Artist: Brooke Schmidt

eee, check out these little embroidered Moleskin journals by Brooke Schmidt. I love how she switches thread colors mid line on the goldfinch and snail. And the tea and rainbow are just darling. See these and more of Brooke's work in her etsy store and also check out her blog here.

Kid Monster art for No Monster Here

Check out these amazing drawings! Whenever I or Colleen do readings of our book No Monster Here we have the kids draw what they think a monster looks like. They come up with the greatest ideas! Charlie, who drew the monster in the second image, drew a monster with lots of arms to throw lots of baseballs. But then it needed lots of eyes so it could keep track of all the baseballs it was throwing. Too cute! Check out more kid drawings in our Monster Art Gallery and check our our No Monster Here website where you can purchase your hardcover copy. You can also read the entire book online here.

My first No Monster Here book readings.

I have to apologize again for not posting anything last week. I feel like I'm having to apologize a lot lately for that. Well, at least this time I can claim a holiday as an excuse. The real reason is that I've been up to my eyeballs in work. Most of the work involves getting things ready for the No Coast Craft-o-Rama that I'm participating in this weekend. It will be my first craft fair. I hope people like my work, eeee, I'm nervous for this weekend, but it'll be tons of fun too. I'd love for you to come if you can and introduce yourself! (more info here). I worked all last week and over Thanksgiving getting my products finished and displays ready.

Besides getting ready for No Coast, last week I also had my first couple of book readings of my new childrens book, No Monster Here. I did two readings at the Marian University preschool in Fond du Lac, WI and then I did three readings at the UW Oshkosh preschool. It was such a fun experience reading the book to the 2-4 year olds. They were really interested and excited about the book which made me really happy. All of them were looking for the monster. Too darling! Afterwords we did an activity with the kids where they got to draw what their idea of a monster is. They all had such great ideas. One kid drew a monster with 10 eyes, and another drew a monster holding a jar of mustard. Heh heh, craziness. I'll share some more of their drawings soon. For more info on the book check out the No Monster Here website.

Artist: Mai S Kemble

These illustrations are so darling! They are by children's book illustrator Mai S Kemble. Check out more on her website, flickr and blog.

No Monster Here on my mind

Today I finished up designs for the activity cards that go along with No Monster Here. I know I have to post more from my trips, but I had these on the brain today so I thought I'd share. Everyone who pre-orders the book before Nov 1st will get a set of cards. And after that we'll be selling them as little card sets up in the webstore. Whaja think?

I'm back to blogland. (Sheesh it's been a while)

Hi all. I'm finally back from all my recent trips. Man, what a whirlwind. So, as you know, I went to NYC. After that I was back in Minneapolis for a couple of days, then to Wisconsin then back to Minneapolis, then to Seattle for Plush You (more to come on this in some later posts), then to Sacramento to sign No Monster Here books with the author, then to the L.A. area to visit the husband's brother, then back to Sacramento, then, finally... back home to Minneapolis. GAHHHHHH! I've never ever traveled that much in a 3 1/2 week stint. I am so tired and the work has piled up back here at home. But I'm ready to move ahead full force on all of my projects. Yay!

Here are a couple of pics from when I was in Seattle and Cali. More from NYC, Plush You, and No Monster Here coming soon.


Seattle skyline.


A traveling food stand shaped like a pig. funny!


PLUSH YOU!!! Super fun. I'll be putting together a post of my Plush You pics soon.


In Sacramento, signing No Monster Here books for everyone who pre-ordered. You can still pre-order here before the end of the month to get your book signed too.


My husband's Sand Skull that he made on the beach in southern Cali (only to be washed away and hour later).


A rainy Venice Beach.

At the press check for No Monster Here

Well I'm posting them a day late, but here are some pics (with explanations) from the press check of our children's book, No Monster Here.


1. The printer ran a few sheets for us to look over to see if the colors and registration look good. If we wanted a page to be a little more yellow or a little more magenta, then they would make the adjustments and print a few more sheets. They would do this until we were happy with the colors.


2. Here is the color scanner that would scan the color bars (you can see them in the first image on the bottom of the sheet). They do this to see exactly how dense the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks are printing. The scanner can also tell if the densities are the same consistently from the left side of the sheet to the right side of the sheet.


3. Another sheet that we're checking over. When the book is bound all pages will be folded in half and then will be sewn down the side of the book 1/4 inch from the folded edge. So we needed to build in a little "cross-over" area (or gutter) down the middle of the page. You can see the "cross-over" area going down the middle of the monster's face in this image. After it's bound the gutter will disappear and the monster's head will become perfectly aligned.


4. Part of the printing press. Each tower prints a different color, either Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Black. Each tower holds a drum that holds a plate.


5. Here's one of the 4 plates that was used to print the cover. I think this is the Black plate.


6. Here's a stack of paper with one side printed already.


7. Now the stack of paper is starting to run through the press.


8. Here it is coming out the other side (after going through all the towers) all finished.


9. Here are all the pages stacked up after printing. They'll sit here for a day or so to dry out. Then they will get cut and folded here at the printer. After that the folded pages head off to the bindery where they will get sewn and bound. And in about two weeks I'll have actual finished books in my hands. YAY!

No Monster Here is printed!!!

Check it out. My first children's picture book was printed yesterday! Yay!!! Here's a quick vid that I took of it printing when I was at the press check. I'll share some more pics with you tomorrow. You can pre-order and read the entire book over at the No Monster Here website. eeeeeeee!

To the printer we go!

Sorry I've been a bit MIA for the last couple of days. I was finishing up my first children's book, No Monster Here, and today it went to the printer. Yippee!!! I'll be doing a press check in about a week, so soon I'll be able to share actual printed pages with all y'all. You can read the whole book and pre-order it on the No Monster Here website. I'd love it you check it out and let me know what you think.

Artist: Mikela Prevost

Check out these beautiful illustrations by Mikela Prevost. I love the little hints of collage in each piece. The gossiping ladies getting their hair done are too funny! See more of Mikela's work on her website and blog.

I illustrated a book! No Monster Here

The children's book, No Monster Here, that I illustrated a while ago is finally getting produced. I'M SUPER EXCITED. I illustrated it and my mother-in-law who is a writer/educator wrote it. We're getting it all prepped for and an early November release, right in time for Christmas. I'm talking to the printer again this week. How fun! If you want to check it out, head over to our No Monster Here website. You can view the entire book there and you can also pre-order it. I'd love to hear what all y'all think.