day two-hundred-and-forty-eight - panda (NOOO not more pandas!) yes more pandas

woah long title. long but necessary i feel. early post too hey? well i TRICKED you all, because i wrote this last night - i just have to post it before i jet off to somewhere slightly more awesome than my hometown but not so awesome i would live there... so devious i know

anyhoo, as promised a created-but-definitely-not-drawn-unless-drawing-with-stitches-counts-in-which-case-this-kinda-would-huzzah animal...

© jem barratt

a pattern i scoured from this creative lady's post. i don't think i stuffed him enough but he is just sooo cute and i wanted to keep him all for myself and not give him to my cousin's two-and-a-half year old daughter (who is pretty ridiculously cute herself).

EXTRA CUTENEZZ:

© jem barratt

such an unnecessary close-up. i love it!

xj

p.s. can't post again until saturday due to above-mentioned town, but i will try my darndest to draw on friday anyhow... i should at least do one of those two things in this blog - either draw on the day or post on the day

day twenty-seven - praying mantis

i am such a hypocrite. yesterday i was ordering everyone to watch the doco on the great rift valley in africa and i didn't even watch it myself. tsk tsk.

what happened this week? someone tell me quick! i can guarantee it didn't include this guy:

© jem barratt

back-stitched, not drawn. praying mantises are the best. i miss my pet mantis. go here to see mantises who look like oriental dancers and orchids. pretty!

once when i was camping, a little orange rectangular mantis hitched a ride on my shoulder while i walked for an hour back to camp. that was the best. but he was clearly using me. sigh.

someone remind me to DRAW these stupid animals before i stitch them. stitching takes hours and it's just plain silly to stitch straight from a photo. you may (slightly) notice this is unfinishe...
xj