Tag: illustration

And also, Paranatellonta

Happy 2025!

Minerva Cerridwen

I wish you a magical new year, full of wonder and inspiration. Don’t let the atelodemiourgiopapyrosaurus rush you! (The link brings you to the 393rd edition of Paranatellonta, which was posted on January 1, 2025.)

Now it’s time for the reveal of the Mystery Card, of which I’d given a sneak peek back in November. You can get it for yourself via this page.

Sleepy Dragon holiday card

I have a feeling 2025 will become a special year!

Love,

Minerva

P.S. If you’re a reader looking for titles to fill into your awards ballots this season, here’s a link to my 2024 eligibility post.

 

And also, Conventions and Events

Sneak Peek at the Mystery Card, Queer Winter Market, and NovemberVers

Minerva Cerridwen

Scroll down for Dutch – scrol naar beneden voor Nederlands.

Hi!

Woosh, time is flying by! December is fast approaching, so I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek at my new holiday card, which you can order directly from me!

Sneak peek of the mystery holiday card

All the information on how to buy this holiday card and/or the other designs is in this post. Feel free to contact me directly if you want help, more information, or just a chat about how dragons are great companions to celebrate the end-of-year holidays with!

If you’d rather buy your cards live, I will be at the Queer Winter Market in Antwerp on Sunday, December 15, 2024! The market will take place in ‘t Werkhuys, Zegelstraat 13, 2140 Borgerhout, from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM. There will be lots of wonderful queer art, and I’ll be bringing cards, books, and more!

Poster by Queer Market Antwerp:

Queer Winter Market Poster

For my readers who understand Dutch, I’ve participated in NovemberVers this month. NovemberVers is a project organised by Vanessa Daniëls and Creatief Schrijven, which encourages writers to create a piece of poetry on every day of November. I managed to post a new poem every day and will continue to do so until November 30. You can read all of the results via this page on Azertyfactor (Dutch only). Enjoy!

And soon I will be able to share news about a new publication in Dutch… Stay tuned, and happy winter!

Minerva

Hoi!

Wauw, de tijd vliegt! December komt er alweer aan, dus ik dacht dat het leuk zou zijn om jullie al een eerste detail van mijn nieuwe feestdagenkaartje te tonen.

Sneak peek of the mystery holiday card

Je kan het kaartje rechtstreeks via mij bestellen. Alle informatie daarover is te vinden in deze post (in het Engels), waar je ook de andere ontwerpen van mijn kaartjes voor de feestdagen kan zien. Je mag mij zeker ook meteen een berichtje sturen zodat ik je in het Nederlands kan helpen, meer informatie geven, of zodat we gewoon even kunnen babbelen over wat een leuk gezelschap draken zijn tijdens de eindejaarsfeesten.

Als je je kaartjes liever offline komt kopen, dan kan dat op de Queer Winter Market in Antwerpen op zondag 15 december 2024! De markt zal plaatsvinden in ‘t Werkhuys, Zegelstraat 13, 2140 Borgerhout, van 13:00 tot 18:00 uur. Er gaan heel wat toffe queer kunstwerken te vinden zijn en ik breng mijn kaartjes, boeken, en nog meer leuke dingen mee.

Poster gemaakt door Queer Market Antwerpen:

Queer Winter Market Poster

Deze maand heb ik deelgenomen aan NovemberVers, een project van Vanessa Daniëls en Creatief Schrijven dat schrijvers aanmoedigde om dagelijks een stukje poëzie te schrijven. Ik heb elke dag van november een nieuw gedichtje gepost en zal dat ook blijven doen tot en met 30 november. De resultaten kan je allemaal via deze pagina op Azertyfactor lezen. Veel plezier!

En binnenkort kan ik nieuws delen over een nieuwe uitgave in het Nederlands … Nog even geduld en een fijne winter!

Minerva

And also

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…

Minerva Cerridwen

Wait—what??

Am I the only one who’s freaking out about it being mid-October again already?

Well, that means the winter holidays will be upon us in just two shakes of a lamb’s tail, so here’s my reminder that you can order my holiday card designs again this year! I’ll have 3 available designs: the colourful “Holiday, Holly and Tree” and the whimsical “Creatures’ Winter Wreath”, both designed in 2023—and a brand new handdrawn black-and-white design this year, currently known as the Mystery Card!

“Holiday, Holly and Tree” – designed by Minerva Cerridwen in 2023
“Creatures’ Winter Wreath” – designed by Minerva Cerridwen in 2023
Mystery Card – designed by Minerva Cerridwen in 2024 – there will not actually be a question mark on this card

All these cards will be folded A6 cards (that is 10.5 cm x 14.8 cm, when folded). The inside of the card is left blank so you can add your own message to your loved ones.

Are you curious about the Mystery Card yet?

The reason why I’m doing a Mystery Card is that I like to surprise the people I send a card myself. Last year my solution was to make a second design for myself, but this year I thought it would be fun to throw a little mystery into the mix. What do you think?

Prices for my holiday cards

Table of prices: please feel free to contact me for a price calculation if you can't see the table.
Price table for my holiday cards.

How to order your cards

Orders can be placed directly via my Paypal, but please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or want me to calculate the exact price for your order. Just let me know how many cards you want, whether to include envelopes or not, and your address. (Please don’t forget to include your country!)

If you order directly, please specify the following in your order:

  • how many cards you want of each type:
    • Holiday, Holly and Tree (per 1), e.g. “10x holiday tree card”
    • Creatures’ Winter Wreath (per 1), e.g. “5x wreath card”
    • Mystery Card (per 1), e.g. “3x mystery card”
  • Don’t forget to specify whether you want envelopes as well. (€0.50 per envelope)
  • Specify your address. If no other address is specified, I will assume your Paypal address is the correct address for shipping.

If you want to place an order of 30 cards or more, best get in touch with me first so we can look into the best shipping option for your area.

I hope my cards will once again bring a little cheer around the world!

Not in the holiday mood yet?

I get it, we’re still looking forward to Halloween! My all-season set of 10 postcards designed in 2023 is still available too (click here).

Mind, though, that it’s probably a good idea to order your cards early to make sure you’ll be able to send them in time for the holidays.

Thank you, and enjoy your autumn!

Minerva

And also, Projects by Friends

The Chosen Ones

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Be the Sea author Clara Ward summarised it this way:

The tentacles wave! The crab claws clap! All the Sea Creatures celebrate together as some are chosen for postcards, some remain paper-free, and all are friends because Minerva made them special Sea Creatures! (Did I just tack a Hopepunk ending onto a Chosen Ones narrative? Maybe?)

In other words: after running the Sea Creatures poll for over a month, we have now decided which of these Creatures will be represented on the Be the Sea Kickstarter reward postcards. Thank you very much to the 45 people who voted!

Even with your help, it was a tough choice. In the end there were 4 Sea Creatures with the same number of votes who competed for the last 2 spots on a postcard. We of the Be the Sea Kickstarter team have seriously discussed our options, taking into account the varieties of Sea Creatures and the balance in styles within the set of postcards. Considering this was “just” a stretch goal reward for this Kickstarter, you can imagine how much work Chris is doing with all the actual rewards. A round of applause for him, please.

Yes, I do expect you to be clapping in front of your computer screen or at your phone now. Don’t be shy. Extra cheering is encouraged; Chris will feel the love.

Now, the Chosen Sea Creatures are:

Floral Sea Horse, Dites-moi Hermit Crab, The Dragon at the Bottom of the Sea, Rainbow Tardigrade, Crochet Non-Binary Jellyfish, Watercolour Octopus, Flower-spotted Moray, and Galaxy Angelfish.

Image showing the 8 chosen postcards

Do you like our final selection? Did your favourites make it? Let us know in the comments!

You can still visit all of the Sea Creatures from the campaign on this page.

And you can still add as many sets of postcards as you like to your Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions order via Backerkit! Also check out the Atthis Print Bundle and Atthis Digital Bundle options; these both include my book The Dragon of Ynys. The Print Bundle includes a pack of Sea Creature postcards at no extra cost. What are you waiting for?

Thank you all for joining me on this Sea Creatures journey! It has been an exciting adventure.

Love from Minerva, the Be the Sea team, and all of the Sea Creatures!

And also

A Queer Market, WorldCon, and Vote for Your Favourite Sea Creature!

Minerva Cerridwen

Dear friends,

Last weekend I was at the Queer Market at the Zomerfabriek in Antwerp. It was my first experience selling books in a booth out in public—and it was amazing!

Photo of The Future is Queer booth at Queer Market Antwerp
The Future is Queer booth at Queer Market Antwerp – special thanks to photographer Leni, the leader of our book club!

In spite of the scorching heat, the people who organised the market had made sure we had everything we needed to thrive (from extra water and tents to provide shade up to clothes hangers for those who were selling second-hand clothing, and metal racks on wheels to put those on—I’m still marvelling at that bit). The atmosphere was great, and I actually sold and signed books! People’s favourites were The Dragon of Ynys, Community of Magic Pens, and Neon Horror.

I had the most wonderful day there with my friends from The Future is Queer book club, and the whole experience was really encouraging me to go out and sell books at events again in the future. Probably to be continued after this summer…

Because this summer is all about WorldCon 2024! As WorldCon is taking place as “close to home” as Glasgow, Scotland, I will be there in person for the whole duration from August 8 until August 12. I’ll write an update later with my panel schedule!

Finally, I’ve opened a poll where you can vote for your favourite Sea Creature at the bottom of the Sea Creature page (click)! Go ahead and pick your 8 favourites, and don’t worry if you need to sleep on it; the poll won’t close until September 1, 2024. I can’t wait to see which of these creatures will be the chosen ones to be turned into postcards as rewards for the Be the Sea Kickstarter. 

Thank you all, and happy summer!

Minerva

And also, Projects by Friends

Final day of the Kickstarter!

Minerva Cerridwen

Dear friends,

We achieved the final stretch goal of the Be the Sea Kickstarter!!!

Thank you all so much for your support!

There’s still 18 hours left in the campaign. Mind that the hardcover editions are limited to this Kickstarter—and the 8 (!!!) Sea Creature postcards that come with them as well!

For now I won’t write a very long message here—it’s time for me to go finish the final Sea Creature (and there’s still quite a bit of work on that, whoops).

Thank you,
Minerva

PS Happy Non-Binary Awareness Week!

Photo of a crocheted jellyfish hanging from the arm of a cactus

And also, Projects by Friends

Three days left: order your Sea Creature postcards!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Great news: we made it to the first stretch goal in the Be the Sea Kickstarter, so 4 of my Sea Creatures will be turned into postcards! They’re included with every hardcover reward, can be added to every physical reward, and all backers will get high-resolution digital downloads of the postcards. I’ve made a page here on my website where every Sea Creature of the Day is added as soon as it’s come out to play.

In fact, we’re already very close to the second stretch goal: you could be the one to push the Kickstarter to the $5000 mark right now! This will bring us a bonus story by Clara Ward and a better quality of hardcover!

Floral illustration of a spotted moray, black and white
Day 22: Only flowers, and yet a whole spotted moray.

We really hope the Kickstarter will make it to $6000, as that’s the full amount needed to make the audiobook. Besides, $6000 brings 4 more Sea Creature postcards, AND foil stamping to the cloth cover of the hardcover edition!

You can find all the possible rewards for this Kickstarter here.

Photo of a crocheted sea snake
Day 21: A crocheted Ace Sea Snake who loves to play games!

Whether you’re able to support the Kickstarter or not, don’t forget to read the updates; they’re so much fun! In the latest, Clara and Chris took us on a Bookstore and Chocolate Shop Tour, Clara has talked about childhood memories inspiring Be the Sea, and Matt has given a Behind-the-Scenes Peek at Hand-Colored Numbered-Edition Hardcovers.

Please do tell everyone about this project and let’s make these last days of the campaign really impressive! Clara, Chris, Matt, the team at Atthis Arts, all the Sea Creatures, and me are so grateful for your support.

This image includes 20 small square images, each showing a Sea Creature.
The first 20 Sea Creatures

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Minerva

And also, Projects by Friends

Sea Creature Postcards

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Great news! The Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions Kickstarter has reached its minimum funding goal already! And you know what the first stretch goal is??? Postcards of my Sea Creatures!!!

Small photos and scans of the first 10 Sea Creatures of the Day for the BE THE SEA campaign
A small recap of the first 10 Sea Creatures of the Day

If the campaign reaches $4000, 4 of my Sea Creatures will be made into postcards. They’d be included in all hardcover reward levels, available as an add-on for all physical reward levels, and included digitally for all backers. I’d be very proud if that happened! Personally I hope the Kickstarter will go far beyond that, of course—my peeks behind the scenes have told me there are more brilliant stretch goals coming up!

Of course, the Sea Creatures you can see in the image above aren’t all of them: there’s still a new one arriving every day until the end of the campaign, and for everyone who isn’t using social media, I’ve made a new page here on my website where you can comfortably see them all together, just one click away! I will update that page regularly.

For EVEN MORE Sea Creatures of my hand, I refer to today’s Kickstarter Update, which was a guest post I wrote!

Thank you so much for sailing along!

Minerva

And also, Paranatellonta

Happy 2024!

Minerva Cerridwen

Happy New Year!!!

I wish you lots of cosiness, inspiration, and wonderful stories for 2024!

Handdrawn holiday card with a magical Christmas wreath

May the day be full of fun traditions or marvellous new discoveries.

It’s also the first day of the month, so of course there is a new edition of Paranatellonta! You can read the 369th edition here.

Love,

Minerva

And also

Cards for the holidays!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

The Christmas cake is baked and waiting in an airtight box to get its weekly shots of booze before it will be wrapped in marzipan and fondant icing just before its first cut on Christmas Day. Plans are being made for decorations and lights. Cosy meet-ups with friends are happening. And my cards for the December holidays are ready!

Kerstboom - holidays2 - small-glazed-intensity29-render3-V1 with watermark

I will be selling this handpainted, handdrawn design on folded A6 cards (that is 10.5 x 14.8 cm, when folded) for the holidays! The inside of the card will be blank so you can add your own message to your loved ones.

Table of prices: please feel free to contact me for a price calculation if you can't see the table.

Orders can be placed directly via my Paypal. Don’t forget to specify how many cards you want and whether you want envelopes. If no other address is specified, I will assume your Paypal address is the correct address for shipping.

If you want to place an order of 50 cards or more, best get in touch with me first so we can look into the best shipping option for your area.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or want me to calculate the exact price for your order. Just let me know how many cards you want, whether to include envelopes or not, and your address. (Please don’t forget to include your country!)

I hope my cards will bring a little cheer around the world!

If you can’t get enough of art cards, don’t forget you can still buy my colourful set with 10 different designs from 2023! Take a look and read all about them here.

Here for the books? Remember, if you live in my area, you can support local bookshop Grim by getting my novella The Dragon of Ynys there, and of course small indie publisher Atthis Arts is open for everyone to support. Don’t miss their big announcement today!

I hope you’ll have a cosy, friendly winter!

Hugs,

Minerva