Back to the Drawing Table!

Merry Christmas To All & To All A Good Hoot!

Snake & Stegasaurus celebrate Christmas!

In-Progress (Not glued down yet!)

Sketches & First Collage Pieces

Cozy Winter Sketches

Wishing You Peace, Love & Happiness!

Happy Hoot Holidays!

Super Hoot is getting festive this holiday season with a merry line of NEW Super Hoot Holiday Skirts & Pants! Dress your little elf in wintery snowflakes, happy Christmas trees and humble peace signs! All holiday finery is made with 100% cotton fabric and each one features a Super Hoot signature original, one-of-a-kind sewn cloth collage. Skirts and Pants come in two sizes, Small and Large. Both are delightfully roomy & light with elastic waistbands, making them a great fit for energetic little ones of all shapes and sizes. They make a perfect holiday present!

And that's not all—Super Hoot is loaded with goodies for all your good little girls and boys: adorable T-shirts & onesies, matching totes, comfy play pants and, of course, fabulous original artwork that is sure to brighten up any room in the house! All gifts, whether for your loved one or for yourself, are cheerfully wrapped in delicate tissue papers, tied with a bow and delivered with a holiday gift card.

Shop now at www.superhoot.etsy.com and have a hoot-astic holiday!

Jump for Joy!

Oh, Christmas Tree Holiday Skirt

Cozy cozy cozy!

Let It Snow Holiday Pants

Red is Jolly!

Peace Love and Joy Holiday Pants

Babybug-a-licious!

I'm so excited to share that I've been asked to create cover art (again!) for Babybug Magazine (April 2012 issue)! I've been hard at work on all week on sketches and final art and wish I could share all my progress with you. But since you'll have to wait til April, I'm sharing the cover art I create last year for Babybug's March 2011 issue instead.

Babybug is a wonderful magazine for little ones ages 0-3 and is a perfect introduction to reading & art. Plus, what a thrill to receive such a fun thing in the main every month! (Personally, I love magazines and subscribe to Vegetarian Times, National Geographic, Dwell, Communication Arts & DIY!) Enjoy & happy sharing with the little ones in your life!

March 2011 issue of Babybug Magazine.

Buckaroo Sue

Buckaroo Sue color & sketch! Yahoo!

Buckaroo Sue in pieces.

Buckaroo Sue & Her Horse, Lulu (in pieces!)

Super Hoot Holiday Preview

Super cute holiday fabric destined to become
Super Hoot pants, skirts & totes!

See Jane sew, see Jane sew faster, faster...faster!!!

Sketches, Sketches & More Sketches

This my drawing board this week!

Moo! Honk! Bah!

Five Silly Pumpkins Say "Happy Halloween!"

I love Halloween and all the ghosts, pumpkins and creepy critters that come with it! And I also love a spooktacularly adorable pop-up Halloween counting book that I illustrated and so I am sharing with you today in the Halloween spirit! You can purchase my book on either Amazon or find a local independent bookseller at indiebound.org. Happy Halloween!!!

Illustrated by me! Jane Smith!

One black cat by moonlight.

Two ghosts flying around and around. Boo!

Five super silly pumpkins.

Nightmares & Lullabies: Process & Progress

I'm excited to announce that I have been invited to contribute an piece of artwork to an upcoming show, titled "Nightmares & Lullabies," at the Hive Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. I am hard at work on a new piece for the show and am delighted to share my process & progress with you!

I always begin with a sketch (on the right).
And in this case, since I am creating a dimensional mixed media collage,
I've translated the sketch into pieces of 1/8 inch foam.

Here is the prepared canvas with the foam gessoed into place.

And here is a sneak peek at the color-in-progress!

The Adventure Continues!

Sketches & Works-In-Progress

Car goes zoom! Zoom!

This is the process!

Helicopter flies! Chop, chop! 

This is more of the process!

Submarine Adventure

Dazzling color!

Submarine & fish sketch!

Sketching On The Farm

Dalmations & Firetrucks: New Sketches

Talking Shop: Super Hoot, Roller Derby and Amy Peppler Adams

One of the most fun and exciting parts of creating the NEW Super Smarty Super Hoot Children’s Pants was choosing fabric! And while I do love frequenting my local fabric stores, I also adore shopping for fabric on Spoonflower (which if you don’t know, is an amazing web site where individual designers can sell their own original fabric designs!) And so it was on Spoonflower that I discovered the fabulously talented Amy Peppler Adams and her Roller Derby fabric.

Amy is a graphic designer and kid-at-heart who lives in Seattle with her husband and two-year-old son. When she's enjoying a quiet 20-minutes to herself, she might be found eating chocolate chip cookies, while watching an episode of "The Brady Bunch". And today Super Hoot is talking shop with Amy about design, fabric and all things Roller Derby!

Fun with Typography! © Amy Peppler Adams

Super Hoot: Describe your background as a graphic designer.

Amy: I received a BA in Graphic Design from Indiana University, and my first job in the "real world" was for a computer book publisher in Indianapolis. Because my design training focused heavily on "The Grid", interior text design for technical trade books was right up my alley. I met a lot of great people, many of whom moved on to other publishing houses, which gave me some contacts for outside work. After a couple years with the company, I moved to Seattle to become a freelance designer. Since then I've done a variety of book projects, including covers, for everything from cookbooks and gardening books to travel guides and textbooks, and have dabbled in side projects for friends and local businesses.

Super Hoot: Who and what inspires your work?

Amy: Gosh, I am inspired by just about everything around me! In particular, I am fascinated with typography, love Pop Art, graffiti, antiques and collectibles, nature, the city...and just about anything Orla Kiely designs or Anthropologie sells! I also love music and find I am most productive, and do my best work, when music is playing in my studio or office. 

Go Skater Girls! © Amy Peppler Adams

Super Hoot: Talk Roller Derby with us. Do you do it? Do you watch it?

What do you love about it?

Amy: While I have been skating since I was five years old, most of my personal experience on eight wheels is from the 1970s and '80s (yeah, think roller disco!). I have seen bouts, in the Raquel Welch movie "Kansas City Bomber", though I plan on checking out some live action when the local Seattle club, the Rat City Rollergirls, starts their new season in January. I have always had this secret desire to do roller derby, but I'm pretty small and a little afraid of taking a hit that might hinder my ability to keep up with my toddler son. However, I have several friends from high school who have been doing derby for a few years, and their enthusiasm and the Spoonflower Roller Derby fabric contest have sparked my interest again! So I'm thinking of honing my skills and working out a bit more to perhaps try out in a couple years. I like that it could be a way for my alter ego to get some exercise as well!

Super Hoot: You’ve designed a bunch of bold, colorful fabric patterns. What kinds of projects have you created with your own fabric?

Amy: So far I have made pillows with my Woodtype Alphabet and Footnote Flower designs, and have a lampshade planned using the latter. I've also started making bedding for my son's room, and have been laminating several different designs to cover journals and notebooks. I plan on adapting many of the patterns into framed prints to sell in my shop.

Button Up, Little Flowers! © Amy Peppler Adams

Super Hoot: Describe your current adventures in the DIY craft movement.

Amy: Back in the early '80s, when I was about 12 years old, I had a store in my garage called The Paper Mill. I made stickers and paper goods and sold them to my sister and neighborhood friends, handed out weekly newsletters introducing new products, even issued membership cards for them to present for special deals...and then I had some stickers sell on consignment at a local gift store. It's funny how you can look back at things you did when you were young and feel like perhaps those are the paths you are meant to pursue. Well, I am just getting started again, finally! I started entering Spoonflower contests last fall and quickly became addicted. They gave me a jumpstart to finally get working on the business side of Penny Candy, so now I just need to start actually crafting

to fill my etsy store with goodies!

Super Hoot: What would be your perfect Sunday afternoon?

Amy: Depends on the time of year! When it's warm and sunny, I love to walk on the beach or go for a hike in the mountains with my family, and then eat outside at some local burger dive or root beer stand. But when it's cold and rainy here in Seattle, it's nice to stay inside with a blanket and some tea, and a pot of something like gumbo or chili cooking on the stove all day.

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Isn’t Amy fabulous? Visit her online at her web site, www.pennycandyhandmade.com,

and at her etsy store, www.pennycandy.etsy.com!

I absolutely had to have Amy’s fabric as soon as I saw it. And now you can too! Shop NEW Super Smarty Super Hoot Roller Derby Pants at www.superhoot.etsy.com! Happy Shopping!

NEW Super Smarty Super Hoot Roller Derby Pants!

NEW Super Smarty Super Hoot Pants

My brand new Super Smarty Children’s Pants are now available in my Etsy store, Super Hoot! They come in six new fabulous fabrics ranging from Orange Creamsicle Dream to Hardcore Splatter Skull. All the fabrics are 100% cotton, and each pair of pants features its own original, one-of-a-kind sewn cloth collage on the lower right-hand corner. The collages are fun little decorations that correspond to the fabulous fabrics and range from quiet, little leaves to lightning fast roller skates.

The new pants come in two sizes, Large and Small. The Large size is perfect for toddlers up to age 2+, while the Small size is just right for babies up to age 1+. These super styling, super practical pants are roomy & light with an elastic waistband, making them a great fit for energetic little ones of all shapes and sizes!

Shop the complete line of new Super Smarty Children’s Pants at www.superhoot.etsy.com and fall in love with juicy fruit, leafy green twigs and roller derby!

Super stars and pinwheels!

Rock on, Little Dude!

Skate on, Baby Girl!

Apples & pears!