Have you picked a pumpkin?

 So, here we are one week into October & now it feels appropriate to share a little more about my latest Hello, World! board book From Seed to Pumpkin.

 

This book shares the life cycle of a pumpkin, tells how the tradition of carving jack-o-lanterns started in the U.S. and offers a helpful tip on what to do with carved pumpkin after Halloween.  Like all my Hello, World! books I learned some new things & it's my hope/goal that you do too!

 

 

If you have a little one in your life who likes to color, this new coloring page has been added to my website.  Enjoy for some fall fun!

 

We went to the apple orchard (Red Barn Orchard in Weston Mo.) two weeks ago.  We've gone each year since my son was 3. (He's 17 now!)  This time was our hottest trip yet with a temp of 95 degrees.  Apple doughnuts didn't sound as good this year in the heat.  That said the pumpkins looked great in the bright, hot sun.  These ones with long stems caught my eye.

Did you know the art in my Hello, World! series starts out with cut paper characters & shapes?  I scan each item & continue creating in Photoshop.  I'm sharing a photo of a beginning stage.  Sometimes it feels like I'm making paper dolls.  I still like to play!

Fall flower fun

 I find making patterns so relaxing & fun.  This one is a crescendo of spicy fall color & shape.             

 

With no hard frost yet, I'm happy to report the flowers are still going strong!

Types of apples

 

I painted a few of my favorite kinds of apples.  Pink Lady apples are at the top of my list! Apples are in rose family, called Rosaceae.  I find this so cool & when you look at the calyx you can kind of see the similarities.  I can say (from experience) that painting an apple is so much easier than successfully painting a rose!

Shifting seasons

 

Mid September in my studio, where the light is soft and shining.

Labor Day weekend

 

Here’s to a fun, breezy, long weekend with some extra time to embrace the outdoors!  This watercolor painted was turned into a card for Design House Greetings.  I've mentioned it before, (and I'll do it again) I have dreams of learning to sail one day! 

All tucked in! (almost grown up)

Thanks to those who entered my Hello, World!  Bedtime book giveaway.  The winner was notified this afternoon.  Bedtime has always been special to me.  I’m fascinated by the science of sleep and some of you may or may not know I started my freelance design career working on mainly kids and baby bedding.  Primarily for The Land of Nod and Target’s Circo crib bedding. Eventually landing a brand under my own name sold in Babies-r-Us stores across the U.S.  I designed a dinosaur lamp for that collection that I still love today.  So much so I added it to the nightstand in my new book Bedtime.  Some ideas just stick with you!

 

 

 

The packaging for the Jill McDoanld baby brand had my picture holding my son.  This pulls at my heartstrings, that baby I loved to hold is turning 17 later this week.  I know that whole "time flies by" thing people tell young parents can come across as annoying, especially when you're immersed in the messy ins and outs of baby– toddler life.  Looking back now I can say this was totally true!  Another one of those lessons life teaches you with some space to breathe and a little distance.

 

Two NEW Hello, World! books

 

GIVEAWAY— to celebrate my new Hello, World! BEDTIME book out today!  I’m excited about this title, I remember when my son was a toddler wanting a book that explained the importance of sleep in a friendly, factual way.  Go to bed rarely works but a simple explanation on why our bodies need sleep, bedtime routines, dreams and what to do if you have a nightmare are helpful tools that can set them up with good habits from the start.  

 

If you'd like to enter visit my Instagram page to do so.

 

One last bit of nice news, Amazon has selected BEDTIME as one of the best books of the month for baby to age two!

 

 

 

From Seed to Pumpkin is my other new Hello, World! book available now.  With fall almost here this title explores how a pumpkin grows, visiting a pumpkin patch, how to pick a perfect pumpkin and many more fun pumpkin facts!  I plan on offering a GIVEAWAY of this title on Instagram the last week in September.  I love embracing the season and thought it would be nice to wait a month or so on this one.  That way we're all thinking crunchy fall leaves, trips to the orchard and everything pumpkin spice! (Which I'm still not sure I'm a fan of?)