Bunny Wallet

Hello (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ


Have you seen her yet?

I'm telling you about the sparkly pink bunny, based on our Rabbird character, only sans wings.

This 'wallet' (it's actually a mini phot album) was too plain, so with some simple 'ingredients', it was improved.

-A pencil (works on the vinyl cover)
-Sparkly clear nail polish
-Fabric markers (fine permanent markers would work too)
-Pink nail polish for kawaii cheeks

See the pics below, and get the full story here!

Even if you're not using a mini photo album for a wallet (what a fun, unusual project & great way to save money!), you can still use the above list of supplies to make your own photo album cover, completely unique to who you are (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Getting Some Interesting Looks

Hello friends!

How are you this fine November day?

I'm pretty okay, thanks. Soon, I'll be making lists for holiday cards and Christmas shopping.

Today, I'm meeting with some neighbors to discuss a Christmas potluck dinner in our condo, and we've already bought a few small gifts for others.

On Saturday, there's a tree-lighting ceremony here in Red Deer, and then on the following Sunday, Rob & I are attending a Christmas breakfast!

Now I'm craving egg nog & sugar cookies - are you?


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Anyway, as you know, I recently ordered a tote bag from RedBubble, with my own characters on it. There are few words to describe how cool that felt, as an artist.

Well, I've been wearing it, and using it for my fluffy winter accessories, for about a month now.

And it's sure getting some interesting looks from people, as well as comments and compliments (I separated those two, because not all the comments were compliments, lol). 

Here is a better close-up of it:

Anyway, I see the last post before today's, was before Halloween! Wow. Although we're going into a busy time with Christmas holidays around the corner, I'm still finding time to create more Zoo'd stuff for fans!

It was pointed out to me that these characters live together on Planet Zurbpod, but where do they live on the planet? Good question. So I got busy brainstorming and came up with 12 unique 'houses' for them. The drawings are still underway, and I only have one more to do: 

It's the proverbial 'best saved for last', because it's going to be a castle made of candy! 

Any guesses of who lives in it?

Correct guesses will get you a free coloring sheet! 

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Check us out on Patreon for more info about Zoo'd characters, and to snag a monthly coloring page with a pledge of $1. 

Also, I'm still practicing for the voicing video. It will be a lot of fun to share how each animal hybrid will sound 😊

Cheers! xoxo

Daryl J.

All Ready for Halloween

Boo!

Muahahaha! Did I scare you?

Okay, I'm getting carried away. I just wanted to tune in and tell you that all 12 of the animal hybrid friends are ready for some spooky fun and candy, now that they're in their costumes!

Let's have a look...

Beever is a clown! Maybe Pennywise inspired him?

Dogosaur is channeling his inner Frankenstein; and some lightning. 

Elefox is a zombie... will he dance The Thriller?

Froogle is absolutely mummified!

Octomouse may be cute, but it's unsafe to cross a witch!

Poor Pandaroo... he got stuck as a pumpkin. At least he's cuddly.

Parrofly, you're looking simply devilish!

And Penguana makes a cool lil' sea monster!

WoOOoOOOooo - Rabbird floats and glows as a ghost.

Slowan shows us his skeleton!

Hooowwwl! Unicat switches species and becomes a werewolf.

How fitting! Already a bat, and now Zebat's a vampire too!

Did you guess their costumes correctly? Were any too obvious?

Which one is your favorite?

In other news...

To keep these animals nourished and growing every day, I have a Patreon page where you can keep them alive by pledging monthly. All we ask is for $1/month - when enough people do it, then it's really helpful. Thank you.

Cute Tote Bag with Animals

Hi friends! 👋

How are you today?

Do you remember me gushing about the tote bag (with these Zoo'd characters) on it?

Well, I ordered it a few days ago from my RedBubble shop, and it arrived!!

As seen on my Instagram

Here are a couple more, clearer, pictures of it:

The characters featured on the bag are: Zebat, Parrofly, Pandaroo, Slowan, Froogle, Penguana, Elefox, Octomouse (Beever is technically in the illustration, but he got cut off for being so small).

I'm looking forward to this being my 'work bag' (for my retail job, where it's policy to have our purses checked at the end of shift). My actual purse has lots of zippered pockets... and I admit, I'm kinda bad for bringing anything and everything I don't need for work.

And with it becoming winter, this gives me a place to put my hat, gloves and scarf too 😁


Have a lovely day! 
xoxo Daryl J.

Coloring Pages

And modelling clay!

Sounds like a creative kid's dream.

Firstly, as you probably already know, I recently completed the Zoo'd Coloring Book for Etsy. And then I colored in some of my own pages; one of them also included extra drawing, which I'd like you to do, too. With your own imagination of course!

Please print the picture above as a free coloring page.

Also had a lot of fun coloring this one in, and sharing on my Patreon page:

And as you probably already know, Rob & I will soon be voicing the 12 characters for a video. 

This means that I wanted them to feel 'real' to us. And that meant making 3D versions of them with modelling clay. Since I am recovering from a partial toenail removal, I'm spending time on the couch with all this colorful clay, and doing this:

These are the first 3 characters so far: Dogosaur, Pandaroo and Elefox. Only 9 more to make! 😄

Digital Wallpaper

Remember this free wallpaper for your computer/tablet? (4:3 screen ratio)

Well, you might be happy to know, now it's available on some cool items from RedBubble, as seen:

If you're becoming a fan of the new Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends, then you're welcome to enjoy the above items - and more!

Want free coloring pages of them? Then join the facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ZoodAnimals/ 

A Coloring Book

Hello sweet friends!

It's no secret I've been away from this blog for awhile, and with good reason:


I'm designing a coloring + activity book!


As you know, these characters started out as part of my #Kawaii365 project. And then I started putting them on tee shirts and other items on my RedBubble shop, KawaiiNMore.

As I was designing these sweet characters (perhaps each one is a facet of my personality?), they started to feel 'real'. And I already knew it would be a lot of fun to give them a web comic, a facebook group for fans of the 'strange' and cute, and of course, their own coloring + activity book.

The above is the cover for the printable book, soon to be available on my Etsy shop, DarylArt Digital. While we're all waiting for it to be finished, please enjoy the [downloadable] drawing of Slowan below; he needs your imagination to give him a wonderful dream, as he sleeps in the warm sunshine.

*Intellectual property rights belong to Daryl Januszewski. 

At The Zoo

On August 11, Rob & I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. And we got married when we used to live in Calgary, so he got very romantic and booked us at the Fairmont Palliser hotel in Calgary ❤

Well, we haven't been to the zoo together since 2009, when the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit travelled there. So I suggested we go there together, and we did!

We got to see the penguins in their chilly exhibit, and saw some other neat animals in excellent facsimiles of their habitats. We saw that there will be pandas in 2018, and lemurs were recently brought in. And of course, we went to my personal favorite place: The Dorothy Harvie Gardens to enjoy the free-flying butterflies 🦋

Here are some of our favorite pictures, including funny statues.

Can you see all the butterflies?

Now have an awesome day!

Secrets

Would you like to know some more about 12 of the fastest-growing kawaii animals, and their unusual home?

Then stay tuned 😄



What is 'planet Zurbpod'?

Great question! The name is unusual, but it is actually an anagram. After all 12 characters were complete, I looked at the first letter of each name and came to the name above (after some tweaking).

Z - Zebat
U - Unicat
R - Rabbird
B - Beever
P - Parrofly
O - Octomouse
D - Dogosaur

This was actually the one that made the most sense phonetically.


Why is planet Zurbpod purple, and smiling?

She actually wasn't specifically designed for this project. Back in 2016, shortly after I began the Kawaii365 art project, I created some space-themed 'cute art' and she happened to be one of my most popular and beloved ones. So I continued with her...

How come there's no mainstream animals like monkeys, lions, giraffes, horses, etc.?

I had a feeling this one may upset some fans, especially the younger ones who have books and toys about circus animals, etc.

So initially, I had only made the 3 for June 19's #Kawaii365 project: Unicat, Rabbird, and Dogosaur. But when they proved popular and intrigued people, I got inspired to make more 2x animal hybrids.

I wrote out every type of animal I could think of; then I researched various species. The list was very long, and then I compared features to see if I could put together animals that are as different as possible. It was for shock value, haha.

After several days (the better part of a week), I finally had 12 character ideas to work with, and I began sketching in 'the binder'.



Why are they so weird? Why not use normal animals?

Haha, I love being called 'weird'. In today's fast-paced world, it feels like a compliment. Walt Disney was also made fun of and questioned in his earlier days... like why would a mouse have a pet dog? And he insisted on following his dream as a cartoonist. My personal mantra is: The weirder, the better. You should live by that too, and just do you. 😎



If you have any more questions or comments about this new line of characters, please join the inclusive facebook group. It is a fun, friendly, polite, hate-free and spam-free zone! You can play games, enjoy cute videos, and get free stuff ^_^

Xoxo,
Daryl J.

Meet Dogosaur

Hybrid between a golden retriever and stegosaurus.

Dogosaur is an enigma. On the one hand, he seems like a giant bully, but on the other hand, he hides a gentle soul behind a stubborn exterior. He
really just wants to play fetch - his roar is worse than his bite! However, he has a bad habit of trying to lick his friends sometimes, as well as things that
belong to them, like food.

Although he is fairly big & fierce-looking, his friends aren't overly intimidated by him. They know behind his stubborn body language is a big, sweet
puppy who wants a belly rub. His BFF is Elefox. They really 'get' each other.

Biggest Fear: Going extinct.

Favorite Food: Candied almonds.

Favorite Color: Lime green. The brighter, the better.

Birthday: April 2.

Sign: Aries.

Talent: Roaring, stomping.

Gender: Male.

Element: Fire.

Get Dogosaur merchandise from RedBubble here

Meet Pandaroo

Hybrid between a kangaroo and a panda bear.

Pandaroo is quiet and somewhat of a pessimist. He doesn't want to be a downer, but sometimes he feels 'blue'. His best friend Penguana loves to cheer him up, and together they like to solve the mysteries of the universe. Neither of them are overly chatty, and sometimes all it takes to feel better is to lay in the grass and look at the sky together.

Because he is so smart, all the others on Zurbpod come to him with their math & science inquiries.

Biggest Fear: Heights.

Favorite Food: Caramels.

Favorite Color: Royal blue.

Birthday: May 15.

Sign: Taurus.

Talent: Math, solving arithmetic.

Gender: Male.

Element: Earth.

Get Pandaroo merchandise at RedBubble here

Meet Parrofly

Hybrid between an African parrot and a butterfly.

Parrofly is sly! He's got a good heart, but can't help cracking silly jokes and pranking his friends. A lot of his 'sense of humor' is a shield to hide his fearful heart. He got lost once when he was young, and it scared him so much. Thankfully, Beever came across him and helped him get back home, and they've been best friends ever since.

Biggest Fear: Ending up lost while flying.

Favorite Food: Jelly beans.

Favorite Color: Yellow, red, blue. Preferably together.

Birthday: June 1.

Sign: Gemini.

Talent: Telling jokes.

Gender: Male.

Element: Air.

Get Parrofly merchandise at RedBubble here

Meet Slowan

Hybrid between a 3-toed sloth and a majestic swan.

Slowan lives up to his name, which sounds like 'slow one'. It's not so much that he's lazy, but more that he's really 'chillaxed'. It takes a lot to upset him, and he enjoys savoring the good things in life, such as a good nap in the warm sunshine.

His grooming habits are impeccable, and he's a healthy vegetarian with a love for avocados. So rich and creamy and... green! His BFF is Zebat; they like to fly together and chat.

Biggest Fear: No longer being able to fly.

Favorite Food: Avocado, guacamole.

Favorite Color: Pure crystal blue, like water.

Birthday: July 9.

Sign: Cancer.

Talent: Sleeping zzzzz.

Gender: Male.

Element: Water.

Get Slowan merchandise at RedBubble here

Meet Elefox

Hybrid between an African elephant and a red fox.

Despite his enormous size, Elefox is kind of fearful. He is especially freaked out by the smaller animals he's friends with. Sometimes one of them will decide to 'hang out' on him. And it tickles!

His BFF is Dogosaur, and though they're both stubborn and opinionated, at the end of the day they're like brothers!

Biggest Fear: Not finding enough food.

Favorite Food: Chocolate ice cream.

Favorite Color: Orange, red; 'warm' colors.

Birthday: August 11.

Sign: Leo.

Talent: Trumpeting.

Gender: Male.

Element: Fire.

Get Elefox merchandise at RedBubble here

Meet Beever

Hybrid between a bumblebee and a beaver.

Beever is always keeping himself busy with projects, including arranging flowers (at his small size, that's no small feat). Of all 12 animals on planet Zurbpod, he considers himself to be the hardest-working. He doesn't like to brag though.

When he's not busy 'working', he is often buzzing around and chatting up his pals. His BFF is Parrofly, and they like to have races in the air.

Biggest Fear: Spiders - they're unpredictable.

Favorite Food: Cinnamon hearts.

Favorite Color: Anything that looks like flowers.

Birthday: September 5.

Sign: Virgo.

Talent: Building stuff.

Gender: Male.

Element: Earth.

Get Beever merchandise at RedBubble here