Sometimes those projects are other people's stuff, so even if you decided to leak a bit of your work it wouldn't be fair – or sometimes legal.

What can I say? It's no secret that I love the work I do. I can get pretty annoying about it, actually. I'll do something like post a video of The Captain & Tennille, which is like eating Skittles and Coke at the same time. Sweet and yummy, but you can only handle so much. Yeah, I'm aware.

But that's what being inside the magical land of I Love My Work is like sometimes.

Take Pam Slim and Charlie Gilkey's Lift Off Retreat. They asked if I would create an illustration for some retreat materials and I said, "Hell, no. I am way too busy. Try elance.com."

Right.

I had been kicking myself because the retreat was perfect for me, but I already had commitments in Portland. So if I couldn't go, at least I could contribute. Hell, yes. Once I accepted the mission, a few problems arose:

1. They told me what they needed and then let me "run with it."
2. I had way more fun working on this design than people should be allowed.
3. I couldn't show it off until after the retreat.

Alright, so only 3 was an actual problem, and only because of 1 & 2. Dream clients, they were. Free rein. Read about our retreat, do something cool. So I did:

I hear there's another Lift Off retreat happening in August. I also hear that this last one was an experience to be treasured. So. August. Calendar. Reserved.

So what's next?

So much stuff. I'm working on another Highlights High Five illustration... that I can't show you. I created a header illustration with a magical creature and a real creature that you will have to see to understand. But you'll understand and you'll probably squirt Coke & Skittles out your nose. But I can't show you.

Then there's the ultra fantastic semi-custom web site help project that Tzaddi and I have been cooking up. She showed me the site this past weekend. If I was a little girl, I would have squealed. But I am not a little girl, I am a Very Strong Heterosexual Male, so I did not squeal. Not that you could hear, anyway. Stop looking at me.

And... I can't show that to you, either. But my nuclear noggin is bursting. I want to, badly. Soon. In fact, if you're at sxsw, you could probably twist Tzaddi's arm to tell you about it. If you're even slightly thinking that you need a web site, it's going to be amazingly useful.

This is the first real team project I've been involved with over the past few years and I can tell you I picked a winner. I suspected that Tzaddi had some skillz, but I've been blown away by the work she's done. When we combined our super powers, it was like Bam! Pow! Awesome! It's one hell of a package.

Like I said, I can't show you yet (after all that bam-pow-awesome stuff, I know, I know). I'm not sure exactly how or when I'm going to let people know when we officially launch. Maybe here, likely Twitter. If we run into each other at Starbucks I'll probably blab all about it. If you would like to get the inside track, steal some sneak peeks, and wrangle advance discounts, you can get email updates. Just use the form below. Your info is top secret and the only thing you'll hear about is this special package from Tzaddi and me.

Sign up for advance discounts and sneak peeks:

What else can I not show you? Plenty. It's like trying to stand in front of a ginormous circus tent, saying, "What circus?"