Catalogue No.2

A while ago I posted a catalogue cover which I'd designed while on work experience......here is the other design which I did at the time and which is now being used for the latest catalogue. I made the illustration in Illustrator - it was the first design programme I learnt but I hardly ever use it now. I still love clipping masks though!

My first ever GIVEAWAY!!!: The Results......

I decided to do the draw in the old fashioned, names-in-a-hat method. They were then mixed around by an independent bystander and held up high for me to pick a name.

And the winner is......Suzanne McGinness!

Congratulations - the prizes will be on their way to Ohio in the next few days.

A BIG thank you to everyone who entered. I'll try and run another giveaway in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

Illustration Friday: Paisley

I thought I'd try something different for this week's Illustration Friday topic - Paisley. For some reason the idea of a sausage dog with a paisley coat was the first thing that popped into my head - so here it is!

Don't forget - if you haven't entered my giveaway yet, it closes at 11am tomorrow morning! Click here for more details.

Father's Day Card

I've spent this afternoon making a Father's Day card for my Dad so I thought I'd share it! He is the biggest technophobe I've ever met so there is absolutely no danger of him seeing this before Sunday.

Don't forget if you haven't entered my giveaway yet it closes next Thursday at 11am. Click here to find out more!

Ripple Update

I'm pleased to say that my picture for the ripple blog has sold and I am currently packing it up to wing its way to Jacksonville in Florida.

Illustration Friday: Ripple

This week's Illustration Friday topic is Ripple and is tied in to the illustrator Kelly Light's great idea for raising money for wildlife affected by the Gulf oil spill. Each small work submitted is being sold for $10 and all this money will go directly to 2 charities working in this area.

Click here to see ripple sketches

If you haven't visited my blog before you may be interested in looking at the giveaway I am currently running.

My first ever GIVEAWAY!!!

To celebrate reaching 20 followers I've decided to do my first ever bonanza giveaway. It's open to all followers of this blog - wherever you are!

The Prizes

1. A signed paperback first edition copy of Not Me! dedicated to you or the person of your choice.

2. A complete set of promotional postcards for Not Me!

3. An A4 sheet of stickers featuring characters from Not Me!

4. And last but not least a signed limited edition print (number 7 of 10) of Bertie

How to Enter

If you are already following this blog, all you have to do is leave a comment after this post registering your interest in winning! If you aren't already following, just sign up and then leave your comment.

The names of everyone who has left a comment by 11 am (BST) on Thursday 24th June will be put into a hat and a winner will be drawn at random. I will then contact the winner for their details and send all the prizes to them.

Illustration Friday: Trail

This young fellow Bertie is one of the characters from my book 'Not Me!' When I saw that the topic for this week's illustration friday was 'trail' I couldn't resist posting this picture!

I've been struggling to do any illustration work over the last few weeks so apologies for not showing any brand new work. I've been doing several events promoting the book and spending a lot of time preparing all the materials for each event. It has been really fun meeting loads of children and a really good way of learning how they respond to the story.

Events!

It's been quite a while since my last post - I've been busy doing events at nursery schools, then I went on holiday for a week, and then I was ill when I got back. Now that I've rolled out my list of excuses I can mention the last couple of events I've done.

The first was on Saturday at Cambridge Central Library and was organised by Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge. It was really nice to meet Kate and Michelle from the shop and Richard and Ruth from the library - they were so friendly and positive about the book. The children who came seemed to enjoy the story and making the headdresses. They also enjoyed juice and biscuits served on red spotted napkins to match the pattern on the tablecloth in Not Me! (specially selected by the ladies from Heffers - I was very impressed by their attention to detail)! Heffers are currently refitting their children's area so it will have its own entrance with easy access for pushchairs and decorated with murals - I can't wait to see it!

Today I went to a place called Tales on Moon Lane in Herne Hill, South London. It's a great children's bookshop with really friendly and knowledgeable staff. They made me feel really welcome and the shop was packed with children. I read my giant copy of Not Me! and then the children got to do some colouring or make a headdress. I took some photos on my phone of the shop window and their display - apologies for the bluriness! Thanks to Tamara, George and Leah for such an enjoyable event.