What a year it's been for the world. We've celebrated each other's successes and suffered over each other's sorrows. Yet through it all we seem to be more in touch than ever. In every corner of this grand globe we've learned how alike we are and how passionate.
Along with economical and emotional challenges, its been one of the most physically challenging years for me personally, but I see things looking up for 2012.
How about you?
Like my new background pattern?
You'll need to visit my blog or website to see it: http://dulemba.com. I call it "Champagne Bubbles" to help bring in the new year! :)
Benny Prasad Kandukuri - Shout to the Lord
I can't find this in iTunes, so I can only enjoy it via video. Benny Prasad moved onto my radar from DailyDawdle. Turns out he's won a record, and I don't mean the music kind. He traveled to every single country in the world (sharing his music and peace) in six years. What an inspired and inspiring guy!
By the way - his method of playing is called 'slap guitar,' immortalized by my hero, Michael Hedges.
By the way - his method of playing is called 'slap guitar,' immortalized by my hero, Michael Hedges.
Coloring Page Tuesdays - Kwanzaa and New Years!
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I don't know much about Kwanzaa, but wanted to give you something to help celebrate. (Please tell me I got it right!) Here is an article about the significance of the candles: "The HIstory of Kwanzaa." I hope you enjoy!
We're also celebrating the New Year - 2012! Let's chew on it and make it a good one!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the covers to learn about my picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.
I don't know much about Kwanzaa, but wanted to give you something to help celebrate. (Please tell me I got it right!) Here is an article about the significance of the candles: "The HIstory of Kwanzaa." I hope you enjoy!
We're also celebrating the New Year - 2012! Let's chew on it and make it a good one!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the covers to learn about my picture book, Soap, soap, soap and Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón.
R.O. Blechman CBS Christmas Message (1966)
I can't imagine them losing commercial time to show something like this these days - but there was a time...
Thanks to Bill Mayer for the heads up.
Thanks to Bill Mayer for the heads up.
Merry Christmas!!!
I hope you and your loved ones enjoy a lovely Christmas(or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa) Holiday. My message to you now and all through the year is peace, tolerance, and joy!Merry Christmas!
White Christmas
Well, its been 60° and rainy here in Georgia. But a girl can dream. This song helps.
Yo Gabba Gabba - To Give A Present
It Feels So Good to Give a Present... especially when they're as cute as this!
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
Yo Gabba Gabba - To Give A Present from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
How Balloons Are Made
I found this positively riveting. Who knew balloons could be so fascinating?
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
The Hobbit Trailer!
Yet another movie I will watch at least a dozen times... It won't come out until next Christmas, but I'm looking forward to it!
Coloring Page Tuesday - Gingerbread Man!
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Here I am, the Gingerbread Man here to wish you a very Happy Holiday!
It's yet another classic image that I hadn't created for you and needed to remedy. I hope you find him positively scrumptious.
And as my Christmas gift to you, I've added a BONUS! image this week - a recipe card for you to share your favorite cookie recipe with friends!
CLICK HERE! to find more Christmas images to color.
And don't forget - Hanukkah begins today (the 20th)! CLICK HERE for Hanukkah coloring pages. (An image for Kwanzaa will come next week.)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
We've finished up our book signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA but its not too late to purchase a copy as a gift for your friends and family! Sterling Children's Books is working on a version for each state and they make GREAT teacher gifts.
Here I am, the Gingerbread Man here to wish you a very Happy Holiday!
It's yet another classic image that I hadn't created for you and needed to remedy. I hope you find him positively scrumptious.
And as my Christmas gift to you, I've added a BONUS! image this week - a recipe card for you to share your favorite cookie recipe with friends!
CLICK HERE! to find more Christmas images to color.
And don't forget - Hanukkah begins today (the 20th)! CLICK HERE for Hanukkah coloring pages. (An image for Kwanzaa will come next week.)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
We've finished up our book signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA but its not too late to purchase a copy as a gift for your friends and family! Sterling Children's Books is working on a version for each state and they make GREAT teacher gifts.
Singing Christmas Hedgehogs
I'm not sure how they programmed this, but its very inventive and purty darned cute to boot!
Ho-ho-hedgehogs!
Ho-ho-hedgehogs!
Book Signing at the Atlanta Symphony
Last night Susan Rosson Spain and I had the pleasure of signing THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at the Atlanta Symphony hosted by Stephen Jones, Manager of the Symphony Store (between us in the photo below). He's been a great fan of 12 Days since its release, so we especially enjoy supporting his store.And it didn't hurt that there was a performance of bells going on right in front of us while we signed books. So nice! The place was packed with holiday adorned patrons and we signed a ton. And I ran into a fellow board member for the Georgia Center for the Book. (Hi Charlotte!) Turns out she and her husband are ushers at the Symphony. What a cool thing to do.
'Twas a great night, so thank you, thank you Atlanta Symphony!
Afterwards, Susan and I stopped by Table 1280 for a celebratory *clink.* It's quickly become our annual tradition to celebrate the end of our book signing tour. And it's been a good one. We're both pretty sure 12 Days sold many more copies this year than last year - so obviously, the enthusiasm for our book is catching on. Gotta luv it.Happy Holidays!
Book Signing at Little Shop of Stories!
Last night Susan Rosson Spain (author) and I had the pleasure of sharing THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at my favorite children's book store, Little Shop of Stories! The downtown Decatur square was hopping as they had the annual holiday bonfire - it was fun to be a part of the entertainment line-up.Here we are signing yet another copy of 12 DAYS. (I had to make sure Susan's antlers made it into the photo.)
Tonight is our last signings at the Atlanta Symphony Store. Hope you can drop by!
Muppets on your walls
I am just so into wall decals - they're cool! But coolest of all is the new Muppet wall decals from blik. I mean really - can you imagine having Animal or Miss Piggy or Kermie on your wall? How awesome would that be?
Thanks to SwissMiss for the heads up!
Thanks to SwissMiss for the heads up!
Coloring Page Tuesday - Rudolph!
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I can't believe I haven't created a Rudolph for you yet. That must be remedied!
Want more Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE! (Kwanzaa images to come soon as well.)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
I still have more book signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at indie bookstores all around Georgia! I hope you can drop by:
I can't believe I haven't created a Rudolph for you yet. That must be remedied!
Want more Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE! (Kwanzaa images to come soon as well.)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
I still have more book signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at indie bookstores all around Georgia! I hope you can drop by:
Little Shop of StoriesAnd I hope you'll consider purchasing my latest picture book - THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA as a gift for your loved ones this year! (Sterling Children's Books is working on one for each state. Click Here to see if the one for your state has been created yet.) CLICK HERE to learn more and download free activities.
Decatur, Georgia
Thursday, December 15 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm
Atlanta Symphony Store
Atlanta, Georgia
Friday, December 16 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm.
Small Demons
This is cool! Would you be interested in knowing what other books also mention your favorite song, street, people, etc? What an interesting new way to bring in a socially interactive side to reading.
They're accepting Beta testers now - click the logo:
Thanks to Nathan Bransford for the heads up.
They're accepting Beta testers now - click the logo:
Thanks to Nathan Bransford for the heads up.
Baby Sea Turtles
Remember when sea turtles were barely on our radar? Fast forward to toady, where volunteers make sure Olive Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings make their way safely to the sea (where they'll face enough future hurdles). Does a heart good:
Visit the video on YouTube to read more about this rare daylight dash to the sea.
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up!
Visit the video on YouTube to read more about this rare daylight dash to the sea.
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up!
Book Signings!
'Tis the season to celebrate THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA with book signings at indie booksellers all over my fair state of Georgia. Susan Rosson Spain (the author) has done most of the leg work this year as I'm still healing from foot surgery (but getting MUCH better!). And we're still doing several signings together.Here we are at Scott's Bookstore with owner Earlene Scott:
Thursday we stopped by Hall's Book Exchange in Gainesville, Georgia where we caught up with fellow writer friends Robyn Hood Black and Paula Pucket. He we all are - me, Susan, Myra Meade (owner), Robyn, and Paula.
Hanging out with fellow book lovers is the best part of book signings - especially when we color coordinate! :)
John C. Campbell - Creating Picture Books Class
Almost every year I have the pleasure of teaching Creating Picture Books over a weekend at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. It's a nice place to visit:
And this year's class was a great one.
I actually had several illustrators in the group as well as writers, so was able to share more about the process of illustrating picture books too. It's an intense weekend, as usual, but again it was amazing to see students' work change so drastically in that short time. It truly makes me happy to know that I'm helping others learn about a craft I hold so dear.
Here I am with my students:
Some are holding the "mini-dummies" we create to focus on key points in their stories. It's a fun exercise (they get to draw and color) but it also zooms in on what a story is really about. Very cool.
And to top it off, we were there for the Fireside Sale weekend, which means the campus was decorated with wreaths and Christmas trees and twinkle lights. Ahhhhh.
And this year's class was a great one.
I actually had several illustrators in the group as well as writers, so was able to share more about the process of illustrating picture books too. It's an intense weekend, as usual, but again it was amazing to see students' work change so drastically in that short time. It truly makes me happy to know that I'm helping others learn about a craft I hold so dear.
Here I am with my students:
Some are holding the "mini-dummies" we create to focus on key points in their stories. It's a fun exercise (they get to draw and color) but it also zooms in on what a story is really about. Very cool.
And to top it off, we were there for the Fireside Sale weekend, which means the campus was decorated with wreaths and Christmas trees and twinkle lights. Ahhhhh.
School Library Journal Giveaway
School Library Journal is hosting a giveaway of 15 children's and YA titles along with a Kindle Fire to 16 lucky librarians! The deadline to enter is December 15th, so CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up.
Coloring Page Tuesdays - Santa Star
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Here come the Christmas images! I drew this guy a while ago and have been anxious to share him with you. Hope you like him!
Want more Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
Here come the Christmas images! I drew this guy a while ago and have been anxious to share him with you. Hope you like him!
Want more Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
Teaching again at the John C Campbell Folk Scool
Twice a year I head to the mountains of North Carolina to teach weekend courses at the John C. Campbell Folk School. This weekend it's "Creating Picture Books." It's also the weekend of the Fireside Sale. Christmas trees and wreaths are everywhere - how awesome! I'll tell you more about it after I get home.
Book Signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA!
Tis the season for signing THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at indie bookstores all around Georgia! I hope you can drop by:
Horton's Books & GiftsI may have more to announce next week. Click a store for further details. Hope to see you there!
Carolton, Georgia
Tuesday, December 6 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Scott's Bookstore
Newnan, Georgia
Wednesday, December 7 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Hall's Book Exchange
Gainseville, Georgia
Thursday, December 8 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Little Shop of Stories
Decatur, Georgia
Thursday, December 15 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm
Picture Book Month comes to a close...
Picture Book Month comes to a close today (Wednesday) and it's been a remarkable inaugural year. It went viral around the globe, being featured on the OPRAH BLOG as well as in the Deccan Herald - a top paper in Bangalore, India. It was also featured in the Huffington Post, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews. We couldn't have asked for a better kick-off!!However, it was also an expensive one. If you'd like to donate to help out and make next year's initiative even bigger, please donate at RocketHub. Thanks!
Coloring Page Tuesday - Story Time Fairies
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I thought I'd slip in some more fairies before the holiday art hits (next week). These two are sharing a magical mother/daughter reading moment to celebrate the end of Picture Book Month.
Can't wait for Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
I thought I'd slip in some more fairies before the holiday art hits (next week). These two are sharing a magical mother/daughter reading moment to celebrate the end of Picture Book Month.
Can't wait for Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
I am a NaNoWriMo Victor!!!
I did it! I wrote a novel in 26 days through the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge! The NaNo goal is 50,000 words in one month. My personal goal was 60,000 or until I reached the end of the story.
Well, yesterday I reached 54,641 words and "The End"!
Of course, now the fun part begins - revisions. I think the first draft is the hardest part - revisions are FUN. That's when you slick up, tighten, and polish all points of the story and I could do it for much longer than it took me to write the original. But here's hoping I get it to a point where it's ready to go to my agent before the end of February.
That's my personal goal anyhow. But I seem to be doing pretty well with those. Wahooooo!
Draw a Stick Man
This is AWESOME!!! You gotta try it. Go to DRAW A STICK MAN and well, draw a stick man. Then follow the directions. Talk about "Think Different" (Steve Jobs). I LOVE this!
A Murmuration of Starlings
Apparently that's what it's called when they do this:
Thanks once again to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.
Amazing - simply amazing.Thanks once again to The Kid Should See This for the heads up.
I WANT MY HAT BACK - winner!
We have a winner of the drawing for a free, signed copy of I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen. The winner is... Betsy!!! Congratulations - your book will be in the mail soon! And just as a reminder, here's the book trailer one more time...
GIVEAWAY! I just need two more comments...
To do a drawing for a FREE signed copy of I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen. CLICK HERE to leave a comment and be entered in the drawing!
UPDATE! We have a winner! She has been emailed and her name will be announced here on Friday. Yay!
UPDATE! We have a winner! She has been emailed and her name will be announced here on Friday. Yay!
Giving Thanks
I have a lot to be thankful for this year...
I'm glad my foot is finally getting better (although I still walk a bit like a penguin - I'm getting there). I'm grateful that my hubbie is starting a new job that he's very excited about on Monday. I'm grateful for the wonderful friends and family that surround and support me. And I'm especially grateful for you, my readers. I hope you'll chime in and share what you're grateful for this year!
And don't forget - I have lots of Thanksgiving coloring pages - CLICK HERE - and happy Fall images - CLICK HERE - for your family to enjoy over the holiday. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Coloring Page Tuesdays - Harvest Corn
Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!
This week's image was Melinda B's idea - thanks! How many of you put harvest corn out for decorations this time of year?
CLICK HERE to find lots more Fall Images and CLICK HERE for Thanksgiving images!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
This week's image was Melinda B's idea - thanks! How many of you put harvest corn out for decorations this time of year?
CLICK HERE to find lots more Fall Images and CLICK HERE for Thanksgiving images!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
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