Illustrating Inspiring Women for Grace & Grit
Last year, I began working on a fantastic new long-term project that I’m excited to share — Grace & Grit subscription boxes. They’re aimed at pre-teen girls, and are designed to empower and encourage. Each one is based on an inspiring female figure from history, and every box includes a portrait of that inspirational woman, a journal with writing exercises, note cards detailing fun challenges, an accessory that ties in with the central figure, and a custom-designed charm. It’s a lot of great stuff, all presented in a nicely designed package!
The Grace & Grit series is the brain child of Heather Stark who has made a career of inspiring girls to be confident and true to themselves, and she imbues each box with principles and ideals that are central to developing self-esteem. I was brought in on the project by the boxes’ designer Brandon Alcorn, and together he and Heather make a dream client team! They’re so easy to work with and super positive, so each month’s illustrations are always a pleasure to draw.
And now, on to the pictures! For each box I illustrate a portrait of the inspiring female figure, imagined as a teen, and the inspirational quote for the cover of the journal. It has been so interesting to research these strong women, and I’ve learned so much along the way. I also love a chance to draw historic costumes, and since the Grace & Grit heroes come from many eras in history there are plenty of opportunities to do just that. Here I’ll share the first three installments — Rosie the Riveter, Olympian Wilma Rudolph, and the legendary Amelia Earhart.
In future posts I’ll share more of these inspiring ladies, and in the meantime I’ll be looking forward to working on the next installment in the series. Thanks again to Heather and Brandon for the great opportunity and super-fun project!
Hello! Thanks for commenting and those are all good questions! The boxes are made to teach girls self-esteem and confidence, and each one is based on a different female role model from history. Each box includes a journal with the story of the role model and exercises to think and write about, a charm for a charm bracelet, a wearable accessory that ties into the theme (so for example for Rosie the Riveter it’s a polka-dot headscarf) and cards that have challenges on them (i.e. things to try doing in their day to day lives that will make them feel good or learn a lesson). It’s subscription-based, which means there’s a 3-box minimum order and one would get sent out each month over three months (or you can order more) and each one is $35. I’m not sure of the exact age range, but it’s generally pre-teen, so they’d probably be good for the 12 year olds but maybe not the 1st grader? If you go to this page you can see what the different boxes are: https://www.graceandgritbox.com/products It was nice to hear from you!
Anni, Hi! I am thrilled to see your creative, charming illustrations! WOW! Couple of questions: What exactly are your Grace and Grit Boxes? Do you have a catalogue? Are the available in the US? What is the price range? I have 2, 12 year old great- nieces, Anya and Dylan. And 1, 1st grrader! Would the be appropriate for the youngest, Nora? Keep up the wonderful work!