Gee's Storees - December Edition ⛄✨

It's wickedly chaotic!

Is it December already? *ponders on where the last 5 months drifted off to* As I was writing out a post the other day, I realised that my last Newsletter was sent out in April and I completely missed the August Edition of Gee’s Storees. Apologies about that.

A lot has been happening at Gee HQ: I spent most of the last 3 months racing against time to finish a big work deadline. I’ve also completed two book projects which have both been published woo! And while all this was going on I’ve somehow squeezed in preparing for the Open Weekend event at our studio earlier this month, working on portfolio pieces (which I still need to finish up), making some rough plans for an online shop that are now semi-destroyed since I’m going to have to find another way of sending anything to the EU and FINALLY submitting my Tax Return - probably my biggest feat this month!

Abbeymount Open Studios

This year I endeavoured to create some new Christmas products for the Open Weekend. Unfortunately, I had hoped to put them up on my website shop, too, but I realised I was stretching myself too thinly already with the load I had and didn’t want to commit to something I didn’t have the mental capacity for. SO, if you’re seeing this now and would like any of the items (which I’m sharing below), feel free to drop me a message, and I can send over details on how you can purchase these. 😊 I’ve got christmas cards and handmade paper ornaments available.

Wickedly Catchy

In true Fran fashion, I got myself sucked into the Wicked mania - I managed to steer clear for a week or 2 since it’s release, but then got an exciting Wicked-themed brief from my agent and I OBVIOUSLY had to do my research (ie soundtrack on repeat, and rewatching musical and movie highlights).

The song “What is this Feeling” has always been one of my favourites in the original soundtrack, so I decided to work on a fictional picture book cover based on it, called Loathing: A Wicked Tale.

Blue Skies and Birds

In case you haven’t heard of the mass exodus from Twitter to Bluesky recently, well, I’m telling you now! I’ve never been active much on Twitter or X however, Blue Sky really feels like a breath of fresh social media air. There’s something exciting about having to build a profile and a community from the ground up. If I’m being completely honest, I’m still finding my bearings on there, and it feels as though many people from my other platforms are not there … yet? I’ll be sticking around to see how it goes, so if you are too, feel free to connect! I’ve popped my link below:

THIS WAY FOR BLUE SKIES!

Malta Book Festival

Last November, even though I, unfortunately, couldn’t attend in person, there was the Malta Book Festival, where I had a few illustrations exhibited and also had my most recently published book in the ‘Il-Kuġini Kurjużi’ series launched into the world! My sisters and friends dropped by and sent me some shots of the work 💙 I feel like my family and friends back at home are always cheering so loudly for me, that I cannot even begin to explain the gratitude and warmth it brings to my soul. If you’re reading this, thankyou 💙

There’s also a new picture book story in the works, but more information on that later tihi. You have seen a couple of the work around my pages and socials, but I’ve finally, properly nailed down the story and I’m so excited to get working on it next year! Have a dummy book planned so fingers crossed that goes well.

I think that’s the end of my quarterly round-up. It feels like the months just zoomed by, but looking back at them all, there was so much going on after all! So safe to say, I know where the signs of exhaustion and low immunity are coming from…

This will be my last newsletter update for 2024, so while we’re all here, I wanted to wish you and your families a peaceful and restful time during the holidays. ✨ And I’ll see you in 2025! I’ll be snuggled on the sofa, with mummy’s mince pies, blankets and 3 furry babies 🐾

Over and out.

Hiya! If you're new to my stack. I'm Fran, I'm an illustrator and picture book maker living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Gee's Storees originally started as a quarterly newsletter and has slowly evolved into this Substack publication. Here, I share news and updates on my work, behind-the-scenes content as well as insight into my journey in the magical world of children’s publishing and illustration ✨ Hope you'll join our lovely community, I am looking forward to getting to know you!