The Dragon is the fifth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animal signs that include the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, Horse, Sheep (or Goat), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Apparently, everything is magnified in a Dragon year, there will be spectacular successes as well as crash-and-burn failures. Also, as water does not have a definite shape and it represents flow, movement, and fluidity, this will be a year of changes, adjustments, new directions, and unexpected turn of events. This is the year to try new things but be sure to tread carefully and prepare for the unexpected!

According to Chinese tradition, a person’s birth sign has a profound influence on personality and destiny. For those expecting little Dragon babies, those born under this sign are said to be driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. While Dragons frequently help others, rarely will they ask for help. They are very strong-willed and have tempers that can flare fast. Because Dragons prefer leading to being led, they have the potential for accomplishing many great things.

For that perfect Year of the Dragon new baby gift – be sure to check out our Dragon onesies and onesie/bib sets.

May the Year of the Dragon bring good fortune to you all! Wishing you all the happiest of New Years!

xo joyce

Some highlights:

♥ New Mobile Apps
I was able to combine my two passions — art and technology — with the release of Kiwi and Pear’s World Adventure, an interactive storybook app, and Kiwi and Pear’s Balloon Adventure game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. With over 25,000 downloads combined to date – I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to spread love, hugs, and happiness all over the world!

♥ New Licensing Partnerships
Collaborating with amazing companies such as Badge Bomb has enabled me to focus a little more on what I love to do most which is illustration and design! Also, I still get a kick out of running into products with my designs on them in stores! Look out for some of these cool new items in 2012:

♥ New Books Published
The release of my two latest books You Are My Cupcake and We Belong Together published by Cartwheel / Scholastic.

♥ Book Launch Celebration
All my family, friends, and colleagues in one room to celebrate the release of my new books with me — and with tasty cupcakes! What more is there to say?

♥ Last-Minute Hawaiian Getaway
This trip reminded me that we all need to take a break from work and do something fun, out-of-the-ordinary, and spontaneous sometimes. As I gazed in awe at a full rainbow that I spotted in the middle of a field while driving around the Hawaiian countryside (after having made my friend pull over on the side of the road so that I could take pictures!), it also reminded me that we should never lose touch with our childlike sense of wonder.

♥ Teaching Continuing Education Courses at The School of Visual Arts, NYC
Having taken these very SVA continuing education courses and now, seven years later, teaching them myself has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I have found great joy in helping people take their creative pursuits to the next level, and hopefully, providing them with as enriching of an experience as continuing education courses has provided me over the years. For those of you in the New York area, make good on some of those New Year’s resolutions and register for my 2012 Spring Semester course on Greeting Card Design or Art Licensing!

♥ 2011 Society of Illustrators Original Art Show
One of my new books We Belong Together was 1 of 150 books selected out of 600 entries nationwide to be featured in the Society of Illustrators 2011 Original Art Show, an exhibit which showcases the year’s best children’s books. Not only was it my first time having a piece of my professional work hanging in a gallery but to be featured alongside artists, whose books I loved as a child and still idolize today, was a dream come true.

♥ New Book Contract
Just days before the Christmas holiday (when I thought everybody had gone on vacation already — mental or otherwise), I received wonderful news from my rock star literary agent Teresa Kietlinski of Prospect Agency that she had finalized the contract for me to illustrate SLEEPYHEADS, by Sandra Howatt, a cozy bedtime book about all the places baby animals rest their sleepy heads to be published by Beach Lane Books / Simon & Schuster! What a way to close out a year!

Thank you to all of my dear family, friends, and fans for your inspiration and support. I wish you all the very best in 2012 and am very excited to share a brand new year with you.

Let me know, what were some of the best things that happened to you in 2011?

xoxo-joyce

I have attended this show twice before in 2009 and 2010. I will never forget when I met Eric Carle last year here where he received his lifetime achievement award from the Society of Illustrators!

The reception was a madhouse – two floors, filled wall to wall, with people and art!

Part of the fun was trying to locate my piece on the walls and there it is!

Scholastic chose the last spread from the book to be featured in the show. It was so exciting and a bit surreal to see it on the wall! My book might have actually also been the only board book in the entire show!

Out of the 150 books chosen to be included in the show, three were awarded medals-one Gold and two Silver-for best in show. There was an awards ceremony to recognize these winners.

Here is Lane Smith accepting one of the Silver medals for his latest book Grandpa Green. That’s Kadir Nelson’s head in the foreground (that’s how crowded it was LOL)! He received the other Silver medal for his book Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. The Gold medal went to Rosalyn Schanzer for her book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem.

The exciting evening was capped off by a wonderful dinner, hosted by Scholastic, at Park Avenue Autumn with Lori Benton, VP and Publisher; David Saylor, VP and creative director; my editor, Jeff Salane, along with other Scholastic editors and designers and three other artists, Leonid Gore, Stephen Savage, and David Ercolini, who also had books published by Scholastic in the show.

When we sat down at the table for dinner each of us were presented with a menu that read: “Scholastic Congratulates the Artists in the Original Art Show 2011″. How nice is that?

Speaking of interesting food combinations, here is one of Park Avenue Autumn’s signature dishes – Broccoli with Cheetos! I actually found a video online of the chef at Park Avenue Autumn giving a demonstration on making this dish!

What an amazing and inspiring evening and definitely one of the highlights of my life! If you are in the New York area, or will be, I urge all of you to check out the Original Art Show which runs until December 29, 2011. The show gives you such a rare opportunity to take a close look at some of the beautiful work being produced by some of today’s best illustrators.

The Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street
(between Park and Lexington Avenues)
Tel: (212) 838-2560

Gallery Hours:
10 AM– 8 PM Tuesday
10 AM– 5 PM Wednesday – Friday
12 noon– 4 PM Saturday
Closed most holidays

xo-joyce

One lucky winner will be picked at random on Wednesday, October 19th at 12pm EST to receive signed copies of both YOU ARE MY CUPCAKE and WE BELONG TOGETHER (along with some surprise goodies)!

GOOD LUCK! xoxo

***UPDATE***
CoNgRaTuLaTiOns Carter Higgins for winning the contest via random drawing! I will be contacting you soon for details! Thanks for entering everyone! Stay tuned for more give-aways…..xoxo

A book launch for a book called YOU ARE MY CUPCAKE is not complete without, of course, cupcakes!

And for WE BELONG TOGETHER, heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made by yours truly!

Decorate me! Fun for kids and the kid in all of us! Download your very own cupcake coloring sheet here!

Super star editors!

So many cupcakes! This little girl ran right up to my dress and grabbed the fabric! TOO CUTE!

I am so grateful for all the support from family and friends! :)

To wish them luck, let us make a toast to YOU ARE MY CUPCAKE and WE BELONG TOGETHER. May the books have wondrous success as they make their way into people’s homes, schools, and libraries. Strengthening the bond between parent and child and enabling the wee-est of humans, those that can’t even read yet, experience the joy of books! CHEERS!

xoxo
Joyce

Kiwi and Pear’s Balloon Adventure is a fun and fast paced arcade game that allows you to join Kiwi and Pear as they explore the skies in their balloon. Using the tilt feature on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad, help Kiwi and Pear avoid obstacles such as angry thunder clouds and pickup points, hearts, and speed boosts as they fly up into the stratosphere. Complete game center integration with leaderboards and achievements, and 4 different zones to explore during your adventure into the skies!

Become an aerial explorer, flying through the skies and racking up the highest score you can! Available on iTunes now for only $0.99.

Download the game, rate the app, and leave a comment! We need each and every iTunes review and positive comment we can get! The more ratings we get in iTunes the higher the game will place! Thank you for your continued support! ^_^

View the trailer below:

Checkout more screen shots below:

xoxo
Joyce

The New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) is a trade show that is produced twice annually by GLM Shows and is open to the trade only (people involved in gift-related businesses including buyers, press, sales reps, wholesalers, importers, exporters, and distributors). Held in January and August in New York City, the Fair hosts 2,800 exhibiting companies showcasing the very best lines across the home, lifestyle and gift spectrum and attracts 35,000 attendees from all 50 states and 85 countries.

I’ve been exhibiting at NYIGF for about 5 years now and have met many of my customers and even my first publisher Blue Apple Books at this show. Setting up the booth for a show is a tedious process but it’s fun and rewarding to see everything put together when it’s all done!

It took us a record-breaking 8 hours to set up the booth!

Voila!! The Wanart booth at the New York International Gift Show Summer 2011. The fabric on the sides of the booth are custom-made curtains from RoseBrand. The backdrop is a vinyl banner from Echod Graphics. The wood-like foam flooring is from Soft and Safe Floors. The display shelves on the sides which I painted to match my furniture are from Clear Solutions.

What a whirlwind summer! With teaching the two SVA continuing ed classes, the SCBWI Conference, the new book releases, and the New York Gift Fair past me, for the first time in a couple of months I feel like I can breathe. Now it’s time to switch back into creative mode and dive back into some new book ideas – can you believe it’s September already!? @_@

xoxo – joyce

Every year SCBWI hosts a summer conference in Los Angeles. The conference is described as “4 days of agents, editors, publishers, workshops and networking designed to take your writing and illustration to the next level.” I attended for the first time last year and left feeling so energized and inspired, I was hooked! This year was special as it was their 40th Anniversary with a star-studded lineup of keynote speakers like Judy Blume, David Small, Bruce Coville, Jerry Pinkney, Laurie Halse Anderson, Libba Bray, Norton Juster, Gary Paulsen and more. I left this conference feeling not just a creative spark but a fire burning in my heart and mind. Some pictures from the conference:

The conference was held at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California

My lovely and talented roomies and authors Kat Yeh and Dianne de Las Casas arriving at the SCBWI Conference. (photo courtesy of Dianne de las Casas)

The main ballroom where we would listen to the keynote speakers in between breakout sessions. This year there was a record-breaking 1350 attendees from every state but one (South Dakotans where are you?) and from all over the world!

One of the highlights of the conference and maybe of my life. JUDY BLUME! She got a standing ovation just for taking the stage. Some Judy quotes: “It is determination as much as any kind of talent that’s going to get you there.” and “I want a tombstone that says, ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Judy.’ ” This lady is SO darn sassy – LOVE HER!

Some of the most memorable moments of the conference happened after hours in the hotel lobby where I chatted with new and old friends into the wee hours of the night. One aspect of the conference I cherish the most is all the love, friendship, and support that is exchanged amongst fellow authors and illustrators.

author/illustrator Ben Hilts, Kat Yeh, author/illustrator Sean Hilts, Joyce Wan, and Dianne de las Casas

Diane de las Casas, artist/illustrator E. B Lewis, Joyce Wan, and author Cheri Williams
A late night quote from E.B. Lewis “It’s not about what you can do for yourself but can you do for the world.” He is such a cool guy!

Joyce Wan and author/illustrator Marla Frazee. Let me tell ya, this is one funny lady.

Joyce Wan and author/illustrator Dan Santat This guy can draw sketches like NOBODY’S business!

Every year there’s also a themed dance party. This year’s theme: Pajama Party! Oh, what fun we all had.

Joyce Wan and Kat Yeh who was rocking her middle-grade-boy-with-headgear-and-WWF-tshirt look. HILARIOUS!

Joyce Wan and author Jay Asher. LOVED his Ralphie pj’s from A Christmas Story.

Overall, what an amazing, unforgettable time. I’m already looking forward to next year. Happy 40th SCBWI!

The dessert from the Golden Kite Luncheon

An ode to all the pairs that go together as perfectly as a parent and their child, this WE BELONG TOGETHER is the perfect companion and follow-up title to YOU ARE MY CUPCAKE.

With a bright palette, irresistible art, and spot gloss and embossing on every spread, this is a surprising and imaginative way to show the special bond between parent and child!

Selected for the 2011 Society Of Illustrators Original Art Show, an annual exhibit which showcases the year’s best children’s books.