The Licensing Nook
‘Surtex’ blog posts
My Greeting Card Collection – Sharing the Faith
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Posted by: Lesley
I illustrated and planned the subject matter for this religious greeting card collection called ‘Sharing the Faith’ from Gartner Greetings (an imprint of Gartner Studios ). It’s a beautiful collection that has a soft natural look, lots of textures and patterns and art that ties in nicely with its up-lifting verses. It’s a 40 card collection that I shared with another fabulous illustrator and was a joy to work on.
The Holiday Mood
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009posted by: Lesley

©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.
Loving the Weather
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009Posted by Lesley
©Lesley Breen Withrow
What a beautiful day it is again here in New England! Here’s some art I created for a greeting card that reminds me of the wonderful weather we are having. I hope it stays like this for a little while longer.
Happy Birthday Marin!
Monday, August 31st, 2009Posted By: Lesley

Today is my daughter’s 4th birthday! We had a wonderful birthday party for her yesterday and she got all the Smurfs and My Little Ponies that she had been dreaming of! (Including Papa Smurf and Smurfette). It’s funny, because those are the same gifts I dreamed of getting back in the day. Gotta love retro!
©Lesley Breen Withrow
Greeting Cards
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009Posted By Lesley
I’ve been busy creating greeting cards and so I thought I’d show a sampling of them. They are filled with my painterly textures and patterns. So much fun to make! (To see a close-up please visit Lesley’s blog)

©Lesley Breen Withrow
My snails note card set at Papyrus
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009Posted by Lesley
Hey, I recently saw a note card set that I illustrated of these cute little snails at my local Papyrus store! It was great to see it along with all of the other fabulous gift products they have. I love the boutique quality of their stores and products. So beautiful and inspirational.


Mary Beth in the press
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009My local paper, the Woonsocket Call, picked up on my story about winning a Louie Award for the card I licensed to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art NY). It’s a really nice article!
Read all about it!!
Mary Beth Cryan wins a Louie Award
Friday, June 5th, 2009I am absolutely thrilled to share that I won a Louie Award for the “Urban New Year Card” that I licensed to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art NYC)!
For those of you not familiar with the Louies, the award is the “Grammy” of the Greeting Card Industry. It recognizes the most outstanding cards marketed in the previous calendar year.
Two of my cards were nominated by the MoMA and both cards were finalists in their categories. My “Bumper Sticker” card was a finalist in the category “Christmas/Holiday/Seasonal Boxed/Catalogue – Humorous above $1.25″. My “Urban New Year” Card won the Louie in the category “Christmas/Holiday/Seasonal Counter – General $3.00 and Below”.
I traveled to New York City last week to attend the award ceremony (and the National Stationery Show/Surtex show). It was an exciting night.
I am so thankful to the MoMA for giving me the opportunity to compete in this arena and obtain this career goal.



And We’re Off!
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009It’s taken a little while, but The Licensing Nook is finally up and running! The six of us represented here have been busy as can be with our various jobs and commissions. Barb and Monica are gearing up for Surtex, and the rest of us are looking forward to making the trip to NYC to check out the show and help where we can.
Walking last year’s show was a lot of fun, but this year’s will take on a whole new dimension!

Last year’s show…a veritable ocean of artists and products.

