Holli Conger's Illustrations Tips and a Giveaway!

I wanted to pass along an awesome draw! If you hurry, pop on over to Holli Conger's blog, and leave a comment or blog post, tweet, FB mention etc. to earn a spot in her fantabulous draw for a chance to win  a

3 month marketing consultation! That's right you heard me, you get a chance to bounce marketing ideas around and learn from Holli herself! I know how great would that be?!! And for this wonderful month of December yes every single day in December, Holli is posting her thoughts on a different illustration topic. So far they have been little golden nuggets of wisdom. I can't wait to see what awaits for the rest of the month. Thanks so much for sharing Holli!

They Draw and Cook Feature

HI Everyone,
Yesterday my recipe for Christmas Tree Cupcake " Cake" was featured on They Draw and Cook. I didn't win favorite recipe of the day(bummer), but after seeing the adorable recipe sent by Wilma Sanchez, I don't mind..she totally rocked it! Her Forest Spice Cake  was so adorable and looked very yummy. Congrats Wilma!

I have been rather neglecting my blog as of late...sorry dear bloggyblog. I have been busy working on a piece for a Holiday themed contest and finally submitted it today- pheeewww. The deadline is tomorrow so I was getting really worried it wouldn't get finished on time. But after 3 late nighters in a row I managed to pull it off.
I wish I could show you guys the illustration, but I don't want to risk being disqualified for posting it here. So once they announce the winners, I'll fill you in more.

I hope everyones Christmas shopping, baking and festive gearing-up is going well, pheww... this is such a hectic time of year.  I am really looking forward to some quality time once the kiddies are off of school. Hopefully we'll get some snow. Areas just to our West, North and East got a humongous dumping of snow last week but we barely got a sprinkle. :( My hubby says to stop complaining as I'm not the one who does the shovelling- heehee

I do love a white Christmas.

My submission for "They Draw & Cook Holiday Recipe Contest"

I just love the illustration/recipe blog They Draw and Cook. It is such a fun idea! And I find it not only has some fabulously yummy recipes served up, but the illustrations of those recipes are just so amazing and so varied that it really gets the creativity flowing and serves as some awesome inspiration!

 I was over on it the other day and noticed that they are holding a fun Holiday Recipe Contest. I thought, since I hadn't had a chance to send in a submission yet, that this would be the perfect time to do so, and the top winners could be featured on the Food Networks blog The FN dish. Well how is that for some great exposure! Count me in, it sounds fun, and the top 4 winners could even win some cash too-bonus!

Above is my submission. I even did the lettering in plasticine for a fun touch. What do you think?

I actually made 2 of these cupcake "cakes" for my kiddies classes 2 year ago. Here is a picture of one of them. Even the angel on top is edible(gum paste).

 As some of you know my children have various anaphylactic food allergies to milk, egg and nuts, so this is a recipe I have adapted that has become a staple in our house for birthday parties and anytime the kids need cake or cupcakes that are safe and yummy.

I thought it would be the perfect festive recipe for contest. If anyone wants to try it out yourselves for your kiddies, and have any questions please feel free to contact me, I can elaborate on the process if needed.

Now I'm in the mood to start my Christmas baking- yuuuuummm.

My tools and yummy plasticine colours

I have been feeling under the weather for a few days, and felt like I had been neglecting my poor blog. I wanted to reorganize my plasticine and thought it would be a good chance to snap a few fun shots of all my yummy colours. I just love seeing how other artists/illustrators organize their art supplies...such eye candy. I thought, since I was tidying up a bit, I would also take a second to organize my gazillion tools for a fun photo as well.   They're usually stored in a tall container all shoved in together so I can paw through em' and grab what I need quickly. Don't they looked so glorious all lined up and pretty??

 OK I know, they are just art supplies, but they make me happy. tee hee :)

 I was even lucky enough to take a trip (solo!!!!lalalala) to my favorite art supply store Deserres yesterday. And to my delight they reorganized the entire shop so I had to meander down every isle to see what goodies they had to offer.

Anyway it helped me feel a little less sick, and put a little spring into my step.
Have a good weekend, and I hope your family isn't coming down with whatever yuckiness we contracted-bleach!

What I'm working on...

I have been working on a new plasticine illustration piece inspired by the glorious fall colours we are so lucky to enjoy here in Ontario Canada. I wanted to do a piece that depicted the beautiful red/orange colour palette of our fall foliage in a rural setting. Just like something you'd encounter on a drive along a country road up north.  So far I have the background and middleground started. It will be a surprise what fun, playful ideas I have for the foreground. You will have to pop by again in a few days to see it completed and find out!
I have posted a series of images below to show my process- Enjoy!

I promise to have lots of action and movement in the foreground, so please do pop by again to see the finished illustration!!

Halloween Cupcakes to Scare you Hungry!

Here are 2 of the 3 Halloween cupcake "cakes" I made for my sons classes, for their Halloween parties. Sorry for teeny pictures and poor quality, I was up super late and I just took quick photos with my Blackberry as an after thought. I actually forgot to take a photo of my 3rd cupcake cake?? Opps. It was of a haunted house with ghosts escaping out the windows. Nothing too scary as this was for my youngest son's Kindergarten class and I didn't want to traumatize any unsuspecting kiddies. ;) Hopefully my son's teacher will take a photo and I can post it another day.

These 2 shown above, were for my 7 yr.old and 9 yr. old sons. So I figured I could go all out in the "ewwwww gross" department! Heehee. Considering cupcakes are so roley poley and present such an uneven surface, I think both design turned out pretty well. Thank goodness decaying bandages and werewolf fur are very forgiving with whatever uneven surface lies beneath.

And it was sooooo worth it to see the excitement on my kiddies faces. I know how hard it is for them to have severe food allergies and not be able to ever eat the birthday cakes, or treats at their friends parties. Halloween is especially difficult for my middle son who is severely allergic to dairy. NO chocolate(or hardly any treats for that matter) that he gets during his trick-or-treating  can be safely eaten. My 1st and 3rd sons have anaphylactic allergies to all nuts and eggs, so they can't safely eat much either. Honestly the trick-or-treating stresses me out every year. But I think I now have them well trained to wait until we go through their bags together before diving in to sample their candy. So... this is my little way of making them feel included and to make something that is perfectly safe for all food allergies kiddies to enjoy together.

 I am really lucky to have this amazing cookbook called What's to Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook by Linda Marienhoff Coss. It has so many great recipes that have the taste and texture of everyday baking and cooking. NO hockey puck muffins here! If you know of anyone who has anaphylactic allergies to food, I highly recommend this cookbook. I've tried to many over the years, and this is by far the best!

Happy Halloween everyone!!! :)

Illustration Friday- "Racing"

The furry friends were racing back home with their acorn treats.

I created this plasticine illustration for my critique group Creative Cup  and I thought it would be fitting for this week's theme racing  for Illustration Friday. If you get a chance please pop over to my critique group's blog, as we have been posting our interpretation of cup for this month's challenge.  It is so cool to see everyone's take on the theme. Everyone has such a unique style and such talent. It really gives some great, fresh perspective and inspiration :)

My 3 boys are really into creating contraptions out of everyday stuff and pieces of wood. So far they have built a tank at their Nonno's house and I think they want to try a submarine next??. They love watching the Re-inventors on TV. It is so great to see them stretch their imagination and work together as a team to problem solve and work to build something new. Anyway, I was inspired by them, that I thought it would be fun to have a contraption in this illustration too.
So after a bunch of sketches I came up with this silly nut-collector/wagon contraption for these two furry friends. I had a lot of fun making the old, cracked teacup, sardine tin, and even the Tinkertoy wagon wheels. Did I just really date myself by mentioning Tinkertoys?? Hopefully some of you remember those awesome building pieces-ahhh memories of the cottage when I was itty-bitty...sigh :)

We have a busy week with Halloween coming up on Sunday. I volunteered to make cupcakes for my 3 boys classrooms since they all have severe food allergies, and it is just the safest way to go. So I will be up to my eyeballs in cupcakes by Friday! I have to make around 90...wish me luck! I will post some pictures of them if they turn out ok. I like to treat the tops like a cake and hope todo something eerie and gross on top-heehee. I'm hoping to make a haunted house for the S.K class, a mummy/zombie for the grade 2 class, and a werewolf for the grade 4 class.