A special part of my job as a creator of books for kids is that I get to connect with other creatives. The author of THE HURRICANE GIRLS, Kimberly Willis Holt, created a series of videos about THG with her daughter. The backdrop for their interview was in her garden, while Kimberly and I have never met, it was clear watching her videos we had a lot in common, especially gardening.

While watching her interview on Instagram (@kimberlywillisholt) I noticed the beautiful basket she used for her garden clippings. Lightweight, easy to hold, seemed like the perfect thing for me. Needless to say, I’ve been obsessed with finding THE ONE ever since.

Want to learn more about the author of Hurricane Girls? Click here.

At the farmers market in Oakland County, Evan and I went to get “produce” for the week but I was hoping today would be the day I’d find THE ONE. At the market, everyone packed under the pavilion as it was down pouring and we ended up right behind two women, who were carrying…. baskets. I give Evan the look of, “are you seeing this?!”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a sign of anything even resembling wicker. While scrambling around looking for Evan’s favorite lettuce vendor, I ran into the two women again. This time I had to say something, I told them I loved their baskets and I have recently been inspired to find something like it. They recommend I might find something at plum market and Whole Foods, we had a laugh and they hassled my husband and told him to “get your girl a basket!”

So we headed right to Whole Foods. There she was! I was ecstatic, we loaded her with a few other things from our list and headed to one more stop.

I walked into Zerbos with my basket in tow and I’m grinning huge and feeling like red riding hood. Instantly a woman yelled across the store, “love your basket!” Evan, almost I fell to the ground laughing so hard. She suggested some flowers. It worked terrific for groceries. One thing is for sure, bye-bye, bruised bananas! I hope you too are finding joy in the little things these days.

Our home has been in a constant state of construction since we came here. As we finished these last projects, I’m feeling sentimental and finding the art in it all.

When we got here, we could barely weld a hammer. We’ve learned big lessons with every project about how to work with our hands, our community and our marriage. I loved this composition (created by Evan,) to hold up our window - a living canvas indeed.

In other updates, propagations this summer happened a bit later than usual but my plants didn’t seem too distressed about this.

I was quite concerned that I might loose this one but swift action and the right conditions, I’m going to have this one around for a long time, and some to share!

Did you get to see my article for Muddy Colors? This time, I wrote about drawing horses. To read the article, “Things to Think about When Drawing Horses” click here.

Happy Summer readers!

PS. Did you sign up for my SNAIL MAIL SUBSCRIPTION to get notices about what I’m up to?

THE HURRICANE GIRLS! For readers 3rd-7th grade. Hitting shelves in September!

Hello!

Let me begin my studio update sharing that I have SNAIL MAIL mailing list. I have lots of plans for my list so I can send cool stuff and updates in the mail. For now, I’m building my list. If you want to stay in touch with me, this is the best way to keep track of my work in the world. Link to Snail Mail sign up

Now! What have I been up to? First - HURRICANE GIRLS! This book, available for preorder is written by National Book Award Winning Kimberly Willis Holt!

Hurricane Girls takes place Westbank of New Orleans, this contemporary coming-of-age novel is a journey of growth, healing, and difficult transitions as the girls navigate their many life challenges: family trauma, body insecurity, and the conflict between ambitions and responsibilities. It's a powerful and enlightening exploration of how to surmount personal tragedy through friendship and forgiveness.

Not only did I get to work for one of my dream clients (and birthday twin) Christy Ottaviano but I go to illustrate a full wrap and the inside of the book as well. Jenny Kimura designed this terrific type treatment on the cover and was a joy to work with in from sketch to finish. To see some of Jenny’s design work, visit her website here.

Would you like to see some of the rejected sketches from the project? Below are the ideas that didn’t make the cut!

Throughout the book, the chapter heading is decorated with black and white illustrations. This is one of my first times getting to showcase black and white work. I have an exciting project under wraps that will include a lot more black and white in pastel. I look forward sharing more on that when the time comes.

Along my client work, I am writing my own stories. With my stories, I have been working in pastels exclusively to create the illustrations. These pastels are different than what you might think of. They are small dishes and the chalk is applied with a sponge.

As you may have seen in the news, AI (in summary, a robot that creates art by scrapping images from the internet to produce a new image) is threatening my job as an illustrator. Because of this, I think that is why I have been drawn to more traditional mediums like pastel.

It’s unknown if my stories will find a home at a publisher but for now, I’ll keep working.

Now let’s talk CRAFTS! I was intimidated to make a bag like this - but dying to try it! To my surprise, look how well it turned out!

To begin, I collected scraps from some of my favorite collections. All good things begin with scraps! Let’s be honest, most of the fabrics were by Tula Pink!

Working the squares in this diagonal looks really impressive but it’s easy to do.

A bit of trimming and we are off to add batting. I used a foam batting with a lofty batting on top to get a puffed up look.

Now if only I had a place to go to take my duffel!

Speaking of intimidating crafts, last night, while watching Christmas movies I made this star using folded fabrics. Isn’t it charming?! Would make a lovely ornament or keepsake. This craft is no-sew! Only fabric and your iron is needed. Check out the pattern and my advice, go slow!

With some imagination, this could be made in different sizes. Garlands, placements…. endless possibilities. Want to make your own? Check out this pattern here.

Lastly, many people have reached out about my health and I know it has been surprising to see me out and about with a cane. However, I want to thank-you for the prayers and kind words. To say the last two years have been hard would be an understatement. Death knocked on my door and I told him, NOT TODAY! Though I am still undergoing treatment, I am doing significantly better. As for autoimmune diseases, it’s often a day-to-day, ups and downs but I am okay. Here’s a photo of me and a note from my nurse on the cup.

Craft and be Merry! Best wishes to my friends and readers! Happy Holidays.

Kirbi