I have had this image in my head for a while now. I finally decided to get it out of my head and onto paper. I think this would be darling with a few other variations...elephant, ballons.... I am wanting to get some new images in the shop before long. We'll see where I go.
Happy Friday, all!
The other week I received a request to design some September appropriate embroidery designs for the blog Sew, Mama, Sew. I couldn't have been more excited! I have wanted to offer some free embroidery designs here on the blog, and I never really got around to it. Hand sewing is so therapeutic, and I rarely do it for the amount of "other things" there is to do around the house.
But I decided this week to try out one of my patterns, and even get the kids involved. Oh, it was so wonderful! My hyper-active-super-hero-or-bust 3 year old even spent a good half hour going in and out with his very own blunt darning needle! I think it was the most focused he's been in days:)
Remember this post? Thankfully my kids have always loved to sew, and I loved every second of it, too. I am determined to hand sew more often. It's good for the soul.
These two embroidery patterns are available at Sew, Mama Sew! blog in two different sizes. I intend to sew some on my kid's new school bags (which have still yet to be made, if they ever do get made!). So enjoy! My blog is in the process of getting a facelift, and I'll soon have more free downloads here to choose from. But for now, enjoy Sew, Mama, Sew!
Oh and I must take this chance to shout out to the vast, infinite cyber space why I am in the best mood this morning: my 2 month old, colicky, allergy-ridden, fussy baby slept through the night last night. For 10 hours. These are the choice events that make a Mama very very happy! Ella, mind trying that again?
September's issue of Parent's magazine is chalk full of amazing articles. One of which features Gabrielle Blair's (Design Mom) take on designing a room to grow in. The rooms feature my "Three Bears Revisited" print, and it looks wonderful in the collage of art and photos she created. I'm getting some pretty wonderful ideas for decorating...I have the print...now I just have to get the furniture to match! A higher price tag for sure.
Fun Fact: if you look close enough, the rocking chair featured in this room is the same chair illustrated in my print!
Oh, and PS: Thanks for all the book love! Life is rather full these days!
Sample illustration for Christmas Goodnight, illustrated by Yours Truly.
I have waited two years to write this post. Well, maybe my lifetime!
So the story goes like this:
At a very young age (the ripe age of 4 I believe) I knew I was going to be an artist.
When I was old enough to write, I started writing books, poetry, anything I could wrap my ideas around.
I made hand-made books by the dozens. Flip books, chapter books, you name it.
I continued to study art through high school, privately and academically and loved every second.
And when I was 13 years old, I was told by a very wise man that if you write down your goals, they will happen.
So that is what I did: I made a list (75 items long) of all the things I wanted to do in my lifetime. Wanna peek in my journal? Come on, you know you do...
I had to blow the dust off this one...it had been years since I revealed to myself all my pre-teen ambitions!
Don't you love the bubbly 13 year old handwriting?
Illustrating children's books was only second to #1: Getting Married. Golly, I was serious!
It all started with writing it down.
But after going to college and graduating with a BFA in Musical Theater, teaching voice lessons at BYU, and then dabbling in performing, the babies started coming. And I wanted to get back into my art again.
But how? I kinda missed out on the whole art school thing. Oops!
So I started a blog.
And I was encouraged by my readers and my dear husband to open an ETSY shop.
Um...I love you ETSY.
And from having a shop, I started making contacts.
The first being Molly O'Neill at Harper Collins who stumbled upon my ETSY shop one month into my business and asked if I'd ever be interested in illustrating children's books.
That was a 1 1/2 years ago. And after a lot of study, and hard work (with a lot of bumps along the way) I have landed a contract to illustrate my first picture book!
Christmas Goodnight, written by Laura Godwin and published by Katherine Tegan books, an imprint of Harper Collins to be released Fall 2011.
This might not come as a surprise to you. I have mentioned illustrating has been my ultimate goal for a while. But it isn't an easy road, and there are a lot of hoops to jump through. So much more challenging than I had imagined at 13, but I couldn't be more thrilled about it!
Molly O'Neill, the assistant editor I have been corresponding with over a year now, is brilliant and amazing and I can't thank her enough for the hard work and chance she has put into me. It's a dream come true!
The text is perfect....a poem in fact...similar to the feel of Goodnight, Moon but with the Christmas story. A classic for sure. I feel so honored to illustrate it!
It will take the next 9 months to work on this, but no worries....it won't interfere with the shop at all! But what it will change is the amount of Christmas music being played in the house...we might just be starting Christmas in September just to get in the mood:)
The hardest work is ahead of me now, but I can't think of a better challenge. I know it will be so much fun though. It's been a life long dream. The 13 year old me is nodding right now and saying, "I knew you could. I just knew you could do it!"
For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, I can't thank you enough for your listening ears, and your support. For a young mom who doesn't get out much any more due to 3 beautiful and crazy side kicks, it's meant the world to me to have a springboard here where I've made a lot of friendships and learned so much from you. Who would have ever thought that behind a screen I could gain such genuine acquaintances? Gosh, I love you guys!
Above my studio room, in the eaves of the roof, a nest was built. And day in and day out, I have heard the flapping wings of the Mama bird come in and out, working hard on building that nest. And then this morning, in the new light of Mother's Day, there was this incessant chirping above the ceiling from what seemed like a nest full of baby birds. Addie and I went out to check, and sure enough, that hard working black bird became a mother today. We sat on a quilted blanket under the tree and watched that mama bird fly off and catch a worm, and then fly back to her nest with chirpy, hungry babies waiting inside. She would fly off again, and 4 minutes later be back with another worm. We watched for over an hour and a half while this new Mama diligently fed her new babies...in and out of the nest, never resting. Me, with my huge belly and baby kicking; addie with her 4-year old motherly tendancies; and this new black bird mother....all enjoying a springtime mother's day. It was so magical and slendid! Besides the incredible dinner, and three hour nap I got, it was the best mother's day present to see new birth and a new mother in the nest above my studio window. Motherhood is magical! Happy mother's day to all!
This blog post is VERY over due! So many of you have been asking me a bout my "BOOK" and with my internet troubles, I have been rather behind the times in chatting about this!
To clarify: No, I don't have a book chalk full of my illustrations for children, but rather a non-fiction hardback book of mom-to-mom tips on pregnancy with spot illustrations throughout.
Full of Life, the book I illustrated for Nancy O'Dell and published by Simon and Schuster was released about 2 weeks ago and is doing great! It is currently #17 on Amazon's Hot new releases in it's category. But I will be honest: my illustrations have nothing to do with it! It helps that Nancy is a huge celeb in the Hollywood scene and has a great following. I was asked to illustrate 7 chapter headings, and a few icons through the book with Nancy in certain positions during her pregnancy. It isn't really a showcase of my art, rather spot illustrations in black and white. But it was a great experience to work with the publishing industry....something I really hope to do more of in the future.
Nancy O'Dell is quite the celebrity and has been on a book signing/media tour since it came out. I haven't had contact with her during the creation process (thus the role of art directors and editors) but I have watched her progress online since the book release. On April 30th, she promoted her book on the Martha Stewart Show for their Baby Shower episode. I was just tickled to see this picture of the book I illustrated in the hands of Martha Stewart! Can you see it? it is a bad photo, but the best I could find. The Empress has no idea who I am, and my name is only in small print on the title page, but still. I am entitled to a bit of butterflies in my tummy, right?
It was such a great experience to put this book together. Like I said...don't go rushing to see it for the illustrations (there are so few) but do go check it out for you or friends who are pregnant! It is really a GREAT book!
I am just so grateful for the taste I got of the book creating process, and I hope to get into that more now that Baby #3 is coming soon (8 weeks and counting!). I love my ETSY shop, but children's book illustration is my ultimate goal! But in the mean time, I had a little "Martha Stewart touched something I made" moment and as stretched as it might be, It did make me blush! And really, I am still blushing. Thanks Simon and Schuster for a great opportunity!
Well, This is a huge shop update, and I am super excited! The design above has been in my head for months now. I have always loved Family Trees, and have been wanting to have something in my children's room for a while now, but most designs are super boring and drab and don't have the LIFE that a family tree should have..nor would they be fitting for a child's room. My grandmother has a beautiful illustrated photo family tree in her home, and inspired me to make one perfect for children. No scary dead people here!
These are 3 generation charts: room for your children to see their parents, their grandparents and their great grandparents.
Pink and brown version.
Vintage summer version.
This is a tricky project for me, since I really can't do much personalization of my products...but I am going to offer personalized Pedigree charts for a limited time, and see how that goes. As well as two sizes...8x10 and 11x14. All this is a trial for the next month, and depending on how they do in the shop, I keep things simple and not have as many options.
I also have a huge amount of new stationery...with some products so many of you have suggested! I now have cards of my calendar set that turned out really nice. I have them in sets of 24...2 for each month.
In addition, new thank you cards, invitations, announcements and happy birthday cards.
This is just a taste...there is more in my shop!
But the best news of ALL is
The 2 for one sale I am having at the same time! Yahoo! I have to say thank you to all of you friends who come and visit and have supported my work here. I am just really so thankful for this journey I have been on, and have been able to share with all of you. Thank you so much!
HOW IT WORKS: any two products you buy from my shop, you need to *MENTION* the third product of EQUAL or lesser value (in the 'message to seller box at the time of purchase'), and I will send all three to you straight away!
Sale ends Friday April 10th.
All items will be in the shop by this evening!
Thanks again for all your wonderful comments, and emails and support. Honestly, I can't thank you enough!
Cheers,
sarah jane
SHOP HERE.
I am nearly done with my new spring stationery! For the first time, there will be stationery for ALL ages! But of course, I did add some invites and cards good for all those spring babies coming. (My little egg has nothing to do with my excitement or anything:)
The image above most of you haven't seen before...unless you have scrolled WAY back into my archives. This image is my first elephant and bunny image that first inspired me to create Wellesley and Winslow: the elephant and bunny pair I love so much. This image somehow never made it into the shop, so I am super excited to bring them back in!
I have more to reveal later this week! Shop update is scheduled for Friday April 3rd.
Happy Spring everyone!