work in progress Back to the Keys: Rediscovering My Love for Piano Lately I’ve been hooked on something other than drawing or building Lego—playing piano! It’s a return to an old love, sparked by a lucky thrift find and some new sheet music.
Second Day Vibes Taking it slow on January 2nd with cozy vibes, cute slippers, and a hilariously unexpected gift for my husband.
work in progress Galloping into 2026 with My First Riso Print of the Year I started 2026 with a riso version of kakizome, the traditional Japanese New Year’s calligraphy! A horse leaping over Mt. Fuji marks the first print of the year.
monthly recap Monthly Charlie’s Playground: December 2025 From snowmen to zine fests, December was packed! Here’s a roundup of my favorite posts, drawings, and milestones—including blog post #300!
work in progress Getting Ready for 2026 So many ideas are bubbling up for the new year—art fairs, new zines, Osusowake Club plans! I think I’m ready to jump in.
Switching from Christmas to Oshogatsu Mode! Only 3 days left in 2025! Today we packed away the Christmas stuff and brought out our Japanese New Year decorations—ready for 2026!
inspiration Balloon Museum We visited the new Balloon Museum in Chicago and honestly? Way more fun than expected. Ball pits, bubbles, and lots of floating fun.
news Wrapping Up the Year at Quimby’s To close out 2025, I visited Quimby’s with my husband to check on my zines—and we found out Something Long had completely sold out!?
inspiration Finding The Snowman Again I stumbled across The Snowman animation on YouTube—and just like that, I was transported back to my childhood. Soft, quiet, and full of magic.
news 300 Blog Posts—on Christmas Day! It’s Christmas—but even more exciting, today is my 300th blog post! I missed one day, so it’s not a perfect streak, but still… I did it!
work in progress Christmas Eve = Cat Drawing + Holiday Movies I spent Christmas Eve drawing cats while watching Home Alone and Elf. There’s something so cozy about multitasking with movies you’ve seen a hundred times!
inspiration Street Art Forage in December Even in cold December, I’m still walking around and spotting street art! Here are some of my favorite finds from the neighborhood.
work in progress Printing a Fish on My New Riso Machine! Our new-to-us Riso machine (an SF5450!) arrived today! I couldn’t resist testing it with a tai fish print—black ink only, but still fun!
news Oops! I Missed a Day… But for a Good Reason! I totally forgot to post yesterday!! I was a couple of days away from hitting 300 days in a row! But… the zine fest was amazing, so I forgive myself.
work in progress Working Out the last Osusowake Holiday Comic Still figuring out the last holiday comic for Osusowake Club! This one’s been stuck for weeks—but I think I found the right twist!
work in progress Accidental Ōsōji A gloomy day, a messy desk, and suddenly… I caught the bug. Today turned into a mini ōsōji—Japanese-style year-end deep cleaning!
inspiration Reading “How To Art Book Fair” Got Me Planning Things A zine I picked up last weekend—How To Art Book Fair—got me excited about applying to more fairs next year. Here we go!
work in progress Packing Something Long for TCA Zinefest Prepping Something Long for TCA Zinefest this Saturday!
work in progress Tiny Osusowake Comics in Progress Working on little 4-panel comics based on Osusowake Club illustrations—today’s post is a sneak peek!
inspiration A Birthday Gift from Me to Me I bought an art piece by Chicago artist Katie Lukes as a birthday gift to myself—and she hand-delivered it! I'm so happy!
inspiration Holiday Market Visit at Field Notes HQ We visited the Field Notes Holiday Market near our house! First time going inside their HQ—and we even got to meet Cody Hudson!
work in progress Another Batch of Something Long Ready to Go Last night we assembled a new batch of Something Long! A little extra ink drama this time, but everything’s finally ready to go!
inspiration Visiting the Wizard of Oz Exhibit at Driehaus Went to the Driehaus Museum with a friend today to see The Land of Oz: Beyond the Page. A bit small, but super charming!
work in progress Charlie’s Future Dream Diary In this dream, it's December 2030 and I’m in Tokyo with my husband and our five-year-old… for the Tokyo Art Book Fair!
work in progress Meanwhile at Osusowake Club… I’ve started turning one of my Osusowake Club illustrations into a 4-panel comic! Past me already had a sketch ready—nice!!
