Joyce Wan's Blog, page 7
January 30, 2014
Happy Year of the Horse 2014
January 31, 2014 marks the start of the Lunar New Year as well as the Year of the Horse. Although the holiday is also known as Chinese New Year, the Chinese aren’t the only ones who observe it. The holiday is also celebrated in other Asian countries including Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and Taiwan. The Lunar New Year is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years rolled up into one giant celebration. For the Chinese in particular, the Lunar New Year is celebrated with big family dinners, the...
January 7, 2014
New Year, New Book, MY LUCKY LITTLE DRAGON is Here! (And Giveaway Time Too!)
It all started with some lunch break doodling in 2003. Twelve little doodles of the zodiac animals to be exact. I was a few years out of college and had a full-time job at an architectural firm. I was just beginning to realize that a career in architecture was not really for me. I don’t think I knew exactly what I wanted at the time but what I did know, and have always known, was I loved to draw and I wanted to draw for a living. Having no formal art training, I took a leap of faith as well a...
November 26, 2013
Happy Book Birthday & Giveaway!
I am excited to announce the release of my latest book from Cartwheel/Scholastic, a follow-up to YOU ARE MY CUPCAKE and WE BELONG TOGETHER, HUG YOU KISS YOU LOVE YOU!
A new ode to the best emotion in the world—LOVE!
With a glittery cover and bold, embossed illustrations throughout, celebrate the small joys and big wonders of parental love with a cast of endearing mommy and baby animals. I hug you, tickle you, sing to you softly, carry you, bathe you, kiss you always. Baby, this sweet board boo...
October 19, 2013
Fall is in the Air: Festivals & Free Printables
I love fall time. There’s just this cozy feeling that fills the air. For me, it always brings back fond childhood memories in New England of picking apples, carving pumpkins, and watching the leaves change into a kaleidoscope of glorious colors. I also get excited about fall flavors especially the return of every pumpkin-flavored food, drink, and treat you can imagine. By the way, have any of you tried the pumpkin smoothie at Jamba Juice?
With fall also comes book festivals galore! I participa...
September 2, 2013
Summer 2013 + MAJOR Happy News
Maybe you’ve noticed it’s been a bit quiet over here this summer, but I have a good excuse, I promise! In addition to some MAJOR happy news that I’ll share with you at the end of this post, here’s a recap of my summer:
I attended the New Jersey SCBWI Annual Conference in Princeton where I also gave a workshop called WHAT IS YOUR BRAND?: Set Yourself APART With Branding. I made everyone switch gears for a bit—from the creative side to the business side of things—to think about their own marketi...
June 27, 2013
Happy Book Birthday and Giveaway!
I am excited to announce the release of my two latest books:
Cute chubby critters and surprise endings – what’s there NOT to love?
See a sneak peek of these books on the blog Design of the Picture Book!
The highly esteemed Kirkus Reviews gave Frog & Friends a rave review calling it “An engaging riddle book with standout illustrations”! Squeee! Read the full review here.
Find these and my other books at your local bookseller or on amazon.com.
To celebrate I am giving away 2 autographed sets of thes...
May 1, 2013
Next BIG Thing: Blog Tour
The Next Big Thing blog tour, which first started in Australia, brings awareness to authors and illustrators and their work by way of their blogs. Many thanks to the lovely and wonderfully talented author Trisha Speed Shaskan for inviting me to participate. Her latest book TRULY, WE BOTH LOVED BEAUTY DEARLY! THE STORY OF SLEEPING BEAUTY AS TOLD BY THE GOOD AND BAD FAIRIES illustrated by Amit Tayal will be published in August. I’ll answer some questions about my latest work, then pass it on to...
April 22, 2013
Nothing Says Love Like Handmade
There is something truly special about handmade goodies, imperfections and all. Seeing all the wonderful DIY and craft projects on Pinterest, Etsy, and craft fairs has got me itching to do some myself so I created some Cut-&-Sew Plushie projects and posted them to Spoonflower. For those of you who don’t know, Spoonflower makes it possible for people to design, print, and sell their own fabric and let me tell ya, I’ve been having SEW much fun!
Here are some of my finished projects:
Pretty darn...
March 12, 2013
Never Stop Learning
Every now and then I receive emails from people whose dream is to have a children’s book published but they don’t know where to start. I know from my own experience it takes dedication, perseverance, continuing education, and tons of moral support and that doesn’t stop even after your first book is published. With no formal art education other than a college figure drawing class, I started Wanart in 2003 and I spent the next several years absorbing everything I could, trying many things, maki...
February 9, 2013
2013 Year of the Water Snake
Happy New Year — again! February 10th marks the start of the Lunar New Year as well as the Year of the Snake (specifically the Water Snake). As the most significant holiday in China, the Lunar New Year is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year rolled up into one giant celebration. Personally, this has always been one of my favorite holidays as it always brings back childhood memories of the smell of fresh cut flowers, red envelopes filled with “lucky money”, big family dinners, and vibra...
