Very, very busy at the office.

Some of us.

Busy, busy. (These are the rejected sketches.)

Very busy.

And when we’re done being busy we drop dead from exhaustion.

Zzzzzzonk.

In other news: I have a post up on my review blog talking about how my kid won’t wear what I pick out for her in the morning. Chime in with your two cents and you might win a $25 gift card for American Living clothing! Hurry! Contest ends this Friday!

You probably thought by the title that I was going to talk about what I’m doing today. Nope. I’m not. (I’m just working like I always do. It’s boring.) That’s the title of a website that I worked on last June that launched just a bit ago. I’m so happy with the way it turned out, which is cool because right after I finished this job, I worked on another job that flopped spectacularly. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Ugh. That’s what I get for feeling like I’m hot stuff about this site. Anyway! Maybe I’ll share more about that flop later because flops are the BEST learning experiences, even though they smart like a bloody hangnail.

I love these little illos. So often I get pigeon-holed with the cutesy stuff and I don’t like to think of myself as a cute-monger. I don’t make scrapbooks! I’m sophisticated, damnit! I mean ninja bunnies! (That’s my new curse word care of Bug.) But the cute just sneaks in and I am better at it than I am at other things so I try to embrace it and work with the skills God gave me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it blows up in my face. But this post is not about my flops. It’s about my successes. I’m sorry, can you tell I’m still working through some of my feelings about failure?

Anyway, I’m really happy with this design. I love working with Heather. She is the best web designer ever and worth every penny. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my friend. I truly respect her sense of design and her obsessive need for NO CLUTTER. She always does such a good job. I just recently designed a whole website myself for a client and now I have even more respect for her. It was hard and I’m still not 100% happy with it. When it launches I’ll try to share that here too.

(Jill Hart and OMSH)

I also really love this site. Jill Hart is a Grandma who does all these cool things with her grandchildren. People like her make me want to get older. Life does not stop just because you wake up one the morning with arthritis. How cool is it that she does all these things with her grandchildren? It’s like a whole home-schooling curriculum! I’m seriously impressed and so happy to work with her. I hope she keeps needing illos because I love making them for her.

I’ve been doing this secret agent character thing for about ten years now and sometimes I forget how fun it is. At times it’s been a thorn in my side because it didn’t always match up with who I am. I’m a mom, I’m a graphic artist/illustrator, what does spying have to do with that? Why didn’t I pick another name for my blog? But that is what I picked way back then and now I’m known for it. It would be a shame to abandon a brand that I’ve by default worked at for so long.

So when my neighbor stopped by with two pairs of “secret agent” glasses that she picked up at the local dollar store, I saw a glimpse of how fun this secret agent gig is for other people. It dawned on me that I really should just get into it already. In fact, now that I’m getting ready to launch a book tour and I going to visit some kindergarten classrooms and possibly a home for children (all while in costume) I should embrace this character more than ever. So I am. I’m buying a trench coat. I’m stocking up on glasses and I’m digging out my spy boots from the back of the closet.

Keep your eyes peeled. You might just spy me spying on you in the near future.

What I’m really thinking is, why did I have to go and ugly-up that super cute picture of some micro-spies?

They’re so into the spy thing. It kills me.

Which brings me to my next book: Numbers! I’m slower than molasses in January but I am actually starting on it.

I think I’m going to need help on it. Are there any techie geeks (and I say that in admiration, not jest) out there who would like to help me with my research? I will include you in my end notes! Email me.

Over and out.