I’d like to to share one of my latest projects, something I never thought I would do since I’ve never really drawn animals other than cats and birds before: custom portraits of my friend April’s Shiba Inus! When she first asked me I wasn’t sure if I could do it so I made this colored pencil sketch of her two Shibas sitting side by side. For practice.

Obviously I got the proportions all wrong. 😳 Anyway, working on the sketch allowed me to familiarize myself with their features and markings so I eventually felt more at ease drawing them. I think it also helped that Shiba dogs look somewhat “feline” ((for me at least)) with their upright ears and almond-shaped upward-slanting eyes.

And then I made individual portraits, taking into account each of their distinct attributes — for instance a slightly crooked ear for one of them which was from an operation, etc — for a more personal touch. I was confident enough to use watercolor this time. I don’t typically use blacks for coloring but the black and tan Shiba variety called for it and I was quite happy with how they turned out and thankfully, so was their mom. 🙂

These were so fun to do and once I get more dog-drawing practice under my belt, I’ll likely add animal portraits to my custom artwork repertoire. (I will have to draw the line at pet reptiles though… 😯 )
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Meanwhile.. it’s no secret that I love our cat. In fact he’s right there in my blog logo illustration which I haven’t changed for years. He’s also in my still-non-existent handmade store’s logo (see watermark) and in a lot of drawings I’ve done and even in some of Arnold‘s comics as an Easter egg to friends who know us well.

There was one day last week when my mind hit a blank and I couldn’t start working. He was lying on his play mat in front of me and, as if sensing my anxiety, started rolling around playfully. I could never resist when he does that so I went over and gave him a chin and back rub. He looked so content and carefree that I felt like preserving that moment. Without thinking I started sketching him. He kept moving around while I tried capturing all his poses and that was the birth of the series of illustrations below (right) which I ended up turning into a pattern (left).

It’s still being proofed over at Spoonflower but if you like cats too, my orange tabbies pattern is now available on phone covers, iPad sleeves, and more at Zazzle and RedBubble.

Orange Tabby Cats Barely There iPhone 6 Plus Case

Orange Tabby Cats Sleeve For MacBooks

Thought I’d share this before and after image of the shrink plastic “Sampayan” (“Laundry Line”) necklace I made the other day. See how those drawings shrunk down to about 1/4th of their original size? They also grew about a millimeter in thickness and the colors got more saturated. Here’s a closer view:

Freshly-baked #shrinkplastic laundry???????? I ruined one sleeve of that dress on the far right though ???? #shrinkydinks #crafts #practicepamore

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jan 22, 2015 at 9:57pm PST

I used Frosted “Ruff and Ready” Shrinky Dinks Shrinkable Plastic sheets to make these charms. My favorite thing about these sheets is that one side has already been machine-sanded so I can draw directly on them with colored pencils. The other side is glossy and when it shrinks, there’s no more need to coat the front with glaze. I don’t know if you can see it in the pic but I love how nice and glossy they are. It’s almost like these charms were cast in resin.

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Another reason for this blog update is to announce that one of my designs is featured on RedBubble’s front page among the curators’ picks for the day. #kilig

“The Cool Kids” on FOUND by RB

If you’re interested, you can also purchase this design on iPhone covers on RedBubble, and on wristlets, wallets, and even plates (yes) on Zazzle @ Funky Patterns. And for you crafty cats, fabric printed with this pattern (on either a pink or blue background) is also available starting today in my Spoonflower store. If you ever get to use it on your projects, please upload a photo of your finished project on there ok? 🙂

What I’ve been working on:

1. New patterns for my Spoonflower store (these are still being proofed so this is a sneaky peek) —

2. A new wedding invitation set featuring stylish animals —

Whimsical Forest Cats Wedding Card by poptasticbride

Whimsical Woodland Foxes Wedding Card by poptasticbride

(You can see all the elements of the entire collection here)

3. More custom couple cartoons. (Nothing to show here yet as they’re still in the drafts stage but I’ll update the other blog once the drawings have been finalized.)

And as you may have seen on my Instagram feed,

4. Shrink plastic jewelry



???? #shrinkydinks of my #cat drawings that I’ve turned into bracelet and necklace charms — prototypes for an upcoming collection (chos) in my still non existent store. ??????????? #artph

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jan 19, 2015 at 6:50am PST

I’ve been wanting to make accessories for the longest time. In fact I have an unused box full of jewelry findings hoarded from the Kamuning Market when we were planning our wedding… yes, it’s been that long! However, there’s so much competition and I didn’t know what I could do that would showcase what I can do best so i focused on other things. Until I discovered shrinky dinks — thanks to wedding blogging actually. Some of my brides would talk about shrinky-dinking stuff and I was all like “shrinky-WHAT-ing?” (( Not sure if art schools here are using it now but I’ve never encountered the stuff.)) After much Googling and Youtube-ing I learned that specially made plastic can shrink into a harder & thicker version of itself if you stick it in a regular toaster oven. A little light bulb lit up in my head — what if I shrink my illustrations and make them into few-of-a-kind jewelry charms? Of course I still had no idea then that I was already late to the game and that there’s already a whole movement devoted to shrink plastic jewelry on Etsy. [insert embarrassed emoji here] Still, I ordered a pack of Shrinky Dinks sheets from Amazon. That would take at least a week to arrive and I couldn’t wait anymore so when I learned that I can also shrink #6 plastic (essentially, plastic used for take-out containers) and yay, we had one on hand (( it had cake on it which I quickly, um, got rid off )), I did this experiment, again documented on Instagram.


These started out as doodles on a used plastic take-out container which I then colored, cut, and ‘baked’ in a toaster oven. Next time I’ll punch holes (so I.can use them as pendants) AND draw neater. (*^^*) #craftsph #artph #upcycling #handmade #shrinkydinks

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Dec 1, 2014 at 8:04am PST

My shrinky dink-brand sheets (as well as a few unbranded ones) arrived in late December but I couldn’t play with them until this week. I got several types — white, clear, rough and ready – so I tried different combinations. Frosted sheets with colored pencils, white with sharpies. Here’s what came out of that experiment.

Shrinking adventures, part 2. I used an actual #shrinkydinks sheet this time (remember how I used a plastic take-out box a few months ago? ????). These ended up so tiny — see blue thumbtack on the upper right for size reference. I still can’t predict how the colors will turn out and how tiny the drawings will shrink down to so this entire project is still a #wip . ?????? #handmade #artph

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jan 18, 2015 at 8:35am PST

In the photo below you can see how big the original artwork is compared to the miniature version. You’ll notice that this time I printed my vector illustrations directly on the plastic sheet.

Some pieces already look good but I have yet to perfect shrinking the plastic without forming dents in the miniatures. This is all still a work in progress and I will update you once I come up with designs that I am completely happy with.

UPDATE: I made a YouTube video of how I make my shrink art pins!