new custom pieces

Posted on Posted in Art, fabric, happiness, Illustration

 

I’ve been super busy lately, but I find it really hard to turn down requests for custom portraits. I feel very lucky people want me to do portraits of their loved ones. Each one is so special. Here are a few I squeezed in between bigger projects lately.

Speaking of projects… I’m working on some really fun ones right now. I can’t wait to share them with you. One is with these wonderful ladies, who I have to say might be the most lovely people to work with. 🙂 (yes, I did the backgrounds for those videos too!)

 

Charlottetown map!

Posted on Posted in Ilustration, P.E.I

This is the project that I have been so excited to share here… but couldn’t, until now!

 

I was asked by Discover Charlottetown to create an illustrated walking map of Charlottetown. It will be used for their activity guide, as a tear-away walking map and a larger version will also be displayed in 8 kiosks around town (pics to come soon!).

I was completely intimated by this project, and debated about taking it on. Then one day I had a light bulb moment. This is the kind of job I want to be doing, dream of doing! So I put my fears aside and dove in. I hope locals find it depicts Charlotetown well, and that it lures visitors to explore… but mostly I hope my love for this beautiful town shines through.

(Postcard versions of this map and my PEI map will be available for sale soon. I’ll keep you posted!)

 

… and a Gerty makes 5.

Posted on Posted in Illustration

I’ve been keeping a little secret… well not so little. A 50 pound secret! There’s a new member in our little family.

 

Her name is Gerty, and she is adorable. She was a stray from the PEI humane society. I had been checking their website pretty regularly… with fingers crossed for a while now. About a month ago I saw a cute little dog and sent Paul down with the girls to take a look. They all fell in love with a completely different dog, and well, the rest is history.

She is bigger than any dog I ever imagined having, but somehow fits so perfectly into our lives.

She is gentle and cuddly and so eager to learn and love. We have all fallen completely in love with her (well, maybe not the cats… but they are learning to love her).

We don’t know much about her. She was a stray and no one ever came looking for her. We’re so crazy about her after just one  month, I can’t imagine having her a year and a half and not looking for her.

She has been coming with me to work during the week and is a great work companion. So quiet and patient. I’ve wanted a dog my entire life and my heart is so full with this lovely lady.

winter hybernation

Posted on Posted in Ilustration, Life, P.E.I1 Comment

I’ve been super busy with an exciting project that I can’t wait to share here. I was hesitant to take it on at first. I worried I wouldn’t be able to do it the justice it deserved. After some soul searching I decided it was just too good an opportunity to pass up… and dove in.

It was an insane amount of work… but it made me realize something. You can’t find out how great you can be if you don’t give yourself the chance. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and I’m so happy with how it turned out. (Here’s a little sneak peek!)

 

Besides working like crazy I’ve been busy trying to cope with winter. It’s such a challenging time of year. The cold, the darkness… the never ending-ness!

Here are a few things that help us get through winter.

Lots of super cuddling.

Lots of awesome drawing.

Try and get outside as much as possible.

If you see a sunbeam, stop everything and soak it up.

 

 

 

Summer show

Posted on Posted in Art, fabric, P.E.I1 Comment

 

Catherine, my studio mate,  Norma Jean Maclean  and I submitted a show proposal the to the Guild late last year. We just found out it was accepted and we will have a month long show this summer. We are all so excited!

I’ve been working away on these pieces for it. You may recognize the linens from our great fabric find last year. They are incredibly beautiful, it was so fun to work with them and give them new life. It’s been such a treat to do something completely creative. Now back to work, I have a very fun project waiting for me.

 

Valentine’s Day Stickers!

Posted on Posted in Art, Ilustration, Kids1 Comment

 

This is was a dream job for me. I love hearts, they are my favourite. Designing 2 pages of heart stickers….. my new favourite!

You can find them in the current issue of American Girl magazine.

P.S Click here to see a super cute ecard made with these drawings (just press play).

December Brain

Posted on Posted in Art, knitting, Life2 Comments

 

Sorry for the epic silence here… December sort of ate me up!

First we had a certain special someone turn 5! I have to say, 5 is suiting her very finely. She will always be my fire-y girl, but she’s definitely turned a corner.

We’ve had many storms… and so much snow. It’s been kind of crazy.

Then I started thinking about Christmas…

We wanted to try and make this a homemade Christmas. We made a very strong effort to not buy things, but rather make things. It felt so good. I find it so easy to get caught up in all the craziness… slowing it down and making things made it so much more enjoyable, for all of us.

This year  I decided to knit everyone thrum mittens for Christmas… I probably should have started this much sooner.

I made newborn thrums,

toddler thrums,

thrums for 8 year olds… and many many more. I didn’t get them all done sadly. Next year I will plan better… don’t we all say that every year?

 

I was busy with sneaky presents for friends from said friend’s husbands.

I got an email from Sosi’s teacher saying she saw the larger version of this painting in a shop. She told me it immediately made her think of a teacher holding her students. I loved that description so much I thought she needed to have a copy. So I made prints for all the teachers. This will be my teacher gift from now on. 🙂

I made this fabric piece for my very sweet husband. I thought it was a great gift until I got his present. He made a video of all my family and friends telling me what they love about me. It was the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received.

Christmas was lovely…

and as always it’s all over too soon. I’m so  looking  forward to getting back to work and starting the New Year. Before that tho, we have a few more holidays days together. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, full of rest and much love. xo

 

 

 

inside

Posted on Posted in Life

 

It’s that time of year when we move the green inside for the winter. I’m finally at a place in my life where I can handle taking care of plants again, it’s very exciting!!

noisy poems trailer

Posted on Posted in Ilustration, Kids1 Comment

The lovely Cynthia Nugent was so kind to make this trailer for Noisy Poems. It is so wonderful to see my little characters running around!! Click here or on the image to see the trailer.

coming soonish…

Posted on Posted in Art, Illustration4 Comments

I’m so excited to finally share this with you! This project has been in the works for the last couple of years. It’s a little Goodnight book that explores how mamas and papas in Far-Away lands say good night to their babies. It’s called the Goodnight Book and it will be published by Simply Read books in May of 2014! It can be preordered here.

recent custom pieces

Posted on Posted in Art

I’ve got lots of exciting things I’m working on right now, but can’t show you just yet. What I can show you are these super cute people I got to do portraits of recently. I feel pretty lucky I get asked to do these. So fun!

 

knitting=happiness

Posted on Posted in Kids, knitting1 Comment

 

It’s not often I get asked to knit something by my children. So when Ila brought a favourite baby sweater to me the other day and asked me to “make the sleeves longer” my heart just about burst out of my chest.

There hasn’t been a lot of knitting happening in my life these days. My hands are full from juggling so many other things. This little project reminded me how happy knitting always makes me. I’m already planning my next project. Life is much better when there is a project on the needles!

 

 

40

Posted on Posted in Life3 Comments

It’s been a big week. I turned 40 (!). My parents treated me to a trip to Ottawa and Montreal, a turning 40 victory tour of sorts. I got to see so many people I love, it was wonderful. Before I went on the trip I painted my studio. It was so nice to come back to… I’m feeling like a very lucky lady.

 

end of summer

Posted on Posted in Kids, P.E.I1 Comment

 

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how sudden the end of summer is. One minute my children are  tanned and happy and always around, then suddenly there’s a chill in the air and I’m missing them like crazy.

 

 

Studiotime in the Summertime

Posted on Posted in Art, fabric, Life

 

Nothing perks us up in the summertime like a visit down to my studio. It’s just the change of pace we need some days. It’s a quick 10 minute walk from home and we’re there.

I feel so lucky that my kids love going here as much as I do.  Ila is really into painting lately and when I’m feeling especially kind I will even let her use my grown up paints.

These visits give me little bits of time to work on things I have going. Like these paintings I just finished that are up at Youngfolk on Water St now.

… and this portrait I just finished for some of my favourite people (they are actually even cuter in person).

OK, I lied…

Posted on Posted in Art, Barnfaces1 Comment

 

 

OK, I lied, I’m totally still doing art this summer. I religiously spend every Saturday in the studio, which is the perfect way to recharge those ol’ mama batteries for the coming week. I’ve been working on lots more barn, fishing shack and lighthouse paintings.

I’m also going to start a 2nd edition print of my map of PEI! Please forward any suggestions of things I missed in the first edition or anything you think I should add. I’m so happy it’s been received so well here!!