New Illustration: Gingerbread Dachshunds

Gingerbread Dachshunds

Digital Mixed Media

©2010 Debi Cady

Gingerbread dachshunds playing outside their chocolate gingerbread house, surrounded by gingerbread pine trees and gumdrop bushes. They play with peppermint candies, and a gingerbread rabbit and squirrel. The path leading to the door of the house is made of bone-shaped dog biscuits. ^-^ 

This illustration was, of course, inspired by Ringo. One of my nicknames for his is the Gingerbread man. lol One day when I was calling him that, I thought how cute it would be if he really was a gingerbread man, and I got this idea shortly thereafter. 

This illustration is now available on Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble, and my deviantArt Print Shop.

New Ringo Photos: Christmas Dachshund Versions 1 & 2

Christmas Dachshund Ver. 1
©2010 Debi Cady

Christmas Dachshund Ver. 2
©2010 Debi Cady

For some reason, Ringo really likes the ornaments on our Christmas tree, especially the dachshund ornaments! He's always going and nosing them and wagging his tail, it's really sweet. So this gave me the idea of having him pose under the tree with the dachshund ornaments and statues (it was partly my mom's idea too). ^-^

Anyways, I thought he looked so cute in a couple of the shots that I decided to add them to my stores. So these two cute pics of Ringo are now available on Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble and my deviantArt Print Shop.

New Illustration: Princess TaiPing

Princess TaiPing
Ink on Papyrus
©2010 Debi Cady

Princess Taiping, daughter of Tang Dynasty Emperor Gaozong, twice suppressed mutinies inside the imperial court at critical times. Her name means "Princess of Peace". You can read more about her on Wikipedia ^-^ The costume is based on one I have for my dolls.

This illustration is now available on my stores at Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble and my deviantArt Print Shop.

New Illustration: Aioga

Aioga
Ink, colored pencil on bristol board
©2006 Debi Cady

This illustration is based on a Nanai folktale called "Aioga". I first read it while studying Russian in high school (the Nanai are a Siberian people), and it is now one of my favorite stories. It's about a very pretty, but not so nice girl, who is very vain and very lazy. Whenever her mother asks her to help with something, Aioga makes up some lame excuse about how she can't because she might hurt her hands or whatever. The little neighbor girl ends up helping instead. In the end, Aioga's mother makes pancakes, and when Aioga asks for one, she tells her she might burn her hands, so she can't have it, and she gives it to the neighbor girl instead. Aioga sees the girl eating her pancake, gets really angry, starts yelling and flapping her arms, and ends up turning into a goose. There's more to it, but just so you get an idea of it.

This image is now available in my stores on Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble and my deviantArt Print Shop.

New Illustration: Creation: The Fifth Day

Creation: The Fifth Day
Ink, colored pencil on bristol board
©2006 Debi Cady

This illustration is based on an icon I saw once. It shows Jesus creating the birds and the fish, I thought it was really cool. To me, it depicts two scriptures. One, of course, is Genesis 1:20-23: 

" Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. "


The other is John 1:1-3:


 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.


As always, this image is available on many items through my online stores, Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble and my deviantArt Print Shop ^-^

New Illustration: Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel
Ink, colored pencil on bristol board
©2006 Debi Cady

This is my interpretation of a Byzantine icon of Saint Michael the Archangel. He is the patron saint of police officers, the military, sailors, paramedics, grocers and many other vocations, places and causes (over 50, so I am not listing them all!). He is one of four archangels found in both Jewish and Christian scriptures. 


This image is now available on various items in my stores on Cafe Press, Zazzle, Red Bubble and my deviantArt  Print Shop.

New Illustration: Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Our Lady of Perpetual Help
©2006 Debi Cady
Ink, Colored Pencil on Bristol Board

This is an illustration I did of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, based on a Byzantine icon. The virgin Mary is holding baby Jesus, and the archangels Michael and Gabriel are flying above them. This illustration is now available on Cafe Press,Zazzle,Red Bubble and deviantArt (see the Print section). ^-^

My New Online Store

I just opened a new store at ShopHandmade.com ^_^ In this store, I will be selling original works of art, and doll clothes. In the future there might be other things, but for now that's all I'm planning on. Every purchase you make from my store helps to protect 250 square feet of rainforest, which I thought was a really cool feature of this website! At the moment I have two hand-knitted outfits for MSD/Slim MSD girl dolls, I will post here whenever I update my store. Anyways, please check it out, and bookmark it, and the link will also be available on the Links section of this blog :D Thank you for looking!


Thrice Tenth Kingdom on ShopHandmade

New Illustration: Golden Pheasant

Golden Pheasant
Mixed Media (digital)
©2010 Debi Cady

The golden pheasant is a game bird native to the forests in mountainous regions of western China. The male is much more brightly colored than the female, as in many bird species. In spite of their bright coloring, they are very difficult to spot in their natural habitat. Because of this, little is known of their behaviour in the wild. They mostly feed on grain, leaves and invertebrates. While they can fly, they spend most of their time on the ground, although they do sleep in trees.

The first time I saw a golden pheasant was on the Korean drama "Dae Jang Geum". I thought it was so beautiful! I love the brilliant colors, and I just love pheasants in general. ^-^ So it was fun to draw. It is now available in both my stores, as usual. I hope you all will like it! :D

New Illustration: American Woodcock

American Woodcock
Acrylics, Chalk, Ink on Watercolor Paper (Digital)
5x7"
©2010 Debi Cady

The American Woodcock is a small species of shorebird found in eastern North America. It is also known as a bogsucker, timberdoodle, night partridge or brush snipe. They are a popular game bird, and spend most of their time in the brushy undergrowth of new forests, where their unique markings give them camouflage. The adults are generally about 10-12" long, and weigh 5-8 ounces. Their diet consists mostly of insects (such as earthworms, centipedes, spiders, etc), insect larvae, and snails. They occasionally eat plants as well, mostly seeds. Their population has been decreasing, mostly due to habitat destruction. They are also really cute! ^-^


As always, this illustration is available in both of my stores, and I hope you like it! :D

It's hard to draw...

... when you have this staring up at you!

Momma, please hold me!

I don't care if you're trying to work, I need you!

Pleaaaaase, Momma, pick me up!!!

Needless to say, I am now holding him. He is happy. And I can't work. But I'm happy too ^_^ I never can resist that face...

Squirrel Watching

Fall is coming, and the squirrels are going crazy. Which means that Ringo is also going crazy. It seems like every time I take him outside there is a squirrel or two running past us. Ringo chases them all with gusto, and barks at them in frustration when they run out of his reach. But he always looks very happy afterwards. And when he's in the house, he spends a lot of time looking intently out the window, just in case a squirrel should happen to run by (or maybe one of the neighbor's cats, who are also in hunting mode). That's what he was doing when I took these pics:

I see a squirrel!!!

Barking at the squirrel.

Then the squirrel came up the driveway.  I love the intent look on his face!

Looking up at me, after all the excitement was over. His tail is a blur, he was wagging it so fast!

So, as you can tell, Ringo is enjoying the nice weather, and the squirrels. I am too. I can't wait for fall to come! This summer has been way too hot...

New Illustration: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Ink on Bristol Board
2.5" x 3.5"
©2010 Debi Cady

I posted this illustration on items for sale in both of my stores over the weekend. I received some of the samples I ordered today, and, in spite of the fact that the original is about the size of a baseball card (I was inspired to make it that size because I like holy cards), it enlarged extremely well. So I'm super happy with the results ^-^ Although I am not Catholic, I have always love the story and image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and I very much enjoyed drawing her. I hope you all will like her too!

To see a larger, better picture of this illustration, please check out my stores. On my Cafe Press shop, she is in the Angels, Icons & Religious Art section. In my Zazzle Store you will just have to look around for her, as I am not entirely happy with the layout yet, and am still changing things. As of my writing this, she is on the home page, because she is the newest. Thanks for looking!

Dachshund Furry Tails: Russia

Cover of Dachshund Furry Tails: Russia
©2009 Debi Cady

Above is the cover of my first book, Dachshund Furry Tails: Russia. It was published on October 31, 2009. It is a collection of 11 stories based on traditional Russian fairy tales, but all the main characters are dachshunds. The stories in this book are:

-Jack Frost (also known as "Father Frost" or "Morozko")

- Vasilisa the Beautiful

- The Scarlet Flower (a story similar to Beauty and the Beast)

- Snegurochka (also known as "The Snow Maiden")

- Prince Ivan and the Firebird

- Aioga

- Emelya and the Magic Pike

- Baba Yaga 

- The Golden Fur (originally known as "The Golden Hair" or "The Girl With the Golden Hair")

- The Snow Dachshund (originally a version of "The Snow Maiden")

-The Frog Princess

The book is fully illustrated in color, and is available at Create Space and Amazon.com

If you'd like to see all the illustrations from this book, please check out my Cafe Press Store or my Zazzle Store All of the illustrations from the book are available on various items at these two sites, so if you want to see them, they are the best places to look ^-^

Hello ^-^

Welcome to my blog! I'm not quite finished setting it up at the moment, so it looks pretty boring, but I am working on it...

The main reason for this blog is to share info about my art and books, like what I'm working on, when new stuff is released, etc... I also plan to write quite a bit about my miniature dachshund, Ringo, and my Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls (BJDs). 

About the name for my blog, if you are not familiar with Russian fairy tales then it probably sounds pretty strange. But there is a reason I chose it. I love fairy tales, particularly Russian ones. In several of the stories I've read, they mention a place called "the thrice tenth kingdom", located "beyond the thrice ninth land". No one really has any idea where it is. But that is always where the hero/heroine of the story has to go to find treasure, their lost love, magical objects, medicines that can bring people back from the dead, whatever. It's always something really cool and unique. Which is exactly what I'm hoping you'll find here, once I have everything set up. ^-^

Now, I will introduce you to Ringo! Ringo is a miniature dachshund, and he is 5 years old. He is my friend, companion, "baby", model, and muse. He is really sweet and funny, and, as I'm sure you can tell, I love and adore him very much. He loves having his picture taken, so here are a few for you to see now:

Hello, everyone!

I'm so sad, nobody feeds me enough (yeah, right Ringo! :P)