hello, hello, paris

^^ I must have the best publicist ever because my HELLO, PARIS book is featured in Parents & Newborns magazine this month. And it's the biggest honor to be featured next to a Babylit book, only my favorite board book series. I honestly feel like someone else wrote these books and I'm just their No.1 fan because this couldn't possibly be something that I did. Will the real author please stand up, because this would make a lot more sense in my head? ^^

open sesame! book deal

I feel incredibly lucky to announce that I've sold another book, Open Sesame!, in a two-book deal to Penguin/Grosset & Dunlap. Think Press Here, but with magic tricks! I have to give a big thank you to my little brother, Jett, who helped inspire this book. We read all the Harry Potter books together earlier this year and called each other every night to talk about them--our own personal book club! It was through these chats that the idea for this book came to be. And Thank you to my wonderful agent, Michelle Witte, and my once-again editor, Eve Adler.

illustration rejects

I have FINISHED editing my very last book--hooray!!! There were, I swear, a hundred outtakes for each book and lots of illustrations were sadly cut. But I've kept them all and am posting a few of the rejects here. To see more illustrations, head over to my website, ashleyevanson.com.

To pre-order the Hello, World books, click here.

is this the real life? is this just fantasy?

^^ Can it be true?! Are these books really on Amazon for pre-order?! My HELLO, WORLD book series will be released October 20 from Penguin and I'm having an out-of-body experience over here. They're releasing four books in one season: Paris, London, San Francisco, and New York, and in the words of my agent Michelle, "The crashing noise you just heard was Ashley collapsing from exhaustion." Haha it's slightly true, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! 

P.S. A big thanks to Johnny, my momma, and my babies for being so forgiving while I work. I hope their early memories of me are of us reading these books together and not me hunched over a computer in my smelly sweats with dirty dishes piled up around me. (It's a very glamorous lifestyle.) ^^

new york, new york

New York, New York

I go through a lot of drafts working on my children's book series, which is normal with any editing process. But it's still hard because I really like some of the art and it will never get used. This piece was a draft for the NYC Colors book and I thought I'd share it as a sort of preview to the books coming out this fall. (Unless, of course, this is against the rules and my agent has me take it down...)

© 2015 Ashley Evanson, All Rights Reserved

merry christmas, love the evansons!

^^ Merry Christmas to all! Love, Johnny, Ashley, Munchkin, & Pipsqueak ^^

san fran facade

San Francisco Facade

^^ If you flipped through the photos on my phone you'd see a whole slew of doors, windows, and architectural details from around the city. If you stop and really look, it is the most beautifully designed city. I could draw it all day. ^^

© 2014 Ashley Evanson, All Rights Reserved

happy weekend

^^ Flora ^^

Happy weekend! And thank you, Labor Day, for making it come one day quicker.

ashleyevanson.com

© 2014 Ashley Evanson, All Rights Reserved

new illustration website!

^^ Thank you to everyone for the love and congrats on my upcoming books. I have such rockstar friends that sure know how to make a person feel good.

So, in addition to my children's books, I've been illustrating in my free time (and nap time, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner time), and finally have something to show for it--my new illustration website! My agent suggested I create one, making this whole publishing process even crazier and exciting. After hours of trying to figure out how to create a website and wanting to pull my hair out, it's finally up and live. And now that it is, I'm kind of horrified that someone will look at it and actually contact me. I still have no idea what I'm doing and I'm scared people will figure that out, too. I need my safety blanket of anonymity! ^^

Take a looksie at ashleyevanson.com

some very big news!

^^ I have been keeping a secret for some time now and I'm so excited to finally be sharing it! I feel so lucky to announce that I will be publishing a children's book series with Penguin Random House! There's not a set release date, but we predict they'll hit bookshelves by winter 2015. 

I feel so grateful for my husband, Johnny, who has come home many times to a disastrous house, no food, piles of laundry, and found me glued to the computer working on my books. Not to mention our poor kids who have learned quite well to fend for themselves. [On a side note: my neglect has produced some fantastic photos for my "what motherhood is REALLY like" posts.]

I feel like I've been guided through this whole process and kind of stumbled upon the right websites, emailed the right people at the right time, and really lucked out with finding the perfect agency who helped me land this book deal. I don't typically get spiritual on my blog, but I would be wrong not to acknowledge my Heavenly Fathered who I know had a hand in this and I feel so grateful for his love and guidance.

Anyway, I'll continue to update my blog on the progress of my books, and I've actually got another project in the works that I hope I'll be announcing later next week. Good things are happening! ^^

prima ballerina

^^ Prima Ballerina ^^

Want to know something cheesy? So many nights I dream that I'm a ballerina and can do a thousand pirouettes in a row without falling. And then I wake up and I'm sad because I can barely touch my toes. But this little ballerina makes me happy.

© 2014 Ashley Evanson, All Rights Reserved

masquerade

^^ Masquerade ^^

This illustration came from my lifelong desire to either throw or attend an over-the-top masquerade ball. Anyone want to host so I can invite myself?

© 2014 Ashley Evanson, All Rights Reserved

queen of hearts

^^ Queen of Hearts ^^

Good things are in the works around here! I've recently turned my doodles and daydreams into something tangible, finally learning how to use Illustrator. I'm no pro, but I'm slowly improving and it's fun to see my art come to life. Now if only I had these shades in real life... And happy weekend! 

© 2014 Ashley Evanson, All Rights Reserved