Badges Badges Badges 2014!

Kathy Evans

Once again I'm hijacking Celebrations to give you all a chance to win something! The Amazing SCBWI British Isles Annual Conference has already been announced, which means it's time for me to announce the highly popular badge design competition!

Last year's gorgeous illustrations and witty writing-and-illustrating-related slogans were truly fabulous and I know this year's will be just as good. Everyone can have a go as long as you're a SCBWI member. So what are we looking for?

Fun  illustrations, designs, or short witty slogans that would make great pin-badges for this year's conference. 

This is a great chance to see your work on the chests (or jackets, bags, hats or conference name tags) of everyone who matters… can you afford not to take part?! Who knows where it might lead and there are prizes - oh yes!
 Apart from fame, glory and a bit of free publicity:

• First Prize is a complete set of  ALL the other badges selected as winners.
• Second Prize is a half set of badges (including the winning badge and your designs) 
• Runner up prizes for all chosen badge designs are two badges of your design.

Winners from Kathryn Evans

RULES 
 1. Any SCBWI member can submit their best ideas/designs before noon Sunday 7th September 2014, by e-mail to Kathy Evans at kathy.evans@tiscali.co.uk – head your email: "SCBWI Badge Competition". 
 2. The final badges must include either a reference to SCBWI British Isles or the logo. 
3. The badges are round and 38mm in diameter.  
4. Illustrators - please don't e-mail hi resolution images unless we ask you for them.
5. Writers – due to the high number of orphan slogans last year, you are limited to one slogan-only entry. HOWEVER why not team up with an illustrator and work together and then you can submit as many as you like. See Rule 6.
 6. If you are a writer struggling to find an illustrator or an illustrator seeking a writer to work with please e-mail, kathy.evans@tiscali.co.uk and I'll do my best to team you up with someone.
7. The best designs or slogans will be selected by our judges and will then be made into pin badges in time to sell at the conference – the badge committee's decision will be final. 
 8. Deadline for entries is 7th September 2014 

Badges will be sold in aid of British SCBWI. Badges will be on sale for £1.50 a badge – but you can buy 3 for £3! Snap yours up early during the conference – the most popular designs sell out quickly - show everyone you're a proud member of SCBWI!

As usual, we're also on the lookout for a few volunteers to help sell the badges at the conference during breaks. It's a great way to mix, meet people at the conference and support SCBWI in a really simple way. Please let me know at kathy.evans@tiscali.co.uk if you'd like to be a badge seller.

I can't wait to see your designs!  Good luck! 

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Kathy Evans is an all round star volunteer for SCBWI. She created the W&P celebrations editor role, for the last year has been managing the British Isles' chapter's finance and is again organising this year's conference badge competition. She is also South East Network Coordinator with Mariam Vossough and is represented by Sophie Hicks.

And The Winner is.....

Bridget's winning snail!

It’s nearly conference time again  and I can’t wait! A chance to catch up with friends old and new; energise the creative parts of my brain; network with the great and the good (what a line up we have this year); and get involved in all the amazing competitions and promotions and  I’ve hijacked Celebrations to share with you the winners of our very first 2013 conference competition...

The Badge Competiton!

This year our panel of judges have chosen 12 winning designs from a host of fantastic entries, and one wonderful winner….drum roll please….the winning badge is….

Congratulations to Jo Franklin for her inspiring (and instructive!) words and for Vikki Gibson’s bright and engaging design. You are a pair of worth winners.

In joint second place were Paul Morton with this uplifting design:

And Julienne Durber with a very accurate portrayal of exactly how I feel:

Our other runners up were: Anna Violet in collaboration with Jo Franklin; Catherine Cooper; Amanda Lillywhite celebrating our very own Duck and Bear; Benjamin Scott, Nicky Schmidt in collaboration with Vikki Gibson and Olivia Palmer. All the wonderful designs will be on sale at this years conference here's a preview!

Winners from Kathryn Evans

Well done all and thank you for taking part. Don’t forget there are plenty more competitions at the conference. Hope to see you there!

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Every year Kathy Evans splendidly organises The Conference Badge Competition. She manages SCBWI British Isles finances, is South East Network Coordinator, brought Celebrations to Words & Pictures and is represented by Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor. Wow!

Why You Should Keep At It and Take Your Chances.

Louise Kelly, Jane Heinrichs and Veronica Cossanteli stand up please! Hip Hip and Hip Hooray for you all and for Never Giving Up!

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Louise Kelly
@mllouisekelly

Louise Kelly gave up a secure university lecturing job to pursue her writing career in 2009 but she'd been writing seriously for two years before that. Her YA historical novel, Pest Maiden has recently been longlisted for the Cornerstones Wow Factor Competition. In her own words, 
This is the first sniff at anything remotely resembling a glimmer of success!’ 

Louise has been a SCBWI member since she was talked into it at an Arvon retreat by Maureen Lynas and Juliet Clare Bell and will be eternally grateful for their strong-arm tactics. When not writing, Louise has a patchwork portfolio of jobs, including teaching neuropsychology at the Open University, being a university dyslexia adviser and helping author, Nicola Morgan, with publicity and promotions. Louise says,

I'm a prime example of keeping at it in the face of no external validation! 

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Jane Heinrichs
@janeheinrichs

After years of hard work, and almost giving up (more than once), Jane Heinrichs also has great news. She’s been signed up by Advocate Art Agency! 
 Jane started out drawing ancient Roman skeletons for her university’s classics department. She was so excited to see her drawings and name in print that she vowed to continue pursuing the perilous career of illustration. Since then she has travelled the world and recorded everything she has seen with pencil and sketchbook. Jane’s children’s book Magic at the Museum, which was self-published in Canada, was short-listed for best-illustrated book at the Manitoba Book Awards but this new signing sprang from a fabulous portfolio review at the London Book Fair.

 Getting your work seen makes all the difference – go to events, meet people, enter  competitions, pursue your dreams. Jane and Louise aren’t the only one’s celebrating after gently pushing their work into the big wide world.

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Veronica
Cossanteli

After a 1:1 with Barry Cunningham at Winchester and an extract accepted for Undiscovered Voices 2012 Veronica Cossanteli’s book The Extincts was published by Chicken House on May 2nd this year. 

 Veronica’s editor , Rachel Leyshon, says,  ‘When we read Veronica’s original manuscript we felt straightaway that we’d found a truly original talent. We loved the humour, the natural ability to see the world from a child’s point of view, and, of course, the big central idea. A farm of extinct and mythical creatures under threat was, we felt, a real winner. And I’m delighted to say the pre-publication response so far has been fantastic!’ 

Veronica finally feels justified for her long-standing reluctance to live in the real world . Veronica works in a Junior School in Southampton, where she lives with too many animals and a son who is much more grown-up than she is, but Veronica claims her greatest accolade so far (and probably ever) is to have been certified by Barry as outstandingly bonkers. 

 So there you go – don’t give up, enter competitions, pursue those reviews and if you’re dithering about whether or not to enter the Undiscovered Voices competition – do it even if you are outstandingly bonkers. 
Especially if you are outstandingly bonkers.

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Kathy Evans is Celebrations Editor for Words & Pictures. She is South East Network Coordinator with Mariam Vossough and is represented by Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor.