Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year! January 2012 Desktop Calendar is here!


HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all have had a great Christmas and holiday season so far. I am very excited to see what new and exciting opportunities come our way in 2012 and I hope you are too. Here is my January 2012 desktop calendar as my gift to you for all you support and friendship over this past year- Thank-you so much! To download this desktop calendar simply click on the preferred screen resolution link, right click, then select "set as background".
 I have met so many wonderful and talented illustrators and Children's Book industry people through SCBWI, CANSCAIP, FB and twitter and  I hope to meet you guys in person at a conference one day soon. Reflecting on the past year makes me a little emotional as I reflect on the supportive, and encouraging relationships I have with so many wonderful people. I am so very thankful to all my family and friends for enriching my life, I love you all :)

Wishing you all a very productive, and happy 2012!!

Friday, December 16, 2011

SCBWI 2012 Tomie dePaola award submission

Here is my submission for this year's SCBWI 2012 Tomie dePaola Illustrator award.  It was created using plasticine and I used polymer clay for the metallic effects. I wanted it to be rich with lots of yummy textures, and details. This year Tomie selected  this passage  from P.C Asbjornsen's "Chicken Licken":

 So they went along and went along until they met Turkey Lurkey
“Good morning, Goosey Loosey, Ducky Daddles, Cocky Locky, Henny Penny,
and Chicken Licken,” said Turkey Lurkey, “where are you going?”
“Oh, Turkey Lurkey, the sky is falling and we are going to tell the King!”
"How do you know the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.
“Ducky Daddles told me,” said Goosey Loosey.
“Cocky Locky told me,” said Ducky Daddles.
“Henny Penny told me,” said Cocky Locky.
“Chicken Licken told me,” said Henny Penny
“I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears,
and a piece of it fell on my tail!” said Chicken Licken.
“Then I will go with you,” said Turkey Lurkey, “and we will tell the King!”

I am so excited to see all of the wonderful interpretations submitted by my fellow entrants!
If you'd like to see some of the submissions head over to the Unofficial Tomie dePaola award submissions blog. A big thank-you goes out to Diandra Mae, for setting up the blog and taking the time to put it all together over the holidays!  Good luck to all who entered, I can't wait to see who Tomie selects as this years winner.  The illustrations are all so wonderfully unique, Tomie has a very tough job this year.

To see the othe amazing submissions just click on the big acorn on the right to go to the Unofficial blog!
 
Best of luck everyone! Fingers crossed!!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

December Desktop Calendar is here!


We had our first snow of the season this morning. It was wet and messy, not very fluffy and pretty, but snow never the less.  Time to put on the snow tires!
And as tomorrow is the 1st of December, I thought it would be the perfect time to post my free desktop calendar. Consider it an early Christmas present :)
I showed this image previously, as it was one of a few I created to go into my winter promotional mailer packets. I am waiting patiently for my Moo shipment to arrive, full of all of my goodies; business card sized gift tags, stickers, and postcards....Eeeeeeee, I can't wait to crack open that package and see how they turned out!

 As always just click on the appropriate screen resolution size link below the calender and right click to set as background, or save to desktop.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it....doesn't it make you want to go out and hit the toboggan slopes....fingers crossed we get a white winter. While I am wishing, can I also wish for a magical snow shoveling elf to accompany the snow...that one is for hubby :)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Busy behind the scenes


It has been a few weeks since I have paid attention to my cute little blog,. sorry blog. I have been busy behind the scenes after attending my first CANSCAIP Packaging your Imagination Conference, getting my winter promotional material created, prepared and ordered. I am pleased to say that as of last night it has been ordered and hopefully will arrive in a few weeks to be lovingly packaged and sent out to all of my dream publishing houses. I liked my idea to include a little take away gift(bookmark) in my last mailer, so this time I thought, for the festive season, I'd create some rounded corner business cards that I could turn into gift tags by punching a little corner hole and attaching some festive ribbon. I also created rounded corner rectangular stickers from the same images to be used as gift labels....hopefully they will make their way onto someones holiday gifts. 
I ordered a few extra so if anyone would like a few to use this holiday season drop me a line with your address and I'll send them out. Maybe closer to Christmas I will make a printable PDF so you can even print them off on your own computer to use? I'm liking that idea too.
When my postcards and extra goodies arrive from Moo I'll be sure to take a photo and post it, to share in my glee. :)
Stay warm everyone, winter is here, and it's time to crack out the winter coats and toques! :)

Monday, October 31, 2011

November Desktop Calendar


Happy Halloween everyone! November is just around the corner, tomorrow actually, so I have posted another free desktop calendar for you to snaz-up your computer screen! I used a recent illustration I created for Illustration Rally's Children's Book Illustration Contest. The winner has not been announced yet, but if you get the chance go check out all of the beautiful illustrations submitted! Very inspiring to say the least. :)

To download your desktop calendar simply click on the link corresponding to your desktop resolution, then right click and then click on "set as background".


I hope eveyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

Dad's Birthday Cake



 

Here are some photos of the fish cake I created for my Dad's surprise 70th birthday party this past weekend. I molded the fish out of rice krispies and the water was a very yummy lemon cake. My Dad loves to fish at the cottage in the summertime. He and his buddy Doug have had quite the dry spell lately, so this cake is representative of the "big one" that got away! LOL :)
He was completely surprised and a ton of fun was had by all that attended.
Happy Birthday Dad!!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Children's Book Rally Submission at Illustration Rally


Right now there is a Children's Book Rally going on over at Illustration Rally. To submit you could choose to illustrate 2 double page spreads of either an original story or an old classic. I chose to illustrate my take on the classic fable "Thumbelina"by Hans Christian Andersen. I love this fable and could relate to this character growing up as I was always the tiniest child in school.  Over the years I have grown to love being ...ummm...petite, not short, and now fully embrace my uniqueness.

I took this opportunity to create 2 double page spreads that show variations  in  layout, text placement composition, viewpoint and character emotion, yet maintained character continuity and artistic style.

My submission illustrations do not have the text included as the text was longer than the one or two sentence allowance within the submission guidelines. So above are the final double page spreads, including text.

 I am really enjoying checking out Illustration Rally each day to see what fabulous submission are posted. Go now and see for yourself!

I'd love your feedback as always and hope you enjoy my interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's "Thumbelina".

P.S It looks like Illustration Rally has extended the deadline for submissions until Oct. 10th, so do head over to their site on the link above and enter!

October Desktop Calendar


Hi Everyone! Well it is the end of another month and you know what that means...free desktop calendar time!! Yipppeeee! I chose to make this month's calendar from a personal work-in-progress illustration that is still waiting patiently to be completed. It's a fall farm scene, highlighting the abundance of glorious autumn colours we are so lucky to experience here in Ontario Canada. As it is the background of this illustration, I've had to zoom in pretty close with my camera, but I kinda like it as you get to really see the details of the mud and wheat fields nicely. Eventually there will be some rambunctious kiddos frolicking in a big pile of leaves in the foreground, which I have cropped out for now.
To download your desktop calendar simply click on the link corresponding to your desktop resolution, then right click and click on set as background.
I hope you enjoy it and it reminds you to get out and enjoy autumn before it gets too chilly. :)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Inspiration galore!

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a seminar by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. It was a wonderful morning packed with advice and discussion from some of our canadian  author/illustrators, publishers and booksellers. I still can't quite believe I was in the same room as some of these fabulous people-pinch me. Award-winning authors Frieda Wishinsky, Gillian O'Reilly, Kevin Sylvester, and yes Barbara Reid! I know, double pinch me!! It was interesting that each spoke of non-fiction writing, and how it is often something we don't immediately consider when we think about children's books. But now I sure will! Especially considering my background in science. They all hit home how important it was to write about what you know and love, and to honour your voice.
I left so inspired and energized that I started brainstorming ideas for my own picture book manuscript the very next day.
Canadian publishers Margie Wolfe and Sheba Meland shared the inside scoop on what they are looking for; from cover letter advice, to how to stand out in their slush pile. Booksellers Maria Martella and Saffron Beckwith spoke about what librarians, schools and bookstores are looking for in new children's books.
Overall it was a very informative and inspiring seminar. The speakers were so kind, humble and honest in their thoughtful responses to how they began their careers and found success in this industry.
After this seminar I am really looking forward to my next conference: "Package your Imagination" by CANSCAIP this November. And I think I better start saving my pennies because next on my list will be an SCBWI conference :)

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

ABC Series IIlustration

I hope everyone had a great August! Was it just me or did it fly by really fast??
I managed to get one glorious week up north with the family filled with load of fun in the lake as the weather was amazing. Then I stayed on for another week all by myself  yes that right, no kiddies(did I say how incredibly wonderful my hubby was to give me such a refresher) to get lots of artwork done and some R&R.
It was wonderful to dive into work for hours at a time and I got quite a bit accomplished. I completed this ABC series for a local nursery school I just adore. I added many of the items found in-class as well as many of the special events and spirit day themes. I felt it was important to personalize it as much as possible with familiar objects so that the children could use the illustration as a fun learning tool. 
I also decided to work with a limited colour palette on this piece. I have to give a big shout out here to the wonderfully talented Jannie Ho -aka Chicken Girl for inspiration. I love her ABC series, I can see how they can become addicting, and her use of limited colour palettes is so fabulous. I think the overall effect of this limited palette nicely unifies the illustration, keeping it gender neutral and playful.

I hope everyone had a safe and memorable summer. My kiddos started school today actually, and my youngest met her JK teacher and is excitedly awaiting her start next week. It's going to be a weird adjustment for me with all of my babies in school full-time....

Friday, August 5, 2011

Summer Promo Packets

 My package from Moo arrived yesterday just in the nick of time!! WEEEEHOOOOO!! I love Moo's products and managed to get my order in during a Moo-wide 30% off sale!!

We are heading up to our family cottage for a week(then I am staying on for a few more days of art-time) and I wanted have all my supplies on hand to assemble my summer promo packet mailers during the quiet evenings up there.:)

 I went with 2 different postcard fronts as not all the publishers I am targeting like anthropomorphized animals. The backs are the same on both. I also had some minicards printed that I am going to make into bookmarks. Trying to go for a summer beach feel with these. So I am using hemp cord, and I am leaning toward using a shell instead of a regular bead, but I am not sure if it will survive the trip through the mail.

 Now I am just waiting for my vellum envelopes, which are due to arrive any second. I was going to go with clear self closing bags to hold my packet contents but it looks like there is an extra fee for sending any thing poly plastic through the mail! So I am going with translucent lovely vellum envelopes instead. Who doesn't looove the feel of vellum?? Am I right??

 Hopefully the yummy vellum will help my promo packets to stand out from the slush pile, and the translucency will grab the curiosity of the AD, leaving them wanting to see what's inside......I hope, fingers crossed!

I hope everyone has a good 2 weeks, and I will post once we are back from our summer holidays! :)
As always I'd love any feedback :)

Friday, July 29, 2011

FREE August 2011 Desktop Calendar



Can you believe August is just around the corner! Summer is half over already!! Boy that just flew by.
For this month's FREE desktop calendar I thought this summer themed illustration of a fun-loving Granny having tea time with her grandchildren would be the perfect fit!  Doesn't it make you want to go run barefoot in the grass to feel the blades tickle your toes? Too bad our grass is all yellow and straw-like due to the lack of rain in our area.Bummer! But we can image it. ;)
I love being able to spend more quality time with both sets of grandparents over the summer holidays. It really allows the kids and the rest of us to build lasting memories to cherish and have a good chuckle over when we reminisce.
As always, just click on the appropriate screen resolution link below the image to bring up the corresponding image size then right click and then left click on "set to background".

 Cheers to creating great summer memories with your family!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Kids Cake 2011

This past weekend we held our annual Birthday BBQ bash to celebrate the kids birthdays. For this year I decided to create a cake depicting the kids doing their favorite cottage activities. They have all grown such confidence and learned new skills this summer both in and around the water. They have learned new paddling skills, snorkeled with fins, attempted fancy dock jumps, caught bigger fish than Grandpa off the dock and even learned some new swim strokes. So I thought this theme would be a great idea to celebrate and showcase their achievements.  Here are some pictures of the cake:

"crazy dock jumper- cowabunga!!!"

"determined fisherman"

"paddle snatcher in the dingy"

"super-engine on the dingy"


It was fun to make and after multiple attempts I finally figured out a way to suspend my dock jumper in mid air. Ha! The figures were make out of modelling paste, so they could each eat their own after we sang "happy birthday". Can I just say how much I prefer plasticine to modelling paste! But all in all, it was really worth it to see their happy little faces smiling and pointing out their achievments to each other and to friends.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Minicards as Bookmarks

I was very excited to see that my favorite printer MOO was offering a 30% off summer sale. Aren't there products just glorious? And I love their Printfinity option to get multiple images on the back of your products. Genius!What perfect timing, as I am in the midst of creating my summer promo mailers. So with a day to spare(as the sale ends tomorrow) I just finished placing my order. I created 2 different postcards and some minicards which I plan to fashion into cute little bookmarks. The above image is what will show on the back of my minicards, with my logo and info on the front. I am going to add a cute ribbon and bead detail at the top of each bookmark so it can easily keep ones spot in a favorite book of choice. You like?? I think I may be onto somethin' here...

Monday, July 11, 2011

IF- Stay

The good friends decided to stay for one more jump. The perfect end to a fun filled day.


I couldn't resist using this illustration for this weeks Illustration Friday topic "stay". I hope to do a series of illos with all of these little friends....they sure can get into mischief while seeking out adventure!
Short post as it's summer time and with 4 kidlets home it is kinda crazy around here! Happy summer everyone!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Free July 2011 Desktop calendar


Hi Everyone,
 It's that time of month again- FREE desktop calendar time!! Yippeee :) I don't know about you but I just love checking out all the amazing desktop calendars created by so many great illustrators each month. I have a hard time picking and often put different ones up weekly, so I can admire and get inspiration from all my favorites. A few other links to check out for desktop calendars are Jonathan Woodward (click up top on free stuff), We love to illustrate for children group blog,  and Geninne Zlatkis .
Remember to click on your screen resolution link listed below the image then right click and click on "set to background".
I hope you all enjoy this desktop calendar and it reminds you of how fun it is to play with friends and be silly sometimes. :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fun in the mud!


Here is the latest plasticine illustration I have been working on over the past few weeks. I thought it would be fun to do a bunch of silly farm animals taking turns jumping in the mud in the pig's pen. Those crazy animals! The textures were fun to play with, expecially the mud! I hope I didn't give my kiddos any ideas- ekk! ;)
Below are some close-ups of the jumping sheep and my mocking rooster. Enjoy!



Saturday, June 18, 2011

First Edition of the Zero2illo zine is here!!



I am so excited to share with you that the very first edition of the Zero2illo Zine is available now! If you haven't yet signed up for your subscription then go and subscribe now!!   I am so very honoured to have been one of the lucky illustrators chosen to be featured in the gallery section of this first edition! I submitted my "Teepee Granny" illustration above.
 This new venture put forth by the very talented Jonathan Woodward, and his equally talented wife Lea Woodward  is fantastic example of how to bring together a great bundle of illustration resources such as website analysis, in depth interviews, illustration business tips, and a gallery section with great artwork from both established and emerging illustrators, all rolled up into a cohesive and gorgeously designed e-zine. Brilliant!
Jonathan also contributed a wonderful process piece of the creation of his majestic eagle illustration that he submitted for the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition. I so love seeing other artist processes and methods, and this one did not disappoint! I really must try collage soon! I have it on my "to-do" list.
They are currently accepting submissions until July 31st for the next issue due out in Sept. so do visit zero2illo for more information on how to  subscribe and definitely submit some of your illustrations! The zine will also be sent to select Art Directors as well as subscribers.
So go, go now and check it out!!! You know you want to....;)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Two FREE June 2011 desktop calendars to choose from...



I thought my little hummingbird and parachuting mice characters were so much fun that they'd both make great June 2011 desktop calendars. So now you have two to choose from...I might just have to switch back and forth every other week, I can't pick a favorite?!! Just click on the links below each image to choose from 2 different screen resolutions of each desktop calendar, then right click the image and click on " Save to desktop". Enjoy!! :)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Hummingbird...and friends


Here another few quick snaps of this illustration as I'm working on it. The hummingbird is giving a ride to a furry mouse friend and his little buddy is parachuting in above with a napkin. Lately I have had a thing for Echinacea flowers...I've used them in my last 2 plasticine illustrations- they are so, so pretty :)
Can't wait to share more...check back soon. ;)


Friday, May 27, 2011

Hummingbird




Just a quick little post to share a few snaps of what I've been up to...
Here is a quick snapshot of the little hummingbird character I am working on that will be part of my next plasticine illustration. As you can see from the quick sketch above he will be giving a little mouse friend a ride, and will accompany a few other skydiving, and daredevilish little mice.  Bye for now...:)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Butterflies and flowers...

Here is a close-up of one of the illustrations I am currently working on. I don't know how the weather has been where you live, but here in Southern Ontario it has been very, very VERY wet! Enough rain already, and let's bring on the sunshine! The only good thing about the wet weather we've had is that we now have the lushest, greenest grass and an abundance of tree blossoms. So it is rather pretty outside even in this gloomy, damp weather.:)
I thought it would be fitting to share my butterflies and Echinacea blooms today now that the sun is finally  making an appearance- yippeee!
We are off to the cottage this long weekend. It will be the first trip for us this season. Time to crack out my lists and start packing! I hope everyone has a great weekend too!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Must be Spring...

May always brings with it a plethera of activity...this year my second son has his first communion, we have 3x3 hockey for the oldest 2 boys starting up and then soccer season begins for all four of my kiddos. Geesh, it gets tricky to fit it all on my calender-thank goodness for coloured markers! But once they are all tuckered out with some good old fashioned exercise and off to sleep, I get to enjoy a cup of tea and get to work on some plasticine illustrations with the tunes playing on my ipod. Here's a little sneek peak at what I've been working on lately:


They are both still a work-in-progress, so I promise to share the full illustrations once they're completed. Sometimes it's nice to have a few projects on the go at once for variety. I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!! I hope I get to sleep in! ;)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Some new work- Teepee Granny



Hi Everyone, here is the final illustration of my "Teepee Granny". I ended up re-working the face of the girl in yellow a few times and I am much happier with the giggly, cracking-up expression on her face. Thanks a bunch to my critique group The Creative Cup for all their great feedback(as always :) ). I really can't say how helpful and important it is to have a critique group. There encouragement and thoughtful feedback have been so invaluable. And thanks to my little 3 yr. old for posing for my reference pic.s- she does love the camera! 
I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

I signed up with hai!- Hire an illustrator


I am very excited to share some news. :) I signed up with a fantastic online illustration portfolio site called hire an illustrator.Not only do they serve as a one-stop shop site showcasing illustrators in everything from children's to nature or fashion illustration, but they also put together frequent mail packs full of illustrators promotional materials to send out to  art directors and other industry professionals through there mailing lists. I think I it will increase my  chances of getting my work seen if an art director gets a snazzy mail pack from a reputable name like hai. I'm really excited about this, and hope it attracts some great clients. I haven't tried an online illustrator portfolio site before, but many of my illustrator friends have highly recommended this one.  Darren and Jane Di Lieto, the faces behind hai, are super helpful and they work very hard at promoting their illustrators and providing a platform to showcase their work.
If you get a chance do pop over to check it out here! And if you aren't on it yet, well get over there and see what your are missing silly!!;)



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Granny in the teepee Work-in-progress


Hi Everyone, I thought I'd share what I am currently working on. This illustration will have children in it as well, so far I have only completed the grandmother character. But as it was inspired by a special memory I thought it would be fun to share at this point.
As I said, this illustration was inspired by a specific fond memory I have of a grandmother-like family friend that joined my sister and I in our teepee, on one hot summer day. As  little girls my twin sis and I loved to goof around having fun in the backyard in our teepee playing cowboys and indians, or pirates(obviously we were so not girly-girls). My parent's dear friend Mrs. Margaret, as we lovingly called her, had come to visit. And being the proper english lady that she was, she would have a cuppa tea with my mom while they visited. Well one day when she was over, my sister and I asked if she would like to join us in our teepee. To our delight and surprise( and my mom's too) she slipped off her shoes with a smile, and quickly plopped herself down in our teepee, tea still in hand, to enjoy our company and tell us grand stories. According to my mom it what quite a sight to see. Sitting as prim and proper as possible with her tea cup and saucer squeezed into the little kiddie teepee with the two of us. We loved every minute of it, and we were so honoured that she joined us. We  love you and miss you Mrs. Margaret.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

What I learned from being hacked!

As some of you know I had the unfortunate experience of being hacked a few weeks ago.  I thought I would share some "lessons learned"  after realizing my brand new wesite had been hacked. If I can save anyone out there from going through  the frustrations and the fear of possibly losing all my hard work, then that would be great! I hope this will help other illustrators/artists who created their own websites( and like me are not IT specialists or programmers by any stretch of the imagination) to protect your  lovely websites and give you  some things to consider, and steps to take to better protect your website.

I had only had my site up for about a month or so, when I logged on one day to find that it had been hacked. Well of course I freaked out, and quickly emailed my support techs at my hosting company.  While they tried to restore my website from a backup, the hacker had embedded some nasty code in my site, possibly through my own computer, so going through the repeated process of deleting, reinstalling WP files, then restoring my backup was not fixing the problem. I ended up having my account suspended twice over a 2 week period becuase the hacker had my site linked to some phishing schemes that caused it to be flagged by phishing patrol websites. Luckily my friend Jonathan Woodward at zero2illo suggested  his go-to guy for website and WordPress security issues Neil Matthews. He runs a website for WordPress coaching and technical support called WP DUDE. Great name too don't you think?

Neil quickly diagnosed the problem and offered a security service review to beef up my WordPress security. His rates are very reasonable, and believe me it was the best money I ever spent for the peace of mind of knowing my site is protected properly. (insert big sigh of relief here!)
Then about a week or so later I was hacked again! I know it's not personal but it sure feels that way! I've been joking that some one out in cyberspace must really have a thing against plasticine illustration and all things creative-honestly!
Neil was quick to relay the bad news and look into it for me. The hacker got in this time through my FTP, so he could circumvent all the security Neil had just put in place. Geesh. He is going to share with me some steps to ensure my FTP is more secure.

I honestly am so thankful to Neil, who runs the super amazing website WP DUDE. He was so prompt, patient, and helpful,  like an WordPress knight in shining armour, rescuing me from my hacker nightmare!  Neil, thank-you, thank-you ,thank-you!

I highly recommend Neil's services for any security issues you may have, or wonder about, to ensure your site is secure. I signed up for his WordPress troubleshooting methodology mini course, so that I can learn how to troubleshoot myself and further educate myself should I have WP issues in the future. Knowledge is power people!
Neil also offers a fantastic webinar series( yes my Mom even signed on for his webinar series!) and his WP DUDE blog is jam-packed full of other Wordpress goodness for anyone wanting to educate themselves and make their WP sites as great as they can be.  So go now, and check it out!! You will be glad you did.


So  to break it down here are the things I learned:

1. Always back up your website. and back it up often. You can do this via a plug-in or through your host provider, or both.

2. Aways update your site with the latest versions of your WP platform, theme and plug-ins. Any security holes will hopefully be taken care of in the most recent version.

3.Go to WP DUDE and educate yourself on how to protect your website

4. Make sure to set unique and difficult passwords with upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols for each password. Never use names or the same password for more than one account or email. And if you are hacked go and change every single password to ensure the hacker can't access any other personal info.

5. Scan your computer once a week or so with Malware to rid any nasty viruses you may have inadvertantly picked up.  My kids also have access to our computer, and you know how they can be click-happy, so I scan more often just in case.

6. If you fear you have been hacked or need technical assistance, contact Neil Matthews through his website WP DUDE . Save yourself some frustration and let a friendly, knowledgable professional fix your site right the first time!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

I'm on zero2illo!

Ok, I'm bursting with excitement to tell you that Jonathan Woodward, of the fabulous zero2illo website, has just  posted a new article in his Process of Illustration series featuring moi!! This is so, so exciting!  I am so honoured to have been asked by Jonathan to share my process for zero2illo. Zero2illo has been a HUGE part in my journey toward "going for it" and becoming an illustrator. It is such  a great go-to resource, where I feel such support and encouragement  not only by Jonathan and Lea but by the other great illustrators I have met through the z2i forum.
 I documented my process for the "Snow Angel" illustration I did for an Illustration Friday topic. I was so happy with it I ended up using it as a promo piece.
I know how much I love reading how other artists work and seeing their process. I  find them very inspiring and I always take away a little something, either a technique or idea to push my art further.
 I hope you find it interesting and  enjoy the post!

Thanks again Jonathan for the feature!!! :) 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Still trying to fix my website...

HI Everyone,
Sorry I have been absent form my blog lately. As some of you already know, my website was hacked and the hackers linked it to some phishing sites- jerks! So I have been trying for the past 2 weeks to get it all corrected and sorted out. It's been a bit of a nightmare. I hope to have it back up ASAP.
In other news, I have been busy working on a 1st birthday cake for my adorable niece. After having 3 boys before my daughter, I still get giddy when designing anything girly. I will post a picture once it is complete.
Bye for now!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My Moo business cards are here!!


I'm so excited. My very first set of business cards from Moo just arrived in the mail!!! Lalalalaaa.! I should be folding laundry but instead I jumped online to share my fun news. I tried Moo's Printfinity option and chose 11 of my favorite images to use on my business cards. I love this idea because it allows you to carry around  a mini portfolio of your work in your purse, that you can take out and show as you offer someone your card: "pick a card any card". Too cool!
I am also waiting on my very first set of postcard mailers from Overnight Prints. I couldn't resist the 30% off winter sale their where offering, on their already amazing prices.  And I liked the selection of postcard sizes and edges (rounded or not)  from which to choose.  Many other illustrators I admire seem to be really happy with their quality. So I thought I'd give them a shot too.
This feels like Christmas! Yippeeee!

Let me know what you think of my shiny new business cards! I even got the cutest pink card holder for my purse.:)

Facebook- finally!


Hi Everyone,
I am pleased to announce that I am finally on Facebook. Hahahah, I know, what the heck took me so long, I've been bugged by family and friends for years now. I wanted to start up a page for my illustration business, so that is really what got the fire lit under me. I am really loving Twitter, so I thought I might as well get my FB page going too.

If you get a change please check out my page, and "like" me if you like ;)

I've got annual check-ups at the Dr.s office today for all 4 kiddos at the same time, .....wish me luck, and lots of patience!


Friday, February 18, 2011

Lunch Box Love-part 4 and 5

Here is the lunch box love note that I sent in my boys lunches yesterday. It's a photo of my little daughter in dress-up army gear. Of course, she has to be like the big brothers, no princess dresses here. My oldest, who is an avid history buff, has created his own army troop, were each sibling has their own special rank. It's too cute to see them marching around the house like ducks in a row, saluting as they march past. 
They adore there little sister, so I thought they'd get a kick out of having a lunch love note from her, to express her love for them as she misses them so much when they are off at school all day long.

Here is today's lunch box love note. I didn't have much time this morning as my oldest was getting organized to head out to his first out of town hockey tournament, so I cheated a bit and used some handy-dandy scrapbooking stickers to make a fishing themed note. The kids are already counting down the days until we will be going back up to the family cottage  in the spring.

This has been a fun week creating lunch box love notes for my kiddies, and now that the week is ending I am busy thinking up ideas for next week. I guess I have reset the precedent now and my usual quick napkin notes will no longer cut it??! ;)

Thanks so much Holli Conger for creating the Lunch Box Love Challenge- we had a lot of FUN!!!

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