Friday, July 27, 2012

Portfolio Review in 10 days!

Sprout!
It's that time of year again.  The SCBWI conference.  This year, instead of a manuscript review, I am doing the portfolio review.  I know about it all year, and for some reason still end up spray glueing and re-arranging it in the car on the way.  

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Layers

Layers
Sketches from our wonderful 4 week road trip!  This is Arches National Park.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Design Star- some inside scoop!




She won!!!  Yeah Danielle Colding the new Design STAR!!!  We had to keep it secret since Febuary, but even we didn't know who won the whole thing.  A friend of a friend mentioned our family for a small cluttered house challenge...that's us!  We have been trying to live and work in a 900 square foot house and were getting totally bogged down with trying to fit our Chicago style and space into this California bungalow.  We had only 5 minutes to meet and tell her our design "style" ON CAMERA!  We love the form and function of the mid-century style, but our house did not reflect that at all.
There were camera's everywhere, one for the pilot, one for the show, and we kinda had no idea what the heck just happened after the first meeting. Yet, she was so relaxed, excited and easy to talk to, we felt pretty good leaving our house in her hands for the next 3 days.
dorky reaction we tried to avoid
You can see our genuine reaction (unfortunately, because I look like a total dork) when we came back in...seconds before we were mumbling to each other how to fake excitement.
 Danielle rocked our house!  She really really did.  The layout is perfect, I have been moving the furniture around every 3 months for the past 7 years to try and make it work, and she got it right on the first try. She created a work space for me as well as the girls.  Opened up the rooms so we can breathe and see and talk and write and work and paint and play.  Allen is spending more time writing at home.  We are all more productive.
Creative Design Space for all of us
AK writes
She listened and delivered so much more than we expected.  I'm so happy she won, she really listened and created a space that was unique to us, but with the design style of her.  The chair!  The lamps! The everything.  I kept saying if I saw this in a store, I wouldn't think it would even fit in my house.  That's why I think her new show about shopping is right on unique, helpful and fun.

Sunny Keller Design Star 2020
Classic Vintage Gidget
 More great photos from the show here.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Awesome Art Collaboration for Haiti

Process pictures of kids drawings turned in to mosaics
My friend Laurel True is a wonderful mosaic artist and she has been over in Haiti creating some really special mosaics there.  I am lucky enough to be able to help her with the project with Partner's in Health at the Mirebalais Children's Hospital.  Hoping to raise awareness and funding as well as a global teaching moment, she gave me some subjects that she wanted to include in the murals.  I had the kids at both my schools where I work, Carpenter Community Charter Elementary School and Sunnyside Preschool create drawings of birds, fish, flowers and butterflies that she shared with her mosaic community to piece together an inspiring and beautiful atmosphere for the Children's Hospital.  Please go to the Facebook page to see lots of pictures, and also to make a donation supporting the efforts.
Mirebalais Facebook Page
3rd graders proudly displaying their artwork for Haiti

Wish You Were Here