We love a good festival here at Happydesigner, and Hallowe’en is one GREAT festival. There is so much to enjoy about it – stuff for children to do, great food to eat, games to play, trick or treating (responsibly, of course). And, wow, there is so much orange around with all those pumpkins. If you…
Seasons of mist… autumn is on its way
It was just over 200 years ago, in 1820, that John Keats published possibly his most famous poem of all, Ode to Autumn. With the opening line ‘Seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness’, and then referencing everything from apples, to bees, to swallows, to hazels, it’s a beautiful poem, all about this bountiful season. Poignantly,…
Children’s Books with a purpose!
Writing a Children’s book? What’s the point… Children’s books have changed enormously over the past several decades. From Enid Blyton’s Famous Five (drinking lashings of ginger beer), to Harry Potter (quaffing lashings of butterbeer, come to think of it), children’s literature has gone through many iterations. Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker lives in a children’s home…
A new look and new website for Happydesigner
If you’re new to Happydesigner, then hello, welcome, and we hope you like the look! If you’re one of our lovely customers or regular site visitors, we hope you’ve noticed the changes and found them fun, more informative, and helpful. We’ve not ‘reinvented the wheel’ because we liked lots of the features of our old…
Making a career from a love of drawing
Meet children’s book illustrator extraordinaire, Happydesigner’s Sarah-Leigh Wills – lover of the great outdoors, who draws for a hobby as well as for a living, and who is probably named after a dessert! When did you start drawing and what was the first drawing you ever did? That’s a hard one. I have been drawing…
