by my MIL who loved him dearly. He will be missed.

You have the opportunity to make someone else smile by sharing.

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