Goodbye to the Holiday Header...Sigh

Okay, I loved the holiday header on the blog...loved it, but since New Years is fast approaching and the holidays are as good as over I had to tear it down. The old one is here. I spent most of my sick Monday and recovery Tuesday making the one you see now but I miss the umbrella and hearts shower...I like the sakura tree and blue sky etc...too, but there was something about the umbrella that had me smitten. It may have been it's tattoo-esque feel? I dunno...all I know is I miss it like it was home while you're away at camp when you're ten. Well, maybe not that much but a lot.

There's plenty to love about the new one, though. I love the little birds that have reappeared after making their blog debut on the holiday header. I especially like the Japanese banter...a well deserved gift to family members in Aomori, and Sendai, and Tokyo etc...The bird sitting on the lettering is mentioning how poorly he speaks Japanese...the little girl is reacting with an astonished, "Really? Unbelievable!" and the other little bird flitting around through the air is calling the first one a liar. I love it, and there really should be some more Japanese on the blog for June's Baachan and Aunt's etc...to follow along. I suppose this new header is just a tease.

The little girl was dug out of old sketches that were made before Zoey was born, way back before she was even Zoey...she was just the idea of Ella, Elli, Emi, etc...confusing etc...She was part of the original blog and also part of a series of drawings for a book project called "Ella's Advice" that naturally never came to be. I loved her so much that I thought it was time she be re-introduced to the world.

I think my favorite part of the new header are the tracks in the snow, and the funny contradiction that a sakura tree might blossom in the middle of winter. Dunno why I like that so much, but I do...I suppose I like the idea that Zoey Sakura seems to be blossoming endlessly, regardless of season. She also been pretty keen on breaking all of the rules and expectations of babyhood so far...in that respect a blossom cherry tree in the middle of winter sounds just about right. Besides, she was born on January 26th, 2009 on the very edge of a blizzard here in Southwestern Ontario and so as far as I'm concerned that cherry tree will blossom perpetually in the middle of winter. Hows' that?

Either way, and no matter how you explain it, I'll miss the holiday header. I like this one mucho plenty but I'd gotten used to the pen and ink look and the contrast of black and red...maybe we'll see it again. This new one looks plenty girly enough though and I suppose that's more than appropriate. Sometimes I shock myself with my more than capable artistic inclinations, especially those that lean toward the feminine. I used to strap on skates and punch people in the mouth, I swear I did.