***BOOK AND POSTER GIVEAWAY***

Hello hello!

To celebrate the start of Spring and the US release of "FRESH DELICIOUS - Poems from the Farmers' Market" (words by Irene Latham, pictures by me), I'm doing a BOOK & POSTER GIVEAWAY! The poster is roughly 43cmx61cm and has an Educator's Guide printed on the back. (Thank you Wordsong for these!)

To enter, simply answer this question, here on my blog or over on my Facebook page. 

***If you could be a fruit or a vegetable for one day, what would you be and why?***

A winner will be picked at random on Monday 21st March 2016.

Good luck!

By the way, I answered some questions for Irene Latham - a little glimpse into the making of the pictures for FRESH DELICIOUS - which you can find on her lovely blog here.

Beautiful Books!

"One Family"

By George Shannon and Blanca Gomez

"Last Stop on Market Street"
By Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson

"Beastly Verse"

By Joohee Yoon

"Jemmy Button"

By Jennifer Uman and Valerio Vidali

"Les poings sur les iles"

By Elise Fontenaille and Violeta Lopiz

"Home"

By Carson Ellis

Hello hello and a Happy New Year to you all!

I've been invited to give a talk as a visiting lecturer at Teesside University at the end of this month...bit nervous! My days have been filled with the feeding and cleaning of and day to day survival with our 2 little children for so long now that I've kind of forgotten the illustrator "me". It's going to be a bit of a task rifling through old work and trying to make it relevant and useful to illustration students. 

Putting together my inspiration and influences was easy peasy though, and brought me so much joy!

I thought I'd share a small selection of favourites from my bookshelf here. You can also find some more here, here, and here. I could go on and on about what I love about each book and illustrator but I thought it best to let the pictures do the talking.

Enjoy :)

the secret is out!

Now that our guest of honour has arrived I can reveal the third stocking, for Rosie :)

HOPPY CHRISTMAS!

It's been a busy year for us - leaving London and starting a new life in a new town with 2 small children, but we're settling nicely and starting to find some sort of rhythm to daily life and a little bit of sanity!!

Wishing everyone a Hoppy Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Fresh Delicious

A surprise package arrived the other day and it contained THIS! The latest picture book I illustrated titled "FRESH DELICIOUS". These wonderful, colourful and playful poems from the farmer's market written by Irene Latham were a real joy to work with, and I was lucky to have a patient, understanding and encouraging publisher in Wordsong to work with.

You see, these pictures were made whilst I was pregnant with baby no 2, and I just about managed to finish all the artwork and hand it in on his due date - talk about cutting it fine!!! I don't know what I would have done had he arrived early. I remember rubbing my bump and telling him to take his time as I frantically worked on these pieces. He even gifted me with some days off to recover as he arrived 8 days later...what a good boy :)

This book will always be super special as it's the first full colour picture book I worked on since our first boy was born. I loved that he even gave me advice and criticism over some of the pieces. I don't know how long it will be until my next book or big project but in the meantime, I'm finding inspiration each day watching these boys grow :)

Christmas stocking!

I made a Christmas stocking for the little one :) I've been doing a little bit each night once the boys have gone to sleep and I've done all the boring stuff that needs doing. 

I'm working on another one which is nearly finished but that one is a secret, shhh!

Shop!

I have some new and old things in my Etsy shop including handmade toys and accessories, and limited edition Giclee prints. Please pop in to see it all :)