Beach

Our Beach themed mailer over at Illustration for Kids is hitting publishers this week!

The Great Christmas Crisis

A fun package arrived at my new doorstep with an advance copy of The Great Christmas Crisis, coming this Fall from Sterling Kids, written by Kim Norman, illustrated by yours truly. There will be more fun posts about it, but I can't wait till it comes out October 2nd! Order your advance copy on Amazon, BN, or your local indie bookstore.

Muddle London- Spotted!

I wanted to post this in honor of the Olympics opening day in London!

My friend and talented illustrator Anette Heiberg spotted the book I illustrated, Muddle London at Waterstones in London a few months ago. Thanks Anette! Its nice to have friends around the world looking out for me :-)

As for the move, we are still in transition, staying for a few days in Philly at my parents while we wait for our stuff to arrive in Boston. Hoping to get there by the end of this week. I'm itching to get there so we can get settled. But in the meanwhile, I'm hoping to relax a bit before things get crazy again.

Farewell, Ann Arbor

I have been thinking about this post for quite sometime. All the things I have to mention. Its been 3 years since I left New York City  and moved here to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I knew our stay here was temporary but it is still very bittersweet now that its finally come to an end. It really did take me this long to adjust to living in the midwest, finding "my people," making connections. To do all that, and then having to pick up and leave, is hard and a little sad.

But this will not be a sad post! Since now I'm looking back at the 3 years and can only see all the wonderful things that I would of never experienced if I still lived in New York. I even wrote a comic about it, called If You Lived Here (you can read it in its entirety here.) I've mostly gotten great feedback from many people who shared the same kind of experience. I am glad I was able to be brutally honest at times and a little self deprecating. BUT I also want to say that it did not represent my entire experience here. It was a snippet and there is so much more to the story.

I've met so many people and they've all genuinely touched me in ways they will probably never know. I can not mention them all, but 2 great art communities I would like to give a shout out to:

The Comic Artists Forum at the AADL- Jerzy Drozd, Sharon Iverson, Jono Balliet, Chad Sell and Denver Brubaker. If I had never shown up at the Comics Fundamentals class 2 summers ago, I wonder how different my stay in Ann Arbor would of been. Through there I've met many many other comic artists. It revived my love for the art form.

And a shout to Blue House Ann Arbor-even though this place no longer exists, thank you for opening it, Siobhan. I got the chance to know alot of fun crafters through there, do craft shows, and to mentor kids.

I will miss having lunch with these two talented illustrators- Fran Mason and Nicole Ray.

And most of all, Ann Arbor will always be a special place in my heart, because of this nugget.

And we are off to...Boston! We will only be there for a year... and then who knows? Thanks for the memories, Ann Arbor. I'm off to my next adventure.

Kids Read Comics! July 7 & 8, 2012

poster art by Raina Telgemeier

Its less than a month away before the move to Boston, so I'm glad I will get a chance to participate in this before I leave. I'll have a table at Kids Read Comics! sharing my comics, picture books, and more. It will be at the Ann Arbor District Library this weekend, July 7 & 8, 2012. You can read more about the event here. I'll also be doing some fun stuff:

The World in Vector- A look into Adobe Illustrator 

SATURDAY 7/7- Computer Lab 3:00-4:00pm

SUNDAY - 7/8- Computer Lab 3:00-4:00pm

Quick Draw! with the talented Dani Jones

SATURDAY 7/7 at 826 Michigan (115 East Liberty Street  Ann Arbor, MI 48104) at 11:15-11:45am

Hope to see you there!

New Postcard

Got some new postcards today with one of my favorite personal pieces.

Changes

Miss Lilia, aka Nuggie, almost 6 months old

I can not believe my little Nugget is almost 6 months old. Its very strange to imagine life without her. Its been a struggle trying to balance work and taking care of her. Time is very limited so I can only take on so many projects, which is very different than what I'm use to. And being a freelancer, its hard to say no. But I know I need to enjoy the time I have with this little Nugget- she is already growing up so fast. Those smiles are finally coming and she has been very generous with them lately!

As if there were not enough changes in my life already- we are moving to Boston next month. My husband will be a visiting professor at Boston College for a year, so we will be back in the east coast! I'm happy about that since we'll be alot closer to family. But I will miss Ann Arbor. Another official post on that later.

So we are packing up right now and looking forward to our next adventure.

High Five Magazine- July issue

 

I have an illustration in the July issue of High Five magazine. This was one of my last illo jobs before Miss Lilia was born, so I remember this fondly. It gave me a burst of energy to work on this and I think a few weeks later I had her. Life has been different ever since. :-)

Battle at The Society of Illustrators retail shop!

 

I'm happy to say that my evil robot and super cat pins have a new place of battle- it is at the Society of Illustrators retail shop! I'm pretty excited about it since who knows when I'll get a chance to have my art in their gallery, but I'm glad evil robot and super cat will get to hang out there. They are on their way there now :-)

Fun Facts Puzzle- Under the Sea

I illustrated this puzzle for Silver Dolphin Books-it came out back in April but haven't gotten the chance to blog about it yet. It is a large floor puzzle with an under the sea theme with fun facts in the back of each piece.

Originally I had the colors like this, with a pink/peach ocean floor and yellow sky. I do prefer this version better, but it was changed to a more "realistic" color in the final version below.

You can get this puzzle on Amazon, Silver Dolphin, or your local store. Yay!

Postcard Printing Giveaway!

Things have been crazy busy here (I always seem to say that with every post, don't I?) But I'm popping up here because PrintRunner asked me if I can host a postcard printing giveaway. Nice to be giving out freebies! I'm always looking to print postcards and online printing companies to try out.

THE PRIZE: 100 5" x 7" POSTCARDS!

Colors: 4/0 Front Only Printing

Paper: 14 PT. UV Coating on Front,

Rounded Corners: Yes

Proof: None

Ready to Ship In: 4 Business Days

*Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. 

HOW TO ENTER:


-simply like my Facebook Fan page, Chickengirl Design, and leave a comment here on the blog below. That's it! Please make sure there is a way I can contact you via email. *This giveaway is now closed*

I will pick a winner randomly on May 24, 2012. Thanks to PrintRunner for providing this giveaway, I will get a set of postcards for hosting this. If you like, follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook. (completely optional.) Good luck everyone!

*Using Random.org, the winner is Maggie. Congrats!

MoCCA Art Fest 2012

Last weekend, it was my second year of doing the MoCCA Art Fest in NYC, sharing the table with my great partners-in-crime, Doreen Marts and Becky Munich. We had a great time last year so we decided to do it again! Being in Michigan, it was a great excuse to go back and see friends and family, and also to show off my little Nugget (who is 4 months old now, time is flying by!)

I basicly had the same stuff though, with Super Cat and Evil Robot pins back at it again with another battle. Evil Robot always prevails at MoCCA. Hmm.

 I did bring a couple of copies of Road Work Ahead for sale, and here is a signed copy. Enjoy the book, Griffin!

And of course it was great to see many folks there, including Casey G, Chad Sell, Mike Roll, Pat Lewis, and many others. Until next year!

Driver Dan's Story Train

© 2010 Story Train Distribution FZ-LLC

I got a fun opportunity to do art for television! This is art for the show Driver Dan's Story Train, which aired in mid-March on Cbeebies in the UK. It was interesting to work on art that had to consider panning of the camera, live action children interacting with the art, etc. My episode/story was Everyone Likes Bananas.

For those of you in the UK, you can watch the show online here. (*edit- the link no longer works. I will keep this link up in case its available again.) It is being blocked for me to see since I'm in the US. I so wish I can see it! It is suppose to air in the US on PBS Sprouts sometime in the future, so I will have to wait. 

Funny Faces: Pop-Up Board Books

I'm pleased I finally get a chance to show these off! They are a series of pop-up mask books published by Campbell Books. The spreads are masks with a little pop-up on each one.

Spread from Funny Faces: On the Farm   Modeled by my husband :-)

Spread from Funny Faces: On the Farm

Spread from Funny Faces: Fancy Dress    Modeled by yours truly. Hi there!

Spread from Funny Faces: Fancy Dress

So of course I had alot of fun with these! And seeing the final pop-up in the book was really satisfying. There will be two more books in this series coming in the fall- I can't wait to reveal those.

They are available on Amazon UK!

Road Work Ahead- School Market Edition

 
I recently got a copy of Road Work Ahead, Scholastic's school market edition. It makes me nostalgic since I use to work at Scholastic Book Clubs. I use to dream about having my books in the catalogs I use to design. So its a warm and fuzzy feeling to see that red Scholastic label on the cover.

Easter Stickers for Target

This weekend, I found my Easter stickers! This set is sold exclusively at Target, thanks to Peaceable Kingdom Press. I wish it was displayed at a better location, it was hiding in the back of the card section. But of course its always thrilling to find my art at a store, especially at a big one like Target.

Peek Inside-It's Easter Time!

I have a new book for Easter, titled Peek Inside-It's Easter Time! published by Running Press Kids. It is similar in format for the one I did for Halloween by the same author, Megan E. Bryant. It is a story/activity/sticker book all rolled into one.

You can get it on Amazon or your local indie bookstore. Happy Easter!

New Business Cards

I got some shiny new business cards from NextDayFlyers.com.

I'll be handing these out at MoCCA Art Fest, which is coming up April 28-29th. I finally booked my tickets and excited to be back in New York, but this time, with a baby in tow! I wish I had lots of new stuff to show but life can only allow me to do so much these days. But I'm still excited to see friends and family. I can't believe I haven't been back since July of last year. So much happened since then.

Sunny Farm- Sticker Set

This is a sticker set I did for Peaceable Kingdom Press. Can I get a "cluck cluck" for chicken stickers?

There are three play boards and three sheets of vinyl cling stickers. I'm always happy to draw anything farm related.

You can get buy it here!

They Draw and Cook- Grilled Cheese

(click to enlarge)

I have no idea how I found the time to do this. But over at They Draw and Cook, there is a contest featuring Kraft products, and the prize ain't so bad either. I love drawing food so it was a win-win. I still want to draw a kids' cook book. Hey publishers, are you out there? I would love to do my own except I'm a terrible cook! You can see the bigger version on the site here.

I noticed there is a theme in my work in which I draw alot of elephants and rabbits. They are my "go-to" animals, it seems. (oddly enough not much chickens lately?)