It's A Knock-Down Inauguration Day!

Well, what can I say? Controversy never goes out of style and that was the inspiration behind creating a Donald Trump version of my popular Knock Down Doll! Dressed in presidential red, white and blues, our new leader is ready for the games to begin... are you? His official presidency begins today, but he's already causing conflict among world leaders, politicians, and we the people!

Whether you love to hate him or hate to love him, our orange-toned, yelling-faced, comb-over-haired leader was setting himself up for a good old fashioned knock-down. So I took that to heart and made him part of my Knock Down Doll collection. Of course I had to take a whimsical approach when designing this likeness of our fearless leader. That was the fun part!

I even made a design for the reverse side—complete with a "KNOCK ME DOWN" sign taped to his back—this whimsical arcade game throwback has so far amused both Democrats and Republicans alike. Funny thing is, I actually came up with the idea for a President Trump version of these dolls when I turned off the television. Yup, that's right. I wanted to relax a little more and spend some time on my hobbies, like drawing. So my mind got all empty and my hands were drawing pictures, and I was totally being in the moment when my brain was like, "OMG! You should totally do a Donald Trump version of your Knock Down Doll!" So I did.

The design process takes quite a bit of time for these faux furry friends. I need to stay within my current template, make them resemble my other Knock Down Doll styles, make it actually look like The Donald, complete with appropriate hair and wardrobe. I do it all by hand and then I scan it into Photoshop and colorize it for optimum visual impact. But I do love the challenge of it all. It really is fun.

If you are interested in purchasing one of my limited edition Trump Knock Down Dolls, they're available in my Etsy shop. They'd make the perfect addition to your boardwalk, carnival or political collection! Make America Great Again... and buy handmade!

A Real Treat...

Playing in my journal has become quite a habit lately... as have my visits to Dunkin Donuts. My favorite? One chocolate frosted donut and one chocolate glazed donut and if I'm in the mood, a coffee coolatta to top it all off. Mmmmmm. So when I decided on the color palette for this page, I wanted to pay homage to my favorite place to treat myself.

After laying down the pinks, oranges, browns and throwing in a little green for good measure, I added this cute little bear I quickly painted on an old dictionary page. Only problem was, no matter how I painted him into the page... I didn't like how it looked. I changed colors and highlighted various areas but I never got to liking him at all. I told myself I needed to sleep on it and just left it alone for the night.

And while laying in bed that night, I had an idea.... I'd turn him into a balloon! Yes, that was it! And so I let the page evolve around Mr. Balloon Bear and all was right with the world.

The whole page ended up being an actual Dunkin Donuts theme (I had originally just wanted the color palette!). But when the muse calls, I pick up and say, "hello!" Lots of serendipitous things happened along the way and I just went with it.

I figured if it was my fast food breakfast cravings that inspired my color palette, why not let the whole page be inspired by the actual craving. And I was right.... it was so good!