It's TOO hot!!!!! Enough already!

We have been in the middle of a heat wave for much too long in Missouri!! I am SO ready for a nice cool breeze! This is a sketch from my sketchbook...I guess I've been dreaming of a nice cool breeze...wouldn't that be wonderful?! It is 6:45 p.m. and 100 degrees! Yuck!! I feel so badley for those who have to work outside in this! I am very blessed to get to work indoors in the AC!

Hey! I think I hear the faint noise of thunder in the distance! Maybe there is relief in sight! :)

More wonderful cards using my stamp designs

Here are some more wonderful card designs created by the talented Kerry Urbatch. She wrote the most touching post about some of my new licensed stamp designs that I created for the Angel Company.

I am so thrilled that my illustrations are being enjoyed and used by these wonderfully talented and  creative folks. It is an honor to have my stamp designs being used in such wonderful ways. This is exactly why artists do what they do...to hopefully evoke some emotion with their art and to bring joy somehow.

The lovely top card was featured in the Angel Company catalog but I also love the black and white card with it's clean, classic design! Thanks Kerry, for making my Brandy and Emma look so good! :)

Our book is now available as an ebook!!

My husband and I recently got the rights back from a book we did together back in 2006 that has gone out of print. It's now available at Barnes and Noble as an ebook. Check it out!

Sorry for all the cross posting on facebook and twitter but as you can tell, I'm pretty stoked about it. :O)

What a great mail week!

I always look forward to the mail every day but this week has been especially fun! I know I've blogged about this already but just wanted to share again because it's so much fun to see all our hard work as artists finally come to fruition.

As illustrators, we often have to wait for months and sometimes years to finally see the final product come about. So when that big box of books comes or that magazine arrives in the mail, it always feels like Christmas!

This week the mail brought a few copies of the Ideal's Publications(a Guidepost imprint) catalog where my illustration from a book I did for them was featured on the cover. What an honor! I also received the catalog and rubber stamps I designed for the Angel Company as well.

Working on both projects were a true blessing! I LOVE my job! :O)

Illustration Friday - Stay

Brandy, the dog taught Emma how to "stay". This is one of my new licensed images for rubber stamps. For more info read this post.

Christmas in July...for the rubber stampers out there

When I originally created this illustration, I had no idea it would eventually become a rubber stamp design but thanks to The Angel Company, it is! :) This is the original watercolor painting but you can now get the stamp and color it however your heart desires!

 

To order just click on this link and enter your zip code for the angel
rep nearest you.

A cover...yay!!

A friend alerted me to the fact that my art is featured on the cover of the Fall 2011 Ideals Publications Catalog. It is a piece of art from a book I did which is shown on page 11 of the catalog .

I haven't gotten the actual printed catalog but here is the online version.

A big thank you to Paige Keiser for sharing this client's info with me! They were a dream to work for! :)

More Stamp news!

I hope you all don't tire of me sharing my excitement over my new licensed stamp sets with The Angel Company! Here are some of the pages from their newest catalog.

If you would like to purchase any of these just find an Angel nearest you at this link and then insert your zip code.

Another cute card using my "Brandy and Emma" stamp design!

I just found this wonderful card designer who used another one of my new stamp designs featured in The Angel Company's new catalog. She blogged about the new stamp sets here .

It's so much fun to see how people use them to create wonderful cards!

To purchase the new rubber stamps contact and angel nearest you!

Illustration Friday - "Midsummer Night"

For Illustration Friday - "Midsummer Night" from a book I illustrated due out in October.

Brandy lives on in stamps :)

I already posted about this earlier but I just found this cute card created with my stamp design by this talented Angel Company consultant. The Angel Company  catalogs start shipping today!

My beloved dog Brandy lives on in stamp designs! Brandy is featured in several other sets along with her sidekick Emma, modeled after my daughter Emily.

If interested in purchasing be sure to contact an angel nearest you! :)

Summer Solstice

Happy Summer to everyone! My sweet sister brought me this bouquet last night. I LOVE hydrangeas so much!!!

Ok, back to sketching! I'll post something soon...just can't share at the moment. :)

Packaging is key...keylime ;)

I just love the way Piperlime packs their items with such great attention to detail... I ordered some sandals. Free shipping and returns to boot so their is no risk to order online! Just how cute is this?

Of course I also love everything having to do with lime! The color, the fruit and key lime pie, too! :)

Here are the sandals...but don't laugh at my ugly feet! Artists can't really afford pedicures!! ;)

Ok, back to sketching my next picture book for tiger tales!

Designing rubber stamps

I have been designing rubber stamps for The Angel Company for a few years now but I am super excited about some new sets that will be coming out in their new catalog in late June. Many of the stamp designs were inspired by my beloved pet, Brandy. Here is a sneak peek from a guest card designer.

Here is the original painting of this design that I did several years ago.

Asleep - Illustration Friday

This week's Illustration Friday's topic is "Asleep". This is art from an upcoming book to be published in Sept. titled My Big Book of Prayers.

Christmas in May

Here's another peek of the picture book I am working on at the moment. Listening to Christmas music on Pandora as I paint to get into the zone.

Wet-in-wet watercolor technique

I have been doing a lot of wet-in-wet watercolor technique on the new book I'm painting. It's a big challenge but fun. There are moments I feel totally out of control but it's also exhilarating to not know what the outcome will be. Talk about letting go! Which is completely new for me but I am really enjoying it.

painting...

I am painting away on a new project. I will reveal more in late June...but let's just say I am listening to Christmas music while working on it. Here's a sneak peek.

Messy studio and sleeping studio companion included. ;)

Shhh! Spring is here!

Shhh! Spring is here! Maybe, if we don't say it out loud, Spring will stay! It has been a LONG Winter and it seems at least for the moment that warm weather is here at last! Here are a few photos I took in my yard, today.

Quentin Blake - The power of illustration