Gnu England

Hopping on an airplane tomorrow morning to the NESCBWI conference.

This is the poster I made for their poster contest: the theme is A Whole New World. Wouldn't it be fun to see GNU Zealand play the GNUnited States at the World Cup? I had a really fun time searching through old soccer posters and learning all about uniforms (the New Zealand All Whites are nicknamed "Ferns" and their away uniforms are all black; not to be confused with the All Blacks, New Zealand's rugby team). So while these fellas are gnu to football, their uniforms are pretty authentic, minus corporate sponsorship. ;)

I'll be sure to post about the conference when I get back home again.

Wish me luck! Hope you are all well! xoxo

Upsy Daisy

These are some daisies I drew for a gal I used to

live on the same street with when we were kids.

She is marrying her sweetheart in June and

needed some flowers for her wedding invites.

Please join me in wishing Sarah and Joseph

a lifetime of love, health, and happiness!

Hey, Baby!

Something new for my cousin's brand-new baby! He is such a cute little guy, I got to snuggle him a couple weeks ago. Everything is turning a bright emerald green here in Minnesota, we have been surprised with an early spring! We just got a new birdhouse to replace the one that was vandalized/demolished by industrious woodpeckers, so we're looking forward to seeing who our new little bird neighbors will be... Hope all is well with you! Happy Spring!

In Jon We Trust

Jon Sciesczka is having a fun little contest on facebook, so I decided to ante up (my contribution is worth $5.25). You can go here to see all the fun entries. The winner will get a bunch of books signed by Jon himself! Very cool!

In other news: I have been busy, busy, busy... The art project I was working on with my daughter's 3rd grade class turned out super cute (I will post some pics another time). I owrked up the nerve and registered for the NESCBWI conference in April, so I made a new illustration to enter in the poster contest they will be having and have been working on character sketches for a book dummy assignment that I'll need to complete before I go. It has been great and I am learning a lot already, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I finished up some flowers for a friend's wedding invitations (will post later, too), and am happily sketching away another batch of spot illustrations for the 3rd book in the piano music series that I have been working on. I am very excited that the first book will be coming out this month, so stay tuned (haha, accidental music pun)! That seems like a lot, I am sure I am missing something. Thanks for stopping by! *hands you a cookie*

Princess

This is a portrait of a friend's sweet little dog. Rest in peace, Princess.

P's and Q's

Here's a little peek at what I am working on right now. I am actually watching my P's and Q's! haha It has been fun lately experimenting with more hand lettering. While I'll freely admit that I am not a lettering genius, I do enjoy it. So, I was drawing the other day and started thinking about it... isn't it amazing to think that you can take an idea that it is in your head and make it a real thing? You can write it down, type it, sketch it, sculpt it, build it, mold it, paint it, carve it, sing it, film it, play it, and/or tell it in endless combinations... We are all creating things every day and most of us don't even realize it, isn't that exciting?

Spring

Don't you just love peonies? These cuties bloom every year in our front yard. I have been thinking a lot about springtime as of late... April, specifically, when I'll hop on a jetplane and attend the SCBWI conference in New England (as opposed to Old England, the birthplace of my Mother). Really looking forward to attending a big conference, learning a bunch, and finally meeting some cool kid-booky friends in person. So, I am making up a schedule for myself so I can stay on top of all the things I need to do before the conference (getting a book dummy ready, spiffing up my portfolio, and making a poster to name a few). My new music book assignment just came in, too, so that is great! Juggling some additional kid/family-related things as well, so I thought I'd offer up a pretty photo until I get a chance to post some new art. Hope all is well with you, thank you so much for visiting! xoxo