Sunday Sketches (From England)

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend, let me tell you! We arrived in London late Sunday morning (in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday for the USA family & friends), met up with our boys and are now trying to settle in just a tad, doing laundry and whatnot before we board a train for Scarborough on Tuesday morning. Phew! Thus, the above daily sketch so fitting for the seaside!

We'll spend a few days there so the boys can visit their granny and cousins, before returning back to London Friday morning. The oldest will return to the US while the youngest will stay behind a little longer, getting to visit the areas his father (aka Mr. Toast) grew up as a young lad. Exciting! After about a week in London, we'll return to Scarborough and start to settle in our new temporary home where both Michael and I will dive back into our jobs, as well as, helping his sister take care of his mother. 

I'll write as often as I can, keeping everyone up to date with our life and my illustration work. Thank you for your visits and comments. Michael and I both appreciate them and your support very much. Until then, enjoy our first week of Sunday Sketches - from England!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Sketchbook day 8 & 9:

More daily sketches as I continue to push through the final illustrations for my upcoming children's book, "Ladybug! Ladybug!". We are about 3 days away from packing our bags once again to fly overseas to start our new life for awhile. It's exciting in many ways and am looking forward to seeing family. Enjoy and I hope to sit down with a cup of tea in hand later tonight and catch up with everyone. Toodles, for now!

Daily Sketchbook: Days 5-7

Tonight, I'm catching up with posting my daily (travel) sketchbook pages for those of you who don't have a Facebook page. I'm having a lot of fun developing my own, consistent style of illustrations and loving the idea of minimal color. What do you think?

Day 5: Inspired by the children's section in one of our local bookstores, "The Wolverine Publishing Bookstore. It's such a cute and magical corner of the bookshop!

Day 6: This illustration derived from one of our longtime, dear friends, (a vibrant, elderly chap) who loves to fly kites. His sweet wife sends us videos from time to time of him flying his kite in the big, city park!

Day 7: I've been missing my furry, cuddly studio buddy - our doggy - thus where this illustration came to life. We're so thankful Brendel is being taken care of by some wonderful friends. In fact, he's got a new buddy of his own, a Great Dane named, Hank. Hee

Enjoy these quick illustrations and I'll do my best to post them daily. Be back soon and looking forward to sharing my daily journey/thoughts with each of you.

Sunday Sketches: The 'secret' Loft Garden

It's hard to believe that in just under a week, Mr. Toast (aka the hubs) and I will be boarding a plane to start our new life/adventures abroad in England. Although it's only through November, there have been a lot of changes, letting go of things and living out of a suitcase since last Wednesday through next Saturday.

We've certainly been amazed by how everything has fallen into place, as well as, the support from our close friends and family. It's truly humbling. At the moment, we're living in a beautiful loft apartment at the far end of a gorgeous yard and garden of our friend's here in town. It's been incredibly inspiring, nudging me back into an illustration routine and moving forward with my book work that was set aside to pack over these last few weeks. 

Above is a snapshot of just part of the "Loft Garden" we're surrounded by right now and one of the many illustrations coming to life with all of the wonder and magic found by simply gazing at such beauty every morning and evening. These quick sketches are a part of my daily doodle journey where I'll be capturing something from our journey all the way up until we return in November. So, if you're not already following me on my Facebook art page, make sure to pop over and do so in order to keep up with my daily posts.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Sunday Sketches & Contest Winner

My heart has been heavy with all of the tragedy that continues not just here in America but across the world. Yesterday, while catching up on news, this little girl came to life in my sketchpad and felt it was quite fitting for all that's occurring. It's titled, "Love not Hate". This world needs SO much more love than ever before. May each of us always find a way to show kindness to one another as we walk the path of life each day.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent "Sunday Sketches from England" logo contest. I was so blessed to see your ideas, and super cute ones, mind you. With that said, it made it very difficult in choosing a winner (thus taking so long to decide).

I finally narrowed it down to my top 3 favorites and in the end, chose Denise from Neesie Natters. Her illustration captured everything Sunday Sketches is about with that little, special touch of England. Congratulations, Denise! Please email me your email address so I can get the Dick Blick e-certificate sent to you for shopping!

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm looking forward to catching up with each of you tomorrow.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Sunday Sketches: Boxes & boxes!

It's been incredibly chaotic this week. On top of sorting and packing, we prepared for a huge moving sale yesterday and our day started at 4:00 in the morning! It was a successful sale, mind you, but we were exhausted from the early morning hours and the temperatures that reached nearly 100 degrees! Everything is pretty much gone now, whether sold or given away. We've only 2 weeks left in our home here before we move a dozen boxes, our sofa set, 2 end tables and my desk out. After that, the carpets will be professionally and a final walk through to ensure everything is clean and crisp.

With that said, I plan to settle back into my art and complete illustration work for my two children's books scheduled to launch soon. I've barely had time to do anything with everything going on so you can imagine how happy I'll be to finally be doing more art on a regular basis again...at least until we fly out in just 3 weeks.

Finally, last week, I launched a contest to come up with a new (temporary) Sunday Sketches logo while abroad. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone came up with so be sure to post a link to your idea below. Yay!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

Hello, Pippa...

Say hello to Pippa! She's dressed and ready to join us on our upcoming adventures and trip across the pond. Keep an eye out for her as she'll be popping up in various places. She's super excited and has already been exploring the world around her.  It's going to be super fun to see what mischief she might get herself into. Hee

Sunday Sketches........and a CONTEST!

In my last post, I shared with you a sketch of Charlie and his magical garden that continues to grow and just a few days ago his sweet little friend, Charlotte, stumbled upon it and fell in love. Awww, she's a cutie, isn't she? There's more to their darling adventures, so make sure to keep an eye out for what's next!

With that said, as I was packing up the studio this past week a brilliant idea crossed my mind about our weekly co-op. Since I'll be hosting it from abroad over the next several months, I thought it would be fun to hold a little contest of sorts. Everyone will have the opportunity to design a logo for the "new" Sunday Sketches and I'll choose one to use while I'm abroad with family in England. SUPER fun, yes? ;)

Here's how the contest works:

• Paint/sketch your idea for the logo.
• It needs to include: a tree and the title, Sunday Sketches from England.
• Include one thing extra that represents England.
• Share it next Sunday, July 10th for our regular Sunday Sketches.
• I'll pick a winner and announce it within 24 hours.

What will the WINNER receive?

• The logo will be displayed on my side bar.
• A link to the winner's blog will also be displayed on my sidebar.
• $20 e-Gift certificate to shop art supplies online from Dick Blick!

So, what are you waiting for? I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's ideas. Happy Sunday!

PS My apologies for taking so long to visit everyone this week. As you know, we're moving and I've been packing which has put me a tad behind. I'll catch up with everyone as quickly as able.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your blog. PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is encouraging one another in our creative endeavors. Thank you!

 

New Beginnings Bringing New Inspiration

As you can see above, the packing has started! I must say it's exciting but also a tad overwhelming with everything Michael and I have yet to do. There's making decisions on what to keep/sell, lists of what to do before leaving the country, planning a garage sale, packing, and of course, illustration deadlines - whooweee!

It's exciting, thinking of the new adventures that lie ahead. Although the bulk of the trip is to help care for hubby's mother, there will be moments of exploring and such. This year, I'll be celebrating my birthday abroad and hopefully in the lovely village of Bath (Home of Jane Austen).

Each day will be filled with new things and I can see the excitement spilling out in to my artwork already, transforming my characters into a whole new world. I just adore the little chap above and his potted garden. Anyway, there's a lot more packing to do so I must be off for now. Be sure to join me this Sunday for my weekly art co-op, Sunday Sketches, as I plan to announce something somewhat new/fun.