Now for the N Pages

I am finally, finally nearing the finish line with this ABC Book, with just four more pages of illustrations to do. Before I show you the N pages, I wanted to thank those of you who left comments on my last post, about the X, Y page--which is a bit odd, to be sure, and most likely won't suit everyone's tastes.  (It may even get a re-boot, if I decide I just can't live with it the way it is.) Lately, when I get a blog post up I often don't get around to going back and checking on it for days--so I just got around to replying to your comments today, dear readers.  I'm sorry it takes me so long.  I really do appreciate it when you stop by!

Now for the N's...

I got a suggestion from one of my favorite bloggers, Colleen Martin,  for this letter.  Thanks to her inspiration, the word "novena" is included in this children's picture book that I've been working on for my grandkids--and I couldn't be happier.  Although this book is not a completely Catholic work, I have tried to throw some Catholic words and imagery into the mix, along with all the animals, foods, etc.  Hopefully in some small way, this humble little ABC Book can be an evangelization tool for innocent, impressionable little eyes.

The first novena page I did came out like this.

But after it was done, I thought it looked a bit too bland and I wanted to add some color.  So I re-did the page, giving the novena prayer card a blue border.

I decided not to tilt the card this time--not sure if that was a good idea or not.  And for some reason, I made the new 9 orange...then added some black spots.  And now I'm afraid that it looks sort of like a cheetah.  I'm not really sure why I did that; sometimes my hand seems to have a mind of its own.  When I told my husband I thought I'd ruined the page, he said not to worry because kids like colorful things.  Which reminded me of something very important: this artwork is not going to hang in the Louvre; it's for small, relatively uncritical children!  (And most of the ones who will look at it call me "Grammy" and they love me!)

Here are the two N pages together, safely in their plastic sleeves in my binder--which is very full, now that I'm nearing the end.

The baby had to be called Nancy, because that was the name of my paternal grandmother as well as two of my aunts, one on my mom's side and one on my dad's.

And I am so, SO glad the to have novenas represented.  Our family believes strongly in the power of these prayers--we are saying one now, to St. Peregrine, for a loved one who was recently diagnosed with cancer. ( Please pray for one of the most precious Pearls in our string, as he begins the fight of his life.  Thank you!)