When Mischief Came to Town . . .

Working on this cover has been a pleasure! My heart was fully in it as I've read the book to my girls before starting the work  and we loved it to bits! It really was a good read and I like how the cover turned out.
When Mischief Came to Town could be preordered on amazon.com... 

flow book for paper lovers . . .

A lovely envelop containing 'Flow Book for Paper Lovers' arrived in the mail. Exiting! As a stationery and pattern lover I think that it's a treasure trove. Cards, wrapping paper, stickers and envelopes... Oh my! Plus, my 'Wild Horses' pattern is featured in a few places. Pleased as punch:)...

Work / Life 3 . . .

My copy of Work/Life 3 (the UPPERCASE dirctory of illustration) has arrived today! Yes! Hello pages 68-69:). 

So much to read... so much to discover... so many faces to put to the familiar styles... and, so many illustrators I didn't know of. Love it!

P&P kids . . .

Got my copy of the PRINT & PATTERN kids book!

back to school bookplates . . .

I'm not ready yet to say farewell to the summer, but the new school year is on the horizon. Got to start getting ready for the yellow busses, runny noses and lost and maybe found. Aaah... where did the time go?
Sharing with you these new printables I've designed! I hope you use them and enjoy them:).
To copy: click on the image - it will open up in its own window at a high resolution (300dpi-true size). Copy that to your desktop and enjoy:) Feel free to size them to your liking:)

Flora's Forest is out for iPad ! ! !

I'm very exited to share this bit of news with you! Flora's Forest - an iPad book for kids I've had pleasure illustrating - is finally out!!!  It's a musical and interactive book for children 3 and up and It's available in the app store for you to download. I hope your kids would love Flora and her little adventure in the forest! Here's the link (iTunes)! 
I would love to hear what you think:).

my PANTONE COLORS children's book . . .

How happy was I when they asked me to illustrate this book? VERY! I've been a big fan of PANTONE® colour system ever since 1998 when I have purchased my first colour book for a design course in college.

The book introduces kids to 9 colours (20 shades of each). If you are raising a little designer or a little colour lover - I know they'll love it!

surprise appearance . . .

So... as I was eating my morning cereal today and watching 'the Ellen show'... guess what? The 'What About You?' book was having a day in a sun! It's been a couple of years since I've contributed to that KLUTZ book. It was a fun project and it's nice to know that David Arquette and his daughter Coco love this book:)

wildwood . . .

How often, when you are trying to shop for other people do you come across unexpected treasures that you must have? For me, it's an 'every time' kind of occurrence. Last time it happened I was in Toronto, in a little 'hipster type' store (full of expensive little nothings) when I came across 'WILDWOOD'. I have not read any reviews (or even heard of it) but the illustrations (by Carson Ellis - and the book is peppered with them) were just so good - I had to buy the book by it's cover! No regrets. It turned out to be a great read, and I can't wait until the girls read it (ages 9 UP) and we could have a little chat about it:)

The Fundamentals of Printed Textile Design - by Alex Russell

I've got a little review for you today of a pretty neat book I just got. Hot off the presses... that is AVA publishing presses: The Fundamentals of Printed Textile Design by Alex Russell. I wish I had this book 5 years ago... as it is a sea of information for anyone who is interested in becoming a professional textile designer (or a surface pattern designer). I found many answers to questions I had no one to ask (about screenprinting for example). It reads like a well put together textbook and would be perfect for a textile design student (working on their portfolio) or anyone else curious about the process behind the printed textile.

I love this moto (last line) from the introduction: Work hard, don't mess with copyright, have fun.

cover and editorial illustrations . . .

A book cover (Just Add Magic) and a couple of editorial illustrations (Today's Parent & Baby Talk) I did... and completely forgot to show you.

meeting Kristen...

While in SF, for the first time, I got to meet Kristen Tracy - the author of one of the books I've done the cover art for. I never get to meet the author... so this was a treat! Turns out, she's just like her character Camille - only a little older:)

By the way - the book is great and I really enjoyed reading it. Can't wait to see what my girls would think of it (since Kristen presented me with a copy of the book... a copy that will be well loved and treasured).

printable fun...

September is on the doorstep. My girls are starting school in a week. The school supplies are purchased and awaiting to be used. All is ready for another year of yellow buses, backpacks, holes in the jeans and homework. So... before I left on my little vacation I wanted to share these printables with you.

These would look good on folders, books and duo-tangs. Feel free to use these for your little students:)

To copy: click on the image - it will open up in its own window at a high resolution (300dpi-true size). Copy that to your desktop and feel free to use:) You could make them smaller if you'd like.

a happy bookplate...

Adding another bookplate to my collection. Feel free to copy and use in your vintage treasures or new classics:)

To copy: click on the image - it will open up in its own window at a high resolution (300dpi-true size). Copy that to your desktop and enjoy:) You could make them smaller if you'd like.

this is a...

My recent obsession : The 'This IS' series by author and illustrator Miroslav Sasek. So far I got 'This is Rome' & 'This is New York' (which I picked up in the big apple itself:)

*Here is a fan site that for Mr. M. Sasek and his lovely books: This is M. Sasek

Bowie Style in Print...

Hooray! The long awaited Print & Pattern book has finally made it's way to me.... and, it doesn't disappoint. Beautifully put together and full of fun patterns and designs - it's a lot to take in in one go. It's a fine addition to my inspiration library.

A lot of people whose work I admire are in this book and it's such an honour to be a part of it:)

Here are just a few of the fabulous designers that have contributed:

Sukie, Heather Moore, Julia Rothman, Mike Lowery, Jillian Phillips, Carolyn Gavin, Sanna Annukka....

oh charley...

How could I resist? Being a huge fan of  Charley Harper, it was hard to pass it by... so I got it:)... an early Christmas present to myself - CHARLEY HARPER (An Illustrated Life).   420 beautiful pages to 'oooh' and 'aaaah' over.

What a body of work! I'm so impressed and inspired.

bookplates... for you!

Let's have a 'my blog readers appreciation day' and celebrate it with a set of 'free for you' bookplates! Why not?:)

There are so many things you could do with these. Give them to your kid's teachers, add them to loot-bags, use them as a bookmark....etc.,

I use them in my ever-growing collection of unique and interesting vintage books.

To copy: click on the image - it will open up in its own window at a high resolution (300dpi-true size). Copy that to your desktop and feel free to use:) You could make them smaller if you'd like.