Moving Monster-Revised

I decided to redo my moving monster piece, you can find the first attempt here. Thanks to all the feedback here and over on flickr, I was able to see what was missing. Here's what I came up with now:

Here was the "before":

Now that I look at it, The "before" looks more like a sketch. I'm glad I was willing to push it a little further, thanks to all the encouragement. I feel alot better. Whew! :-)

Sketches at The Apple and The Egg

Some of my random doodles and sketches are featured over at The Apple & The Egg! Thanks to Nikalas Catlow for the invitation. Funny how I just mentioned this children's book illlustration and design blog in a recent post...really love all visual goodness going on over there (and not just because I'm in it now.)
I've really taken to using Molskines now as sketch books ever since I received one as a gift. I think I'm on my third or fourth one now.

To see more sketches, go here. Happy Monday!

New Chickengirl Design Stamps: Monsters and Halloween!

Halloween is just around the corner and I'm celebrating another 2 set releases from the Chicken Girl Design stamp line over at I {heart} Papers!

Let me introduce to you Silly Monsters:

and Happy Halloween:
They are wonderful polymer stamps made in the USA:

I would love to show some fun projects using these stamps some time. For now, I have a fabulous design team whipping up some wonderful things, check them out:

Lori
Meredith
Natasha
Shelly
Kate
Shannon
Judy
Tammy
Kendra
Loretta

I'm quite excited about Halloween this year because I just might get some trick or treaters!! When I lived in New York, I was quite fascinated by the fact that kids went to the stores to go trick or treating instead. I never had anyone knock on my door (or was it because I was out and about?) Now that I live in a house in a small town, I'm looking forward to the kiddies. Signs of old age, maybe!?!

Have a good week, everyone! And oh yeah, hope over and check out my stamp line, ok?

How Long Does It Take You to Make an Illustration?

How long do you think it took me to do this sketch?

How long do you think it took me to color it?

(spread from The Haunted Ghoul Bus)

Over at Illustration for Kids, we talk about how long it takes us to make an illustration at our blog. Join us!

Moving Postcard-Another Idea

I ended up going with another idea for my moving postcard. This is what I came up with (and printed). But after a few days of thinking about my previous idea though, I want to give the "moving monster" another shot. I received some great feedback to make it better. But since I really should be getting a promo out, this will be mailed out.
Alot of promotion and marketing plans are floating in my mind lately. Personal projects are brewing too. Perhaps my muse did move with me to Ann Arbor...she was just on another flight! :-)