Flakes, Friends & (Upcoming) FUN!

As the last of the snowflakes were falling ... dumping more than a foot of snow on Indianapolis, (marking the city's biggest snowfall in 13 years) I was chatting on the phone with my friend, poet and author (and neighbor)Rebecca Kai Dotlich. We caught up on news and discussed plans for a Bella & Bean Valentine's Day Party - and Book Sale at the Simply Sweet Shoppe in Carmel, Indiana.

Our beautiful, turn-of-the-century neighborhood candy store has every type of confections one could imagine. The Valentine's Day Party will take place February 14 from 2:00-4:30 pm on the second floor of the shoppe, which is the home to the Second story Playhouse, a performing and visual arts studio for young people.


There will be a book signing by "Bella & Bean", author Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Valentine cookie decorating, and Valentine card craft with the help of Rebecca and myself. Bella and Bean is illustrated by Aileen Leijten who has a wonderful sneak-peek website with links to the characters, activities, and reviews!

I hope you can join us in this magical place, for a Valentine's Day filled with friends, FUN, and hopefully NO snowFLAKES!

A portion of the proceeds from this book sale on February 14 will go to Best Buddies Indiana.

The theme of Flakes, Friends, and Fun inspired me to post an illustration I did for one of Rebecca's poems titled, What Is A Snowman Made Of?

Holiday Postcards

The holiday promo cards are in the mail! If I missed you, please shoot me an email or a text - NO, just kidding on the text, I do NOT have text messaging on my cell phone. Text messaging is the theme of this year's holiday card. Texting has become a common form of communication... especially for kids!
This year's card illustrates how technically savvy today's
kids are ... why, even Santa can't surprise them on Christmas Eve.!
At the first sight of St. Nick, a text is sent ...

Wishing all my blog friends a Happy Holiday and Best Wishes to all for 2009!
PS -I've had a LOT of trouble with people taking art off the blog and using it on their sites. Please respect the © Thanks!

Thanksgiving SNOW!

With a blast of cold air and just the right conditions we got SNOW in Indiana.
Not just any snow ... the perfect packing snow needed to build a Snowy Bird Feeder, a craft I wrote & illustrated in this month's (December) issue of Highlights For Children Magazine. Check it out on page 38 and build a holiday feast for your feathered friends!

PS - All our pie tins were filled with (pumpkin, apple & cherry) pie so I improvised by using aluminum foil to line the feeder- keeping the bird seed dry and safe.

Highlights Illustrators' Party 2008

I was honored to once again to be invited to the Highlights Illustrators' Party 2008! This year's theme was the Enchanted Forest. Here is the invitation with a stunning illustration by John Sandford.













It's a weekend filled with face-to-face fun with Highlights folks and illustrator friends. Here's a group posing for pre-party photos: Phyllis Harris(fairy princess), Judith Moffatt (Queen Malificent), and me (mushroom-Ms Shroom), also Emilie Boone (bumble bee), Sharon Holm (mother nature), front, Lily Gucfa-Flanigan as Dorothy.












The costume party
takes place in the
Highlights offices
with an art show
featuring all the
illustrator's in
attendance.
The Beach Lake fire hall is where the dinner and big shindig/square dancing takes place.



We DO-SI-DOed
the night away!



The staff does a remarkable job making sure we have a fun filled time with emphasis on each and every detail - like this coaster (I'm sure from the enchanted forest : ) for each guest!















The weekend was truly a HIGHLIGHT in the beautiful Pennsylvania mountains at the height of the fall colors!
We ended with a group photo of PBAA'ers!












Left: Emilie Boon, me, Sharon Holm, Jennifer Emery, Anni Matsick, Layne Johnson, Laura Jacobsen, Judith Moffatt, and Phyllis Harris.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on this event!

For those requesting more mushroom shots - here you go ....

New Book Magic

It's magical to me when a book I illustrated arrives in the mail!
After months of sketching, revising, painting and packing up the art ... it arrives back transformed into a BOOK. The process itself is not at all magical, it takes lots of hard work by lots of people. Yet the moment I hold it and read it, I find myself, each time, marveling at the results.

This time the package that arrived in the mail is an anthology, and it has brought a NEW kind of magic ... because I'm one of the AUTHORS! Now MY WORDS have been transformed --and for the first time illustrated by another artist.

Hamsters, Shells and Spelling Bees: School Poems, edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, with pictures by Sachiko Yoshikawa.

I love the art and I am thrilled to be rubbing pages with such great poets!
If you pick it up be sure to check out pages 22 and 23! ; )

I've been GNOMED!

Yes, the target of a family prank, known collectively as GNOMING!
One misty morning I gazed out the kitchen window and was startled by this little mythical creature on my deck. I've heard tales of this mysterious girl gnome who is secretly passed amongst our family. The mystery to me is HOW they did it ... because she weighs a TON! (She's rock solid and didn't move an inch from our Indiana earthquake!)
It seems gnomes where created long ago as a way for people to continue sharing stories of these invisible night-time gardeners. She's been here for a few weeks now and I'm waiting for her do her earthly magic in my yard. She can clean up the flower beds, mulch and maybe even plant my vegetable garden.
Many Gnome websites said they are fond of jewelry - then jewelry it is! As you can see I did a little make-over on her ... hopefully the bling will lure her pointy-hat friends into my yard! I don't want to be a fairy tale skeptic if these invisible little creatures can spruce up my gardens!
I think she needs a name too... any suggestions?

Spring Cleaning

We post new art each season to the picturebookartists.com website.
For spring I'm posting an illustration from one of my 'working' manuscripts titled, BIG TOP BIRTHDAY. I pulled the art out of hiding and dusted it off for the blog. I guess even book projects undergo a little spring cleaning!