Pinky Doodle Bug featured at The Maine Festival of the Book

by Sandra and Elizabeth on March 30th, 2012

Pinky Doodle Bug is being featured and we are speaking at the Maine Festival of the Book on Saturday at 2:30 at Luther Bonney Hall in place of illustrator Nathan Walker, who has the flu.

Did you know that most children’s book illustrators and authors RARELY work together to create a children’s book? Very often the words are given to an illustrator and sometimes those two creators never even meet.  Well, this is not the case with the award winning book, Pinky Doodle Bug.  Illustrator, Sandra Waugh and Author Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino will show you how they took the book from words to sketches, invented the characters and redrew and repainted some of the characters. Artist Sandra Waugh, painted for nearly a year to complete the book!! Shea Vaughn, who is  Actor Vince Vaughn’s mom, even helped then change the character.  Elizabeth and Sandra will show you how they created the characters and worked hand in hand TOGETHER to create this book, which is rare and opposite of how most books are created in the children’s publishing industry.  

Pinky Doodle Bug was written and illustrated by Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino and Sandra Waugh.  It is the winner of a Gold Mom’s Choice Award.

Join Pinky and her friends on a doodling and writing adventure.  The story is about never giving up and letting your dreams fly.  Visit us at PinkyDoodleBug.com for more information and we hope you will share your stories, photos and more with us there.



Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
Elizabeth is the CEO and Founder of The Best Ever You Network and the host of top-rated “Best Ever You Show” on Blog Talk Radio. Elizabeth is a certified professional life coach, journalist, actress/on-air personality and author. Elizabeth and her husband Peter live in Maine with their four boys, 3 cats and enormous Labradoodle. Elizabeth was appointed as the Ambassador to Maine Reads in 2006 and has toured the country with her story times and has visited many Maine schools and libraries. For more information visit www.besteveryou.com, www.elizabethhamilton.info or www.pinkydoodlebug.com

Sandra Waugh
Sandra Waugh is a freelance artist and children's book illustrator. She is best known for her realistic, luminous watercolors. Her latest children's book reflects her more whimsical side featuring colorful, quirky, fun-loving watercolors accented with pen and ink details. Sandra has spent much of her adult life working with children. She has been a preschool teacher for the last seven years, taught art classes and Sunday school and was an elementary school substitute teacher. She now resides in southern Maine enjoying the great outdoors, painting the beautiful scenery around her and working on her next children's book. For more information visit www.waughtercolors.com and www.pinkydoodlebug.com


Pinky Doodle Bug is quickly becoming one of the most popular iBooks on Apple for downloads and shares.

Where to find Pinky Doodle Bug:  ISBN: 978-1-1-5-18923-4


Pinky Doodle Bug wins GOLD!

by Sandra and Elizabeth on February 27th, 2012


For Immediate Release: February 27, 2012

For more information, contact:Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino

ISBN: 978-1-105-18923-4


The Mom's Choice Awards® has named Pinky Doodle Bug among the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

The Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA) is an international awards program that recognizes authors,
inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media,
products and services.

Parents, educators, librarians and retailers look for the Mom’s Choice Awards Honoring
Excellence seal of approval when selecting quality materials for children and families.

An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents,
children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors,
scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, ten-time
Emmy-winner, professor and founder of PBS’s Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of
Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times best-selling author,
Priscilla Dunstan, creator of the Dunstan Baby Language; Patricia Rossi, host of NBC’s
Manners Minute; Dr. Letitia S. Wright, D.C., host of the Wright Place™ TV Show; and Catherine
Witcher, M.Ed., special needs expert and founder of Precision Education, Inc.

MCA judges are bound by a strict code of ethics which ensures expert and objective analysis
free from any manufacturer association. The evaluation process uses a propriety methodology in
which entries are scored on a number of elements including production quality, design,
educational value, entertainment value, originality, appeal and cost.

To be considered for an award, each entrant submits five identical samples of a product. Entries
are matched to judges in the MCA database. Judges perform a thorough analysis and submit a
detailed assessment. Results are compiled and submitted to the MCA Executive Committee for
final approval.

The end result is a list of the best in family-friendly media, products and services that parents
and educators can feel confident in using.

Pinky Doodle Bug Wins: http://www.momschoiceawards.com/celebrate/

For more information on the awards program and the honorees, visit MomsChoiceAwards.com.

For more information about Pinky Doodle Bug and Friends, visit http://www.pinkydoodlebug.com.

ISBN: 978-1-105-18923-4
Pinky Doodle Bug is written and illustrated by two Maine moms.

Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino of Falmouth and Sandra Waugh of Limerick have teamed up to bring this delightful story to let your child's imagination soar!

Join Pinky and her friends on a doodling and writing adventure in the perfect book for children learning to read and parents wanting to share the joy of reading, writing, drawing and dreaming.

Along with the charming verse, every page has a delightful illustration that is sure to make this wonderful tale a favorite of both children and parents alike.

Author, Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino and illustrator, Sandra Waugh, hope Pinky Doodle Bug will inspire children (and adults) to follow their dreams. They would also love for everyone to create their own stories and doodles, sharing them for all the world to read ...and see.


Where to find Pinky Doodle Bug: Wherever books are sold. Prices vary. Discounts often apply.

Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
Elizabeth is the CEO and Founder of The Best Ever You Network and the host of top-rated “Best Ever You Show” on Blog Talk Radio. Elizabeth is a certified professional life coach, journalist, actress/on-air personality and author. Elizabeth and her husband Peter live in Maine with their four boys, 3 cats and enormous Labradoodle. Elizabeth was appointed as the Ambassador to Maine Reads in 2006 and has toured the country with her story times and has visited many Maine schools and libraries. For more information visit www.besteveryou.com,

Sandra Waugh
Sandra Waugh is a freelance artist and children's book illustrator. As the child of an Army officer, Sandra was raised in several countries as well as much of the United States. Her travels continued when she married a Coast Guardsman and moved from coast to coast absorbing the many cultures of our wonderful country. During those years she honed her skills and gained much experience as a Graphic Designer, Fine Artist and Children's Book Illustrator. She is best known for her realistic, luminous watercolors. Her latest children's book reflects her more whimsical side featuring colorful, quirky, fun-loving watercolors accented with pen and ink details. Sandra has spent much of her adult life working with children. She has been a preschool teacher for the last seven years, taught art classes and Sunday school and was an elementary school substitute teacher. Her love of children and books (especially picture books) shows in her art. She now resides in southern Maine enjoying the great outdoors, painting the beautiful scenery around her and working on her next children's book. For more information visit www.waughtercolors.com.
Our First Book Signing! - Pinky Doodle Bug

by Sandra and Elizabeth on December 15th, 2011

Join us at the Limerick, Maine Public Library!

Wednesday, December 21st, 6:30 to 8:00 pm.

Pinky would make a great present for your little one!
Top 10 and Top 100 on Lulu.com

by Sandra and Elizabeth on December 15th, 2011

We want to thank EVERYONE who is buying Pinky Doodle Bug and/or spreading the word about the book!!

Your help and continued support are very appreciated!

We've now reached the Top 10 children's books and are one of the Top 100 overall books on Lulu.com

In addition, Pinky was just chosen as a staff pick!!

Thank you to everyone at LULU.com!!

Best,
Elizabeth and Sandra
Pinky Doodle Bug Nominated for Two Awards!

by Sandra and Elizabeth on November 24th, 2011

Thank you to everyone at Mom's Choice Awards for nominating Pinky Doodle Bug for an eBook and Children's Picture Book Award. I guess we'll hear back in about 8 weeks..... Patience is a Virtue :)
Pinky Doodle Bug on My Fox Maine

by Sandra and Elizabeth on November 24th, 2011

Thank you to everyone at My Fox Maine for having Elizabeth on to talk about the book!

Click here to view the segment .
A peek at the creation of our header...

by Sandra and Elizabeth on November 12th, 2011

I thought you might like to see how I create a watercolor. This is the design I drew for the header of the Pinky Doodle Bug website. I use a large coffee table as my workspace. As you can see my tools are pretty simple. Pencil for sketching, a Micron pen for inking in (they are permanent and don't bleed), a kneaded eraser, watercolor paper (Arches, cold press 140lb), brushes and Winsor Newton watercolor paints. First I make a clean sketch and then I ink over the sketch with the Micron pen. After I am sure it is dry I rub all the pencil marks off with a kneaded eraser. I like the kneaded eraser because it doesn't rough up the surface of the paper.
Here is a detail of the sketch partially inked in, and the original pencil sketch I drew the design from. The sketch is colored with colored pencils so I can test out the colors I want to use before I start painting.
In the beginning I paint very lightly. I let this layer dry and then I paint more and more layers until I get the desired depth. Sometimes I layer different colors over each other. The process is called glazing and makes for a richer painting.
In this photo you can see the build up of layers and if you look closely you can see where I have layered different colors over each other in the purple flower. I usually paint the background last.
The finished header! Now I take a picture of the artwork with my digital camera and then crop it on the computer and upload it to the Pinky website. I just love painting those cute bugs and flowers!
When Pinky was just an inkling...

by Sandra Waugh on November 9th, 2011

I was looking though my sketches of Pinky and came across the first one I had made when we were trying to decide what Pinky should look like. I played with the idea of giving her freckles but changed my mind. The one thing I was sure of though, was that she should have pigtails!
Sandi