paperswans

2012-01-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

Found a nice mention-

A Monarch Butterfly’s Journey by Suzanne Buckingham Slade and illustrated by Susan Swan.
The illustrations are bright mixed-media collages by Susan Swan. I am not a huge fan of collage art in children’s books that tries for ultra-realism, but Swan’s butterflies are an example of how it should be done. They are fascinating and fun, with a high level of energy. I love the humorous side comments of the insects which make comments in their own cartoon bubbles. One butterfly asks, “Are we there yet?”

From: Growing With Science Blog at Peeeple.com

more girl scouts

2011-03-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've been working round the clock on another girl scout project - here's a sneak preview from the Daisy Handbook.

©gsusa

how things change

2011-01-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

This is how the Spider cover started - the story was about Geo. Washington
(and his dental problems). Initially I was going to show George brandishing
a large toothbrush, riding his toothy horse, and followed by numerous smiling
animals displaying brilliant smiles. The background was to be reminiscent of
paintings of the period. I thought about it a while longer and somehow that
changed to George shopping the sales for false teeth.

this was so much more fun....

shhh!

2011-01-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

can't talk about it yet but here's a sneak peak at a small portion of a spread from just finished book project.

Scholastic story

2011-01-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

interview

2010-12-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

... had a brief interview with Susan Zevon a few weeks back about gift wrapping ideas; she wrote about Leslie Carola's book "Wrapped With Style" which included many of my designs.
I mentioned in the interview that I loved using templates to tear out envelopes to give gift cards, photos or thank you notes. It's so simple and I get to use my own papers. No measuring or scissors. The article, with variations, has turned up everywhere and unfortunately I neglected to mention where I got the templates - so here's the url: http://www.greensneakers.com.

pic. 1 - tear out shape pic. 2 - turn over and fold shape around center template pic. 3 - use dabs of glue to adhere sides and bottom flaps; use sticker or envelope glue for top flap.
(I didn't show it here but I prefer using double sided papers.)

This product image courtesy of Jon Van Gorder shows brightly dotted paper complimented by a ribbon with smaller dots, a creation by Susan Swan from the book "Wrapped with Style," Universe Publishing, 2009.

variety

2010-12-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

is the spice of life - or something...

Enjoyed doing this simple project for Highlights. I love playing with patterns and shapes.

Upstart poster - reverse side

2010-12-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

Upstart poster

2010-12-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

Scholastic poster

2010-12-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

chickens

2010-11-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

I love chickens - here are some done
for a poster that I can't show yet.

raccoon nap

2010-10-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

this cutie is for an upcoming Scholastic poster

October Cricket magazine

2010-10-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

just because it's a beautiful day

2010-10-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

One of my papers with the addition of
beautiful vintage butterflies.

the new Girl Scout book is at the printer

2010-09-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've done another big project for one of my favorite clients-
(I think I should qualify for an honorary badge soon! or at least
some Girl Scout cookies.)
The AD, Sara Gillingham, made the brilliant suggestion to adapt
what I had already been doing for headlines for a font to be used for the
body copy too. It has a crude paper cut look to it which
suits the book well. We used fontgarden.com to generate the font.
I'm working on a couple others now too just for fun (one, a curly
cut paper kind of font which I've used on my new website www.susanswan.com -
along with the Girl Scout PaperDaisies font.)

The journey theme for the girls this time is 'It's Your Story--Tell It!'
and I got to show animals from around the world. And even got
to do some animal masks that the girls can download and put together
themselves.

what I've been doing

2010-08-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

sneak peak of bits and pieces of a non-fiction picture book for Capstone
now on it's way to the printer

critters

2010-08-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

I have just finished lots of really

enjoyable projects-

many involving animals.

This one for AAA Traveler Magazine

should be in mailboxes now.

Can't show this kid's mag cover yet but I can tell you

it's about George Washington and his dental, er, problems.

His happy horse is in the background...

Texas wildflowers

2010-05-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Indian paintbrush wildflowers are so much more beautiful

(especially closeup) than the bluebonnets that everyone

makes so much of here in Texas. Originally they were going

to play a bigger part in the kid's mag cover I just did but ended

up getting overshadowed by a baby buffalo.

So-here's a few of them just because...

new work

2010-05-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

just finished work for the October issue of Cricket Magazine...

here's just a tiny part- loved doing this project!

I painted some papers and roughed up the textures in Photoshop
to give me interesting buffalo fur and scanned in some grass,
painted over it, and made a pattern for the grassy plains.
I think that's a paper I'll find lots of uses for.
-And you'll have to wait until October to see the rest.

kid magazine

2010-05-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

I slipped in a little illo for a kid's mag in the midst
of the Girl Scout project, and used some of my papers too.

sketches

2010-04-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy with the Girl Scout book; I get to draw lots of animals this time...
here's part of a sketch and some patterns that I've been working on for the book and also my licensing website.

licensing art

2010-03-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard to get some images put together to offer for licensing. I was trying to get several collections put together and a website up before my next Girl Scout book starts, but as that project begins Monday, and every moment will have to be dedicated to it, I'll have to wait until there is another lull to get back to this. Coming up with patterns is addictive- I'm more than slightly obsessed!

(I have gotten a lot of extremely useful information from
Tara Reed's ArtLicensingInfo.com. She has e-books,
videos and product mockup templates available. Very helpful!)

science project

2010-02-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

here's the newest...
for a kid's science mag

Girl Scout project continues

2010-02-18T06:13:00.000-08:00

just completed this promo piece
for book 3 of the Daisy Leadership series-
the ms for the actual book isn't ready for me yet
but I've heard a little about it and
it's going to be a lot of fun to do.

rose

2010-02-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

this is part of an illo for a poem in another kid's magazine, there's more, and a funny spider, but I'm not to show it until publication

fireflies

2010-02-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

just did this cutie for a kid's magazine article about fireflies

sketches

2010-01-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

I don't tend to hang on to sketches but found
this one while cleaning up. I remember this
was a rush assignment and fortunately
no changes were asked for; it went from
sketch to finish in the matter
of three days or so.

another postcard

2010-01-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

the art is from an English as second language reader completed a few months ago...

finally-a new postcard in the mail tomorrow....

2010-01-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

ornaments

2009-12-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

Finally finished up the ornaments I started last Christmas...

playing with papers again

2009-11-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

in the middle of another craft book- I just love this paper- it's a combination of an old paste paper overprinted with a piece of lace, and digitally overlaid onto another of my papers using swirly fonts on a red background...I could play with these all day.
I used it as a background for cut paper Chanukah candles...

or may use this version... have the flu so am not making decisions easily.

2009-11-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

Through 'TRACKLE' found this lovely ref to my fall book. Thanks Elisse (http://elissestuart.wordpress.com) for using 'IT'S FALL' in your library's display!

.......There are two more fun fall books for children that we’ve found over the years that I want to share with you. I think they are unique and fabulous because of their illustration styles.
The first book is called It’s Fall! written by Linda Glaser, the cut-paper illustrations by Susan Swan.
photo credit:http://hotlibrarytechnician.wordpress.com
It was the was the three dimensional cut-paper artwork that really grabbed my attention. Being a scrapbooker, I was fascinated by her designs. The illustrator layered hand painted papers. When she hand painted the paper, she was able to give the effect of depth and dimension, not to mention the gorgeous colors of autumn.
Paper layering is a scrapbooking technique that I have used several times on my pages, but not with the fabulous results that the illustrator had here. She featured Canadian geese, Monarch butterflies, and squirrels, all fabulously detailed with layered paper. My favorites were the tiny nesting owls.
The author and illustrator have also teamed up to produce books for the other three seasons. I plan to purchase them just for the amazing illustrations alone.

girl scout map up on web

2009-11-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

The Daisy Journey interactive map is now online and last night UPS delivered the poster version. I always love seeing the stuff I do out in the world. It is possible that a couple of the flowers may be turned into a 3-d version which would be loads of fun to see. Some of the flower characters didn't get much use in the final story; I'll show the whole bunch here so they can share in a couple of seconds of fame....

aackh...out of work...

2009-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

....for the first time in a long time- but frankly glad to have a couple of days/weeks (no longer or I panic) to breathe, work on 'the site/the blog'!... the garden (though after so much rain it's mostly too wet, play housewife (that remark was for the husband)...
and... must send out mailers to drum up work. Here's one that will go out next week to school book clients... typical freelancers lament- too busy, not busy enough. I don't think it matters how long you've been in business; you never get used to it.

texas snowman

2009-10-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

I think I will actually get a holiday card out to clients this year... I cheated and used an image I was fooling with last Christmas and the letterforms were adapted from an alphabet I did for a book.

cleaning up files

2009-10-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a slide show of Poloroid transfers done several years ago (and some 'fake' transfers using new photos and old transfer borders done recently). Poloroid has stopped making the film I used for the process but I understand that Fuji has put out a similar film that I can try... I've heard that the colors are even more muted. I was always trying to brighten them up. The part that is peeled away when you make the transfer is often very mysterious and interesting too. The last slide of the birdhouse on the fence (orange hue) is an example.

more paper

2009-10-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

I've got a million of 'em

2009-10-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

What will I do with all these?

hearts

2009-10-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

We went to a wedding this weekend and I wrapped the gift in one of the more elegant of my spotty papers ( not the yellow and red spotty one here!) with a big lace rose on top with some chiffon wrapped around the box- kind of over the top but fun, and I made an pop-open heart card adapted from one at www.origami-fun.com. You hold the top sides of the heart (which I had glued together with tiny dots of Elmer's- cheating, I know, but it looked better that way and made it so you couldn't see the message inside) and pull it open- the message inside pops up. Kind of hard to get the idea from these scans.

turpentine experiments

2009-09-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

using the pages of National Geographic. Makes for some interesting collage backgrounds.

slideshow

2009-09-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

playing with the slide show again- pointless photoshop variations of the butterfly teabag paper

talented family

2009-09-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

This was done for my step daughter who has become a fine photographer of children; after so many requests from friends to take pics of their kids she decided she had better go into business. We considered several concepts for her logo but decided on the first, simple was best. Her website/blog. Our grandson, is also a wonderful photographer and is attending school in Dallas. His blog.

was pleased to get a mention

2009-09-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

on Anastasia Suen's blog.

The series (written by Linda Glaser, happily illustrated by me) is a few year's old now so I'm especially thrilled that it's holding up well.

http://5greatbooks.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/5-great-books-for-fall/

cleaning up files

2009-08-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

These were done with real and digital collage using my stash of Poloroid transfers, family photos, and ephemera for last year's GREAT CARDS AND TAGS book. Fun to do.

WOW

2009-07-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

I sent this email thank you to the client at Happy House- they did such a great job!

cutting paper

2009-06-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

I was thinking more about what I said last time about enjoying the little craft projects that I'm doing for Arena... I don't think I realized how much I missed the hands on- the feel of paper- even just punching or tearing out shapes of my papers- using my favorite purple handled exacto knife- making little origami pockets, or clasps for envelopes, or hearts- feels good. Think it may be getting time to do some real cut paper work again.

crafty stuff

2009-06-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Another fun project for a book packager finished and out of here- I get to be crafty and come up with cards, tags, wrapping papers and make them different by cutting, folding, tearing...Who knew I would love teabag folding? Or punching... It's mostly because I love designing the papers- the projects look amazingly different depending on the papers I use. I have to reign myself in because I tend to come up with ideas too complicated and time consuming for the average crafter to want to tackle. And because I love pattern I can make every thing much too busy. I throw in some very clean simple things every once in a while to give everyone a breather. I have now have a huge store of paper designs that I've got to do something with...
Here are a couple of images that may or may not have made it into the books, not sure.

There are other variations of this '2' card in another post I think.

package on doorstep

2009-05-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

containing the Highlight's Pewter Plate cover of the year Award for this:

These projects seem to just disappear into a great black hole; it's lovely to know someone actually appreciates all the very hard work.

Cut it, fold it-It's done and out of here!

2009-04-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Teabag package topper....

Tea bag frame for a card with the beautiful Morgan as the star. My husband's very talented photographer grandson (Gabe Gonzalez) took the lovely photo of his sister.

Iris folding used for these man in the moon variations.

Another book for the wonderful Leslie (Arena Books) done unbelievably quickly- lots of fun though to make up for the lack of sleep (and money) -these projects are so different than my usual illustration work ... feeling so very crafty these days -and have discovered that I love teabag folding- especially if I get to use my own papers. I have become obsessed with designing papers and have no idea what I'm going to do with them all! I also love making envelopes with templates from.....The Kreate-a-lope www.greensneakers.com. They are torn -not tediously cut out and all the more charming I think for the irregular edges. They can be glued as usual or even better, fixed -I guess we all must say affixed these days, with origami folded clasps or torn or punched bits of paper and strings. I'm enjoying printing paper with a different design on each side or using very rough kraft color hand made Japanese paper for the envelope and adding a colorful insert or even a piece of corrugated paper for strength and textural interest. I'll gather a few more images here eventually.........

I think these are so cute. I designed a double sided
teabag folding paper for the book that wasn't used, rose pattern on one side, red check on the other. The idea was to use these shapes inside a card with a message tucked inside. I'll try eventually to add links to the patterns I've used just in case anyone wants to try them.

what I'm doing today...

2009-04-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

I've worked up several ideas and finally narrowed it down to four.
This was the design I preferred (it was originally one of my photo transfers from a few years ago that I played with in photoshop until I got this even more romantic version)

.....but the bride wanted something in their favorite color and went for the design below (which is a photoshopped version of a paper sculpture I did for self promotion). There was a folded cover for it, with vellum, a ribbon closure and, of course, lots of printing and cutting and assembling. It took forever but the bride and groom loved the results so it was worth it. I guess. And we used them in GREAT CARDS AND TAGS so they are famous.

Have been busy, busy, busy- thank God

2009-04-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

Finally finished the Girl Scouts book- the style was a little different but fun- anthropomorphic flowers- a 'petal powered car' zooming across America. Lots of different looks- landscapes, diagram of petal car, maps....had to literally work double time to get it completed in time. I think I have a very happy client. Always a nice feeling when you actually get genuine happy feedback.

cleaning up files

2009-02-28T13:57:00.000-08:00

this scan of a paper doily resist print experiment--

became part of this tag for last years craft book....

and part of this wrapping paper (which I don't really like as a repeat- just showing it as part of the stream of things... and we wanted lots of different designs for the book anyway).

and part of this experiment- which I haven't used for anything yet- but maybe it has possibilities?... besides the doily background which is mostly obliterated, I played with a photo of a bunch of roses in Photoshop and used some digital brushes of lace from Katie Pertiet (which are incredible fun to play with!).

and after a long hard day this...

I know! Time to quit for the day.

fireflies

2009-02-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

love these little guys I'm doing for the GS book....

totally immersed in girl scout adventures

2009-02-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

I have hardly been separated from my computer for a while now but am really on a roll.
Living and breathing the adventures of the flower pals.

This is the piece that cinched the assignment for me. In the rush of things I hadn't been told that I was up against anyone else to do the job- glad I didn't know because I might not have done it. A little quirk of mine. We're always competing against so many other artists I want clients to have made up their minds by the time they contact me. Anyway, I got the job and they are truly wonderful to work with.

tearing paper

2008-12-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

made lots of these little collage-y ornaments, wish I had time for more- maybe next year....

I just did a bunch of these little hanging ornaments to use use on packages wrapped with my cheery big dot papers.

2008-12-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

This was a pop-up card for last year's GREAT CARDS AND TAGS/Arena Books (Photography by Jon Van Gorder)- The cut-paper image was probably too complicated for a busy crafter but they could have done something simpler using rubber stamps and collage- and the construction of the pop-up is is quite easy. Hope someone tried it. It would be great if Leslie asked for crafters to send in their versions of the projects- it would be interesting to see what they come up with. This same tree design was played with and became the 'Dotty Tree" paper in the next post. I don't like to let go of a fun idea...

holidaze

2008-12-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Possible send-0uts to clients...?

2008-05-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today's experiment -I think I'll use this for a mailer eventually. I like the use of the cut out words and letters- think I'll do more of that when I get a chance...

variety

2008-02-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

Nobody can say I don't do a variety of projects. This was for the HISTORIA DE UN MATECITO: This is Matacitio- the cup used to drink yerba mate, a South American beverage with lots of culture and history involved. The character was used to point out interesting facts throughout the book.
The beverage is supposed to be good for you on top of giving you lots of energy. Apparently a better and healthier boost than caffeine. I gave it a try but couldn't get used to the taste. Love my Starbucks...
The little guy reminds me of another I did a while back for a paper company- a crumpled ball of paper with a baseball cap and sneakers. That one was a challenge; I'll see if I can dig him out of the files to compare.