Mabel's birthday

Mabel celebrated her first birthday in style on Monday. She had her very own cake which she ate too quickly...

Advance copy

One of the most exciting times in the process of making a book is when the advance copy arrives in the mail. It's always a big surprise for me because I'm not expecting it and I'm usually immersed in another project. Today Miles To Go was in my mailbox. The illustrations were done in a completely new style with block prints and lots of different media. So I was eager to see how the illustrations came out in print. Miles will be in stores in mid October.

Julie Arkell

I just got back from a fabulous workshop led by Julie Arkell, a contemporary folk artist who works in papier mache and mixed media.




Julie Arkell lives in London, but she taught this class at Les Soeurs Anglaises (LSA) in South West France. LSA runs an eclectic mix of short courses in textiles, creative writing, and dance. I wanted to learn more about stitching into my illustrations so when I found this workshop I jumped at the opportunity. I got my sister to go with me, which wasn't really hard to do. I love Julie's art and so appreciate her aesthetic sensibility.

While I was at LSA, I was only able to work on a few of my illustrations, but Julie offered suggested some great ideas.


Julie introduced a few sewing projects during the workshop: charm bracelets, suffolk puffs, and fabric flowers. Everyone in the workshop (13) applied their own creativity to each one. Here is some of their work.








I didn't get that much done on the projects...I'm not a very good sewer. But I did love doing it and plan on doing more. I started three necklaces for my girls by crocheting necklaces and then finished them soon after I got home.



I took tons of photos while I was there. It was so hard deciding which to upload...but here's a sampling. Enjoy.

The setting was stunning.







LSA had just completed "the Barn" where our workshop was held. My bedroom was inside there too.


This is the view from my room...


And this is a view from the outside of my bedroom door. We sewed, stitched, and created at these tables for four days.



Every meal was delicious. We ate surrounded by beautiful gardens.




On the 4th of July, Julie Arkell dressed up and we all went out for a terrific dinner at Mimosa Cuisine.




Best of all, I made some great new friends.