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Cuddle Bunny Series: Tiny Tales Written by Charles Ghigna, aka “Father Goose” Illustrated by Jacqueline East Picture Window Books     8/01/2015 9780-1-4795-6532-0 64 pages     Ages 4—7 “What kind of name is Cuddle? Well, it’s the perfect name for a kind, caring, and adorable little bunny! Cuddle Bunny enjoys all of life’s adventures. From …

We ain’t afraid of no dinosaur!

I realized that I have not posted in a while. With all the shows I have been traveling to, I barely had time to keep up with my blog. Since I have posted, I was writing about the Wild West Fest at the Calico Ghost Town in Yermo, California. All around it was a fun show; we stayed with my in-laws at a nice hotel in Barstow for the weekend of the show. It was also my birthday so we all went out to eat the legendary Peggy Sue’s Diner on Sunday night.

Then it was off to Seattle again for Emerald City Comicon.  It was an amazing show, with wonderful people. I have to give a big thank you to Sarah for the help at my booth (allowing me a few moments of rest to stretch my legs). The atmosphere was electric and everyone has my gratitude for making me feel so welcome up there. One of these days I will get Shawn up there so that I can leave him at the booth and go explore the city hehehe.

But that will only happen if the infamous Monsterpalooza does not fall on the same weekend as ECCC, like it did this year. Here is Shawn to tell you more. Shawn here and I have three words: It… was… awesome! I had a great time, though I wished Diana was there so that I could have walked around to check out more things. Oh well, there is always next year. All the fans were amazing and thank you to everyone for supporting Diana. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Beware the Gotham Bunnies

Thank you Shawn, so following those two shows was Wondercon. Oh how I love this show and it is one of my favorites. Not only did I get to see all my regular fans from SoCal, but Shawn being there allowed me to leave my booth from time to time to browse the artist alley. I got to catch up with some friends and meet some amazing artist for the first time. This was also the debut of my latest in the Terrible Trio series… the Gotham Bunnies, so cute, yet so evil.

Then I had a rare weekend off, and then it was time to get ready for Texas Frightmare Weekend. I was excited as I had never been to Dallas-Fort Worth, so this was a great opportunity to reach a new fan base. After a less than sterling start of the day (looking at you American Airlines) I made it to the show with only a half hour to set up. But after that it was one of the best weekends I have ever had at a show. It was intense, amazing, overwhelming at times and I can’t wait to go back next year. I may even bring Shawn along for this trip, I think he would enjoy the show very much.

Back to Southern California the following week for the Bat’s Day in the Park Black Market. This is always a fun show to do where I tend to pick up some great little pieces. It is only a one day show, so a bit more laid back and relaxing compared to the multi-day shows. Though being so close to Disney makes me want to go buy a ticket and go on some rides.

Finally last but not least was another trip up to Seattle (seriously, maybe I need to rent a room out there) for Crypticon. This was a great little horror convention with some pretty cool guests. I am starting to recognize a few people that have seen me at some of the area shows and meet some new fans. Thanks once again to Tamara of The Mystical Apothecary for being my traveling buddy once again.

Whoa, I was a bit more behind on this blog than I realized. Mid year resolution, I shall be better about updating my blog in a more timely manner. I have four more shows to do before I take some time off to do some more art and work on some upcoming projects, one of which is a book.

Keep on creating and have fun–

Diana

The post Catching Up with Blogging appeared first on Diana Levin Art.

Sometimes

ya just gotta

take it.

RULES OF THE HIGH SEAS

1. Ducks do not make good leaders. Although they are arguably among the most optimistic of species, it is due in no small part to their chronic shortsightedness.

2. However, if you need to be bailed out, a bunny is the first critter you should call.

3. Bears will sink your boat.

New addition to the blog!

FREEBIE FRIDAY!

I’ve been obsessing over creating cute little clip arts lately. Mostly ’cause I never have any handy when someone asks me to make invitations, birthday cards, etc. In doing so I thought I’d share a free downloadable file to you every friday. Here’s this weeks download:

click here to download

Enjoy!

I thought this would also be the perfect time to announce
I have a new store on Etsy!

Beautifique Digital is where you can find all sorts of digital downloadable goodies.
It’s a little bare right now, but come visit me often. More updates on the way!

HAPPY FIRDAY! ..er FRIDAY!

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Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, On the Farm & At the Port

by Britta Teckentrup

Chronicle Books*    2/25/2014

978-1-4521-1700-3

Age 4 – 8        56 pages

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Back Cover

“What is the Bunny Family doing today? Join the bunny family for a busy day in their hometown, on a fun-filled farm adventure, and at the port for an exciting outing! From the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep, there is so much to see and do. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for that pesky Benny Badger—he is always up to no good!”

Opening

“IN THE TOWN . . . Join the Bunny family for a busy day in their hometown, surrounded by friends and neighbors!”

The Story

The Bunny family—Baxter, Bethany, Mom, Dad (doctor) and Grandma Bunny—are spending the day in their hometown. There is so much to see, many other bunnies to visit, and others to greet, “Hi!” Everyone rises for the new day, dressing, eating, and opening his or her shiny, wide eyes. Outside the street is very busy. Harold Hippo is walking his pooch, Gary Gator is jogging, and—Oh, No!—Barbara Bear slips on a banana peel. 9 AM and school is ready to begin. Bethany enters kindergarten after her dad walked her to school. Baxter is on the playground with his friend Vincent, a tiger. At home, mom is feeding the two cats and grandma is knitting. Such a busy start to the day.

At 12 noon, it starts to rain. Benny Badger is leaving the bakery. What is he up to now? Grandma is on her way home with two sacks of groceries. Bethany is in a line with her classmates and Baxter is still in class. Uh, oh, a cat is on the table. Where is mom to scold the cat? 3 PM is snack time. Grandma Bunny is bringing Bethany a drink—the cat is on the floor. Baxter is learning math with his teacher, Mrs. Katz. Barbara Bear is walking down the street, aided by a crutch for her broken and casted leg. Benny Badger is a pickpocket! He is stealing Bernhard Builder’s wallet right out of his back pocket. 9 PM is time for everyone to sleep. The day was interesting. The fire department put out a fire in the apartment above the Bunny’s apartment four hours ago. Benny Badger broke into someone’s car and into the bakery. Now, at nine at night, Bethany and Baxter are asleep. The town gets quiet and the police arrest Benny Badger. Tomorrow the Bunny Family will go to the farm and the day after to the port. But wtch out! Benny Badger will be there too.

Review

Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port will keep kids busy. Originally three books, each book divided by hour segments. 6 AM starts the day, which continues at spaced intervals until bedtime and the end of the day at 9 PM. The spreads are busy with loads of activity by many anthropomorphic creatures. Before each story begins, a page of the story’s characters, illustrated and named, make finding them much easier. I found myself referring to this page many times. At the top of each spread are questions for the reader.

“Who is awake?” /  “What is Mrs. Bunny doing?” /  “Has Squawk made a friend?”

 Benny Badger is the bad badger in every story and it is always a good idea to keep track of what this scoundrel is doing. Busy Bunny Days: In the Town represents a normal day for the Bunny Family. Bethany and Baxter go to school, Dr. Bunny goes to work, and Mrs. Bunny and Grandma Bunny do all sorts of things. The creatures around the town are actually more fascinating than the Bunny Family.

Busy Bunny Days: On the Farm, the Bunny Family is visiting friends, the Gardiners, who own a farm. Interestingly, in addition to the anthropomorphic animals, there are regular animals: cows, chickens, horses, pigs, dogs.  Once again, Benny Badger is around to create havoc. The farm slower paced looks more like a tourist attraction than a working farm.

Busy Bunny Days: at the Port, is the third book in this three-book compilation, all originally published in Germany in 2011 and 2012. The port is a very busy place, and Benny Badger is there to cause trouble. I think he follows the Bunny Family, just as we are doing. Docked at the port are several ships, including a pirate ship and the Poseidon, still afloat and unloading its cargo containers. Baxter is sporting an eye patch and wielding a dagger. At the Port is the best of the three books.

The illustrations are bright, cheery, and simply fun. Each spread holds more than the eye can comprehend in one look. Kids will have so much to look for and follow throughout the day. There are more to follow from spread to spread than just the Bunny Family. Barbara Bear slips on a banana peel, breaks her leg, and returns on a crutch. Harold Hippo cannot keep a hold of his dog’s leash, the dog runs, and finds its way to the school where Baxter pets the happy mutt.  On the farm, Late at night—seven o’clock—everyone dances.

If your child likes to find things in the illustrations, then Busy Bunny Days will keep them busy for a long time. Without an actual text, kids can make up stories for their favorite character. Parents can read the questions at the top of each spread, helping their child with the answers. After that, kids can master Busy Bunny Days on their own, changing the story as they please. Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port will entertain your child while growing their imagination as they story each character in their own way, finding and following the Bunny Family and their friends and neighbors—and Benny Badger, too!

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Learn more about Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port HERE.

Buy Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, on the Farm, and at the Port at Amazon—B&N—Chronicle Books—at your local bookstore.

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Find the author/illustrator, Britta Teckentrup at:     website      unitedartists    nosy crow  

Find more great books at Chronicle Books  at:  website     blog**     facebook     twitter

 **HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A FUNNY BOOK? NOW IS THE TIME: THE GREAT TUMBLR BOOK SEARCH SEE BLOG POST ABOVE

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BUSY BUNNY DAYS: IN THE TOWN, ON THE FAR, AT THE PORT. Text and illustrations copyright © 20111, 2012 by Britta Teckentrup. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

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*Originally published in Germany in 2011 and 2012 by Veriagshaus Jacoby & Stuart GmbH, Berlin, Germany. *Original titles: Das 24-Stunden-Wimmelbuch: In der Stadt ist was los!, Das 24-Stunden-Wimmelbuch: Auf dem Bauernhof ist!, Das 24-Stunden-Wimmelbuch: Am Hafen ist was los! *Translated by Chronicle Books, 2014.

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COTTONTAILS IN SPACE

After successfully landing on the moon, Neil “Cottontail” Armstrong was famously quoted as saying, “One small step for a bunny, one giant hop for rabbitkind.

Space is the “Illustration Friday” word of the week. So I dusted this old chestnut off and redrew it.

Little known fact: The Easter Bunny moonlights, filling in for Cupid, to get some extra scratch.

He says, “They don’t call me Dead-Eye Cottontail for nothing!
(Actually, they don’t really call him that, shhhhhh.)

RACE AGAINST TIME

Despite strenuous training and conditioning, Murgatroid found it difficult to beat the clock.

The Illustration Friday theme for this week is “Time.” So, since it is 11:00 pm on Thursday, with only an hour  left to post… time is running out!

HoHoDooDa got a bit waylaid for me about midway. So completely caught up in the wonder the whimsey the crazy that is Christmas but now re-emerging from the holiday wackiness with a huge list of resolutions clutched in my fist.

Announcing (last minute as is tradition) the beginning of HoHoDooDa 2013!

As nutty as November was, what with PiBoIdMo (thank you so much Tara Lazar!) and SkADaMo 2013, it was just what the doctor ordered as far as a shot of creative, mojo-inducing stress.

A couple of Decembers ago, to keep the momentum going, my fellow doodle pals and inspiring muses, Marion Eldridge, Laura Jacobson and I engaged in yet another month-long sketch-a-thon we dubbed HoHoDooDa, short for Holiday Doodle a Day (hmmm, not really that much shorter. Is it?) We did our best to create a holiday-themed doodle a day… or even every other day… or as often as humanly possible, throughout December.

What with the holidays and all, I admit it’s a little crazy and there may be some gnashing of teeth and tears shed, but overall, I’m sure it will be a blast and very rewarding, as it was last year. So, doin’ it again this year!

Just like SkADaMo, anyone who wants to join in is more than welcome! Regardless of what winter holiday you celebrate!

Rules for HoHoDooDa

“What are the rules for HoHoDooDa?” You may ask.

1. THERE ARE NO RULES! NO SIGN UP! NO REGISTRATION! NO GIVEAWAYS OR GUEST POSTERS!  No regulations, themes, daily words, Facebook pages or anything else resembling organization. Just lots of holiday doodling, commenting back and forth and hopefully lots of inspiration and craft honing!
HoHoDooDa Doodlers are scoff-laws and Mavricks! (Really, I’m just not that organized.) The only code we live by this month is Doodle! Doodle! Doodle! Doodle everyday from December 1 to December 31, or at least try to.
You may not Doodle every single day, but by golly you will have tried and you’ll have more doodles in your sketchbook at the end of December than you might have otherwise.
So, there’s that!

2. If you send me a link to your blog, (or wherever you are posting your HoHoDooDa doodles) I will keep a running list of all the participants and their links on my blog. This way we can all keep in touch and root each other on and enjoy the sugarplum fruits of each other’s doodle labors

If there are any broken links, bad links, I forgot anyone, misspelled anyone’s name or any other heinous act was performed, please let me know and I’ll do my best to correct it.

3. Smile, this is fun!

Doodle on my fellow HoHoDooDa Doodlers, (should there be any!)

Bloated Bunnies

Yep, that’s what I was all day today. Bloated. It’s tradition.

I don’t do the shopping thing on Black Friday. But I do , in fact, bloat. So I suppose it’s really Bloat Friday… for me.

Ok, now on to Sensible Saturday, where smaller portions are the order of the day.

Join me in a waddle on over here to check out my fellow SkADaMoers.

So, you know, I love bunnies (and who doesn’t,) and zombies are the coolest. So, why not a zombie bunny? Well, took a peek on the Googles for zombie bunny and guess what? It’s a thing!

It’s a big fat thing! 

Who knew? Not me. I should have.

Anywho, undaunted I proceeded to add my zombunnie to the mix.

Little known fact: The Easter Bunny moonlights the rest of the year for some extra scratch.

Hare and hyena.

A quick sketch for e-book I’m currently working on. I’m also experimenting with digital pencil lines, where I typically sketch with traditional pencil and scan. Saves time and trees, I figure.

……………………………….

Why a sketch all of a sudden after a couple month hiatus? Ya see, it’s November and all the cool challenges are well under way. There’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month), of which I am a participant of again this year.)

There are probably a bunch more, but suffice it to say, November is a busy month for some.

Last year, I thought just to heap even more onto my plate, I’d make November a “sketch a day month” or SkADaMo, for myself. Just trying to get back to the early days of my blog when I feverishly posted just about every single day. When my synapses seemed to be firing on all cylinders and ideas where presenting themselves to me faster than I could sketch or write them down.

Sigh. Those were good days.

This exercise may not have gotten me back to that place completely, but it did get the ole synapses firing again. And I figure between attempting a picture book idea a day and a sketch/blog post a day, I’ll at least have a notebook/sketchbook/blog filled with chicken scratches of some sort or another again this year.

Better than blank pages and outdated blog posts, I say.

I even made a badge for myself last year and one again this year. I may be the only participant, but by golly I have a badge.

If anyone wants to join in, they are more than welcome to grab the smaller badge, off to the side here and start sketching. No rules, just that.

It starts today.

Ends November 30.

Normally I don’t advertise author/illustrator contests and challenges but this one has something I like.  Namely, Rube Goldberg machines.  Actually, I also happen to like Lisa Graff.  And I happen to like her new book which I finished yesterday and includes the aforementioned Rube Goldberg thing.  The first to ever appear in a children’s book?  You decide.

Next up, I’ve heard the movie news but if we’re gonna do Hobbit then we’re doggone gonna do Hobbit.  Just maybe not the version you’ll be seeing in theaters soon.

Thanks to Hark! A Vagrant for the link.

Next up, grants plus The Eric Carle Museum plus copious Raul Colon?  There is nothing about this that I do not like.

Thanks to Sandy Soderberg for the link!

Now these days everyone’s talking about nonfiction.  Thanks to the Core Curriculum the subject is hot as hot can be and nonfiction’s been getting a real leg up.  I can’t tell you how many people have recently asked me if I knew any librarians that are specifically knowledgeable in the realm of elementary informational texts.  With that in mind, the interest in quality nonfiction has never been greater.  That’s why it’s nice to see new biographies out there, like the recent Twice As Good by Rich Michelson which tells the tale of William Powell.  But, as LeVar Burton might say, you don’t have to take my word for it.

And since we’re dealing with Easter here, it’s only fair that we end with bunnies.  Bunny bunny bunnies.  It was a toss-up between this, the bunny who eats the flower, and the bunnies in the cups.  In the end, I figured you go with the sure-fire crowd pleaser.