Memory Match Catch – A game I illustrated for innovative KIDS

(click on photo to view video)

Here’s a video about a children’s game I illustrated for innovative KIDS called ‘Memory Match Catch‘. It’s a part of their Soft Shapes line. This match game is for bath time and has 20 colorful fish with 10 different patterns and a net for kids to catch them with. They can match the patterns and collect them in the supplied mesh bag or stick them on the tub wall. We just got the game and my 5 year old daughter loves it! She even likes to use it outside of the tub. It’s so fun to illustrate a toy and then see my daughter playing with it! And, I’ve always been a big memory match game fan, so I am having fun playing it with her too.

©Gartner Greetings

Here’s a bird that enjoyed painting for a greeting card I recently illustrated. I’ve noticed lately that I just love painting birds!

©Gartner Greetings

My 5 year old daughter got invited to a friends birthday party this weekend. Lots of of crafts, dressing up as princesses and strawberry cupcakes. Nothing can put a smile on my face as fast as little kids giggling. It was fun!

©Gartner Greetings

Here’s a snippit of some butterflies I illustrated for a greeting card. It makes me feel like Spring is in the air, even when we had 10 inches of snow last night. A girl can dream!

Hope everyone had a nice holiday! Our was a nice one. A real white Christmas too with a blizzard following the holiday.

©Gartner Greetings

We are what we repeatedly do. -Aristotle

©Lesley Breen Withrow

Hope you have a great weekend!

Did you have an awesome summer? Didja?

I have been having a good amount of fun coupled with a lot of work, both in and out of the studio. So, I let my blog languish a bit for summer. Now is the time to bring it up to speed as we go into FALL!

Going back a couple of months, I don’t think I ever showed you this fabulous new book called lllustrating Children’s Picture Books:

It’s by Steve Withrow and fellow Nook memberLesley Breen Withrow, and I was most happy to contribute a couple of articles to it. This one is about writing and illustrating board books, which is truly one of my favorite subjects:

This page is about the “other” markets you can pursue with your children’s art. If there’s one thing I do know a lot about, it’s “other” markets! This encompasses toys, fabrics, magazines, and stuff like that.

Let’s see… what else? Ah, I have been illustrating almost monthly for Highlights High Five, mainly little snippets of recipe ingredients.

I am continuing to create the Newport Creamery children’s menus. The current one is summer-themed and has Newport’s Cliff Walk on the cover. Next time you’re there, go ahead and ask for the kid’s menu!

I haven’t managed to update my website in a while (it’s on the list), so for now I will show you a few of my recently designed Fred items, now available at a store near YOU! Keep your eyes open for:

Salt ‘n’ Pants! Oh, how happy it makes me to see this one on the market! The little guy is salt, and his pants are pepper. I know it’s weird, but I’ve been trying to get it made for a couple of years now. Huzzah! Hooray for pants!

Another item I am glad to see out there is the Candy Stash. It’s a zip-up wallet shaped like those candy buttons stuck on paper. Mmmm, paper…and candy!

Fresh into the world is the Desk Daisy- a little potted plant that has 3 stems full of paper clip “petals”, held in place by magnets. Perky, huh?

Also new to the market are Chewdrivers…little interchangeable tool handles that can be fitted with a knife, fork, and spoon. This one was challenging to figure out, but it came out well and works like a charm.

Last but not least, I spent a good part of summer ferrying kids to and from the Swamp Meadow Summer Children’s Theatre. They did a very fun musical called “Olivia”, which was something like a female “Oliver” but with all new songs, and a totally different plot. Anyhoo, I did the art that was used for the playbills, t-shirts, and media stuff.

That’s all for now… we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts!

Rachael Ray, you’re the tops. Once again, one of my designs has turned up in her monthly magazine, specifically April 2010!
The item is called Budget Cuts, and it’s a piggy bank with various budget-related “cuts” outlined on it. Get it?? Haha! So you, too, can save your pennies for lottery tickets and donuts. Mmmmm, donuts.

Here’s how it looks all by itself, from the FRED site:

©Lesley Breen Withrow

Today I woke up to a ton of snow on the ground. What a surprise it was! Unfortunately, it turned over to rain and now it is a slushy mess. But, the snow has helped to put me in the holiday mood. Well, the snow and the Christmas tree we just put up! There are no gifts under it right now and I’m not sure if we’ll ever has as many gifts as those under the tree I illustrated. Ha! But that’s okay.

My little glass creamer called “Half Pint” has made an appearance in the November 2009 issue of Everyday With Rachael Ray magazine! They do a great job over there of finding cool current items. I appreciate their enthusiasm for my designs!

They listed the link for The Museum of Modern Art store in NYC as a fine place to find it, and I agree. They still have it listed as one of their “best sellers.” Yay!