Pepper's Perpetual Birthday Calendar!

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the prolonged absence.  I've been hard at work on Pepper's perpetual/birthday calendar.  All of the illustrations are complete.  I'm nearly done with the final touches on the computer and I've just started to research binding options.  This has truly been a LABOR OF LOVE - a six-month labor of love!  Thanks to all of Pepper's fans for your continuous support and encouragement.  Here's a sneak peak!   :)

Pepper the mouse

Hey ya'll.  I finally decided on a name for my mouse... Pepper!   I named her for her black freckles which make it look like someone sprinkled pepper on her nose!  (I actually still need to add the freckles, along with her signature black and white tail, to these illustrations.)   In other news, did you know that it's National Dessert Day!  To celebrate, Pepper and I are both treating ourselves to ice-cream.  :)

My first give-away!

I love a good quote.  They're meaningful, often beautiful, and succinct.   (I guess that's what makes them quotes.)  When I was spring cleaning last week, I found a stack of journals I kept all through college and beyond.  They were filled with dried flowers and ticket stubs and musings on God and outer space - but most of all, they were filled with quotes.   Here were some of my favorites back then that I still love today.

"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." Henry David Thoreau 

"No one has ever become poor by giving." Anne Frank

"In the depths of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Albert Camus

"Happiness, not in another place, but this place; not for another hour, but this hour." Walt Whitman

I still love to collect quotes in my journal; and pinterest has made it even easier!   I'm always looking for new ones to add to my collection and illustrate.

Now to the fun part!  Follow me on instagram (@listhewildflower), send me your favorite quote and tag a friend.  If I pick your quote to illustrate, you will get a free 8x10 print of the illustration!  You can send as many quotes as you like, but you must tag a NEW person for each quote you send.  I will announce the winner on Saturday, October 17th!  Happy quoting!!

Fall!

Fall is here!  To be precise, she arrived at 4:21 yesterday morning.  Apparently San Diego didn't get the memo.  It's still unusually warm here and I don't see any orange or red on the trees! Maybe because they're mostly palms. ;)

Luckily, baby and I just returned from a week in Michigan where traces of autumn are already visible...  Pumpkins for sale on the side of the road, golden mums beginning to bloom, orange and red-fringed leaves, and of course pumpkin-flavored everything!

We had such a good time during our visit that I barely opened my sketchbook.  But I did take lots of wilder-esque photos plus some shots for an upcoming Studio Spotlight!  You're going to LOVE how colorful this studio is! I did. (Check it out next week!)

_ the mouse

Meet my new little friend.  She's the main character in my latest project - a birthday calendar specially requested!  If you don't know, a birthday calendar lists the days of the month in a vertical line so you can fill in important events (like birthdays) next to each date!

This mouse still needs a name.  I've gotten lots of ideas from my friends on Instagram.  Here are some of my favorites so far: Cora, Beatrice, Mattie, Pippa, Ruby, Fleur, Daisy, Pepper Pepperjack, Sally Swiss.  What do YOU like?  Comment below!