Babies everywhere

Thought I would share these pix I took walking around my neighborhood. See you mid - June for back to back giveaways.

Beautiful Life

I found out last week that I won this poster from Nate Williams, one of my favorite illustrators. He also runs an illustration portfolio site, Illustration Mundo. I discovered Nate's work a few years back and his blog where he talks about his love of South America, his family, and his creative work.

The beauty of life is a theme in his work and this poster give away was in honor of his mother. I love how he describes his mom and I can only hope that as a mom I have given my own son the same sense of tackling his life with the curious and positive energy that Nate possesses. He describes his mom as giving him the tools that one needs to be able to live a full life which includes exploring and falling in love with another country and ultimately living abroad and immersing himself in a foreign culture.

I am about to head out to celebrate my son's graduation from college - he is an awesome kid, but of course, he is my son - hee hee. But if one can be objective, well, probably I can't, but let me just say, he demonstrates a huge heart for those around him and of all the things he does and all that he has accomplished, I am most proud of that. He is graduating with Honors from one of the most difficult colleges and was nominated the class poet - well I have to be a little bit of a proud mama. So it is going to be a huge event for us. After he graduates, he is going back to SE Asia, an area he fell in love with when he studied his junior year abroad there. He, like Nate, fell in love with a country, its people - food - language - and is going back to immerse himself in that culture and grow and learn and explore.



When I hang Nate's beautiful artwork up, it will remind me of all that I hope I have given my son to be able to head out in the world and celebrate his "Beautiful Life".

Nate was kind enough to feature me on Illustration Mundo's Spotlight. Check it out and feel free to leave a comment about the feature. Thanks N8, for your inspiration, your beautiful artwork, and your kindness.

I will be taking a little blog break until after the graduation - check back mid June for some fabric giveaways.

My Books Arrived

My copies of "What Do You See?" arrived on Friday. It is so exciting to open up a box of samples of work that you put your heart and soul into. There is a lot to be said about letting go too. The finished product is always a little surprising, even though you mostly know what to expect. 2D turns to 3D, your vision melds together with an art director's and editor's visions, and words flesh out your illustrations and give them a whole new meaning.

Thanks for taking a look, hope you enjoy this book:)

Fabric Panels in Shop

Just wanted to let you know I put the fabric panels in my Etsy shop. Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. Yay for long weekends.

More Fabric Panels

My Spoonflower fabric panels came today, the colors and textures are fabulous. These are now for sale in my shop. I also have the art prints for sale in the shop as well.

I Likey

Do you likey too?

Abbot and Ellwood's metals





Milton Avery's paintings




Hilke Macintyre's prints



Rob Ryan's cut outs

Warm yummy colors

Just loved how these flowers turned:





My quilt came last week, haven't had a minute to photograph it, but finally got around to it and wanted to share. I love how the colors worked out on this quilt, so warm and yummy.

"What Do You See?"

I am so excited about the release of "What Do You See?" by Little Green, a division of Little Simon. It is due out in a few weeks and my copies are on their way. This was such a fun project to illustrate, featuring endangered animals. I am really happy with the artwork and art direction. Here is a sneak peeks inside. It is available for pre order on Amazon.

Quilt Market

Although I won't be at the Quilt Market, my new fabric collection that I designed for Quilts for Kids will be there. Don't forget to check out Robert Kaufman's table at the Sample Spree on Thursday night where they will be selling fat quarters.

Coming Up....

Well, I did it, I just ordered two yards of fabric panels from Spoonflower of my two recent illos - the midnight owl and the gator pond. Excited to see how they turn out. Hopefully I will be adding them to my Etsy store soon. I will blab about them when they arrive, so stay tuned.

My Funkalicious Garden

Here are some photos of my garden... years of making and collecting all sorts of fun stuff - lots of wear and tear, a bit of jungly untidiness...that's how I like it.

Click on the images to enlarge -



I doodled with colored aluminum and metal patinas a while back -


I have a sun theme which started with the one on the right, my favorite that I hung when we moved into our cabin.

Happy Happy Mothers Day

My bouquets, aren't they lovely? Funny, when I posted this photo I realized these are the colors I gravitate towards in my work. Just look how nicely they coordinate with my blog header (above) and my Gator Pond (below):)

New - Midnight Owl Print

New in my Etsy shop. Thinking of printing this as a fabric panel. Any interest?

Flickr Group

I had to share these latest two additions to my flickr group.

Fabric News

If you will be at the Quilt Market later this month, check out the Robert Kaufman table at the Sample Spree. Even though my new fabric collection is not available for retail until August, they will be selling fat quarters of the new collection at the Sample Spree which is scheduled Thursday night. Also Linda from Quilts for Kids will be at the School House discussing her organization and talking about the new collection as well.

While on the subject, I used some of my samples from the Quilts for Kids collection along with some geometrics from the Creatures and Critters collection (and a couple of fabrics that are not my designs) to have a quilt made. I found SF Quilts on Etsy and loved her tumbler pattern. She just sent these pics of the quilt in progress. I can't wait to see it in person. She did such a great job and works fast too!

The best part is that it is part of my son's college graduation present. I really wanted to do something with my fabrics that would be suitable for a boy and a college grad - I think it worked out great! It is really symbolic to me because I hand made a few quilts before he was born and they became his favorite blankets - so quilts when he moved into our home and a quilt when he moves out. Awwwww. I am making myself tear up!

Mother's Day A Week Early

Every Mother's Day I get salt and pepper shakers to add to my collection. Found these a week early.


Love these (my son was a legomaniac). They stack on top of one another just like the real thing.



How great is this? I think my favorite to date, well in the top five anyway.

Ottobre Magazine - Summer 2009

If you see the summer edition of Ottobre Magazine you will notice my frog fabric. I highly recommend this publication - chock full of great ideas and beautiful clothing, with stunning photo spreads.

I was so flattered to see the frogs - but buyer beware, if you are in Europe and want to purchase the fabrics - there is a company who is illegaly printing my designs (the frogs and turtles from Creatures and Critters) - the bootlegged fabric is 57" (not the original 44") and doesn't have my name or Robert Kaufman's name in the selvedge. If you are a European retailer and/or customer trying to find the original (and legal) fabric printed by Robert Kaufman, please feel free to contact me.