Inspiration Post "Candyland!!"

Hey everyone! March is on it's way out which means it was about time for me to write my monthly "Inspiration Post!" Once a month I promise to bring you a theme and a collection of 5 things that inspire me in hopes to inspire you! If you are no artist I hope what I bring at least brightens your day a bit :) This month's theme is one of my favorite board games "Candyland!"

If you're not familiar with the Hasbro game you draw cards to race your little plastic gingerbread man around a world filled with candy until you reach the finish!! My family owned the 1984 version and I loved playing it with my brother. I admired the characters illustrated on the board like "Queen Frostine," "Jolly," and "Princess Lolli!" Scroll down to start your journey through candy coated inspiration!!

Upcycled Candyland Board Game Purse sold by ReFunktionJunktion on Etsy

Board games are so much fun . . .until you lose their pieces. What do you do with them then? Not many people look at their old toys and think, "this would make a great purse!!" This little bag features an original panel from the game that unfolded to create your full-size game board. The hot pink handles and rainbow heart fabric coordinate almost perfectly with the artwork. Karen Dulak earns a spot in this post for finding an inspiring way to upcycle a vintage 1984 Candyland game board!! Time to start looking at those old games differently!!

Candyland Cookie Gamepieces by Polka-dot Zebra on Flickr

This wouldn't be my blog without some inclusion of either a cake, cupcake or cookie on the "Inspiration Post!" These two cute gingerbread game pieces are a fun EDIBLE take on the little plastic ones that are essential to your Candyland journey. The contrasting hues of cookie and frosting prove you don't need ten thousand colors to make your pieces pop! Not only that but their dynamic pose is more fun than a stagnant standing gingerbread. Craving more crazy cookies?? Check out Polka-dot Zebra's full Flickr stream for more creative confections!!

2010 Houston Art Car Parade Candyland Car by Ed Schipul photographed by dadadreams on Flickr

You got your Candyland bag, cookies and you're ready to head out the door and drive your Candyland car. Yes, that's right a Candyland car. Granted it's an "Art Car" that was featured in Houston's Art Car Parade back in 2010 but it fits right in with our theme. I applaud the artist on taking an entire automobile and transforming it into a kid-friendly candy-coated set of wheels!! The colors are vibrant, the candy looks good enough to eat and it maintains iconic trademarks of the Candyland brand! What would you create if you had an entire car to work your artistic magic on?

"Candyland Challenge" Nail Art by IceomaticsNails blog

Alright so the "Candyland" brand has been encapsulated into a cookie and a car but what about having one of the tiniest canvases in the world?? IceomaticsNails rose to the challenge when it came to designing some Candyland nail art!! She decided to feature one of the game characters "Queen Frostine" on one nail and add stripes reminiscent of peppermint sticks to the rest of her hand. Simple and straight forward with a dedication to detail this nail art inspires me to think differently about working on the smallest of scales!!

CANDYLAND illustration by Shira-chan on DeviantArt

And last but definitely not least a complete re-imagining of the board game Candyland. This artwork by Shira-chan on DeviantArt. What I normally imagine to be cheery and sugary becomes a candy inspired nightmare!! Talk about a complete 180!! What once was a happily skipping boy and girl is now a heavily armed duo ready to make their way through "Candyland." Not only that but for any budding artist interested in creating works in a style similar to this there is a link to a  walkthrough from idea to final piece included!!

Thanks for sticking around for another "Inspiration Post" guys and gals!! If your imaginations are hungry for more inspiration be sure to check out the Pinterest board I have dedicated to "Inspiration" full of stuff that I love and some stuff that didn't make this month's cut. Go to (and feel free to follow) http://pinterest.com/nerdycupcakes/inspirations/ to check it out!! Hope everyone has a great week!

Tracy DiMarco Teasing Kit Artwork!!

Hey everyone!! Just wanted to update the blog with an exciting surprise I had over the weekend. If you do not know I am a huge fan of Jerseylicious. I'm not sorry for loving animal print, teasing my hair and pursuing giant rings and hair accessories. My favorite character on the show is Tracy DiMarco because of her big hair, attitude and she is an entrepreneur.

Tracy has always been a big supporter of my art and around Winter time a piece I created was requested to be used on the show. I had no idea when the episode would air so you can imagine my surprise when last night I spotted my cute little cartoon Tracy on the StyleNetwork!!

The episode is was Season 5 Episode 9. Without giving too much away in the episode Tracy creates and sells her own hair teasing kits for all of Jersey since she knows the perfect tease!! My art was part of the packaging on the prototype. I was so psyched to see it on National TV and am so blessed to have great people like Tracy who support my art!!

Image via the StyleNetwork

The kit included a comb, instructions, mini hairspray and everything else you would need to create the perfect Tease!! Tracy already has her own lipstick out as well as her own clothing collection out RIGHT NOW so I am sure a REAL teasing kit is on it's way. If you missed the exact episode it was Season 5 episode 9 titled "What a Tease." Keep track of all the new episodes of Jerseylicious Sunday nights on the StyleNetwork!! Hope everyone has a great day!

Happy National Ravioli Day!!

Did you know that TODAY is National Ravioli Day?? Mmm carbs! I drew this illustration to celebrate and help spread the word:

Me, personally, I've never made my own pasta. I heard it's a lot of work. A lot of kneading. And involves some sort of "pasta machine" I can't afford. I'll stick to the canned kind. If you haven't had any ravioli today, what are you waiting for?? Treat yourself to the yummy pasta dish to honor this day!!

Kreayshawn "Group Hug Tour" Illustration

Hey everyone!! Hope everyone had a fun and safe St. Patty's Day!! Just wanted to update the blog with an illustration I wanted to do for awhileeee. For my birthday last year my brother got me a ticket to see the artist "Kreayshawn" on the Group Hug Tour up in Philadelphia!!

It was such an amazing show. Everyone was great and I had such a blast! We even waited around after teh show I got the opportunity to MEET Kreayshawn, EEP! She signed my brother's arm and he took my photo with her:

Everyone during the show was pretty chill. I made some new friends and could take lots of photos without getting bumped around too much. With all the photos I had I REALLY wanted to commemorate the event with an illustration. I picked out one of the photos of Kreayshawn I took, resketched it and then digitally rendered it on Illustrator and Photoshop. This is the photo that I chose:

Kreayshawn was decked out a short camo top with her hair in pigtails pulled back with two sparkly plastic beads. I love her style and was super excited to get started on making the illustration! When I started sketching back in November I ended up scrapping the project. I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out!! This month I picked it back up again since my "Artistic Fitness" entry was a female portrait and I was determined to finish it. And HERE is how it turned out:

 

What a cute little Kreayshawn cartoon!! I wanted the background to reflect the hazy purple and pink lighting of the venue. The most difficult part was probably getting all the tattoos on her arm. I added her name along the side for anyone who wasn't familiar with who she is. It's now one of my new favorite illustrations and I'm really glad I decided to finish it. Hope everyone has a great week and an awesome day!!

200th Post Giveaway WINNER!

Hey everyone!! Just wanted to write a quick post for the weekend regarding my "200th Post NerdyCupcakes Giveaway" I had last month. I pulled lucky number 3 from the drawing and got in contact with our winner so she could design her own custom NerdyCupcake!!

The NerdyCupcake she designed was so cute and very sophisticated!! He's Vanilla bean with Vanilla Frosting and a top hat and a black colored wrapper. Our winner has all this swag to look forward to in her mailbox now:

In addition to the 8.5" x 11" print I threw in another 5"x7" print and some cute cartoon stickers!! I had a lot of fun with this giveaway and I hope all who entered did too. Maybe I should do some more?? I am definitely thinking about it!! Have a fun and safe weekend everyone!!

Mika "Lollipop" Tooth Illustration!

Hey everyone!! Did you know that today is actually National Dentist Day?? Believe it or not I have just the illustration to celebrate. I created this doodle around January when over Holiday I got heaps and heaps of candy as gifts. It's a little doodle based on the Mika song "Lollipop," and features a Mika tooth warning of the dangers of "candy."

The song is a definite guilty pleasure for me and makes as great drawing background noise. If you haven't heard of the song you should give it a listen below:



I used the same fun artistic style used from the video for my doodle. I love sugar but your teeth usually don't love it when you're chomping on it everyday. Save your teeth from the sugar attack by brushing everyday! Hope everyone has a super day and take care of those teeth!

Artistic Fitness: English Cocker Spaniel

Hey everyone!! I'm nearing the end of the animal studies in my "Artistic Fitness" book. The last exercise I completed was the Cocker Spaniel. I don't know much about dogs or dog breeds so I headed to Google and the first thing I found out about our furry friend was that ORIGINALLY they were bred as hunting dogs in jolly old England. I present to you the English Cocker Spaniel:

I really went crazy with the lines on this one but they're just so fuzzy I couldn't help myself!! I decked him out in an overly simplified version of the "Queen's Guard" uniform. Sorry it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of England. And he's just too cute in that hat. Hope everyone has a happy Monday!

Happy Peanut Butter Lover's Day!!

February is over and March is here. Did you know March 1st is "National Peanut Butter Lover's Day??" And who doesn't love Peanut Butter? For breakfast I had pancakes and instead of drowning them in syrup I slathered them with Peanut Butter, mmmm!!

It's not often I flex my typographic muscle so instead of creating something cute with googly eyes, I created this peanut butter toast illustration instead to remind everyone! Not too shabby, eh? So grab a peanut butter cookie, peanut butter cup, or just a jar of peanut butter and a spoon to celebrate this National Holiday!!