A is for...

So it's been a while I know but I've been away on maternity with baby #2 so it's a good excuse this time!


One of my lovely friends had a baby boy this week so I thought I would send a personalised print for him, and share with you what I've done. I wanted an african animal beginning with the letter A, which is lucky as I love anteaters!! This one has struck it lucky - yummy!! Hope he likes it, and hope you do too.


In other news.... Guinea Pig Party was published last week! Go buy a copy here, it's great fun and my lovely publisher Nosy Crow have produced it brilliantly : )

Love a Sloth Day!

I have decided that today shall be known henceforth as Love a Sloth Day!

Have been drawing these lovely creatures today whilst doing some character development and I think they are just brilliant to work with! Working on a story for this chap and trying to make some sense out of the bombardment of ideas that bounce about in my head. I always seem to think of something really exciting that I want to happen in a book but then comes the frustrating challenge of figuring out how to make it happen in a creative and engaging way.

For now, I am just really enjoying his character and hoping that he will appeal to others too. My head is buzzing also with how great this would be to colour but forcing myself to stick to rough monocrome scribblings for the moment!

I have to say that I have been feeling rather sloth-like recently which maybe why I keep coming back to wanting to draw sloths! With baby #2 due in a matter of weeks, this me trying to squeeze out every last bit of creativity and work (well, that's the same thing for me!) before I step away from the drawing board for a wee while.

Being a Mum is amazing but I do love my job and am always excited about the next book and what it might be! It's lovely too to be able to share what I do with my two year old, and always feel much better about myself when she can tell what one of my scribbles actually is! It is such a great feeling too when she goes to the book shelf and picks out one of Mummy's books to read...I don't even have to bribe her to do it anymore : )

Eat Cake Like Nobody's Watching!

So I'm thinking that it may look a little like I'm a little obsessed with Guinea Pigs looking at the frequency of their appearance on this blog! This might only be a tiny bit true.... I just love drawing them, they are so much fun and can do so much!

It was another one of my beautiful sisters' birthdays recently so I thought I would make her a plate that she could use everyday to remind her of the important things in life - dancing, eating cake, and feeling loved!

This guinea pig character is probably my favourite from my new book Guinea Pig Party (sorry, another shameless plug!), she just makes me smile a lot! Her balletic grace and cuddly curves make her the perfect ambassador for my take on that fabulous saying of "dance like nobody's watching", and she fits perfectly into the shape of the plate too - very helpful!

It actually took me two attempts to get this plate right as the first ended up having some 'issues' during the firing process. It was a good thing really as this second plate has turned out so much better, I am really pleased with how it has turned out. I've included some before pics too to show how it looked before the firing process.

Am off to continue my quest to develop some new stories now - my head is full of all sorts of critters doing all sorts of silly things at the moment so I need to go make some sense of it all and get them behave themselves on paper!

Ps. The lovely folks at Nosy Crow have put up a great link to have a page-turning sneak-preview of Guinea Pig Party, take a peek here!

Have a lovely weekend lovely people xxx

Guinea Pigs go Ceramic!

Thought I'd share a wee something that I made recently for my lovely sister Delia's birthday. It was a big birthday so I wanted to give her something special and rather than a picture (I don't think she has anymore wall space!), I thought I would attempt something a little bit different.

I love ceramics, and these ceramic workshops everywhere make it really easy to create something truly original and personal. Delia is an outstanding cook and owns and runs the one and only and totally fabulous Jammy Coo gallery & coffee shop so I thought a cake stand was the order of the day!

I've used Delia's favourite character from (warning-shameless plug coming up!) my new book Guinea Pig Party which you can per order here!!!

It's so lovely drawing on a different surface and working on the ceramic means that you are never too sure how the end images will turn out. The words "love and calories" surround the plate because according to our other sister, this is what we are good at spreading (it's a talent)!
And here it is, used for the first time to display a very delicious (and enormous!) birthday cake made by our lovely Mum - the original love and calories spreader!

Happy Valentine's Day Lovely People!

Been Bunny Busy!

Just thought I'd share a wee peek at what I've been working on and what has kept me away from my blog for so long!

I have been very busy creating the final artwork for the bunny book I am working on for the lovely Harper Collins. So while I am waiting for files to upload onto an FTP (don't ask!) site to send across to them, I thought I'd quickly share a little colour!

My computer screen has been a riot of colour and bunniness for some time now, and generally can be seen to look something like the first image above. I had to share Owl with you too as I think he has become a bit of a favourite, also thought you might like to see the coloured-up stretching bunny who's rough I posted earlier.

Am feeling quite excited about the fact that there are only two more spreads to do - yay! Then it shall be on to thinking about endpapers, title pages, a cover design and oh yeah, suppose had better come up with a title too!

Have loved working on this project which is a companion book for About a Bear and have enjoyed all the creative challenges that it has brought. As always though, I can't wait to see what it will look like when it is all finished and put together in all it's bookie glory. Shall keep you posted!

It's almost time for a Guinea Pig Party!

I had the loveliest start to my weekend with the arrival of the first bound proof of my new book Guinea Pig Party from the super lovely Nosy Crow!

You can't really tell from the pic but it has the most fantastically squidgy hard-cover which I am really excited about as it makes it feel really special and just that little bit different too. It also has yummy spot uv on the front cover to make the image really pop - yes, these are the things that really do float my boat! I can't wait to be able to share this with you properly when it is published (5th July just so you know!) and I really hope it is something that you and your little friends are going to enjoy.

Happy New Year to you all, I hope you had a great festive break and that 2012 is a fantastic one for you.

Hollyxx