Booooooo!

This year we are the ghosts of xmas past, present and future.

 A Happy Halloween to all of you pumpkins out there!

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Getting Better

My mother in law is out of the ICU after three long and scary weeks. Soon she'll be going to rehab and we hope she'll be better than ever in no time. Positive thinking, right? I am very much looking forward to having my husband back in NY with me, and to life resuming it's usual course. There has been very little time for work, but this morning I was finally able to finish the dummy for one of my new books, Flower Girl. Here is one of the test color test illustrations.

Tomorrow, I am dropping it of at my agents office and hopefully she will find it ready for shipping off into the wide world of publishing. 

Keep your fingers crossed.

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Little Gnomes and the ICU

We are over the middle of October and I haven't had a chance to blink yet. It took us a while to smooth out the process of getting my daughter ready for school every morning, preparing her healthful lunch and making sure she has the required clothes/classroom contributions in her bag before 8:00AM. We chose the Brooklyn Waldorf School for our daughter, and we are very happy with that choice. The school however, is not around the corner. Dropping off and picking up takes time. I quickly got sucked into the school craft committee and I am using most of my creative energy to create little treasures for the big annual Winter Fair. (Little gnomes and felted mice in picture) Consequently, my personal work time has greatly been reduced. Then, my husbands mother, who lives in another state, had to have surgery and has been in the ICU for a week now, dealing with complications from the surgery. My husband is with her. That leaves me and my daughter at home, school continues... Needless to say, we are all a little over extended, and anxiously waiting for little bits of good news. This month will not be a big blogging and tweeting month for me. I'll be back though!

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Fu Finds the Way

My husband, John Rocco's newest book, Fu Finds the Way is coming out tomorrow! We have an advanced copy and it looks gorgeous. I am so proud of him. The book is bound in cloth and has a golden teapot on the front, all protected by a beautiful dust jacket. The story is very zen and the art is breathtaking. He also made a really cool trailer for Fu. 

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Fall Necklace

Here is the missing picture! You can see more images on Etsy.

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Feeling Fall

The end of the summer has been a whirlwind. Rearranging my city workspace, preparing a little one for nursery school every morning, and finding a new rhythm in it all. The beautiful fall weather has been luring us out of the house, which has taken its toll on my work time. We are starting to get ready for Halloween and are trying to find a creative way to make a less typical, more spooky princess costume. I did make some skellington inspired earrings for my Etsy shop, and a fall color necklace that put a smile on my face. I hope it does the same for you!

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Duck Tents

Our newest picture book acquisition happens to be Duck Tents, by Lynne Berry, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. Five little ducks go on a camping adventure in the backyard. They each set up their own colorful tent, grab their poles, tramp through the woods, go fishing and toast marshmallows. These ducks are going for the whole camping experience. When the owl starts the nighttime sound symphony with a loud 'Whoo-whoo'  five little ducks change their tune.

The cover of this book immediately caught my eye, brick red with a plaid spine surrounds a charming watercolor painting. They story is cute although somewhat predictable. The inside illustrations however, completely live up to the beautiful cover. Nakata's use of color is superb, her details super cute without getting too sweet, and her page layouts are refreshing. A welcome addition to our picture book library.

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Polymer Clay Beads

Over the last year, my daughter and I have been making miniature candy out of polymer clay, to diffuse the desire for real sweets. It worked. 

A few weeks ago, while in California I started thinking of making beads out of the clay. 

I knew we would be spending 3 weeks in the country upon returning to the east coast, and a beading project seemed appropriate for the rainy days and the TV free evenings coming up.

On our last day in L.A., my dear friend Julie watched my daughter, who was asleep in the car, while I ran into an art store. The store didn't have much clay left, but I found a few colors, enough to mix and make more. I couldn't wait to get started and once we got settled and unpacked in our house in PA, I got dove right in. 

Making beads turned out a lot more complex than I anticipated and it took many days for me to get to a place where I was happy with the results. It has been two weeks now and I finally completed three necklaces, check them out!

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Mrs Nelson's Bookstore visit

Mrs. Nelson's Bookstore was new to me, but what a pleasant surprise! We arrived early and walked around the entire store looking into every red trimmed window. 

What a wonderful, big and very comprehensive store! The people from Mrs. Nelson's were welcoming and very sweet. They had a gift basket for me with  water, fruit and a scone. How great is that?

A quilt was spread out for the children to sit on, in front of a comfortable armchair, framed by a window streaming early morning sunlight. Children and parents started trickling in. 

The reading was pleasant, relaxed and much fun. 

Someone from the store had downloaded a free coloring sheet from my website, and coloring time for the kids was scheduled after I was done reading. Another brilliant idea.

My book Hugging Hour sold out immediately. Unfortunately they had not received Bella & Bean in time for the event. 

My dear friend Michael also didn't make it in time for the reading; he drove an hour to La Verne. But let me tell you, the store alone is worth the drive, and I was very happy to see him for a little bit anyway. 

Overall we had a great experience at Mrs. Nelson's, and we are sure to go back there whenever we can.

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Vroman's Bookstore visit

I've always liked Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, so when Marla Frazee and my publisher both told me about the bookstores weekly story time, I knew I wanted to be part of that. 

The story time organizers were so nice. They had provided a great space to sit, flanked by books.

 Vroman's had ordered a lot of my books, both Hugging Hour! and Bella & Bean.

Attentive kids and thoughtful adults showed up and listened happily as I read.

I recognized many dear faces in the audience. 

The whole trip to California turned out to be much fun. Story time at Vroman's was a highlight. Oyher highlights were the Pecha Kucha at Big Buddha Baba, the Book Party at Sue's, and the reading at Mrs. Nelson's. The photo's from Story Time at Mrs. Nelson's will follow shortly.

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