Wonderful Children's Books...

Visit http://www.littlemapletree.com to shop for Award Winning books, gifts & more! They have everything from Yoga Pretzels, to Felt crafted books like Recluse Moose. SO many great things. LOVE Barefoot Books!

Great Giveaway!!!!

There’s a lovely give away from @BeckyHigginsLLC on the @RTreasuredBaby blog today! http://ourtreasuredbaby.com/we-redecorated/

VOTING IS NOW OPEN...
Please help by voting for one of my designs to be sold on Minted.com


wedding stationery - Coffee in Aspen


wedding stationery - Makena Surf


wedding stationery - Lavender Emotion


wedding stationery - Wilderness Lovers


wedding stationery - Key West Escape

Thank you in advance for your support!

Please vote!

I have 5 designs to vote for, click here to see them all...

Vote for my design on minted.™ see more from Sage & Grace :: Design Studio vote for me! Check out my competition in Christmas photo cards and Save the Date cards at Minted.

Thanks so much!

3 new designs just posted on Minted.com -- Please check them out and Vote!

wedding stationery - Lavender Emotion


wedding stationery - Coffee in Aspen


wedding stationery - Wilderness Lovers

IF-Rescue

Illustration Friday- "Rescue"

It's sad to see some Manatees at the Aquarium, but then you quickly realize that most of them have been RESCUED & nursed back to health rather than left in the harbor to be run over by powerboats, and tourists. Such sweet animals!

IF- Expired

This weeks word is expired. Which is just about how I feel right now :) Long day...

IF- Perspective

Sometimes it just takes one look at your children to get all the perspective you need...

Tutorial

I discovered this great little website (http://vectips.com) with some helpful advice for Vector Illustrators. So for the fun of it, I went through one of the tutorials to make a Strawberry (improvising since I'm still using CS) & this is what I came up with. Not quite like the actual picture, but still fun! I even learned how to make my own brush stroke that I used on the top of the strawberry for the leaves!

IF- Propagate

Illustration Friday: "Propagate"
which does not mean "to Prop a Gate"...
I know dumb joke, but it has been a long week :)

IF- "Adrift"

Poor Harry Hippo wandered from the herd to take a dip in the ocean & got stuck in his floaty ring. Before he knew it the current carried him out to sea........ it was a very bad day for Harry.

New Doodles...

I have been working on some new techniques and breaking in the tablet a little more...

I'm not 100% sure which medium is more comfortable, because honestly they both are comfortable. I have more fun working in illustrator, and can create more details that pop out of my mind! Photoshop can has some cool effects, but you always run into pixelation problems, and editing many rounds of revisions could become a nightmare... I think I'll stick with what feels right.

IF-Hatch

I have not posted since Thanksgiving... wow time flies! The word Hatch inspireed me to embellish on a doodle that keeps popping up in my notebooks, sketchbooks and client's to do lists. This little chicken was created with one long stroke with the exception of the beak, legs and shading. (That was the part that I embellished). The word "Hatched" also created a funny story in my mind of a mama bird coming back to her egg, only to find this big polka dot egg, and nothing inside. You have to wonder, was this her bird? or was it something else? Maybe I can eventually build onto it...

IF-Crunchy

I finally finished this drawing inspired by the word "Frozen" from a couple of weeks ago, but Crunchy seemed to be fitting as well... I might tweak it a little more for my portfolio, but am glad to have just had this quiet time off while we were in NY for Thanksgiving to work on a couple of unfinished projects. Hope to get a couple more wrapped during football on Sunday.

IF-Music

I had an art professor in college who drew a beautiful illustration on rice paper of Dizzy Gillespie. He was actually sitting on front of him watching him perform LIVE, and he drew him blindly on the paper with only the light of the candles on the table and the stage lighting. Then he went back into the drawing and then drew Dizzy coming out of his own instrument. I treasure this drawing even today, and remember fondly how a large group of us would meet up after class at a bar on Sansom street in Philly and would smoke cigars and have a glass of wine after class. This drawing is a tribute to that professor who will remain nameless so he doesn't get in trouble. (Not sure if he still meets up with his class after school... it has been over 11 years ago :) But "Music" seemed like a perfect match for Dizzy!

Lilly's Big Adventure

I had been stuck inside sick with the flu for close to a week, so have not had much time to work on anything new other than this cover. I think it turned out okay. Could be better with more time, but just getting back into the swing of things.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving next weekend. Hope to work on some more illustrations during a few days off.

Happy Holidays!

IF- BLUR

This doodle is a reflection of my mood right now.



I have been swamped with work lately, overwhelmed with busy weekends through the end of December, inspired by many other artists & lately I have been re-studying colors, figure drawing, cartooning, painting & so many other things.

It feels like I'm in an overloaded BLUR of creativity, and not enough time to cram it all in (nor the energy since I just came down with the flu or a really bad cold... not sure yet)

But at the end of the day, I love what I do, am thankful for what we have, & look forward to a colorful whirlwind of adventures to come day after day. And even though I feel like I am always on the run... I wouldn't change a thing!

Melissa & Doug Giveaway!!!

Visit http://www.MelissaAndDoug.com for a GREAT children's kitchen giveaway. All of their products are so wonderful! So colorful, sturdy and great for kids! You can also follow them on Twitter: @MelissaAndDoug for great information. Good Luck!

SCBWI Eastern PA Chapter :: 2010 Pocono Mountain Retreat Winning Logo!

I am very honored and excited to find out that my logo was chosen for the 2010 Pocono Mountain Retreat that will be taking place in April 2010!!! I submitted two designs (with a variation of the 2nd option), and my second logo was chosen. The first design was symbolic of all of the wonderful things that can happen when you get wrapped up in a wonderful Children's book. I drew the Inn where the retreat is being held into both options because it is such a beautiful building. The owl option popped in my head before coffee a couple of days later, and I had to draw it immediatly, because it was so fun!


Here are what the others options looked like. I am still in shock, but very excited to attend the event and meet more wonderful people along this adventure!

IF- Skinny

Ironically this Fridays topic is "Skinny". I was up late last night, and decided to do a self portrait. I have always drawn other people, so this was something new for me, but it was a lot of fun. And even more fun to shed a couple of extra baby pounds with the click of a mouse! Who knew today's topic would relate! Hope everyone has a great Halloween weekend!