Charles & Poppy

This morning, I took a trip up to Austin to check out the 1st Annual Renegade Craft Fair. Upon arrival, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. For over three hours, I wandered up and down the aisles of booths and was continually taken aback by the wonderful items for sale…I may have gone a bit overboard! It was so refreshing to chat with some Etsy sellers and artists, many of whom traveled all the way from Southern California!

Plus, I amassed a pretty cool collection of business cards. The men from Campfire had some really interesting t-shirts that I just know my husband would love, particularly this one. Adam, of The Poster List, was wonderful to talk with, and Carla, of Crown Bindery, epitomized southern charm, and she has a dachshund named Peanut!


This little book is a preview of the work of Jay B Sauceda and Will Bryant of Public School, a design studio in Austin. While it’s depressing that some of these creative guys are younger than me, it was so great to meet Will and Cody today, and the more I think about it, I probably should have gotten their autographs because I have a feeling they’re going to be very famous.

I can’t wait until next year, maybe I’ll sack up and buy a booth space! (Thank you, Carla, for providing some motivation!)

Whew. The Quackenbush Workshop is over, and I’m exhausted. It was such a wonderful, humbling experience, and Dr. Robert Quackenbush is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. He gave each of the participants an autographed copy of one of his children’s books, and I will cherish it forever. I can’t wait to read it to my future children and tell them all about the story’s author.

The three photos above are some illustrations done by other participants in the workshop: Benjamin, Nicole and Taylor.

…I’m going to the 1st Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Austin, Texas! You should go, too! There are so many talented, inspiring people in that city!

Are you familiar with the work of Dr. Robert Quackenbush? He’s a prolific author and illustrator of children’s books, and I’ll be meeting him this week!

I was accepted as a participant in the Robert Quackenbush Writing & Illustration Workshop held at the University of Texas at San Antonio. For four days, fourteen students will work on creating their own children’s stories, developing manuscripts or book dummies ready to show publishers and agents. The process of story development, design of a book dummy, and creation of a submission packet is covered within those four days. I’m thrilled to be a part of this wonderful creative opportunity, and I’ll be sure to post photos of the final product.