Some Organizing

One of my goals for this month is to do some studio/office organizing.  And happily it seems I am not alone!  A bunch of people have mentioned on their blogs or goal lists similar desires for a more sparkly work space.  Here are some of the posts I’ve been looking at for both inspiration and commiseration. hah.

• Over at Mint, Ellie and her friend Margot, from Pitch, have begun a series about starting to work from home.  I’ve been working at home for years, but am sorry to say I still find myself falling into the “why-bother-getting-dressed?” and “my-house-is-a-perpetual-mess” pitfalls that often accompany having a home office.  So it’s always good to hear other’s comparable stories and tips for coping.  Find their Howdy Do It posts every Monday at Mint and Pitch.

• When starting to organize my office, I found this post from Uniform Studio chock full of helpful bits.

• If you need some inspiration look no further than Lovely Design‘s studio tours– old and new!  Not only does every item seem to have its place, but the colors!  Really gorgeous.

• There’s also the Modish Flickr Pool– Handmade Spaces.  Always fun to troll through…

In related news, both my site and blog got a bit of dusting off these last couple of days.  See the newly organized sidebar to the left!  The portfolio and the homepage menu have been updated, and I decided to add in some pencil sketches from upcoming projects.  (Remember the image above from it’s pencil sketch posted a bit ago?)  Let me know what you think of the new work.

My physical workspace may still be a bit of a mess, but now my digital (er, virtual?) one isn’t!

November Goals

Here’s how I did on my October Goals:

1. Fall mailer. ERgh.  I worked on one for weeks, before deciding it just wasn’t right.  So I’ve decided to just make a holiday/winter one and send it out late November.
2. Make list of items to bring to the book workshop.
3. Three new kid illustrations for site.
4. Update site– add in new work, do new homepage. Adding in the new work today!
5. Make list of children’s publishers to contact.
6. Get a wholesale account for Magnetic Kids. Still working on it.
7. Work on organizing my office/studio.

And now for November!

1. Finish and mail out holiday mailer.

2.  Get everything ready for the workshop.  This is a big one, and it all has to happen this week.  Yikes.

3. Set up a time to organize and clean up my studio every day.  I think if I do this on a daily basis the clutter will be more manageable.  Seems like a good habit to get into.

4. Continue looking for a wholesale account for Magnetic Kids.

5. Contact publishers with new work.

6.  After the workshop, make a plan of action based on what I learned there.  Hopefully I’ll make some good connections!

7. Sign up for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Conference in New York.

8.  Participate in illustration online communities more.  I realized the other day that the great majority of the blogs I read have to do with cooking, fashion, or crafting.  They are super pretty and fun to look at, but I’m not taking advantage of the whole illustration community out there.

9. Organize and make special holiday gifts for clients.

10. Make a list of things to do during our week in Vermont!

Cover of Time Out New York Kids!

It’s my first magazine cover!:

I actually didn’t realize those little guys we’re going to be on the cover, so it was a nice surprise! (I drew the birds, bees and flowers.)  Plus I have this full page illustration on the inside:

Quite fitting as I was a nanny myself for years.  Oh how I miss those girls in Brooklyn!

Thanks Time Out New York Kids!  What a fun job…