I think your ship is coming in....I really do. 

Crafty Wonderland this weekend! I'll be in booth 234 from 11-6, Saturday and Sunday at the Oregon Convention Center. I'll have prints, books, and originals for sale. Would love to see you!

It's official. Halloween is my favorite holiday! I love everything about it..the crafts, the songs, the cozy baking projects. And you know, the candy of course. Yumz. 

Hope you're having a lovely September!

A quick note to let you all know that there is a giveaway and an interview with yours truly on the Hanna Andersson blog right now. You can win Tiny Duet (a 24" x 24" original acrylic painting, pictured above) along with a signed copy of my new book, The Orchestra Pit, and some HA pajamas!

Scoot on over to the HA blog for details. The giveaway runs through September 16th.

It's nearly here! My new book, The Orchestra Pit, will be released into the wild on August 19th! If you're in the Portland, Oregon area, come celebrate with us on the 19th at Green Bean Books at 11am. It's a free event and everyone is welcome! 

I had a dream last night that I was in jail. It was a fine jail, barely even recognizable as a jail. Kind of like a little apartment or a dorm room.

But after awhile I was feeling angry and lonely in there. I wandered around, touching the walls until I realized the door was open. How long had it been open? Could I just walk out? 

When I woke up I thought for a long while about what that jail could be. 

The answer wasn’t even subtle...write that book. Write that book!

Since I was about 8 or 9, I’ve been obsessed with reading and writing middle grade books. I’ve had a couple of story ideas bumping around in my head for years and years. My first attempt at writing one was way back in New York, when I took a class through Gotham. That was probably 12 years ago. And you know what? The idea that I was working with back then, it’s still the same idea that I want to finish, today. Sigh.

In the past, my best attempts at getting this story out of me, have happened in wheezy spurts, when I felt inspired or had the time. But over the years of going to SCBWI conferences, chatting with writers and reading books about writing, I’ve heard one thing over and over. Make a routine, put your butt in a chair and write, (preferably at the same time, every day.) That’s how you finish a book.

“Hurumph” says the me that’s just fine with sitting in my tiny apartment jail. “I don’t have time for that.”

Which is entirely true. And not true.  I can find the time.  I want to make time. I want to walk right out of my little cell, even though what’s beyond it is mysterious and daunting and hard. The door is open, after all....

Which leads me to wonder...

Do you have a jail?

Is there a creative inkling that you’ve been brushing off?  Something that seems too BIG, too shiny, too scary to attempt, but just won’t leave you alone? 

Hello friends,

I'm working on a Loving Kindness series this month, (may you be happy, may you peaceful, may you be free). I hope to have these available as prints  at the end of the month, so feel free to check my webby-site or FB page for updates.

Big love to all this May!

There's an amazing craft tutorial based on The Secret Circus, featured this week on Princeton University's Pop Goes the Page. So sweet! Can't wait to try it out with some wee ones. You can check it out right here.

(photo courtesy of Pop Goes the Page.)

I feel like a cavewoman every time I sit down to write a blog post these days. A hurried little moment around baby naps and between 3 year old projects. ME LIKE SPRING, I bang out with the my cavewoman fingers. ME LIKE TO MAKE STUFF, BEEN BUSY. Then my brain bounces off to bounce a baby or glue a bunch of stuff with a three year old and the next full thought I have happens late at night, when the house is quiet, and all thoughts are so jumbled together, they're spilling over each other to get outside and into the cool spring air.

But I really like this life. I'm excited about the new art and kid and book things that are swirling around, jockeying for a place in the day. I like how things are changing and transforming, all of the time. Also, ME LIKE YOU. 

There's nothing like finding your friends in the middle of the dark dark woods, and singing a song that you've always meant to sing...

Running free, going forward. Love all around....

New green leaves, new days....weeping willows. Spring and blooms and sweet air...

Plotting and planning. Fresh starts, new seeds. Wild dreams...

Been busy working on interior sketches for THE TOP SECRET DIARY of CELIE VALENTINE by Julie Sternberg, (Boyds Mill Press, Fall 2014). So excited about this book!

Do you ever have times where you feel like you're bursting with some kind of elusive creative energy? Where it actually feels like something might just spark from your body, but you don't know what it is? I get that sometimes. A kind of intangible longing. A need to create something that I'm not even certain about.

Maybe I have this arty antsy feeling right now because it's wintertime. Or maybe, after months of pregnancy and sleeplessness, life is getting easier, and I have more energy to spare. Whatever it is, I'm trying to make the space to dream and scheme. To let out, whatever needs to get out, even if it's in a messy tangle...

Thank you, Portland for an amazing craft fair season! We had a blast at Crafty Wonderland this weekend. I think around 15,000 of you came out to buy handmade. Awesome! 

Thanks to all for coming out last weekend to the Laurelhurst Winter Bazaar. So fun! Now onto Crafty Wonderland this weekend, booth 43. Hope to see you there!

I'll be vending at this event on Sunday, with cards, prints, books, mini paintings, and large (!!!) originals on super sale. Come early if you'd like an original. Hope to see you!

Er...hi. Is this thing on? Man, I kind of disappeared from computer world. Just got caught up in a few things, like growing this beh-beh! 

Happy summer!

Busy around here...nesting, adventures, and working on new story ideas...

Happy summer!

Busy around here...nesting, adventures, and working on new story ideas...

These days, I'm lucky enough to get a lot of great fan letters, drawings, and questions from kids all over the world, like this super cool report! I especially love the mousey drawings at the top, so great.

I love getting mail, it really makes my day. Thank you all, for sending. I try to write back as soon as I can. Keep it coming!

These days, I'm lucky enough to get a lot of great fan letters, drawings, and questions from kids all over the world, like this super cool report! I especially love the mousey drawings at the top, so great.

I love getting mail, it really makes my day. Thank you all, for sending. I try to write back as soon as I can. Keep it coming!