CONGRATS TO KAREN H FOR WINNING RHIAN CAHILL’S CONTEST LAST WEEK!

And now, I am so happy and so proud to introduce you to my dear friend…

VALERIE TIBBS

For those of you who do not yet know Val, let me describe her for you. She is marvelous and fantastic. Val is like one of the unexpected treats you cannot believe you have had the luck to stumble across. Not only is she a wonderful person – warm, loving, caring – she is about the bestest friend one could hope for. Having Val on your side is like having a whole cheerleader team. And believe me, with Val behind you, cheering you on, you can only succeed. Got a problem you think is unsolvable? Mention it to Val. Feel down? No one better to cheer you up. Unsure about a book you’ve written? Show it to Val.

And lemme tell you something else. Not only is Val the nicest person on earth, she is also an incredibly talented graphic artist. How did I first discover this little fact? Well it all began when I innocently opened my inbox one day to find a little gift there, compliments of Valerie Tibbs:

This is the first banner Val ever designed for me. And she did it just because she wanted to. (Told you! She is wonderful.)

So from there everything spiraled. I decided to ask Val to design a banner for my website.

About ten minutes later I found this in my inbox:

(Ahem – did you happen to notice it is animated? If not – well, that’s my fault. That’s because I have no idea how to insert the animated version here. But click on the banner itself, and you’ll see how it should look. ;O )

About an hour after that, I found this in my inbox:

I loved it the second I saw it. LOVED it. Now it’s up on every page on my web. (LOL, I’d put it up on my blog, but honestly? I don’t have the foggiest clue how to.)

Then it was time for a new signature banner. Once again, V did not fail me:

So, you can imagine my delight when the Boys Down Under anthology was accepted at Aspen Mountain Press, and we had the honor of working with their cover artist…Valerie Tibbs!

Do you have any idea how hard it is designing a cover for one fussy author? Imagine satisfying five of us. No trouble for Ms Tibbs:

And then, as if the cover was not enough, she added a Boys Down Under signature banner:

Next up came the invitation from Viv Arend to join eight others in a round the world adventure known as: International Heat. Fortunately for the rest of us, Valerie is one of the members. 🙂

Not only did she design the banner and the button for IH, she also designed “Coming Soon” covers for all of us.

Now, I could add all the covers and banners she’s designed for all the various IH members, but I’d run out of blog space. You can view them all for yourself either by checking out their blogs. (Their addresses are featured on the first blog entry on this page.) Or you can head straight to Valerie’s website, Graphics by Design.

Since that first banner arrived in my inbox, Valerie has taken the cover art and graphic design world by storm.

You’ll see her signature banners on emails and websites all over the world. She is the head cover artist for Freya’s Bower/Wild Child Publishing, she’s on staff at Aspen Mountain and Awe-Struck.? Val freelances for Amira Press, Pink Petal, and Sugar and Spice, and she has done pro-bono?for?eXcessica. Finally she has done print covers and marketing ads for Zumaya as well.

If you’d like Val to create something beautiful for you, head on over to Graphics by Design. You’ll find a full portfolio there as well as a list of her prices.

And I promise, once you’ve worked with Valerie once, you will have a graphic artist and friend for life.

🙂

Jess

(PS – don’t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a prize from Valerie.)