april showers

British summer time resumes today with some good old downpours.

We can't moan though, Easter weekend was the hottest and sunniest weekend EVER. It involved boat rides on a river, tennis with the kids, drinks in the pub, a family day of fun at my favourite sister's and a trip to the bike park.

Followed of course by a trip to A&E with a broken wrist for the youngest who didn't manage to remain in one piece on his actual bike.

easter dog

And THIS is not the Easter bunny...

easter tiger

This is not the Easter Bunny. Do not be fooled. It is an imposter.

partied out

Is it bedtime yet? I was out till 2am TWICE this weekend. Partying with the young peoples and everything. I have officially peaked for the year. And I need some sleep.

who ate all the eggs

Easter eggs are in the shops so early that I have a tendency to just ignore them. Then when I finally go to make my purchase, at actual Easter, there's only the crap ones left.
If I bought them in February, though, I'd just eat them all and still end up with the same problem. Only I'd be 3 stone heavier.

easter elephant

E is for Elephant with an Easter Egg.
The Easter bunny has been sacked.

careers day 1

I was talked into talking yesterday. To nearly 40 kids - aged from 6 to 11 - about being an illustrator.
The kids had to choose which "careers talk" they wanted to attend. I was up against 5 other people, including a pilot wearing his actual uniform, so I considered myself a winner for having a full classroom.
I had to stand at the front with all these little eyes staring at me, waiting for me to say something profound. 
I didn't say anything profound. But I did give them all a ladybird sticker and I raffled off a load of my books and cards so I think it went ok.

Most notable moment...
Me: Does anyone know what 'freelance' means?
Girl with hand up: Is it when you work for free?
Er no love. It isn't.

It all got a little confusing at one point because they thought I actually physically drew the pictures onto the products. I had to give them a brief rundown on the mechanics of mass production in the far east.
But all in all I think it went ok.
I'm somewhat terrified now though because I had already agreed to do a similar talk at the eldest's school for a year 7 careers day. I am seriously gonna have to up my game for that one. It's the sort of school where the kids only want to be surgeons and rocket scientists so I'll probably only have to talk to 2 kids anyway...but I seriously need to do a crash course in PowerPointing before May just in case...

march 19

Blimey it's April already! Happy days! We finally have adequate daylight hours and it's not so cold anymore. Woohoo!
I'm a bit sad that I'm not at Bologna Children's Book Fair though. I didn't feel the need to go this year seeing how I didn't really speak to anyone last year. And my super action plan to do some work suitable for picture books kind of fell by the wayside due to actual-real-life work getting in the way. But now I'm kind of wishing I was there.
So new plan of action....do some work that would make awesome picture books and get my arse over there next year....watch this space...

Meanwhile this was March. In pattern form.
If you want to license it give me a shout.

elephant pattern distraction

I've spent most of the last couple of weeks overseeing our kitchen revamp and making cups of tea for various blokes in overalls.
It's finally done and I've got the house back to myself again during the day.
Now I just have the small task of chucking all the other half's crap out without him noticing....because those 261 videos are NOT going back on the shelves...
Meanwhile I'm avoiding the task by making elephant patterns.
Happy weekend peeps!

hard at work

I'm currently hiding in my bedroom like a teenager while two decorators are hard at work downstairs. I'm meant to be working but i might just have a nap...

hello Monday

Weekends are over far too quickly.
Also, we always stay up far too late on a Sunday night. In denial. So getting out of bed on a Monday morning is a bit of a struggle.

the next big thing

If you were planning your next range around any of the banned items mentioned in my previous post and are now feeling a little lost....fear not. Apparently (according to my friend on instagram) the next big thing is gonna be ..... the worm. You heard it here first. Jump on the bandwagon now, before it's too late. 

(This one is a little short because he got chopped in half with a spade by the gardener. It is definitely NOT a penis.)

banned

I'm afraid it's my duty to inform you that the characters contained in this picture are now under a worldwide ban due to total and utter overkill. Find something new. You know it makes sense.

world book day

World Book Day is so much better now that I don't have to start cobbling together an outfit, which somehow matches a book we own, at midnight the night before. 
I always had great intentions. But zero time. And very little enthusiasm from my kids, who mostly wanted to be a Disney Princess or Buzz Lightyear.
Teenagers have few advantages. But this is definitely one of them.
Happy World Book Day 😜

#kidlit4climate

Well, even though kids from all around the world are striking next Friday to bring attention to climate change, it appears that my kids haven't even heard of it 🙄