Finding an Illustrator: the Non-Typical Route

I wasn’t sure how to go about locating an illustrator. There's not way I could illustrate it myself; I'm pretty thrilled if someone recognizes that the deer I've drawn is an animal. There’s probably a book or checklist that would be helpful; out there somewhere… A google search left me overwhelmed. Places with illustrators for hire I found particularly helpful:

Elance.com 

Peopleperhour.com

Illustrationweb.com

Ultimately, though, I decided to go with an old standby: Craigslist. 

I know what you’re thinking. Craigslist?! You’re going to experiment on publishing a book and you’re using Craigslist?! Except, I live in a wonderful college town with incredibly talented and artistic people, and illustration jobs are hard to come by (technically, I first offered to hire my sister who, unlike myself, is a fantastic artist, but she shot me down), and all I was asking for were simple line drawings. Besides, I only had $100 total set aside for illustrating. Within 24 hours I had over a dozen responses, many accompanied by beautiful portfolios. And one guy who told me that he charges $100 per page, so if that’s what I meant, he was my guy (it wasn’t what I meant). 

I finally decided on one illustrator for two reasons: because she had attached her elance.com profile, which had glowing testimonials from previous clients, and because her portfolio was bright, fresh, clever and fun. We emailed back and forth a few times, before I decided she was my gal. She gave me a two week timeframe to have the illustrations I’d described completed, and one week for making any adjustments I’d like. Now, I guess I wait. 

How do you go about finding an illustrator? Has anyone else used Craigslist before (or are my methods horrifying and barbaric)?