Woo hoo, I won!

Recently I entered a contest by Illustrator Cally Johnson-Isaacs for a signed copy of her 1st book "Elephantantrum" to celebrate the launch of the paperback edition. And guess what, I won! 

Here's what Amazon has to say about "Elephantantrum":

There's tears and tantrums in this humorous picture book about manners when Ellie is tired of playing with her toys. Ellie has everything, but she wants more. She wants an elephant. And she won't eat or sleep or brush her hair until she gets one! But when she finally gets her wish, the elephant decides to teach Ellie a thing or two about manners!

It sounds so fun! I can't wait to read it to my 5 yr old daughter; she loves books. Actually she'll probably read it to me as she's pretty much got the whole reading thing down.

I love Cally's illustrations. They're bright, vibrant, and make me smile. She has a unique mix of traditional and digital mediums. Originally an in-house illustrator for 6 years at Hallmark cards, Cally moved on to pursue her dream of becoming a children's book illustrator. That dream came true last year with her first illustrated book "Elephantantrum" by Gillian Shields. This year "Elephantantrum" is being re-released as a paperback. Her second illustrated book (also by Gillian Shields), was released in February called "That Dog!" She also currently does work for Penny Black, Inc.; they make everything from cards to scrapbook do-dads.

If you want to learn more about Cally I found a couple interviews by RWD Illustration, and Cupcakes for Clara. You can also see what she's up to at her Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. AND if you're so inclined she's part of a fabulous group of children's illustrators called We Love to Illustrate. Phew! She's a busy girl.

Illustration Friday - "Train"

"Train"

Here's a little sketch for Illustration Friday. I'm working on developing my children so I thought this wasn't half bad. I'm going to work on coloring this one and hopefully get it into my portfolio soon.

"Dragons Are Real"

Over the weekend I fortunately had enough spare time to swing by a local bookstore to catch a book signing "Dragons are Real" by local author Melinda Rabin and Illustrator Franklin O'Neal. I took the kids with me, but I think I enjoyed it more then them. My 5yr old was probably more excited about the cookies and punch. They were great to talk with and you can find out more about them here.

Dragons Are Real
"This first book in the Mad Maggie's Adventures series introduces Mad Maggie and her dragon Richard. They live a carefree life until one day a messenger comes to their little village and declares that dragons aren’t real. They decide to pack their bags and leave their home to go and see the king with the hope he will help them prove the messenger wrong.  Along the way they meet with bad weather and bad manners, but new friends come along and give them courage to continue. This story is about believing in yourself and never giving up even when met with adversity."

Illustration Friday Submission "Wild"

It's been awhile since I submitted anything for Illustration Friday, but here it is. Just a fun little piece of animals gone wild. I don't know why I picked a tiger and a dog...I just felt like drawing them I guess. Anyways it's fun to just draw whatever comes to mind with the IF project and gets my creativity going. I wonder where these two are going...?

Happy New Year!!

Well another year has come and gone; 2012 was a great! The highlight of the year was the birth of my son in April and it seems like since then time started going in fast forward. My son will be 1 in a few months and my daughter is turning 6 in August.

My second highlight: Last September I started working towards becoming a Children's Illustrator. Illustration is something I've always been interested in, but felt that I just didn't have the time to devote to it. I thought it was something I could get into after I retired. But I just couldn't wait! I had an ever growing passion to do something more with my life.

Then I googled "How to become an illustrator"… Boom! First hit was Holli Conger's blog "Becoming an Illustrator". Talk about inspirational! Here was this woman with a full time job and a new baby trying to do the same thing! She found the time to work on her portfolio, market her work and deal with everything else that comes along with being a mother. I had to find a way too…

So I did.  When the kids go to bed I stay up for 3-4 hours working on my portfolio. I wake up early to create and update my website. I use my lunchtime at work to write blog posts (I'm doing that right now in fact.)

It has been 4 months now since I made that decision. I now have a Facebook page, Twitter Feed (with over a hundred followers, yay!), website, and blog. Not too bad for someone who only has about 20 hrs a week to work on them.

2013 here I come!

I completely understand that my road is a very long one. I don't have as much time as I'd like to work on my portfolio or update my website. I need to make postcards and marketing materials to get my name out there. It may take longer than a year to get work, but I'm in this for the long haul.

My goals for 2013:
Strenghthen my brand - Design a logo, redesign my website, redesign my blog
Join SCBWI (Doing this today!)
Go to Regional SCBWI in Syracuse (planning for March)
Save money to go to the Winter or Summer International SCBWI in 2014 (NYC or LA)
Complete a consultation with Holli Conger (planning for April/May)
Strenghen my portfolio (currently working on this…OK, always working on this)
With a stronger portfolio I'll join the Children's Illustrator.com portfolio site
And if I'm really ambitious, I'll create an Etsy site. (This is really an extra goal so if I don't get to it, it'll be OK)

Well, I've got an exciting year ahead of me! I guess I'd better get to work…

What do you have planned for the new year?? New projects? New resolutions?
I'm always happy to hear from you!!