My Art for the Day...

My friend Eileen created this snappy new Facebook cover picture. She used Photoshop.
Someone commented that it was like a Junk Poker treasure box. And we all love treasure boxes, right?

For those of you contemplating making your own collage, another clever friend recommends this site:

http://www.picmonkey.com/#

Super easy! I have that right from the source.

Let me know how much fun it is. Next time, I may do my own.
Though it sure is nice to have all these talented friends. Thanks, all!

Every day's my birthday!

Or at least it seems so. In a good way, like when you were a kid and the packages kept coming. 

This is the latest doorstep treat my friend the UPS guy just left.

Gorgeous bookmarks, designed by my artist friend Eileen Harrell!

And here's the back, with a quote from GLORY BE and a mimosa bloom. Mimosas kept cropping up on my pages. Maybe it was the big mimosa tree we climbed in my childhood side yard. 

I couldn't resist putting Glory and her friend Frankie under that tree a few times.

Thank you, Eileen! 

And if anybody needs some amazingly designed bookmarks, I know just who to ask.

(Not actual size, and photography by moi does not do these justice. I will be happy to send a few to any of you. Just send your mailing address to me via facebook message, or scroll down to the "contact me" button on this blog, found on the right side.)

10 Days and Counting

And yes, I'm counting.

In ten days I'll fly (make that BE FLOWN ) to New York for a presentation to the sales people at Scholastic. My editor and my agent tell me this is a coveted invitation. I'm sure I would have totally coveted it had I known about it. But now that I've been invited, I'm preparing. The theme is "Debut Authors" and I am one of four honored guests. And yes, I'm thrilled and impressed. More on this as we count down ten days.

Here's my first step: New business cards. My old ones looked like ladies' calling cards, circa 1950s. No blog address. Old snail mail address. Would not do.

(This is not a commentary on whether business cards are obsolete, about to be replaced by cellphone info or those little bumping logo things featured in the newspaper last week. For now, let's just say I need a few cards with my current info, okay?)

For these new beauties, I can thank Eileen Harrell of Artline Graphics in Atlanta and my fabulous Living Social offer (meant for the DC market but mistakenly came to me).


Eileen had earlier responded to my worries that my cards were blah and outdated by fiddling around and coming up with something quite spiffy. The problem was, I didn't understand a word she emailed, re: design. Color bleeding? Paper stock? Huh?  So how on earth was I to order new cards on my own? All I told her was that I'd like a design thingey, very lowkey.

She responded that design thingey is not really an art term.

Oh, dear.

Then, as I was cooling my heels waiting for a flight,  a coupon for Vistaprint arrived in my email box. I googled Vistaprint. There were some sketchy remarks. But I shot the email to Eileen and she played around with their website and mastered it completely. Yay for commercial artists!

So we did all this via email and they arrived today and I'm sure I'll be passing them to anyone who asks at the Scholastic luncheon. They are gorgeous. They feel just right. Thanks, Eileen!

Here's her funny emailed comment, when the order seemed to be going swimmingly and computers were actually working as promised.

It is pretty damn cool, when you can DO a business card with a friend from Mississippi in Fla, and NJ while in an airport on a Sunday morning, with a coupon from Washington purchased from Atlanta to be sent to a different address!

On some days, I do love computers.