Alexandra H. MacVean's Blog

Please find my new blog HERE . I've transitioned from "Blue Chair Diary" to "Alexandra MacVean". Thank you and terribly sorry for any inconvenience. See you at my new home !

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It's been a lazy kind of weekend thus far. With the warmer weather lately, it's been great getting outside to walk and enjoy the sunshine. So that means taking a break from the studio...and that I'm certainly OK with! Personally, I enjoy getting out and "looking" for inspiration to pour into my work throughout the week. :)

Above is another peek at a birthday card I'm currently designing/illustrating. For those of you wondering, the "2" represents the birth year.  This entire greeting card series will range from ages 1 through 12. It's coming along great and a project I'm very much enjoying.
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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

It's been a wonderful start to the new year. Much more than anticipated and it feels good to the creative soul. Uh huh. For the first time since I've started illustrating and working from home, I'm in love with my studio. I mean, I'm truly in love with my work space which in return, creates the perfect atmosphere for designing new characters.

Above is a peek at one of the children's greeting cards I'm currently hand-painting and is part of a special birthday series to be released later this year. It's going to be an adorable set so am looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming months.

Besides painting the birthday cards, I'll be creating a children's book trailer for "Ladybug! Ladybug!", putting together my own children's coloring book and beginning the illustrations for the next book in the "Flitter Flutter Crawly" series, "Bluebird! Bluebird!". Exciting!

Here's to a lovely week to each of you! I'm off to catch up with everyone here in the bloggie world!

I'm thrilled to announce that " Ladybug! Ladybug ! has been awarded a SILVER MEDAL (2nd Place) Feathered Quill Book award for the best 2016 illustrated children's poetry book! It's been an honor working with children's book author, Charlotte (C.J. Rains) this past year and we're thrilled to announce we're moving forward and working together on an entire book series titled, "Flitter, Flutter, Crawly". The next book, "Bluebird! Bluebird",  is scheduled to publish this Fall so stay tuned. 

Thank you to everyone who's been a part of my creative journey, encouraging and supporting me a long the way. It means so much to me and I look forward to sharing more with you this year.

With Michael's birthday trip being this past week, not much work was done in the studio. Which, to me, was fine knowing I need that occasional break due to my head injury. Some days I'm feeling so great, I get carried away with my work forgetting I must take breaks. Otherwise, I'm down several days in a row with intense head pain and eyes hurting, from hitting my head multiple times in my previous car accident. It's frustrating but a part of life I've learned to adjust to.

Above is a sketch I doodled out this past week while staying in the mountains for a few days. I'm sharing with you the finished illustration and a photo of it being painted. I must admit, I'm falling in love with painting woodland illustrations of sorts. What do you think? To me, I feel I've found my "calling" within my work.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!
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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE.

I've been working on this illustration for the past few days nd am finally calling it complete. It will be part of a portfolio I'm putting together representing a children's picture book I'm writing titled, "The House On Rabbit Hill".

If you'd like to see the other sketches and transition of this illustration, visit my Instagram page. You might find some other lovely posts you'll enjoy.  More soon! It's Mr. Toast's birthday weekend, so I'll be visiting on Monday.

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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE. 

I've been working on this illustration for the past few days nd am finally calling it complete. It will be part of a portfolio I'm putting together representing a children's picture book I'm writing titled, "The House On Rabbit Hill".

If you'd like to see the other sketches and transition of this illustration, visit my Instagram page. You might find some other lovely posts you'll enjoy.  More soon!

Last Sunday I shared with you a preliminary sketch of Jacob and his grandfather's lamp. This week, I'm sharing with you the finalized piece. It took some time trying to decide not just what colors worked well with this clothing in this snow scene but how to best portray the lit lamp. It was a bit of a struggle but finally came to what I felt was perfect for this heart-tugging illustration, drawing the reader in to want to know more about Jacob's journey.

Please do accept my apologies for still needing to make rounds for last week's Sunday Sketches. I hope to be all caught up be the end of this evening. Happy Sunday Sketches!

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If you're participating in Sunday Sketches, you can grab the NEW Sunday Sketches button HERE. 

Just a quick little morning doodle before diving back into work. With a pressing deadline, there's not much time to "play" at the moment. For now, enjoy this little girl, booing the snow that's on its way once again this afternoon. This past Sunday, we received about 11+ inches of snow with record temperatures, leaving things quite cold and icy. We've had quite the wintry new year already! Brrr!

More soon and I promise to catch up with my lovely Sunday Sketches peeps!

It's finished. Done. Completed...the studio, that is. I've spent weeks rearranging, sorting, and organizing. I'm quite happy to say my new studio is finally all set up and producing magic within. I'm looking forward to sharing my 2017 journeys, projects and more! It's going to be a FABULOUS year! I can feel it. Can you? I certainly do!

How about you? Do you have a special place you like to work - a room or location that brings you JOY every single day while illustrating, crafting (or whatever you do!)? Please do share. I truly enjoy hearing your stories and memories as well. Isn't that what life is all about? Sharing and encouraging one another along the way?