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)