There is a part of me that is grateful Mia came along solely for the sheer fact I no longer have to explain why I have so many children’s books. I am crazy about them and have been collecting for years. Last night I was doing a bit of rearranging at the kid store after we closed. I find it’s good to do this when no one is around to distract me so I can turn up the music and revel in creating little vignettes around the shop. I really love the things we have, and it’s nice to spend time revisiting all the goods. A new shipment of books arrived recently, and I pulled one from the shelf that caught my eye. Instantly I was enamored as I flipped through the pages and mentally made a note that this would definitely make it into my personal collection. I had my work cut out for me and knew I’d be burning the midnight oil if I paused to play with all the merchandise so I decided I would read it later. Standing on a ladder, I stacked three sea turtles on a shelf and grabbed the book I intended to display. Guess what I spied? Total glee. Total inspiration. One of the things that makes me love my job. Not only did I love the book, but I discovered it was illustrated by Lisa Congdon. It made me so happy.
Many of you may already be aware of Lisa Congdon’s work. I feel she was light years ahead of the blogging world, and one of the first people I really followed alongside Design Sponge. I don’t know how or why I found her, but I thought it was awesome that I stumbled upon her way back when. I was grateful she shared so many wonderful details of her life, and as a follower, I got to be a part of her evolving into the person she wanted to be: a full time artist. She is articulate, truthful, heartfelt and was always decorating her kick ass apartment like nobody’s business back in the day. I drooled over her studio, coveting some of the art pieces hanging above her couch and thought she was so clever the way she photographed her dog perched atop a set of vintage suitcases. I found her totally relatable the way she navigated through life as she shared her transition from being a full time employee doing fun art projects on the side to actually manifesting owning her own store and becoming an illustrator publishing her own work. I like her style, and I like her story. She continues to do so many interesting projects and I say Bravo! She’s just started a new blog. Check her out if you already haven’t. Hurray! Mia is off to a birthday party this morning, and you’ll never guess what she is giving the birthday boy.
posted 10/11/2011
labels: Kid's Books 0 comments