What's Up Wednesday!

I feel like I'm sludging through these craft shows. Before I say more I will make a point of saying that the people I meet at these are great. I'm just having the worst luck ever selling anything. Last weekend I'm hoping it was slow because of the Grey Cup. I'm just hoping to make back my table at the next couple of events (which I haven't been doing. I really hope it's more my bad choice in shows than anything else. I think the next two shows will be better. One is a dreaded (but extremely busy) swap meet and one is a huge craft show. Both are at Cloverdale fairgrounds.

What I'm Reading

Blog posts!

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

Still working on art cards. I didn't display them last time because I forgot to scan them first. Having a record of these is more important than making money! 

I am also doing some larger stuffed Pattern Pals (which I may not sell online depending on shipping costs). I am also doing small (about 2.5" by 2.5") felt brooches/pins. These I may decide to sell online, but right now I'm focusing on selling them at my shows. I will post pictures for both later. If you are interested in either of these please let me know!

New Swap Meet this weekend:

November 30th

Cloverdale Kids Swap Meet6050 176 Street
Surrey, BC
9:00am - 12:30pm

If you have kids and live in the are you MUST go to this show! This is a great place to get kids clothing and toys for Christmas. I know that I'm going to *try* to do some shopping here. Not sure how much I'll actually get done, but I'm going to try. It will be rough being a vendor at the same time! I may try to get my husband to come with me so I can have a stand in for a bit!

Every Day Possible

- Getting ready for my show Saturday!

- Remember that I have Twitter/Facebook and a life outside of these.

Wed 11/27

- Write my What's Up Wednesday post ON WEDNESDAY BOOYAH!

Thursday 11/28

-Catching up on things and making some items for my show!

Friday 11/29

- Two Toddlers Throwing Tantrums (again)
- Going to a birthday dinner for a friend!

Saturday 11/30

- Cloverdale Kids Swap! It will be awesome!

Sunday 12/01

- Recovering from my show.

Monday 12/02

- Starting to restock anything that was sold.

Tuesday 12/03

- Post at least 1 painting/drawing craft item to this blog by this date.

- Blog review

Wednesday 12/04

- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

My toddler who is learning so much right now!

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 

David is sleeping a lot better now. He's still waking at night, but it's easier to get him to sleep. He's learning so much right now! Not even three and he can count to 17 most of the time. He knows all his letters large and small (but not necessarily in order). He also knows an assortment of shapes. He can do 48 piece puzzles all by himself (and larger with help). He's still having problems with colours, but he'll get there. 

Ect.

Gonna go watch Dr. Who now!

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

Kate Scott Writes

Sorry this is a late post tonight! Lots of things going on so it was hard to post earlier today. Today I'm doing a review of Kate Scott's blog. In Febuary of 2014 Kate Scott's YA novel Counting to D will be in bookstores. You can see her blog here: http://www.katescottwrites.com/

Both Kate Scott and myself participate in "What's Up Wednesday". Her posts are different from mine because they are more deeply personal. As a result of this her posts tend to be far more informative than mine, even when they are shorter. Because Kate's posts are so personal it makes me feel like I know her. I'm impressed in the way that her personality shines through in these posts.

I love, love, love Kate's weekly interview posts. Even more so I love the concept behind them. She believes that everyone, though they might seem ordinary, are wonderful. This is just fantastic. In her own words:

"I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell." 

This is the one of the reasons I watch the TV show Dr. Who. Yes it's crazy science fiction, but in several episodes he says that "ordinary" people are the most fantastic people. Quote from the Doctor himself (he was speaking to a man, but he means the same about women as well): 

"An ordinary man: that's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive!" 

It may seem like a silly comparison, but I think that someone can see the extraordinary in the ordinary is a person worth getting to know. I haven't read any of Kate's books (yet), but just based on this bit of knowledge alone I advise strongly to check out her new book. 

Besides her wonderful view on people, Kate's interviews are great. She has a way of asking questions to get the most out of her interviews. She knows how to get the most out of each and every interview. I've seen many interviews that are stale, but every single one of her interviews shows the beauty in each person she interviews.

I think you are missing out if you don't check out Kate's blog. Her views alone on the world are a great reason to check this blog out. 
You can also find Kate on Google+ here: https://plus.google.com/103647660940548307977/posts
Like her page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katescottwrites
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/katescottwrites
and Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7276965.Kate_Scott

New Pics!

I did some new pictures of the ornaments I made. Love these so much more. You can buy these at my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/DaniDuckArt I also added the duck!

What's Up Wednesday!

Things are still crazy busy for me. Had to take my son to a specialist last night and found out that he'll just get better on his own. He did sleep last night, so I'm hopeful that things will get better.

What I'm Reading

Not much!

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

I'm staring on making some art cards. I have about 7 done so far.  Hopefully I'll have time to paint them all this week.

New Craft show this weekend:

November 24th 
CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR 
Simonds Elementary School
20190 48th Ave, Langley, BC
10:00am - 4:00pm

As promised here are some pictures of my Christmas ornaments! You can buy them in my Etsy shop at $10 each (will be posting the other two tomorrow). https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/DaniDuckArt

Every Day Possible

- Getting ready for my show this Sunday!

- Remember that I have Twitter/Facebook and a life outside of these. 

Wed 11/20

- Write my What's Up Wednesday post ON WEDNESDAY BOOYAH!

Thursday 11/21

-Working on small paintings and stuffed things for my Craft show Sunday.

Friday 11/22

- Two Toddlers Throwing Tantrums

Saturday 11/23

- Enjoying my day, hopefully!

Sunday 11/24

- Simond's Elementary Today! It will be LEGENDARY!

Monday 11/25

- Starting to restock anything that was sold

Tuesday 11/26

- Post at least 1 painting/drawing craft item to this blog by this date.

- Blog review

Wednesday 11/27

- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

Coffee... cause it's awesome. 

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 

David seems to be getting better. I went to two doctor's appointments yesterday to find this out. Night before he was terrible. 

Working Out/Being Healthy 

Still no rest for the wicked.

Ect.

Coffee is brewing.

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

Tara Lazar - Writing Books for Kids (While Raising Them) & PiBoIdMo

I think it's only fair since I reviewed Meg Miller's blog and ReviMo (which is coming up in January.) I should also do Tara Lazar's blog and PiBoIdMo as well! Unfortunately I'm doing this a bit late because the registration for PiBoIdMo is over this year, however you can still go to Tara's blog, take the challenge without the prizes and learn a lot from this event.

Before I start talking about PiBoIdMo I want to first tell you about Tara's blog when she's not talking Picture Book Idea Month. One thing I like about Tara's blog is the way she has of inspiring writers. Every writer gets to the point where they hit a wall. Tara's blog has lots of little cures for this. She tells her readers about the hurdles she has face (and is still facing) and what she did to accomplish her goals. Even if her advice doesn't help solve your problem, it still is nice to know you aren't alone in the Picture Book world.

Besides being inspiring Tara also has wonderful interviews (with more inspiring people!) The people that Tara interviews are great influential (or soon to be influential people in the picture book world. There are also lots of great contests to enter on Tara's blog. One could say that winning all these contest would make it so you never have to buy another book again, but honestly who are we kidding. This just saves us money so we can spend it on more books!

My favorite thing about Tara's blog is probably the concept behind it. Writing for Kids (While Raising Them). This is the boat that I'm in now. If you don't have kids I have to tell you that it's incredibly hard to create picture books when you have young ones of your own (especially as a stay at home parent). I love that Tara's blog is there proving that parents can create great picture books. Honestly, I think in some weird way not having time (or sanity) gives us parents a little more focus when we do make time to write.

Now more about PiBoIdMo or Picture Book Idea Month! This is a wonderful idea for me. Last year I joined the 12 x 12. I joined with the idea that I was going to submit a bunch of picture book manuscripts to agents so I got gold level membership which I do not regret. What I do regret is the fact that I stopped coming up with new stories to write. I have been so busy and my idea pool has run dry. I just couldn't think of any way to reasonably generate new ideas. I've still been incredibly busy but I've found the time to generate a lot of ideas for picture books.

Tara is a great supporter of her fellow picture book creators. Even long after PiBoIdMo Tara shares the success stories of all the people who succeed as a direct result of participating in PiBoIdMo! The big example of this is the fact that she works so hard on PiBoIdMo. What she does with this has inspired so many people to be successful and I hope that she continues PiBoIdMo for many years to come!

What's Up Wednesday - Friday Edition

So busy this week. My son is still not sleeping well. The cold has settled in his chest so he's on different antibiotics now. Hopefully he'll feel better soon.

What I'm Reading

Kids books. I forget the titles. 

Mostly "Where's Waldo" type books for

a younger audience.  

What I'm Writing/Drawing 

I'm going to be at another craft show this weekend.

Herbert Spencer Christmas Craft Fair 

605 2nd Street

New Westminster, BC

Sat. Nov. 16 10:00am-4:00pm

I've been working on some stuffed Pattern Pals for the Christmas tree. I'm not sure how much I'll get done by tomorrow. The embroidery

takes a lot of time and that's almost done, so fingers crossed. I'll post some pics when I have them!

Every Day Possible

- Getting ready for my show Sat.

- Remember that I have Twitter/Facebook and a life outside of these. 

Wed 11/13

- Write my What's Up Wednesday on Wednesday... done on um Friday

Thursday 11/14

-Crazy babies in my house!

Friday 11/15

-Working my fingers to the bone finishing these stuffed ornaments.

Saturday 11/16

- Herbert Spencer Craft Fair Today.

Sunday 11/17

- Visiting Creative Finds Craft Show today!

Monday 11/18

- Starting to restock anything that was sold

Tuesday 11/19

- Post at least 1 painting/drawing to this blog by this date.

- Blog review

Wednesday 11/20

- Write my What's Up Wednesday post 

What Inspires Me Right Now

Fear and chocolate.

What Else I've Been Up To

Baby Minding 

Still got a sick baby. Second round of antibiotics  It's in his chest so he's having troubles sleeping

Working Out/Being Healthy 

So very tired.

Ect.

There is no Ect. only Zuul! (Still applies for this week.)

*What's up Wednesday is part of Jamie Morrow's summer writing intensive: "Ready. Set. WRITE!" There are other host blogs including: Erin L. Funk, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Elodie Nowodazkij.

RJ Hamm's Art

Hi everyone! I'm sorry everyone. I haven't been able to keep up with my blog as I would like. I will post a "What's Up Wednesday" post tonight sometime. Yes it's a day late, but such is life.

A couple days ago in the mail I got a package. Inside was a picture by RJ Hamm. Now I wasn't shocked that I received this picture in the mail. In fact I had won it in a contest! Robert asked in the forums what he had in his breast pocket. There were all kinds of answers from lint to pens and I believe even an egg. I said the only logical thing that came to mind, "Nothing, you have nothing in your pocket." I believed it too. I don't know if it was my belief or the actual fact that there was nothing in his pocket that won me the print, but I won!

 RJ Hamm sells photo prints on his Etsy shop. Below is the lovely print that I received from the contest. I just need to get it framed now! I'm so excited. You can see more of RJ Hamm's work or order prints at his Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RJsnapshot