Launch Party!

On October the 2nd The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories broke out into the wild for everyone to purchase! A mighty launch party was held at the gorgeous House of St Barnabus in Soho. I was pretty nervous about the event. I had been to a book launch party before and loved it but this was my own, well shared between many of us. I drank a fancy cocktail in the bar of St Barnabus because as usual we got there rather early. We then went upstairs and I was greeted with my name on a name badge! It might seem like such a small thing to most people but it made me feel awesome! We were then greeted with free wine and beer and I chinwagged with the author of the story I illustrated, Alice Westlake! I was pretty nervous and a bit tipsy which made me very chatty.

After a couple of lovely speeches I then made my way over to talk to the fantastic Anthony Browne! He is such a lovely man, who laughed at my silly jokes, understood my passion and signed my book. He also took two of my business cards! Whee!
I then made my way round the rooms, chatting and drinking and signing everyone's book. I made sure to write quite a bit and always drew a little Basil face as I always love it when an illustrator signs my book and includes a little drawing.

All the other writers and illustrators were so lovely and we talked about allsorts from musical instruments to kidnapping artists! We also took many photos and had many laughs. It was a surreal and wonderful night which I hope to do again one day. I could get used to people telling me they love my work and wanting to talk about silly things for hours. It might happen if I get my bum in gear!

                                                                      That's me!

                                                   My book signed by Anthony Browne!

                                   Alice Westlake, Me and Charlie Moyler my Art Director.

                                                   Me with Fiona Ross, the illustrator of
                                                    Captain Yuri and the Space Mission.

                                             Charlie and I taking a selfie in front of the
                                                        poster for the beautiful book!

                                  Charlie and I posing next to one of the many pieces of art!

                                               James and I after a few drinks!*hiccouch*

I do apologize for the lateness of this post! I've been working a lot and very sleepy. But it's here now so Yippee! Now go and buy The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories! and let me know what you think!

Basil The Brave.

The other day I receieved my advance copy of The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories published by the amazing Walker Books. It still hasn't sunk in that my work is in such a beautiful book and published by one of the greatest publishers ever. This may be the greatest anthology in the world...i'm not biased at all!There are so many beautiful illustrations inside in such different styles and the stories are just fantastic! I'm so excited for you all to get a copy and read it to your little ones as you're all going to love it!I'm so proud of myself and everyone who worked on this book and I can't wait to meet them at the book launch in October! I know that a very young version of myself would have adored this book and especially the story I illustrated as I loved bats and witches.

The beautiful front cover,illustrated by one of my favourite illustrators Briony May Smith

Here you can see a page from the wonderful tale, Up In The Trees Is Not For Me written by Lindsay Littleson and illustrated by the very talented Faye Bradley and there...right next to those super cute monkeys is the title page of the story I illustrated. Under the super cute (if I don't mind saying so myself) Basil you can see my name! Illustrated by Emma Collins. So bloomin' proud!

The book is out on October 2nd but you can preorder it here if you're just too excited to wait!

The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories.

For the past month I have been working hard and in secret on a project with Walker Books. I have illustrated a wonderful story, Basil the Brave by the talented Alice Westlake for The Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories! It was quite a challenge as bats are quite tricky to draw and it's all set at night! But we got there in the end and i'm really happy with the end results! I can't wait to see it printed. I adore Walker books and I feel very lucky to have been chosen to be part of such a wonderful book. The animal anthology will be out this October and i'll get to see all the other wonderful stories and illustrations!

Knights of the Round: Adventure Time Submission.

This is my submission for the new Knights of the Round competition.
I had to create a character that I thought would fit in the world of Oo! So I create the Nut Warrior.
He's a big worrier and has a utility belt which holds a chashoomerang, squirty peanut butter and a seed grenade. Ooh he also has a tooth pick for a sword and a pistachio shell for a shield. He's basically who I would be in the world of Oo! You should enter too!

Ronda the Mouse.

Group photo by Nicola Jayne Hebson using Sarah Schofield's camera.


About a month ago a friend and I went to a taxidermy class in Blackburn to learn how to taxidermy a mouse.
To start, our teacher (Nicola Jayne Hebson) did a demonstration of how to stuff a mouse and then we each chose a mouse of our choosing and then got stuck in. Nicola was to hand if any of us got stuck or confused...which is pretty easy to do when it's your first go...especially with such a dainty creature.
First off we had to massage the mouse's limbs and then lie it on it's tummy. You find the shoulder blades and then cut between them all the way down to about a cm above the tail. We then proceeded by peeling the skin away using our hands and a scalpel to cut the fine strands away. It wasn't as gruesome as I imagined and it didn't smell too bad either. Once the ankles had been snipped and the whole insides had been removed we covered our skin in table salt. Whilst the skin was tanning we made our fake insides for the mouse, which is made from woodwool and wrapping thread around it and some clay for the shape of the mouse head. Once the insides had been made (and we had a cup of coffee and a hobnob) we proceeded by rubbing the remaining fat off the insides of the mouse using the salt, then washing and drying the skin. Then came the really exciting part! Placing the skin on the fake insides! It was so nice to see it take shape and become a little character. I intended on making my mouse a smily character but once the skin was on I decided to make him (I mean she) a shy and worried chap. We added some wires for the arms and legs and a bit of cotton wool before stitiching him up and then we added the eyes which are just pins. We had to use pins to hold our mice in place while they dried.
It was a really nice day, which may sound strange considering I spent it skinning a mouse. But it was all ethical and all the other students were lovely and our teacher was very patient and funny which put us all at ease. I'm hoping to taxidermy more things in the future though i'll probably stick with mice for a bit so I can perfect my skills.

Hello!

It's been quite a long while since I last blogged...mainly due to long hours at my new job at Waitrose. Not complaining though as I love my job! I can now drive three different types of trucks: llop, ppt and a Reach Truck (that's a big scary one). In the past few months I turned 24, had my 7 year anniversary with my lovely mister, been to the zoo and the sea life centre and also finished writing and illustrating The Tortoise and the Hare. I'm so happy to have completed it as I started it in February...I think! I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for my wonderful friend Viv. She puts up with my madness and puts me on the right path. I've shown it to a select few and so far people seem to love it which is fantastic. It feels like maybe I will get published one day. Who knows!? I'm going to keep trying until it happens though. I'm in the middle of contacting some publisher people and also putting a promo pack/hard copy of my portfolio together. I've recently had some christmas cards made...one starring the handomse Lionel (as you can see!).

The Paper Watch Project.

A short while ago I took part in the Templar Publishing's paper watch project to help raise money to help fight Breast Cancer. I did this by illustrating a paper watch which was sent to me by Templar Publishing. It took a while to decide what to illustrate the watch with, though I knew I wanted it to be character based. I eventually decided on a jungle theme with jungle animals. My watch is now up for bidding on ebay, so please share and or bid to help this wonderful cause.

I hope my watch can help!

If you would like to read more about the project then just click here.

I'm a Winner!

I found out yesterday that I had won a signed book by the super An Vrombaut! The image above is my entry for the Giraffe competition! I'm so happy to have won as I have loved An's work since I was a youngster and her characters and colours continue to inspire me! I can't wait to get my book! It will be one of my prized posessions!

Fire and Ice.

Just a little catch up: I have started my new job at Waitrose and have begun my training. I've met lots of lovely people and i'm enjoying myself already. I also decided to become a blonde again as i'd been a red head for a few years! Change is good and fun and so i'm a blondie! I'm enjoying looking like an 80's Action villain (Die Hard/Bond/Universal Soldier). It's nearly my birthday and i'm looking forward to eating lots of cake, wearing a dress and being silly with my friends!wheeee!

Thank you Leigh for doing my hair!!!

Birthday Wish List!

My birthday is in 7 days/one week! yey! I thought it would be fun to put together a birthday wish list...so here goes:

A telescope! so I can perv on the stars and planets close up!

A violin! I've wanted to learn to play one for so many years. I think it may be one of my favourite instruments. It always manages to make me cry.

I absolutely love Kaye Blegvad's jewellery. I would be happy to get any of it for my birthday...though I would love the skull ring or hand necklace most!

I'm a bit of a cup/mug collecter and I would love to add this one to my collection.

This lovely print by MooseKleenex would look amazing on my wall!

I love roller boots. They're so much fun. I miss my pink pair from my childhood.

I love this minimal coloured print but I would be happy to get pretty much any of the prints from the Bolt Editions shop!

I would love a copy of Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth (or any of his books actually).

I've been eyeing up this lovely ceramic toast made by the super talented Charlotte Mei. One day it will be mine!!!

I would love this print by Julia Pott. I love space and space poines!

I need this book in my life!

How amazing is this?

This book is beautiful and crying out to become part of my book collection!

As a huge fan of Zelda I would love to own this and wear it with pride!

I'm trying to build up my brooch collection and this little owl brooch would go down nicely!
I should probably stop now as I could go on forever! So many nice things to buy!
I know that I probably won't get any of these things, and that's okay cause it's fun to show all the pretty things made be super talented people out there!

Recent creations.

It's been a while since I last posted... that's due to time going super fast (aka. working long hours or having my nose buried in a book)! SO I thought I would show you what i've been up to: a few Tortoise and the Hare illustrations and some personal pieces. Hope you like them.

Poseidon

Since I was a child I have loved Greek Mythology and felt the need to draw the God of the Sea. I thought he would make a nice addition to my portfolio...

London Sketchbook.

When I was in London I made sure to do a little bit of sketching... I wish i'd done more but I was enjoying myself too much! I hope you enjoy what I have drawn. These are unaltered (apart from cropping) drawings. The last two images I drew at the Harry Potter studio tour.