Illustrator "Live" tool designs

I decided to get funky with a couple of the shapes; I really enjoy that "add anchor points" feature. This is probably the most fun I've had during my experience learning to use Illustrator. So, first I am posting the shape design, which I'm proud of having completed earlier than I've completed any thing so far...

And now for the live trace of the teacher:

  

I had a heckuva time getting this one together folks. It may not look like it, but I spent about a couple of hours on this baby. Not so elaborate, but I was primarily focused on playing the paintbrush tool and blend options... of course it would be after I post the thing that I just remembered I could take it to Photoshop... Oh well, I'll leave that chore for another day.