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One Yellow Flower Digital Collage

One Yellow Flower

I’ve been playing around with digital collage this week. This illustration, called One Yellow Flower, is the result of my first attempt at digital mixed media collage.

I started painting my own papers to use in collage illustrations last summer. I’ve been scanning those papers, along with pieces of fabric from some of my favorite sweaters, a pair of jeans that were wearing out, and other materials and photographed elements.

I’ve been learning and having a lot of fun. With the learning curve and the time it takes to “cut out” the different pieces by erasing around the shapes I draw so I can isolate them and add them to my “canvas” piece by piece, it would be faster to use physical paper. But this way I simply hit “undo” if something doesn’t turn out right. AND I can keep an endless supply of my favorite painted papers 🙂

I may eventually prefer one method of created collage artwork more than the other (working with digital elements versus working with physical elements). But, in the meantime, I’m loving every part of the creative process–and the endless options that collage makes possible.

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Trouble Comes to Myrtle’s Beach

Myrtle’s afternoon plans are ruined when trouble, in the form of Rufus, arrives at her beach. Although Myrtle was hoping for a relaxing afternoon, Rufus is bound to have other ideas!

This illustration was created with pastels on paper, then finished digitally. 

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Squirrels and Birds and Pride and Prejudice–Oh My!

 I recently filled our squirrel-resistant bird feeder to entice the local overwintering bird population to provide bird-watching opportunities.

I noticed the seed level was going down by a couple of inches a day–too fast for birds, unless huge flocks were constantly ordering take out.

When I let our dog out for a bathroom break one morning, I saw a squirrel hanging upside down on the cage that surrounded the birdfeeder. Either the cage isn’t very squirrel-resistant, or our squirrels are irresistible.

Anyway, the above video my teenaged son and I made captures what went through my mind afterward (although I don’t, indeed, hate squirrels).

No squirrels were harmed (emotionally, physically, or in any other way) during the creation of this video clip.

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Free Inspirational Coloring Page

 

Happy New Year! Above is a free printable coloring page with an inspirational quote from Albert Einstein. 

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” -Albert Einstein

I hope your coming year is full of learning, living, and hoping!

All the best, Bernice

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A Christmas Poem

Christmas, an illustrated one-word poem (a poem derived from the letters found in a single word).

I’d like to take this moment to wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope the coming year brings many wonderful things your way!

All the best, Bernice

 

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Press Release for Ten Swishy Fish

For immediate release:

Author’s new book receives a warm literary welcome.

Readers’ Favorite announces the review of the Children – Concept book “Ten Swishy Fish” by Bernice Seward, currently available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0999537822.

Readers’ Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the “Best Websites for Authors” and “Honoring Excellence” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.

“Reviewed By Gail Kamer for Readers’ Favorite

The cover of Ten Swishy Fish (Bite-Size Books for Beginning Readers) by Bernice Seward is a hook in itself with huge-eyeballed fish swishing here and there. No fish on a hook here but certainly the reader is hooked. The rhyme and rhythm of the story encourage the reader and the listener to swish to the right with the fish. Oh, wait. The fish see teeth creeping to the left. Will the little fish become shark dinner? Swish right in to read Ten Swishy Fish to find out. 

I loved Ten Swishy Fish (Bite-Size Books for Beginning Readers) by Bernice Seward. It’s a fun read and the illustrations are beautiful. In addition, Ten Swishy Fish shares the story as a counting rhyme. The ending is so cute and just a bit unexpected. Ten Swishy Fish alone encourages a discussion of prey and predator. Ms. Seward includes enrichment activities at the end of the book which relate to story structure, personal opinion, artwork, body movement and mathematics. 

Ten Swishy Fish has a listening level for very young children and an independent reading level of about kindergarten. Given the beauty of both the written word and the illustrations, older reluctant readers will love reading this book “on their own.” Ms. Seward has included her website URL. On it she provides information for writing using a graphic organizer that children will easily understand. I highly recommend Ten Swishy Fish (Bite-Size Books for Beginning Readers) by Bernice Seward to anyone looking for a fun read.”

You can learn more about Bernice Seward and “Ten Swishy Fish” at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/ten-swishy-fish where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.

Readers’ Favorite LLC 
Media Relations
Louisville, KY 40202 
800-RF-REVIEW 
support@readersfavorite.com
https://readersfavorite.com

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Press Release for This is the Book

For immediate release:

Author’s new book receives a warm literary welcome.

Readers’ Favorite announces the review of the Children – Grade K-3rd book “This is the Book” by Bernice Seward, currently available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BW6Q559.

Readers’ Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the “Best Websites for Authors” and “Honoring Excellence” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.

“Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite

This is the Book (Bite-Size Books for Beginning Readers 1) by Bernice Seward is about the book that sat in the nook. A crook takes that book and a rook chases the crook, who has taken that book which was in the nook. There is a brook under the rook that chases the crook and the book falls into the brook. A snook sees the book and eats it. A cook comes looking for the snook, and she puts the hook into the brook. The snook sees the hook and gets caught by the cook. The book which was in the nook actually belongs to the cook.

The book is written for beginner readers and helps them with the repetitive sentences and rhyming words. The illustrations give clarity to what the author is trying to convey, and gives a good pace and movement to the already charming story. It is an adorable book for interactive sessions in classrooms and school libraries, and parents can also use it to teach children rhyming words and how to make simple and short sentences. Children will love the crook and the snook and the cook. The author’s creativity is evident in the narration and will encourage readers to make short and simple sentences as in the story. The –ook word is emphasized in this story and readers can be encouraged to write using other rhyming words and build up new sentences. The story is fun, interactive, and educational and this simple tale will help struggling readers to successfully read an entire story.”

You can learn more about Bernice Seward and “This is the Book” at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/this-is-the-book where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.

Readers’ Favorite LLC 
Media Relations
Louisville, KY 40202 
800-RF-REVIEW 
support@readersfavorite.com
https://readersfavorite.com

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At the Haiku Zoo

My newest book, entitled At the Haiku Zoo, released today!

The book was inspired by a trip my family took to Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida. Busch Gardens has a wonderful balance of amusement park rides and animal habitats–which energized the thrill-seekers in our group as well as the animal-lovers. I could have spent days there!

The biggest challenge in writing this book? Narrowing down which wild animals would inhabit the pages! I love involving other people in the writing process, so I conducted two surveys to help with this. I posted the first survey on Facebook, asking people to name the five animals they most liked to see on a trip to the zoo. Here are the results of the Facebook survey: 

 

Using the results of the Facebook survey, I made a list of 18 animals and asked early elementary students to vote for their favorite animal. Here are the results of the student survey:

 

Although none of the students voted for the giraffe, I took the liberty of making sure one made it into the book–after all, they’re one of MY favorite animals to visit:-) Also, if you look, you may notice a correlation between the students’ survey results and the cover of the book.

Haiku is such a beautiful form of expression. It invites us to extricate ourselves from the busy rush around us. To focus on the here and the now of a little slice of life–a slice we might miss out on otherwise. Like a photograph, a haiku poem creates a snapshot–a word snapshot–of a moment in time.

I hope that you enjoy the word snapshots in At the Haiku Zoo.  

You can click here if you’d like to buy the book or find out more about it.

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Free Christmas Coloring Page

mary-and-joseph-travel

This is an illustration I did for a Christmas coloring book. It was fun to read the Christmas story in Luke Chapter 2 and to imagine what transpired around the time Jesus was born. I don’t think I’d ever realized how long the trip was that Mary and Joseph took until I worked on this project–they traveled 80 to 90 miles to get from Nazareth to Bethlehem!

A trip of 80 to 90 miles is nothing for us with our current forms of transportation, but for Mary and Joseph–who may or may not have had a donkey to help with transport–it was quite an undertaking. Especially since baby Jesus was due anytime. Having had four children of my own, I can’t imagine making a trip like that in the last few weeks of pregnancy!

Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to say Merry Christmas, and to give you a little gift. If you click on the image above, you can download a free coloring page for Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Very Truly Yours, Bernice