New website is LIVE!!!

Hello,
I just launched my new portfolio website suzannedelrizzo.com. I had a few glitches but I think is up and running now.
I was hoping to get it up yesterday but we've had a nasty bout of stomach flu on a rampage thru the house and all the kids have come down with it ON SEPARATE DAYS!!! So this website launch has had to wait.
I hope you will all take a second to read through the content, and check out all of my images and if you notice any typo.s or have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to share!
Thanks hubby for being patient when I was frustrated and tired, you are the best! But I think it was worth all the work!;)
If anyone is thinking of creating their own website I highly recommend the Headway WP theme. It really made it easy once I got the hang of it.
Enjoy! Let me know what you think!!

Fresh new look to match my new website!!

So this is the reason I have been so absent from my dear little blog lately.....I'm finally putting a proper website together.  Here is a sneak peek of my new portfolio website, well a screen shot of the top half of the "Home" page at least. I am so excited to share it with you all, but it isn't quite finished yet. I hope to launch it next week if all goes as planned!
We've had a case of the stomach flu hit the family so fingers crossed it doesn't make the rounds to all of us and slow down my momentum!
I am using the Headway theme from Wordpress and it has been tons of fun playing around with it.

I wanted to have the same look and feel on both my website and this blog. But since it looks a little more complicated  to make the switch from Blogger to WP, I've decided  to stay put and just match it up as best I can for the time being.
So I switched templates, customized it a bit by changing the background to my cool plasticine image, re-sized my cute header, and changed some fonts and colours and voila!
What do ya think?
I hope everyone will please check out my website once it goes live at suzannedelrizzo.com, and give lots of constructive crit.s and comments too.

It looks like Febuary is going to be a busy month with artwork that has been put on the back burner while I've been getting the website put together so I promise to have lots of artwork illustrations to show soon!:)

New Website Header

Well, I am busily working behind the scenes on my website. I know, I know, it is about time. This is something I have been wanting to start for a while as I feel it is imperative to have a portfolio website for clients and AD's to be able to check out your in a more professional setting. I have been wavering between the idea of hiring someone to design it or making it myself.
After much thought, I have decided to make it myself, even though I know it might take me 5 times longer than a designer and potentially take time away from my already squeezed "art time", but I think I have all the right tools to get the job done right (hopefully!).
I am a huge fan of Jonathan and Lea Woodward's  zero2illo website. I purchased their amazingly helpful 12 week challenge kit, which also has some fabulous video tutorials for setting up Wordpress, and the Headway
theme. I have been a very diligent little student studying these tutorials and basically trying to become as familiarized with Wordpress as I can. I admit it felt overwhelming at first as I felt like such a fish out of water, but now that I have been doing my research I feel more prepared and I know that if I have any silly questions or get stumped I have resources to get unstuck.
I am really excited to have full creative control over my website, as I have so many ideas ready to be realized.
I have been working on a new Header for my website. I want one that's not quite as big as the one I currently use on my blog. I plan to have the same header on each page of my site, that way AD's and clients have an easy reminder of who's site they are visiting and my contact info. is right at the top so they can jot it down.
I have incorporated the image of my little mousy into my header as she has become my brand mascot. To be consistent she is also in my Twitter background  and blog header too.
I played around with the background colours in the image above, which do you prefer? Right now I am leaning towards this:

I don't want it to be too dark and compete with the info on each page. I would love any feedback as always :)

Hoping for more snow tomorrow! The kiddies have been having a blast on their new mini-luges they got for Christmas and their zippy toboggans.

New Year, New Goals, New logo...

Instead of making a list or resolutions to achieve this year, I decided to choose a word or phrase( in my case) to follow. I noticed a few other illustrator/designer/creative people who's blogs I follow have opted to have a "word of the year", and I thought it was a grand idea!

So for 2011 my phrase is: Be brave, and go for it. Basically I plan to keep saying this to myself as a little mantra, whenever I feel like I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. Which...may be often, as I am a very shy person by nature, and I have always found it kinda difficult to put myself out there with out the fear of rejection.
I think many of us have this fear, and we need to just be brave, and go for it. Easier said than done I think. But I have come to realize that I need to embrace my fears. All that jittery, butterflies-in-the-stomach, what- if-this-doesn't-work-out fear, could also be deep rooted excitement  because I am finally realizing and following my dream career!
 I have to thank my wonderful hubby and family and friends for being the little nudge(read big shove) behind me, who cheer me on, and I also want to thank  Michelle Ward, a career coach extraordinaire . Although I have never had the pleasure of speaking with her in person, I have found her blog, especially  her Tough Question Tuesdays to be very insightful and helpful. Thanks Michelle!!

So to start off 2011, I am getting down to business and checking things off my list from last year-ekk.
I redesigned my logo. There is it up above this long post. I love it. I think it really shows my personality and is totally me.

I have joined Twitter. And boy is it fun! I followed along on the #kidlitart Thursday night 9pm twitter chat last night. why the heck I didn't do this sooner.... what a perfect networking tool to follow the "pulse" of Children's book illustration, and to meet many more in the industry.

I also joined SCBWI. I had joined CANSCAIP last year, and now I will have many more opportunities to gain insight and meet other illustrators and industry people.

I plan to enter some other illustration/art competitions too, more details on those to follow another day.
 
So I've been a busy girl these first weeks of January 2011. And I've got some momentum now to get the other stuff checked off from last years list...website..portfolio series...character study..facebook...
 I am proud of myself for being so proactive and brave. My mantra is working!

Now if I could just get to folding all that laundry that's been patiently waiting since I joined Twitter-hmmmmm

Free Desktop Calender Wallpaper for January 2011

(1680x1050), (1920x1200)

Happy New Year Everyone.

I thought it would be fun to start this brand new year with a little organization tool from me to you!  So I made this cute free January Desktop Calender Wallpaper for you to download! Just click on the screen resolution size you require under the image then right click on the image and select Set As Desktop.  The girls over at We Love To Illustrate for Children made some really awesome desktop calenders too. My kids are having fun picking which they want for a week then changing it up...well I couldn't decide on just one they were all to fun and cute!
Enjoy!

Big News!! I won 2nd place in the Toronto Star's Emerging Artist Contest!!

I am sooo excited to share with you my big news! A few weeks ago I submitted this plasticine illustration to the Toronto Star's Emerging Artists Contest, and to my delight I won 2nd place!!!! Weeehooooo!

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If you can get your hands on a copy of today's paper (yes that is Dec 24th) check out page A32. There you'll see the full article and both my 2nd place illustration and the 3rd place illustration (way to go Kyle Tonkens!!). I want to send out a big congratulations to the 1st place winner, Kelley Turgeon, who's gorgeous impressionistic Toronto Streetcar graces the front page! Way to go Kelley!!

If you don't have access to the paper version you can also see the top 10 on the Toronto Star's Cover Art Article, and Online Gallery, just scrolled down and click on the Related- Art Cover contest top 10.

The theme for this years contest was "Winter Holidays in Toronto". I decided I did not want to do the typical iconic image of Toronto like the CN tower, skyline or Nathan Phillip's Square, I wanted to capture something iconic but unique. So I decided on the Distillery District because of it's beautiful architecture, and heritage. It has become quite a little neighbourhood now, with many of the old building being converted into lofts. I wanted to show Toronto's diversity too, so I incorporated different enthnicities, ages, and  lots of fun holiday activities.

This was a really fun and technically challenging piece. I haven't tackled this type of architecture before and I am pleased it turned out the way I had hoped. As always feedback and critiques are always welcome and appreciated.

As this year comes to a close, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to pop over to my blog, and for leaving such thoughtful and heart-warming comments. I really appreciate the time you choose to spend here with me- Thank-you! :)

I hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas filled with happiness and laughter.

Big news to share on December 24th!!!

I've been bursting with excitement and jumping around my kitchen like a silly goofball for the past few days. I've got some amazing, knock-my-socks off, news to share with you guys...but I can't until Dec. 24th...all I can say for now is to ask you to pleeeeeease go out and get yourselves a copy of The Toronto Star (if you live in the Greater Toronto Area) or check out The Toronto Star's   website on Christmas Eve day...yes that's Dec. 24th. I will post about my awesome news that day too! I can't wait to share it with you all!!!
Now back to my happy dance...lalalalala :)