Football Lunch

So I suppose I need to start somewhere.  This was the lunch that "kicked" it all off, so to speak.

Football Lunch

Now, I've always been more of a "inside" kid, drawing and reading and watching Star Wars.  I'm not a big football fan, but I just couldn't resist making this one from Dark Rye and hand-cut sliced cheddar.  This is a turkey sandwich on the inside.  You'll see that I always like to keep it healthy, balanced, and low on sugar.  This lunch included fresh fruit, steamed veggies with hummus, and a bonus cheese cut into a star...for my little all-star!  (awwww)

Relaunch and Introduction

I'm a mom.  I'm an artist.  I'm a geek.  I am obsessive about designing cool food for my kids.

I have illustrated children's books and designed a line of organic children's clothes that highlight food as an adventure for kids.  But the real adventure has been having two of my own kids.  Now with a 4.5 year old in pre-K and an 18 month old in nursery school, I have to find interesting places to interject my creativity just to keep my sanity.  Let's face it: making school lunches is a chore!  Day in and day out,  how many snacks do parents dole out every day?  Breakfast?  Dinner?  AGH!

For the past couple of years I have been playing with food while I play with my kids, and my more traditional art has taken a back burner (yeah, pun intended).  I have been sharing photos of my creations as casual facebook posts and been delighted at how well received they have been.  I've also been "egg"ed on to make this a more public pursuit, so here is the beginning...

I'm relaunching WonderToast as a more inclusive brand, not just of the characters in my books, but of a fun family philosophy.  I want my children to draw inspiration and joy from the world around them, to find a thrill in learning with an open mind.  So I lead by example.  We have fun.  We are silly.  We live in a fantasy world where snacks become space ships and breakfasts become friends.  Art and food are a daily necessity in our house, and what better fun than to marry the two ideas!

I am excited to make Batman sandwiches and Star Wars snacks.  The kids are excited to eat them.  I make fun food inspired by the interests of my two boys (which often are heavily influenced by what their parents love too!).

Please join our adventure.  Learn about new foods, healthy foods, fun and fast foods, but mostly really cute and beautiful foods.  Some call them American Bento, some think I'm nuts, but I bet you'll find these projects are easier than you thought.

I'll post old lunches and meals that I've photographed over the past few years (please excuse the poor quality! I wasn't planning on "publishing" them!) and start on some new photos and videos.  I'd love to hear your feedback and questions!  My ultimate goal is to get enough audience participation to take requests to make lunches of *your* favorite subjects.  I'll walk you through step-by-step to show YOU how to do it too!

I'm a mom.  I'm an artist.  I'm a geek.  I am obsessive about designing cool food for kids.  Here we go!

Oct 26th: Pretzel Day!

Oct 26th is Pretzel Day! WonderToast learned about the letter P by talking about Pretzels.  He would love for you to learn more about it too in his ABC coloring book!

See more here: http://wondertoast.com/shopBOOKS.html

Oct 17th: National Pasta Day!

In America, Oct 17th is National Pasta Day! WonderToast learned about the letter R by talking about Ravioli. He would love for you to learn more about it too in his ABC coloring book!

See more here: http://wondertoast.com/shopBOOKS.html

Oct 13th: National Yorkshire Pudding Day!

In America, Oct 13th is National Yorkshire Pudding Day!  WonderToast learned about the letter Y by talking about Yorkshire Pudding.  He would love for you to learn more about it too in his ABC coloring book!  

See more here: http://wondertoast.com/shopBOOKS.html

New Food Idea Contest!

I'm running a contest through September on twitter 

(EXTENDING THROUGH OCTOBER!!)

http://twitter.com/WonderToast

Tweet idea for exotic food to use in my next kid's book & if I use your food, you'll WIN THE ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION!   

This is for "WonderToast Wonders About: Numbers!" so the easier to illustrate the food in large numbers, the better!  Remember we're looking for exotic and interesting food that has not yet been used in WonderToast's first book "WonderToast Wonders About: The Alphabet!"

And for that great prize...original means the one-of-a-kind pencil sketch done for the book!

(remember to hashtag #wtWIN)

Feminist Review

Check out this nice review of WonderToast by Erica Mikkalo on Feminist Review!

Love this quote: "And who could resist chatty ebi? " haha

http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2009/07/wondertoast-onesies.html