It’s the last month of 2024 and what a year it has been!

This year I haven’t blogged a lot because I’ve been super busy working on a number of books. This year I have created ** 22 books ** for top publishers worldwide, alongside an array of other exciting projects such as greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles, and collaborations with amazing clients across various markets.

Today, as we come to the end of 2024, I’d love to share with you a couple of standout projects that have brought me so much joy and creative fulfillment.

1. Train Jigsaw Puzzle Books

This project was an absolute delight to work on! Interestingly, both publishers initially planned for just one book each, but after the success of the first book, each project expanded to four books. It’s been such a rewarding journey and below is a breakdown of each book.

Jungle Train

The first book in the series features an adorable jungle animal circus travelling by train to perform at different locations. It’s a super cute concept, but as the first in the series, I was still finding my footing.

Farm Train

The second book follows hard-working animals embarking on holiday adventures. How fun is that?! This book instantly made me giggle, and I felt much more ease with my illustration style. It’s such a joy to bring these characters to life!

The most challenging aspect of these books was perfecting the layout and cut lines, as they’re not just picture books but also involve intricate product design techniques. Ensuring that everything fit perfectly while maintaining the book’s charm was quite the learning experience.

These books were published by the boutique Dublin-based ** Townhouse Publishing **, who were an absolute pleasure to work with. Their trust in my creative freedom made the entire process even more rewarding.

Where to find them

Currently, *Jungle Train* and *Farm Train* are published in Portugal, Spain (Spanish and Catalan), Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Slovakia, Finland, Lithuania, Denmark and France. English versions of these books are in the works and will be available next year.

Excitingly, I’ve just completed two more adorable jigsaw puzzle books, which I can’t wait to share with you next year.

I’ve also included two sketches for these books to show you my design process.

2. Magnatopia Colouring Books Collection

Another major highlight of my year has been illustrating the Magnatopia Colouring Books collection. These include four super cute colouring books, two of which “Tiny Kawaii” and “Spoopy Fun” which are already available to purchase through Amazon and WHSmiths websites. You can also purchase them directly from me at markets.

Creative Process

Illustrating so many detailed colouring pages was a long but immensely enjoyable process. From food to toiletries, and everything in between, I loved adding all the cute and fun details. The books were published by Castle Point Books (part of Macmillan US), and collaborating with them was a fantastic experience.

Lessons Learned

Since this was my first time illustrating colouring books, I learned that the lines need to be even and bold throughout the entire book. This is different to how I normally illustrate so took some practice to perfect, but it was a valuable lesson. These were so much fun to design I’m even considering self-publishing colouring in books next year if time allows.

Which book is your favourite?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Which colouring book is your favourite? Let me know in the comments or when we meet at a market.

Other Things This Year

Like I said, 2024 has been a really fantastic and interesting year. I’m still steadily designing and making more products for sale on this website. We are still doing markets throughout London but less frequently than 2023. 2023 was a fantastic year for markets but this year it seems the number of markets running in London has multiplied infinitely (some weekends can have 6 or more markets) and a result markets have become really diluted.

2023 we did almost 30 markets and by and large the markets we attended featured products made by vendors. This year, we have seen multiple shops selling products from websites like Temu and even noticed some people ripping various artistic files and selling products from these. Even the major illustration markets have changed direction and become either elitist or completely conceptual, which I’m not, but we still have markets that we love doing and from all markets and products combined we still make really good money.

Coaching

Another thing I will be offering in 2025 is coaching. I’m asked almost daily how I create products, both artistically and technically, and with my workloads, it has become time to offer coaching. This is something I will be adding to this website early 2025 and will cover many creative and technical aspects of working as an illustrator.

Thank you for supporting my creative journey

This year has been a testament to the power of collaboration and creativity. If you’re interested in purchasing any of my books or exploring custom illustrations, feel free to reach out! Whether you’re a fan of jigsaw puzzles, colouring books, or simply want to brighten your day with fun and colourful art, I’m here to help.

Thank you being part of my journey. Your support means the world to me and I can’t wait to share even more exciting projects in 2025.

Let’s make the final month of the year a joyful and creative one!