Another blogging year is coming to an end and I just wanted to say a big thanks for continuing to visit my blog! I really enjoy what I do, and loved the interaction I’ve had with many of you since starting the blog… all your comments, questions and suggestions have been much appreciated! Have a great New Year and keep in touch!

(Kitten greeting card illustration by Heather Castles © Hazy Jean)

Wishing a big happy holidays to you all from down under in sunny Australia!

(Kangaroos Christmas © Heather Castles, available royalty-free at ImageZoo.com)

I just loved this environmentally flavoured Christmas greeting I received a couple days ago via email from Greg Holfeld (another Canadian illustrator living in Adelaide)… and had to share!

Thought I’d share the e-coupon goodness… Borders is offering a coupon for 30% off one full priced children’s book up until Christmas Eve.  Happy holiday shopping!

(Santa © Heather Castles, available royalty-free at ImageZoo.com)

Yippee, it’s almost Christmas! With less than a week to go till the big day, I was doing some last minute present wrapping and thought I’d post some greener alternatives to gift wrap.

• Matchboxes are a nice alternative to buying a money card at the shops… just fold your $$$ up and slip it into the cute little box, and tie it with a ribbon… easy to hang from the tree or slip in a stocking, and a bit more substantial to open than a card. I used odd scraps of wrapping paper and just glued them with a gluestick around the box slip. And because the little boxes just slip open, they can be reused year after year for small gifts like jewellery.

• Colorful fabric, old maps, scarves, or even that oh-so-colourful junk mail makes a great alternative to buying wrapping paper new.

• If you can’t find recycled wrapping paper, buy paper without the shiny & sparkly bits as that paper are not recyclable.

• Swap using tape to wrap your presents for reusable ribbons, twine or string.

• After all the present festivities are done, save wrapping paper and ribbons to reuse next Christmas, and recycle paper that is too ripped to reuse. Reuse holiday cards by trimming them down to gift-tag size and use them for next holiday.

• Cookie and coffee tins make great containers for gifts as well… just use a little paint stripper & steel wool to remove any of the printed exterior, leaving you with a rustic silver tin to pop presents in. And after the gift giving is done, use the tins to store christmas tree bobbles & decorations.

Whale’s Revenge is a great example another online game spreading a good message. The aim of Whales Revenge is to collect 1 million signature for their petition against . So check out the game, have a play, and sign the petition against whaling.

This is the statement that will accompany the petition: We the undersigned wish to show our support for an end to commercial whaling. We believe that the slaughter of whales for so-called ’scientific reasons’ is wrong. We wish to add our voices to the global campaign to protect these precious mammals from extinction. This petition will be sent to Greenpeace, The International Whaling Commission and the Australian Federal Government.

I just finished the first illustration for Tom Krause’s story, “The Little Boy’s Smile.” I thought I’d share my work-in-progress for the acrylic painting and took scans every hour or two as I was painting… check them out below going backwards to the original sketch!

One super time-saving method I’ve developed is painting right on top of my sketches. I don’t paint over my original pencil sketches, as I like to keep those, and also the graphite would likely lift off and taint the paint. So what I do is :

• • Scan the original sketches
• • Tint the sketches to sepia in Photoshop using actions (so they show through as a warm tone under the paint)
• • Place them into the book’s InDesign layout with the text so that I can make sure the illustrations don’t interfere with the text, gutter, and that nothing is getting clipped off in the bleed
• • Print out the InDesign layout at full size (text & all, with cropmarks too!) on printer paper (80% Recycled was all I could find here in OZ!)
• • Trim the pages down
• • Glue them to the cold-press illustration board (I used an entire large Bostik Blustick ACMI AP Approved gluestick… and was sure to recycle the empty casing!), then use a wood-cut ink roller to smooth the pages down so there are no wrinkles
• • Once it has dried, I paint right on top of this paper! The lovely thing about acrylic is that it doesn’t eat away or dammage the surface of the paper, so you don’t need to coat the paper with a sealant first (as you would with oils.)

So, I save a day or two of transfering the sketches by hand to the illustration board, and also maintian the integrity of my original sketches. It also makes painting text a dream (such as on the sign), as you just paint over top of the text placed on your illustration. It gives the text a warmer feel than just placing it on top in the InDesign file later.

Check out my other posts about The Little Boy’s Smile :

• • The Little Boy’s Smile | Sketches

My friend Crystal Driedger tagged me for the “5 things about myself” …so here they are!

1. The first piece of art I sold was a cowskull I painted with a native american motif (they’re popular in the southern US!)

2. I need glasses for driving but not for painting

3. My favourite pet was a grumpy bumpy toad, who I had to release back into the Canadian wilds when we decided to move to Australia (they have a thing against toads here.) I’m working on writing & illustrating my own story inspired by the little bumpkin.

4. I hate seagulls. With a passion. I like to throw my flip-flops at them at the beach to make them fly away.

5. I’m ALMOST as excited for the new season of Battlestar Gallactica to begin in January as I am that my first baby is due in February (only 11 weeks to go!)

I’m tagging damien mason (designer/illustrator), kristin baylis (designer), greg holfeld (illustrator/animator), nick fruhling (designer/illustrator), and zen kitchen (designer who blogs business)!

The rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

(Sunset at Cape Jervis, S.A., where you catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island)

Ben & I decided to take the weekend off for a “babymoon” to Kangaroo Island before I officially start full-time illustrating from my home studio (at least until the baby arrives in February!) We caught the ferry to Kangaroo Island Saturday morning, and had a busy two days of touring the beautiful island.

Much of the island is covered with wildlife preserves & conservation areas, and we weren’t disappointed by all the wildlife we saw (including koalas, kangaroos, wallabees, seals, heath goanas, snakes, blue penguins, and tourists!)

We stayed at Flour Cask Bay Retreat, an eco-resort situated with beautiful views of rolling yellow fields spotted with yuckas and gum trees, while only being minutes from their own private beach. Completely off-the-grid with solar power and rainwater tanks, you don’t feel like you’re roughing it going green at Dave & Jeannie Langdon’s beautiful resourt. Each unit is set up with modern amenities (kitchenette, tv)… and the rooms are beautifully decorated with a clean look which complements the relaxing views. I took a walk in the morning and all you could hear were magpies calling, cows & sheep waking up.

(Above : Admiral’s Arch at Flinders Chase Park)

(Above : Kelly Hill Caves)

(Above : Remarkable Rocks, Flinders Chase Park)

If you get a chance to go, I recommend checking out :

• • Admiral’s Arch at Flinders Chase Park (where there is a fur seal colony)
• • Remarkable Rocks at Flinders Chase Park (which are… in a word… er… remarkable!)
• • Kelly Hill Caves (a small cave, but has some beautiful stalactites)
• • Blue Penguin Tours can be arranged across the island (our tour wasn’t the best as we were going at off season!)
• • Try some marron, served at most restaurants (crayfish, but it tastes like lobster!)
• • Visit Wind in Wings cafe (the views are incredible, and the homemade pies are scrumdidillyumptious)
• • Western River Campground has a beautiful secluded beach
• • Emu Bay has beautiful soft sandy beaches
• • Stokes Bay can be found through a winding rock tunnel, it’s secluded and has a lovely aqua cove to swim in

I didn’t try any of the highly recommended wines and local feta because… well… the next picture explains it all!