Yesterday I announced the release of my new book, pictured above. Today I would like to talk specifically about the picture you see above and tell you a bit about the young lady who drew it. Here's what happened...
I was looking for someone to lay out the book for me when an acquaintance told me that her daughter knew how to do that. Her daughter, who is 16, is friends with some of my daughters and when I told them about the recommendation they all raved about Shaylynn's talents. I knew that she was behind some of the graphics and layouts of the Ink and Fairydust Magazine, so I figured she would be a good person to try.
When it came time for the picture on the front cover, I wanted to have a peaceful family scene; one that made you feel calm when you looked at it, maybe even sigh a bit. So I took six of my seven children and my parents and shot some pictures from outside the house looking in (a hard thing to do at night!)
She then took this picture and turned it into the image you see at the top. Of course I told her to make my parents look a bit younger :) but we think she did a fabulous job of turning my idea into a reality.
In case you haven't figure it out by now, I cannot say enough good things about Shaylynn. She is incredibly talented, prompt, polite, thorough, joyful and, most importantly, she could read my mind! When she offered to do sketches for each of the chapters, I thought that might be a great idea. She took the ideas from the chapter and came up with a sketch...each of which fit perfectly and brought a smile to my face. Her sketches definitely add to the book.
This sketch is from the chapter on Meal Planning (I just love the girl's hair:)
Not only did she do the layout and sketches for my book, and do the work for the Ink and Fairydust Magazine, she also makes jewelry that she sells. If you would like to check out some of her jewelery, you can do so here.
I find it's kind of funny that people don't feel comfortable recommending something unless they say some kind of disclaimer like "I didn't receive any compensation for saying what I just said." So here is my disclaimer...I didn't receive any compensation from Shaylynn for what I just wrote...in fact, I paid her :) But I am so impressed with the professionalism and talent of this young lady that I just had to make sure that you were all aware of it, too.
These are the kind of kids who will grow up and change this country for the better. If you can help her out along the way, please do so!
