I drew this one for shy people, bold people, and fans of all fairy tales. Sleeping Beauty never met the Frog Prince and it’s probably a good thing she didn’t, because nothing would have happened. So here’s to something happening. Something big. Something magical. Some happily ever after. Some once upon a time.

To every love that defies the odds.

I made this for one of my very best friends, who just celebrated a birthday. She used to draw brontosauruses on my whiteboard in college and have them say things like, “Rar.” or “Happy to you!” So this one’s for her. And, of course, it can be for you and your friends, too.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
—Oscar Wilde

There’s something you have that no one else has. There’s something you want that no one else wants. There’s something you can give that no one else can give.

Follow your own star. And make it shine.

A few weeks ago, my friends were in town from Australia and I had the pleasure of meeting their darling little one-year-old girl, Alfie, for the first time. We all went to the park to play and I followed Alfie around to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble.

Kids are pretty much completely different from grownups. She climbed up the stairs and when she got to the top, she turned around and went back down. And when she got to the bottom, she went back up to the top.

She walked toward a springy horse and I thought it might be a bit too tall for her to manage to straddle. She must have had the same thought because she didn’t go for the saddle, she put her feet in the stirrups from the front and rode the horse backwards off into the sunrise.

She saw a puddle and walked into it. Then she stomped on it. Then she reached down and squeezed some mud through her fist. She was just being, and being is exploring.

At one point, thinking that I was being silly, I plucked some grass and put it on her head. I thought she might react by putting some on mine. But because adult silly is only kid normal, she just put even more grass on her head. That made my brain smile.

Those are some of the lessons I learned from Alfie the one year old.

Be brave. Brave enough to grab the mud. Brave enough to get to the top and come back down. Be brave enough to climb.

Recently, one of my very best friends got engaged. Yay! I made this drawing for her and sent her some flowers and they had a make-your-own-vase option, so I personalized the drawing and put the drawing on the vase.

I can personalize one for you too if you like. I can put any of my designs on a vase. My friend said it’s more like a laminated insert than it is printed on the vase but she said it looked nice.