My Updated CafePress Site

I've just updated my CafePress store. This new image is up on many of the products now. It's an oil painting illustration I created for Mayra Calvani's children's book, The Doll Violinist.

Daily Bits and Pieces

Daniel's illustrations are gorgeous. I saw his work on Illustration Friday and was struck by the soft gentleness of them, combined with a quirky edgy feel at times. Really beautiful work.

Trying something out

I'm trying to do something..have to use this photo for something and am posting it here for a sec. It's me and my twin (the REAL artist) and our younger brother...don't ya just love those little purses and shoes? I think this was Easter Sunday.

Lilipip

Lilipip is a publisher of mobile educational content for children, delivered to their parents’ cell phones via direct download. It's due to open in October, but there are already short clips to view and some good info on their blog. I enjoyed the Get In The Car clip...I can SO relate.

Lady Liberty

I created this illustration awhile back for a rubber stamp design. It came to mind as I've been listening to Reading Lolita In Tehran (book on tape)...very thought provoking regarding freedoms that we take for granted.

Jacketflap has a new Bookshelf Feature

Jacketflap.com has a new Bookshelf feature, where you can add a list of your favorite books, or books you've read. They've even made it easier by allowing you to import lists from LibraryThing and Shelfari and other places. I added my Shelfari list on mine. (It's not in the same order as it is on Shelfari for some reason.) I love online bookshelves. I've found some of the best books recently by perusing other people's online shelves, recommendations and lists. I've also met some amazing people through the lists and groups on the groups.

Back to School

School has started here in our area of Virginia now. What a mix of emotions and energy in our home. Scurrying to schools to sign up and get schedules, calling friends to see what group and classes they are in, running from store to store to find specific required items for classes, and clothes shopping. Seeing old friends and faces, all a bit more grown up and taller.

Time to dig in to fall and hit children's book/magazine market and the drawing board with renewed strength. Send out those postcards marketing your art, write more, draw more, create new images just for yourself and for promotion, continue to work on the projects you've got going, keep your chin up, take heart, there's a place in this field for you if you love it, and give yourself to it with the passion it deserves.

The 2008 CWIM is out now. (a MUST-HAVE for anyone serious about children's writing and publishing). Alice Pope's CWIM blog tells more about it, and is also a fount of info about the field.

Illustration Friday-Visitors

Here's my illustration for this week's Illustration Friday topic-Visitors.

Mental Floss Magazine..and other Cachibachis

Here's a few interesting cachibachis....Mental Floss Magazine. I found it on ThinkWoman's This Is Not A Blog blog. (great stuff there...really funky unusual posts and thinking. LYZA's blog is also a fun one to visit, and will keep you on your toes..

Kim Baccellia's Online Book Tour

Kim Baccellia's book Earrings of Ixtumea is currently on a virtual online book tour. Go see.

Check out the Picture-Bookies Blog

There are some fun news items up at our Picture-Bookies Blog. Take a sec to see what's new.

Children's Illustration Portfolio

Check out my new blog/portfolio, Children's Illustration Portfolio. (Like I need a new blog) It's another venue for an illustration portfolio. I've been working on lots of new things, but cannot put them online yet, so I may unearth some older pieces for now and stick them up on the new blog.

Learning to Illustrate Children's Books-Kathryn Shoemaker

Kathryn Shoemaker has an article online about Learning to Illustrate Children's Books. I found the article on The Looking Glass, an online Children's Literature Journal.

Zuda Comics...coming soon

Have you heard of Zuda Comics? It's an all new line of web comics. It will open online in October. Check out the postcards. You can create one and send it in to be included there. Make sure to the "click here to continue" at the top of the page.

New Book Review Blog at Shelfari....coming soon

A Shelfarian has a soon-to-open Book Review Blog. It's not open yet, but check it out if you've got a book you want reviewed and blogged there. You've got to be a member of Shelfari . (free..and well worth the time to do.)

Childen's Book Blogs

About.com has a nice listing here of Children's Book Blogs (most very familiar). Today I braved the stores for the yearly Back-to-school Shopping. It wasn't too bad. I actually enjoy looking through aisles of pencils, pens, backpacks, binders, paper, erasers, scissors, notebooks, folders, glue-sticks and other essentials. It can be a bit addicting for an artist...there's always some new pen or funky folder, but I restrained myself and kept it to the kid's stuff. We've only just begun...still have to get that exPENsive calculator, (WHY do they think a middle schooler needs a fancy $100.00+ caculcator???) flash-drives, clothes, sneakers, gym uniforms...yikes......I am already weepy about school beginning soon.....

Harry Clarke's Marvelous Illustrations

Need Inspiration? Take a look at Nocloo's page of Harry Clarke's amazing black and white illustrations....

Old Friends

Here's a pastel painting I created years ago. These were my three favorite stuffed animal friends growing up. I still have them.

Pen and Ink of a Gazebo

I've been creating lots of illustrations, but can't post any yet, so I figured I'd post an old one. I'm yearning to do more pen and ink renderings of people and animals, children's illustrations rather than buildings. My favorite disposable rapidographs went out of stock....(Why does that always happen?) Maybe it's a good thing...it may force me to face my unreasonable fears of quill pens and return to them.

Library Thing Blog

Library Thing...I'm blogging it's blog again. The links, groups, books, cataloging system there are fantastic for book lovers. While I'm blogging, I'm listening to the wonderful CD of Bolivian Music played in a classical guitar style by Pirai Vaca...it's called Aires Indios....beautiful.

Go MediaZine

Check out the Go MediaZine. Lots of great design info and links there.

Art Swappers Blog

I just started a brand new blog called Art Swappers. It's a blog open for membership to artists of all types. The main point is for artists to be able to exhange their art for art from others. It's in the beginning phase right now, and all artists interested may email me for membership with a short bio. Once you are accepted, you may post a piece for exchange with someone else. Exchanges are done by the honor system, and are your responsibility to work out. Any glitches are also in your hands.
I'll work out the details and the bugs if they come, as they come...but for now...it's OPEN!
(I'll post a piece of my own later for exchange)
You can post anything you have created yourself from oil paintings to digital work or photography, prints, fabric art, jewelry, sculpture, quilts, sketches, etc.
All copyrights are retained by the artist who created the piece of course.

A Bit Off-Topic...but Micro-enterprises

OK..it's off -topic to children's illustration, (although at times I feel like I could use some micro-enterprise donations to my own cause as an illustrator), but here are two Micro-enterprises that do a fantastic job. I've heard of Opportunity International and know that it is a reputable and amazing organization. I'd love to give to them some day. The other one I found this afternoon is Kiva. Both of these organizations make it possible to change someone's life for the better in a profound, instant manner, without costing a huge amount of money.

I got started thinking about this again due to a newsletter called PND...Philathropy News Digest. There was an article about the Getty Museum promising to return 40 antiquities to Italy...which got me looking at some links and things and finding a book called A Billion Bootstraps, Microcredit, Barefoot Banking and The Business Solution for Ending Poverty, byPhilip Smith and Eric Thurman.

It's on my wish-list now.

Come to think of it...these things really aren't off-topic when it comes to kids...I think I feel a story idea coming on right now....

Crayonville...A New Marketing Company

Crayonville...A new marketing company. What can I say..the name got to me. Check the links. There is a lot here to look into just to see the trends going on in marketing and the world.

Potato Head Transformers: Optimash Prime

I couldn't resist posting this. It's just too funny. I want one.

Reading Is Fundamental and Macy's Team up for Kids

RIF and Macy's are teaming up in a program called Be One For The Books to help kids who can't afford books to be able to receive books.
Donate $3 for RIF, Get a SavingsPass for $10 off a $50 Purchase at Macy's*, and Help Children Discover the Joy of Reading.

Taking Time at the Beach

I've been away at the beach. It's a dream here....warm water, soft sand and time resting with my husband and kids. There've been some adventures. Suffice it to say, investing in some water/beach shoes is a must at the beach. My son cut his foot on something the first day in, causing us to need to visit a local medical center for X-rays, and time cleaning it. It wasn't deep, which was a blessing, but the cut needed to be kept from the water for 2 days so that it could heal.

The second day my other son was stung by a jellyfish in several places on his leg and hands. He's got good antibodies though. In between these adventures we've had a blast though. Perfect sunny weather and wonderful waves for boarding on. We're all sunbaked and blessed.