February 2012 Desktop Calendar is here!

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I don't know about you, but the first month of 2012 flew by like a whirlwind. Maybe it was the combination of crazy hockey schedules(for my 3 oldest boys), plus landing my first picture book contract, in conjunction with the daily hustle and bustle of having 4 busy kids. But I don't mind, the busier I am the more I seem to get accomplished.
I thought for this month's desktop calendar I would use a new favorite image that I created for this year's SCBWI Tomie dePaula award submission. I had a blast creating this illustration. Who knew fowl and feathers would be so much fun to create in plasticine? I thought my lovey-dovey couple, Cocky Locky "cool-man" rooster and his swooning hen, Miss Henny Penny would be the perfect couple to feature.

To download this calendar simply click on your screen resolution link under the above image, then right click and select "set as desktop background". Easy peasy.
Cheers to a Happy Valentine's Day!
I hope you all have a fun, productive, and happy February. :)

Featured on Miss Marple's Musings Blog by Joanna Marple

I was asked by my new 12x12 FB challenge friend Joanna Marple, if I'd like to be interviewed for her blog feature "Interview Wednesday"  featuring up-and-coming illustrators.
Joanna's blog features book reviews and reflections from across the cultures, interviews, and resources for parents and educators.  Well of course I jumped at the chance, answering with a big resounding SURE!! I was very honoured to have been asked and  I had a blast answering Joanna's great interview questions. Please visit her blog and check out my interview at Miss Marple's Musings.
Thanks so much Joanna for the interview, and I look forward to getting to know you  through the 12x12 challenge. :)

BIG NEWS!!! I will be illustrating my first Picture Book!

 I can now officially announce my BIG news! I am going to be illustrating my first Picture Book, "Skink on the Brink" by Lisa Dalrymple, published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, due out Spring 2013. Holy Moly, can you believe it, every time I say it I start doing my happy dance again! I feel like I am going the burst, I am so incredibly excited! I had the pleasure of visiting Christie Harkin and Cathy Sandusky at Fitzhenry & Whiteside yesterday. My editor(ok how fun is that to say?!!) Christie Harkin gave me the o.k to give you all a sneak peek of one of the preliminary illustrations.  I used plasticine of course and tried painting Stewy with acrylic gloss to give his skin a glisten.
So let me introduce you to.....drum roll please.....Stewy the skink. He might be teeny tiny, but he has a larger than life personality that I an so excited to illustrate and share with the world. Lisa wrote an amazing manuscript, that immediately pulls you in. I know you will  fall totally in love with this little guy just as I did. So mark you calendars  for "Skink on the Brink's" release date for the Spring of 2013.
Lisa also has another book in the works called " If It's No Trouble...A Big Polar Bear" coming out with Tuckamore Books in Sept. 2012.

I hope to post a bit about the process of illustrating a picture book as I go(after the ok of course) to document the whole wonderful journey.
Maybe there will be the occasional photo of Stewy too- another sneak peek from time to time. ;)

 Back to my happy dance :)...Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy New Year! January 2012 Desktop Calendar is here!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all have had a great Christmas and holiday season so far. I am very excited to see what new and exciting opportunities come our way in 2012 and I hope you are too. Here is my January 2012 desktop calendar as my gift to you for all you support and friendship over this past year- Thank-you so much! To download this desktop calendar simply click on the preferred screen resolution link, right click, then select "set as background".
 I have met so many wonderful and talented illustrators and Children's Book industry people through SCBWI, CANSCAIP, FB and twitter and  I hope to meet you guys in person at a conference one day soon. Reflecting on the past year makes me a little emotional as I reflect on the supportive, and encouraging relationships I have with so many wonderful people. I am so very thankful to all my family and friends for enriching my life, I love you all :)

Wishing you all a very productive, and happy 2012!!

SCBWI 2012 Tomie dePaola award submission

Here is my submission for this year's SCBWI 2012 Tomie dePaola Illustrator award.  It was created using plasticine and I used polymer clay for the metallic effects. I wanted it to be rich with lots of yummy textures, and details. This year Tomie selected  this passage  from P.C Asbjornsen's "Chicken Licken":

 So they went along and went along until they met Turkey Lurkey

“Good morning, Goosey Loosey, Ducky Daddles, Cocky Locky, Henny Penny,

and Chicken Licken,” said Turkey Lurkey, “where are you going?”

“Oh, Turkey Lurkey, the sky is falling and we are going to tell the King!”

"How do you know the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.

“Ducky Daddles told me,” said Goosey Loosey.

“Cocky Locky told me,” said Ducky Daddles.

“Henny Penny told me,” said Cocky Locky.

“Chicken Licken told me,” said Henny Penny

“I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears,

and a piece of it fell on my tail!” said Chicken Licken.

“Then I will go with you,” said Turkey Lurkey, “and we will tell the King!”

I am so excited to see all of the wonderful interpretations submitted by my fellow entrants!

If you'd like to see some of the submissions head over to the Unofficial Tomie dePaola award submissions blog. A big thank-you goes out to Diandra Mae, for setting up the blog and taking the time to put it all together over the holidays!  Good luck to all who entered, I can't wait to see who Tomie selects as this years winner.  The illustrations are all so wonderfully unique, Tomie has a very tough job this year.

To see the othe amazing submissions just click on the big acorn on the right to go to the Unofficial blog!

 

Best of luck everyone! Fingers crossed!!

December Desktop Calendar is here!

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We had our first snow of the season this morning. It was wet and messy, not very fluffy and pretty, but snow never the less.  Time to put on the snow tires!
And as tomorrow is the 1st of December, I thought it would be the perfect time to post my free desktop calendar. Consider it an early Christmas present :)
I showed this image previously, as it was one of a few I created to go into my winter promotional mailer packets. I am waiting patiently for my Moo shipment to arrive, full of all of my goodies; business card sized gift tags, stickers, and postcards....Eeeeeeee, I can't wait to crack open that package and see how they turned out!

 As always just click on the appropriate screen resolution size link below the calender and right click to set as background, or save to desktop.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it....doesn't it make you want to go out and hit the toboggan slopes....fingers crossed we get a white winter. While I am wishing, can I also wish for a magical snow shoveling elf to accompany the snow...that one is for hubby :)

Busy behind the scenes

It has been a few weeks since I have paid attention to my cute little blog,. sorry blog. I have been busy behind the scenes after attending my first CANSCAIP Packaging your Imagination Conference, getting my winter promotional material created, prepared and ordered. I am pleased to say that as of last night it has been ordered and hopefully will arrive in a few weeks to be lovingly packaged and sent out to all of my dream publishing houses. I liked my idea to include a little take away gift(bookmark) in my last mailer, so this time I thought, for the festive season, I'd create some rounded corner business cards that I could turn into gift tags by punching a little corner hole and attaching some festive ribbon. I also created rounded corner rectangular stickers from the same images to be used as gift labels....hopefully they will make their way onto someones holiday gifts. 

I ordered a few extra so if anyone would like a few to use this holiday season drop me a line with your address and I'll send them out. Maybe closer to Christmas I will make a printable PDF so you can even print them off on your own computer to use? I'm liking that idea too.

When my postcards and extra goodies arrive from Moo I'll be sure to take a photo and post it, to share in my glee. :)

Stay warm everyone, winter is here, and it's time to crack out the winter coats and toques! :)