Royals

My recent travels through time and lineage (working on the family genealogy) has brought me so much fresh material for new characters! Last month I wandered the lives of the royals, after I traced one little line (aided by research collected by my aunt and uncle) to my 9th great grandfather, Charles II (making my 10th great grandmother, this lady and my 11th great grandmother this lady).

I've read that thousands of folks are linked to Charles II which fascinates me...we're ALL family really, and the events we've all learned about in history class are more personal than we can even imagine...

Wild!

Spent the weekend in the majesty of Maine...

with this talented-bride to-be and some adventurous ladies, and one VERY uninvited lady named Irene (boo), who we met HEAD ON while we drove through to get back into the city....did you get an Irene visit too? Hope you are safe and all is well, East Coasters!!

Shoes, News, Reviews!

SHOES:

Dearest Jama Rattigan has featured and reviewed Dress over on her blog. Boni and I are interviewed on our favorite wearables (mine are shoe-centric, hers are adorable!)...Click here to read.

NEWS:

Just in: I Had a Favorite Dress will be stocked at Anthropologie!

Dress has also made it into this year's Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators, along with Just Being Audrey, and more art from this year's crop of picture books. Love and thanks to the jury! If you are in the NYC area this fall, take a peek, more info here.

REVIEWS:

Publisher's Weekly called Dress "Tailor-made, so to speak, for the Etsy generation of DIY enthusiasts." I really hope readers get crafty after reading this book. Reuse, resourcefulness, and reinvention! More reviews here: Thanks, PW. And thank you, Kirkus. Merci, Wall Street Journal. Et merci beaucoup, Jana!

A little break

As many projects come to conclusion all at once, the studio has become a busy tumbleweed world! Even in the MOST busy times, it's important to get away, even for a little bit. Just long enough for a quick tea party last week:

(thanks to talented illustrator friend, Ellen!)

and urban seal spying:

Amanda captures his reflection, he's such a little ghost!

Seal belly!

(Thanks to illustrator lady, Amanda for the pics!)

I couldn't help but think of the "selkie" story, when one of the seals swam close and looked at us with those eerie deep brown eyes...This beautiful movie, one of my ALL time favorites, tells the selkie tale so well:

Back to work!

Real-Life-Rose

Came in last night from a quick trip out of state and found a little message and a link waiting in the inbox. It made me SMILE :) ...

images via Maia and Q's blog UneEnvie

I recently met Q's artist mom, Maia over email, when she needed a custom print of my "Crime Pays" Rose Casson sketch for her daughter "Q": apparently, Q is a completely real-life Rose Casson! (I completely agree after visiting her blog) They are an enchanting pair of mother daughter creatives, check out Maia's work here & here. How sweet are Q's little pink dresses???

Big hugs and keep up the drawing, Q!! Thanks a billion ♥

Sketchlady

I wish I could share some of what I'm working on now, but it's mostly under wraps! So here's a heavy-lidded lady, (named Helen), who sketched herself out in a few minutes in between jobs. I've also added her to the shop here. Wonder what her story is...

New + Old

This weekend was full of NEW + OLD, with a backdrop of coastal Quincy rain (the light tapping kind) and a visit from my parents up from Connecticut. We cooked our first brunch for guests in our new house, on new china, on a new table. Thankfully, our conversation topics spanned the comfy old Denos favorites though: technology, Star Trek, poetry, recipes, family history and ghosts (the usual) and I even got a piece of my past from way down south, a copied picture (thanks, Aunt RB!):

This is my great-grandma, Pocca's mother: "Mama Roe"
(Ruth Bailey Munroe)

When I was little, I used to stare at this photo in amazement, imagining she was a movie star from the old-fashioned days. The rusty stains that happened decades ago resulted in starry confetti falling around her. It adds unintentional dreaminess that I've always loved. Her face still inspires me...

Giveaway Winner

Holy cannoli! Thank you friends for the support and sweet comments! Since my old fashioned hat went missing, I picked from a colander (because it could be a hat!) at the stroke of 12:

and the winner is: Amanda Williams

(This illustrator/vintage shop lady runs her own crafty blog here) Congratulations and thank you!

And if you'd still like some little dresses, the 15% discount remains through the end of this birthday week on everything in my SHOP, with the discount code: DRESS

Much love!!

SNIP SNIP SEW SEW...

(Interior from I Had A Favorite Dress, by Boni Ashburn, published by Abrams)
(My favorite green shoes via the Artifaktori shop)