Angela Matteson

Spooktacular! 💜💚

Thanks, Boni! 💜

Thank you!

So true! Safety first. Good thing Miss Squirrel's costume is made of felt.

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a squirrel character dressed as a lily of the valley holding a halloween pumpkin pail.

Miss squirrel is excited for the Halloween party dressed in the lily of the valley costume she made herself.
3rd in my costumed character cuties series.
Yes, gardener me went with another flower theme.

#KidLitArt #HalloweenCostume #HalloweenArt #HalloweenIsComing #HalloweenIllustration #Halloween

An illustration by Angela matteson of a standing fox character wearing a purple crayon halloween costume, and holding a treat bag with a black cat face on it.

Violet fox is ready for the Halloween party dressed as her favorite crayon.
The second in my costumed character cuties series.

#KidLitArt #HalloweenCostume #HalloweenArt #SpookySeason #HalloweenIsComing #HalloweenIllustration #Halloween

Thanks, John! 🧡

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a standing bunny character with flower petals surrounding its face, holding a halloween treat bag with a pumpkin on it.

This bunny is ready for the Halloween party dressed as an orange zinnia.
The first in my costumed character cuties series. 🎃

#KidLitArt #HalloweenCostume #HalloweenArt #SpookySeason #HalloweenIsComing #HalloweenIllustration #Halloween

Person wearing a costume resembling a yellow Little Free Library box filled with books outdoors in a sunny yard.

Person wearing a costume resembling a yellow Little Free Library box filled with books outdoors in a sunny yard.

In case you need a Halloween costume idea! Bonus points if you map yourself 😂

Find Little Free Libraries in your neighborhood while you're out trick-or-treating next week by downloading our mobile app: https://lflib.org/app

This is fabulous! 📘📙📕📗📚

Thanks so much!

The completed paver project with the 9 extra charcoal grey pavers. The view looks out into the garden which is still filled flowers in October!

The completed paver project looking towards the house. The mazus groundcover in the foreground has been trimmed off the pavers, and used to fill in the new area.

A closer view showing how the new 9 pavers meet up with the large cement block path by the porch.

Heidi, the garden cat, rolling around on the pavers as usual. View looking towards hose to garden hose. The pink begonias were a bit choked by the mazus groundcover, but still looked cute all summer into fall.

Seriously, I don't know how I managed this whole project a few months ago. It did take several weeks. I expected this little 9 block extension to take 1 day, but it took a few days to also add the edging and cut some overgrown mazus, and use it to fill in the new area. 🌱
#landscapedesign

I dug out the weeds and grass, and estimated how much dirt to remove to accommodate the paver base and leveling sand. Then tamped the ground. This is my least favorite part of the process! (That excess mazus groundcover growing over the pavers in the background I'll later move to fill in by this new area.)

Poured the paver base, and tamped it down.

Laid in pvc pipes and square dowels to screed the sand. I probably should have only used 2 dowels and screeded the whole area together instead of row by row.

On my first attempt I sloped down to meet the large cement paver, but it didn't walk well since it didn't meet up to the adjacent grey pavers and looked wrong. I added more sand, and now the walkability is smoother.

I thought I was done with this project, but through the summer it became obvious that we needed 9 more pavers to connect to the path going to the porch. Finally, in October the weather was cool enough to get back to work, but I was out of practice. 🌱
#landscapedesign #gardendesign

Thanks! 💜

Fabulously designed concept!

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a teen vampire holding a boombox over his head in a moonlit cemetery.

Teen vampire serenading his beloved in the moonlight. Of course, I had Peter Gabriel’s ‘In Your Eyes’ on repeat in my head while working on this. Also, Teenage Wasteland.

#KidLitArt #vampire #HalloweenArt #SpookyArt #SpookySeason #HalloweenIllustration #Halloween

A mostly brown year old red majestic bell pepper with 2 sprouts of green showing it’s still alive!

I overwintered the red majestic in the garage, and was about to throw it in the compost with the rest of the non-survivors when I saw a bit of green sprouting. 🌱

Ripening trailblazer bell peppers growing out of the tomato cage

Thanks! It’s our first year growing the yellow trailblazer variety. The walls of the peppers are so nice and thick, and the plant is 5 feet tall!

The wonders of nature!

Photos of bumblebee on red nasturtium, monarch butterfly, salmon pink zinnia, yellow zinnia with red specks and stripes, pink anemone, bee on yellow nasturtium. Photos by Angela Matteson

#SixOnSaturday October blooms, bees, butterflies 🌱
It's odd but lovely to see active pollinators and so many blooms in mid October here in the northern midwest zone 6.
#BloomScrolling #gardening #gardensky

Photos of green Red Majestic Bell Pepper, delicata squash, Fordhook zucchini, Big Bertha Bell Peppers growing skinnier than usual, 1 Fordhook Zucchini plant growing vertically with 3 side vines growing horizontally, Yellow Trailblazer Bell Pepper. Photos by Angela Matteson

#SixOnSaturday vegetable edition 🌱
I'm grateful for the extended growing season since the peppers didn't start producing until September due to an overly hot summer here in the northern midwest zone 6.
#gardening #gardensky #vegetables

Drawing of protesters

#NoKings 💙

The Obama Hope poster, but it's a frog and it says "Hop"

I saw a tragically AI-generated version of this poster, so I have recreated a 100% human-made version for all your protest sign needs.

I studied lots of photos of lanterns and fireworks glowing at night. I embraced the dark backgrounds. The high contrast provided the look I was going for with these.

Thank you! 🧡💕💜

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a firefly character holding a lantern while a smaller firefly looks on in amazement. A kid with wings and a fire-inspired paper crown flies overhead with a moth in a night scene.

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a young witch baking chocolate chip pumpkin cookies with the ingredients swirling overhead and an unplugged stand mixer blending the batter.

An illustration by Angela Matteson of 4 kids in a staghorn sumac forest looking worried about 3 ghost puppies approaching them.

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a mother and daughter lighting New Year's sparklers under a decorated tree under the night sky.

Hello! I’m Angela, a nature loving midwest illustrator, creating for #PictureBooks, #BoardBooks, #magazines, #puzzles, and #SurfaceDesign.
Open for inspiring projects! 💌 angelamatteson.com
Rep'd by @jmcgowanbks.bsky.social

#PortfolioDay #KidLitArt #kidlit #illustration #ChildrensBooks

An illustration by Angela Matteson of a young witch baking chocolate chip pumpkin cookies with the ingredients swirling overhead and an unplugged stand mixer blending the batter.

Inspired by Mike Lowery’s Big List of Sketchbook Stuff (1 A Witch Cooking) + #Peachtober (4 Gingham).
She's making chocolate chip pumpkin cookies!

#SpookySketchbook #SpookySketchbookStuff #peachtober25gingham #peachtober25 #kidlitart

They’re Lying, Dividing, And Distracting. Don’t Believe The GOP’s Shutdown Hype “This isn’t about health care for undocumented immigrants—that’s already against the law," said Sen. Mark Warner. "It’s about the fact that Republicans are intentionally skyrocketing your premiums.”

Your friendly reminder that undoc workers actually _help subsidize federal programs for everybody else_.

In 2022 alone, they paid $25.7 billion into Social Security and $6.4 billion into Medicare—programs they can’t access due to their legal status👇🏽

americasvoicecnn.substack.com/p/theyre-lyi...

The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness.

I'm so over breaking news. How about some fixing news.