Raiding The Liquor Cabinet

This is one of my favorites. Kristy, the brunette above, is one of my best friends. We grew up together and we raided a few liquor cabinets along the way. That was over 20 years ago, but it seems like yesterday. Kristy and I are each raising our own teenagers now. This experience has forcefully dragged us back in time to relive the challenges we faced at that age with a twist - the parent's perspective. It is during these challenging times that we find ourselves raiding and replenishing our own liquor cabinets more frequently. It really does make you realize why there were so many liquor cabinets to raid in high school. Teenagers don't think we 'get it', but we do. We get it more than we would like them to know...wink, wink.

Stina Stalker goes Alaskan style

Stina Stalker is at it again. The night before Thanksgiving I was hanging out at home. The kids were in bed and my husband was out flying. I was getting ready to catch up on some TV shows when I received a text from my friend, Trevor, who happens to be one of the supervising producers of the reality show, Alaska: The Last Frontier.  Trevor knows I am a huge fan of the show and he likes my crazy comics. He asked me to do a cartoon about the show and gave me some great ideas.

 I stayed up late that night and watched a marathon of The Last Frontier to get my creative juices flowing. I wrote little spoofs here and there in my notebook. There’s a lot of humor to be had among the Kilcher family, but the one who stands out for me is Otto. He is hilarious. The man can build, fix or rig anything. He is quite entertaining with his brutally honest loose lips and crazy antics. I think you need to be a little crazy to live off the land in Alaska. I get a little crazy if I don’t have my pot of coffee in the morning.  If you haven’t seen the show, you really Otto watch it.

 And there you have it! The dialogue came together. As for the art work, I figured the outdoor scenery with Amy wearing Otto’s crazy hat was appropriate. I shared the final draft with Trevor and he asked me to put it on a coffee cup for Otto and his wife. I was like, “Hell Yeah”! Thanks to Trevor, the coffee cups will be on their way to Alaska in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I will get a picture of them holding their cups!
Coffee Cups are available for purchase at my online store, Get A Grip Gifts
www.cafepress.com/getagripgiftscom
 

Brenda Bears Fan vs. Charlie Cheesehead in the works

 

I threw this together last Thursday before the Bears / Packers game. My husband and I have a smack talking tradition during football season. I thought it would be fun to do a strip. I'm working on some dialog and may change Charlie Cheesehead to make him look more like the stereotypical Packer fan. I must note that my husband does not approve this message with a huge grin.

Who's Hotter?

My coffee routine: 1) Pour a cup of coffee. 2) Add one ice cube. Why do I add one ice cube? 1) To avoid burning my tongue. 2) To make it the perfect temperature. I enjoy my coffee strong and black so I avoid cream unless I'm in a fru-fru mood and then I'll add a little bit of flavored creamer. I crack myself up every morning. And my children think I like ice coffee. I can't stand ice coffee. I tried to explain it to them, but they insist that I'm an ice coffee drinker. So one morning I came up with this dialog and eventually drew it out for them. I like the "Who's Hotter" twist.

Stina Stalker meets Ramona Singer

This comic of Ramona Singer from Real Housewives of New York has a funny story behind it.
      My friend, Kellie, and I were getting pedicures. I was sharing my latest comics with her. All of the sudden her eyes got really big (like Ramona's) as she explained that Ramona was going to be at the local liquor store promoting her wine, Ramona Grigio, the following day. Before I could respond she told me I HAD to cartoon Ramona and bring a gift basket to the signing. I immediately panicked. How in the hell was I going to crank out a cartoon of Ramona on the spot. I have 1 hour to myself and then it's back to being pulled in three different directions with the kids. My husband was on a trip and I wasn't sure I had anyone to watch the kids so I could stalk a Reality TV star. No offence Ramona, but this was out of the norm for me.
     As soon as I got home I received a text from Kellie stating that I had until Thursday which gave me two and a half days to become an official celebrity stalker.  Between the two of us, we found some good pictures of Ramona and had a basic idea of the script. Kellie sent me a text with a picture of a 'rough' sketch (as she puts it) on a sticky note. I thought it was pretty good. She thought differently. I took it from there. Stressed to the gills! My children were not happy with me. Above is the final product.
     Thursday evening arrived rather quickly. I was printing off business cards, photos of the comic, as well as index cards. The delivery was literally hot off the press. The whole comic thing has been a hobby of mine. I've never taken a drawing or art class. I was so nervous. I didn't know how Ramona would respond to my stalking antics. More importantly, I prayed she would appreciate the humor. That's what it was all about. The humor. Humor is good.
     We met a few people while waiting in line. They seemed to be as excited as we were to see how Ramona would respond. As the line moved up we were able to have a taste test of Ramona Grigio. I am a Pinot Noir kind of girl so I wasn't sure what my taste buds would think.  Surprisingly, I LOVED it. I do not drink white wine, but this was really good. It was so good, I probably would have drank the whole bottle if I was given the opportunity. Soon enough we found ourselves next in line. I was relieved to see Bruce, the owner of the liquor store.  I used to wait on him when I worked at a local diner. Saying our hello's eased my nerves a bit.
     Finally, it was our turn to meet Ramona. The ladies in front of us were waiting to see what happened. We approached the table and Ramona jumped up to see what we brought her. She was so excited! Her eyes got really big and she came around the table to take a picture of the framed cartoon we gave her mentioning she was going to tweet it. She gave her phone to another lady to take our picture with her. I was so impressed with how gracious she was and what a truly nice person she is.
   Of course, I bought a signed bottle of wine. We went out to the parking lot and the ladies who were in line in front of us were waiting. They were so excited for us. I literally jumped up and down like a 16 year old that just met Justin Bieber. Yes, a 40 year old woman jumping up and down screaming in a liquor store parking lot. A little over the top, but I didn't care. It was the best and only stalking experience of my life. Thank you Ramona! You made me feel like a million bucks!!! I will never forget that feeling.
     While Kellie was driving me home she was freaking out..."Oh My God! We are missing tweets, I have to get you on twitter NOW! And she did. This comic and the experience attached to it brought me to joining Sherpa on Gocomics.com. This cartoon hobby is getting a little more serious, but I LOVE it!

Mindy Maid is Made to order

Only 11 more days until school starts! This particular strip makes me want to break into an impersonation of Flo, (the waitress from the TV show, Mel's Diner) and yell "KISS MY GRITS"!