Summer break

I know that my blog postings have been few and far between these last few months, I think I just got completely overwhelmed by work. So I have decided to take a break for part of the summer.

I am hoping that I will come back refreshed, inspired and full of new ideas.
Wishing everyone a great summer and I will be back posting at the beginning of August :)

A couple more....

Here are a couple more spreads that I illustrated for Pumpkin Baby, written by Jane Yolen:

Pumpkin Baby, Key Porter Books 2009


Pumpkin Baby, Key Porter Books 2009

Pumpkin Baby!

I illustrated a picture book a while ago called Pumpkin Baby, written by Jane Yolen. It was just released at the beginning of June, so I thought I would show you the cover and give you a peek inside:

Pumpkin Baby, Key Porter Books

Pumpkin Baby, Key Porter Books


This is my first book with a Canadian publisher. The people at Key Porter were wonderful to work with and I was honoured to illustrate the words of Jane Yolen, so all together, it was a wonderful experience.

Playing catch up

I have been caught up the world of trying to catch up, which means sorting out the studio, general sorting and tidying and gasp! going outside. Sunshine, trees, bike riding and library visiting, all quite lovely.

I have been sewing again and should have something to show by the end of the week. Been having great fun trying to re-create the wolf that I made last year, but this time in a brown, tweedy wool/silk mix. Great fabric to work with and I am hoping that it will have lots of raggedy edges to make him look the scruffy scoundrel that he is. Here is a reminder of how he looked:


I am working on a new Little Red also. I think she will be bigger and have jointed arms and legs like ol' wolfie there.

Also wanted to show you this. My husband has many talents and seems to have developed a new one... P.J.Bracegirdle

Talk to you again soon peeps!

Ponderings and meanderings

I am in a strange mind space at the moment. I have been so busy that when it comes to having free time, I am not quite sure what to do with it. I have lots of fun projects that I want to do, but am not sure where to start. I end up dreaming and dabbling and not getting a lot done.

My son did buy me a Munny for mother's day and I went out and bought him one so that we can work on them together. We got as far as sketching on them:




I will show you an update later, once we start painting.

I have been longing to get back to sewing. Here is a little embroidery piece that I started an age ago. Still needs a bit of work, and maybe now that I have shown it to you, I will feel encouraged to finish it! She is called the pink lady.


And I have missed working on stuffies, so here is my first bunny:


And a mouse with very large ears. Not sure if his ears are perhaps a bit too large, but I find him very endearing. He might end up in a clown costume - kind of Dumbo meets mouse.


I have had some interest from a library in my Little Red and the wolf, so I am planning on making some new, larger versions of them (can't part with the original pair).

And I might even get around to some drawing , just for fun :)

Just One More Book

You can listen to a great podcast review of my husband's book at:
Just one more book

Be back soon with some blogging goodness.

A snippet of news


Woot! I finished painting the picture book for Marshall Cavendish. Above is a tiny snippet from it. As soon as I know when it is getting published, I will show you more.

Time for a bit of relaxation.I am spending the day with my son, which I have not been able to do for ages. I see sushi and badminton in our future, followed by a movie and banana bread.

I am also looking forward to having some time to experiment with art materials, participating in Illustration Friday again(yay!)and getting back to some sewing. Woot! Woot!