Elegy for the Deer Mouse

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Sensitive Content Warning: image of deceased animal below!

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Disclaimer: I've had lots of experience with sick animals! Please don't ever handle any animal without first researching the risks associated. 

Last week I was tending to my vegetable garden and found an orphaned deer mouse pup. He was in bad shape when I found him, and honestly I thought he had already passed. 

But he persisted, and even perked up a bit as the day went on. 

He was incredibly friendly but very thin and bony. He would not drink kitten milk but nibbled a bit at oats. Although he survived the night, he had visibly weakened by the next morning. At that point he would eat nothing at all and only want to curl up in my warm hand. 

I held the sweet fellow as he took his last gasping breaths. We buried him in the late afternoon. 

Elegy for the Deer Mouse

In leafen bower

where Jack o' pulpit sways

with violets' spent flower;

in languid  summer haze —

that is where he stays.

Thora M. 2026.

Free Printable - calendar pages for ring planners 🦢

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I've been workshopping this calendar freebie for a couple months now, but it's finally in a state where I feel comfortable publishing it! I'd love to have people try it out and let me know if there's any improvements I could make :)

PNGs + PDF files available below:

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[PRINTABLE FILES]

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The 'Personal Size' images are ready to be printed on 8.5" x 11" printer paper. 

There are also 'No Size' images so you can resize for your specific needs.

My stamped up calendar for the upcoming month of June - printed on cream colored paper. 

The artwork used for the background are page ornamentals from Edmund Dulac's Fairy-Book, which is within the public domain. 

Here's my personal size planner - a 2003 hello kitty ring planner! (❁´◡`❁)

If you end up using these inserts I'd love to know!

"Twin-Headed": art trade process extras

 

 Twin-Headed, 2026. Ink & pencil on paper. 7" x 9"

This piece is my half of an art trade with a friend on instagram. 

I tried a new method of page distressing for this piece which involved an initial wash of tea. After letting the tea settle into the paper I added a wash of gray ink to the still wet page.

    When I originally tea dyed the paper, I used my bare hands (not something to do if you prize pristine, white fingernails, mind you!). The ink wash brought out that evidence of human touch; pooling in the areas left by my fingertips, which makes the distressed paper all the more interesting to look at.

Despite sharing a body, wearing the same clothes, and sporting the same hairstyle, you can see the distinct difference in their attitudes. One concerned, one apathetic to the advancing centipede.

The distressed paper makes a wonderful contrast to a white chalk pencil, which I used sparingly to softly add highlights. 

digicam pics: