The first book and calendar are here!

Ok, I can't wait any longer- THE FIRST BOOK AND CALENDAR FINALLY ARRIVED! YAY!

I am so excited that I decided to shoot a short video of how I open them. Please, excuse the quality of the video, my little girl couldn't wait to open them and we had to make do with my phone, instead of the camera. Of course, she wanted to shoot the video and I decided to indulge her. That's why you can hear her say ( " Read it, read it!" and "Yay" and all other sorts of giggles and squeals). LoL

I just have to write back that the copies are approved and you are going to be able to buy the books! Stay tuned! Any day now!



Annie

Woolly

Over the years ( 6 to be exact), I've often talked about publishing my children's books ( also 6 at the moment) and some of you were even my "Guinea Pigs" as test readers. I've received a lot of encouragement and support, a lot of praise, and of course a healthy dose of criticism. Sometimes I was frustrated, sometimes I was glad about the latter, but in any case, it made the final version of my very first children's book much different than I expected, and much better, I believe.



"Woolly" began as a simple picture book. The manuscript was about a page long, the story was tight, but I always felt there was something missing. Then a second picture book with the same character came to life. Then a third. Until, I was finally encouraged by Scholastic's very own Anna Bloom to take it to the next level and make it a picture book.  That was the easy part.



A couple( read: 30+) edits later, a couple of conferences, 4 literary agents critiques and 2 professional editors later, Woolly is finally ready to come to life on paper and as an e-book, and I am both excited and a little scared. I've been holding on to him for so long and just the thought that I will finally get him out there is ...well...overwhelming.



You are probably curious what is Woolly all about.

It is a story about a small woolly bear caterpillar and his friends. It's a story about loss, friendship, growing up, but it is mostly a story about bravery. Bravery, to face your own fears and then face the world. It is a story about standing proud and tall because of who you are, no matter what everyone else thinks.



"Woolly" is a chapter book for the age group 5-10. And this...this is Woolly.

He is looking forward to meet you very soon. :-)

Annie

Teacher Appreciation or Back-to-School gifts

As a tradition on the first day of school, I send each of my kids' teachers a "survival kit". That survival kit includes a woodbuned box with each teacher's name and some office supplies. During the school year I send additional school supplies from time to time to fill the box again. I think it's a nice gesture and teachers always appreciate it. After all, we should appreciate our teachers not only because it's Teacher's appreciation day, right?

I make the designs different every year and I guess they represent more my mood at the moment than the teacher's personality- after all, before the school year starts I rarely know anything about them. :-)

And this is how the box looks from the inside. 

              

The second box is with a more decorative design with flowers. I have to admit working with my woodburner with adjustable temperature levels is soooo much better than the standard woodburner with only one temperature level. It's considerably less time consuming - for example, it took my just about 2 hours to finish these two boxes, compared to the box-a-day option with the old woodburner.

And the inside again. This box is smaller than the top one. 

       

You all know my obsession with brown paper bags, so yeah... :-)

If you like the idea, you can order a Teacher's Gift customized box from my Etsy store

I wish everyone a great school year! 

Annie