What Has She Been Doing All This Time?

It seems for those of you who tune in daily, there's not always something to read here.

And for those of you who tune in weekly for Monday (Are They Kawaii/Retro Kawaii), Wednesday (Review Wednesdays) and Friday (Feature Fridays) - there have been some 'missing'. Well, not really missing - more like, life's been hectic in both good and bad ways, and sometimes it feels overwhelming to keep up.

For instance, yesterday I was spending a good deal of the day after work, practicing my singing (with a cold, yet!) and creating this funny uterus meme for my RedBubble shop. It's okay, they encouraged it, lol. I ran out of time to post here because of course there's also dishes to be washed and laundry to be put away as well. So here is March 6's (yesterday's) #Kawaii365 project as per RedBubble:

®© Copyrighted to Daryl Ann DeRoche-Januszewski, 2017

The above is in honor of International Women's Day on March 8th (tomorrow). How will you be celebrating feminity in our culture?


And then I went ahead and made today's #Kawaii365 cutie, which is a hint of something to come. Can you guess what this means?

Hint: it has to do with a certain *ahem* #KaraokeChallenge

So as a lot of you know, I'm still dealing with the emotional roller coaster that comes with grief. In February, an amazing family member passed away. It's taking awhile for it to sink in. Sometimes I feel like we should call him and make plans to meet for lunch, like we used to. In fact, this has changed the way my brain functions. I've had dreams about him still being with us. So I feel like now, more than ever, I need to indulge in the cute and comforting world of kawaii. Soft, gentle kawaii cuteness seems to say "welcome", and "it's going to be okay".

And there is some happy news too. I heard from the host and coordinator of a cool challenge called Art Battle, which takes place in an upbeat pub where a handful of artists are personally selected to compete. We will each have 20 minutes and an easel with a blank canvas and some acrylic paints. The audience watched and votes on their favorite so a winner is chosen! I am so stoked and excited to have been chosen to participate (thank you Joe Larsen!) - if you're in Red Deer and want to check it out, it's on March 16 at 7pm at Bo's Bar & Grill. Here is the official poster for it:

And as many of you guys know, I am getting prepared for selling art at a market here in Red Deer in the Springtime - I have the coloring sheets, birthday cards, and fridge magnets (all made by yours truly) - and I would also really love to provide you with some beautiful and cute pin-back buttons. The kind you'd be able to decorate your jacket or bag with. So I went to various button printing sites to see what I could create... and I was blown away by the 'sticker shock' - if I want to satisfy you with buttons, I would need $40 minimum by the end of April 2017. The minimum wage I earn from my day job only goes to cover part of our mortgage (my husband pays the rest) so without your support on Patreon, this art sale may not be overly great. And I want you to have an awesome experience when you come to my table at The Market in Red Deer.

So for everyone who cares, when you go to https://www.patreon.com/helpakawaiiartist and pledge to donate only $1/month (you can stop at any time), you will get 1 coloring sheet per month to say thank you. And, I do custom coloring sheets as well (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

And when you share this Patreon page with the people in your social media newsfeed or word of mouth, you are helping an artist's dreams come true. You mean a lot to me - you mean a lot to the world, you're amazing - thank you!