For those of you who keep asking, "Are you still breathing?"

the answer is, "yes." 

A lot of time has passed since my last post, so I can understand the question.  Life has a way of continually challenging us to grow.  Sometimes we excel in a particular challenge, and sometimes we fail.  My response to recent challenges has been to withdraw, re-evaluate and refresh.

Last year provided some great highs, (the children's book I illustrated for Lee White was published), and lows (my husband and I had to make the extremely difficult decision to put down our German Shepherd, Kip, when he could no longer walk or stand, and I had hand surgery)...

I will write more about Kip in Zoe's blog, but wanted to share a little about the hand surgery and the impact it has had on my life...

First, I had injured my hand in what I thought was a very minor household accident.  I was on my hands and knees cleaning the floor of the panty and when I went to push up to stand, my hand slipped on the wet floor and my right index finger jammed into something.  For the next year I dealt with pain, clicking, minor swelling, and certainly the feeling that something just wasn't right with my finger. 

I felt kind of silly even giving it any attention, after all it was just a finger, but after a year of "dealing with it" I contacted a surgeon to have it evaluated. Surgery was scheduled immediately to repair my right index extensor hood and to do a tendon transfer.  The surgery was November 3rd.  Going into it I thought I'd have the surgery, a few weeks of rehab and then I'd be back to normal with a perfect hand.  I learned that my PolyAnna thoughts were just that and it is now almost 6 months later and I still have pain, numbness, swelling and clicking.  In fact, I refer to my right hand as the, "the big giant knuckle."

So how has my big giant knuckle impacted me?  Well, for someone who has gone through life pretty easy-breezy, my big giant knuckle threw me for a loop!  I can't paint currently and that has left me feeling somewhat out of sorts.  I am a creative being and not being able to paint has been so difficult. I have withdrawn a bit -- I found I needed time to regroup and re-evaluate.  I have been spending more time with my husband, God, and figuring out a way to be creative even with my big giant knuckle = ) 

You may remember that I took some cake decorating classes last year.  I found that I really loved the decorating part, but didn't necessarily like the baking part.  I found that working with icing was difficult because it irritated my big giant knuckle even more, but working with fondant was almost like therapy -- it requires kneading and shaping, which seem to actually help my hand a bit.  Anyway, as I worked through the process of determining what I could and couldn't do, I found that I could make cake and cupcake decorations out of fondant, that could be used to decorate cakes and cupcakes that OTHER people have made. 

...and with those thoughts, the CUPCAKE STYLIST was born = )  As the CUPCAKE STYLIST, I make edible toppers (decorations) out of fondant to stylishly dress YOUR cakes and cupcakes!  This allows me to use my artistic and cake decorating skills to create, and it provides you with a means to obtain custom made decorations to complement your theme or party idea, without the time and hassle of making the decorations yourself.  It also allows you to say, "I made it myself" when you receive all of the oohs and aahs that are sure to come your way from your family and friends!

I  am making designs in four basic categories:  Cut-outs, embossed, hand painted and 3D sculpture designs.  The designs will be offered on my website (which is currently under construction at http://www.cupcakestylist.com/), and are currently available at http://www.cupcakestylist.etsy.com/ .  A Facebook Page is in the works, however I must confess that Facebook pages are still a mystery to me. Once I figure them out I'll add the address/link also. 

Each design can be customized to match your particular party theme and color scheme.  To give you an example of what is available, please continue...

And so, yes, I'm still alive...still breathing...still creating. 

In the midst of my re-evaluation period my husband gave me a little wall hanging that I'll share with you... "Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, it is learning how to dance in the rain."  I'm dancing...

INTRODUCING The Family Read-Together Night!

Much earlier in the year I shared that I was illustrating a children’s book – well the book is FINALLY finished and I can now tell you all about it!

The book was written by Lee White, a retired elementary school librarian. Although the story is based on an actual family read-together night at the Hawthorne School in San Luis Obispo, California, this book will appeal to all elementary school age children and families, interested in sharing the fun and enjoyment that can be had by reading together.

As a reader myself, I love that I can travel the world without leaving home, I can learn about how things work, explore history, or escape into the world of fiction, suspense and drama. The universe and all it contains is open to my exploration – all because I can read!

When I was approached with the opportunity to put images to Lee’s story, I was thrilled. This was a “first book” for both of us, and it sometimes felt like it was the blind leading the blind, but we persevered, learned an incredible amount about publishing, and have a 8-1/2” x 11”, full-color, hard-copy book, ready to share with the world.

Lee is in the process of having a website created, so in the meantime, signed copies of The Family-Read Together Night are available for sale in my Etsy store, located at http://debjeffrey.etsy.com/

Thank you for your support throughout this project – your kind words and encouragement helped get us through – THANK YOU!

It's Tuesday -- Time for Another Update...

The U.S. celebrated Labor Day yesterday. I enjoyed the holiday and tried to labor as little as possible = )

Over the holiday weekend, I set up my new computer. Yes, I am one of "those" graphic designers who uses a PC and not a MAC. I purchased a Dell Studio XPS 16 laptop with a high-def. screen, extra memory and a beefier processing system. It is powerful, fast, and is managing my software programs (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign; Corel Painter II, etc.) quite well. I enjoyed setting it up and my first painting session leads to...

What's on my Easel...

The Tribute to Francis painting is coming along. I now have all of the primary color in and will now start to refine and work towards completion. Deb Festa, you will have your painting before the month is over!


From the Jewelry Box...
My new toy (computer) took all of my free time, so there is nothing new in the jewelry box for today. My husband's niece, Kim, is getting married Saturday, so I'm certain I'll be creating something new to wear to her wedding!

Cover to Cover...
The book is progressing nicely. I met with the author yesterday and we are in the process of deciding on a printer, (there are a few more questions that need clarification before we can make the final decision). We have decided a few things, though: the page size will be 8-1/2" x 11", the format will be landscape (wide), and the illustrations will be drawn and painted on the computer on watercolor textured paper.

The next step is to contact the printers and obtain their layout specifications. Once I have that information we can finalize the overall content of each page and I can start laying out the book and roughing out the illustrations -- yea!

Quote for the day...
"What we learn to do, we learn by doing." ~ Aristotle

Cover to Cover

Happy Tuesday to you! I am very excited about today’s posting because I get to tell you about a project that has been on the backburner for a little while now, but it is now something I can share…to a degree. I will be illustrating and formatting a children’s book!

The author is local and this is her first book. The book will be a self-published, 32-page, hardcover, children’s picture book.

Since this is the first book that the author has published, we have been learning about publishing together. Because this is a totally new endeavor for me, I thought I would share the research and process involved in illustrating, laying-out, and publishing a children’s picture book… Starting with my next posting = )

At this time, I would like to thank the individuals who have offered great advice on how to approach this project. Deb Festa, for introducing me to the author of the manuscript, Fay Sirkis, for teaching me how to paint digitally, and for sharing your layout, design and illustration experience; Susan Harrison-Tustain, for teaching me how to paint watercolor portraits and for the advice about how to approach the project and publishing; Karen Sperling, for your advice about self-publishing; Stephanie Roth Sisson, for your advice about illustrating books and publishers; David, Mom and Dad, for your unconditional love and support – THANK YOU!

And now, What’s on my easel…

I have completed the dog portrait. I mentioned before that it ended up being a digital portrait, but I printed it out onto Arches 100% cotton rag watercolor paper and added watercolor paint to it. It is the first time I have attempted this, and I must say, I like it! It added that special touch that makes this a one of a kind portrait!

The Tribute to Francis painting is coming right along. The yellow flower is there, but still needs refinement and finishing touches – these will be done AFTER the purple flower is completed. The purple Iris is started and here are a couple of photos showing the progression…



From the Jewelry Box…

In my last post I mentioned a necklace idea that was inhabiting my brain. Well I must confess, the picture in my brain is not at all how the necklace turned out. I don’t have a photo of it (in it’s current state), but suffice it to say that it WILL be remade!

So as not to leave you wondering if I accomplished anything in the jewelry-making area, I did throw together a pair of black and white earrings to go with another black and white outfit.



I’m not thrilled with the design, but as Thomas Edison once said…

Quote of the day…
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ~Thomas Edison

A Blast from the Past

What were you doing in 1969 -- if you were even born then? Me, I was in the 4th grade and evidently had a school assignment to illustrate a poem. The poem of choice was "Poor Old Lady". If you are unfamiliar with this poem, I have included the words to walk you through the illustrations.

Poor Old Lady
by Anonymous

Poor old lady, she swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Poor old lady, I think she'll die.

Poor old lady, she swallowed a spider.
It squirmed and wriggled and turned inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Poor old lady, I think she'll die.

Poor old lady, she swallowed a bird.
How absurd! She swallowed a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Poor old lady, I think she'll die.

Poor old lady, she swallowed a cat.
Thank of that! She swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Poor old lady, I think she'll die.

Poor old lady, she swallowed a dog.
She went the whole hog when she swallowed the dog.
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Poor old lady, I think she'll die.

Poor old lady, she swallowed a cow.
I don't know how she swallowed a cow.
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Poor old lady, I think she'll die.

Poor old lady, she swallowed a horse.

She died, of course.

The last time I visited my parents my Mom handed over this 40 year old memory. Thank you Mom, for being so sentimental and for keeping the things that we kids made over the years. I love you and can't wait to see what else you dig out of your hope chest!

Mitchell is driving Friday night…

How could one little statement from a neighbor evoke so many random thoughts?

Mitchell is the younger of the two blond-haired neighbor boys that live down the streeet. My husband and I have always joked that their parents got their names wrong, and instead of “Henry” and “Mitchell”, they should have been named “Dennis” and “Mitchell” – you know, like Dennis Mitchell, aka Dennis the Menace!

These boys are not bad boys, but they do have a lot of energy, love life, and are curious…VERY curious…

Over the years, we have seen their antics played out in so many ways. Please indulge me as I share a few…

Several years ago my husband ran for city council. In his platform he wanted to let people know that he was concerned about preserving neighborhoods – the upkeep, the quaintness, the social aspects, etc. Anyway, he thought it would be good to include some of the neighborhood kids in his brochure. Our friend David Pascolla is a wonderful wedding and portrait photographer and he took some photos of my husband David and the neighborhood kids. When we received the proofs to select the photos to include in the campaign brochure, we realized that Henry and Mitchell had made a different funny face in each of the photos!

Another time, my parents were visiting, so we had moved our truck from the driveway to the street, so my parents could park in the driveway. Anyway, we were all inside visiting when we heard a loud commotion on the street. We all went running outside to find Henry and Mitchell standing next to their wagon that was smashed into the side of our truck. Evidently they had ridden the wagon down the hill and didn’t navigate the turn very well and our truck ended up being their $1800.00 brake!

Yet another time, we saw Mitchell walking down the street with a camera in hand. It was almost as if you could see the creative wheels in his head turning. He would see something that caught his fancy, stop dramatically, position his body to get the perfect photograph, and shoot. As we were observing, our neighbor from across the street came home – evidently she had been out grocery shopping. Anyway, she pulled into her driveway, popped her trunk, leaned in to get a bag of groceries and Mitchell, who just happened to be in front of her house at this point, stopped, turned, lunged into a dramatic photographic stance and snapped a photo… I have no photograph of that occasion, so I illustrated the memory that is etched in my brain.



My husband and I roared with laughter as this little boy took dramatic photo after dramatic photo. We later learned that the camera didn’t have any film in it…in fact it didn’t even work!

And now, Friday night, Mitchell will be driving. I can’t help but think of the wagon smashed into our truck, and I make a mental note to make sure our vehicles are parked in the driveway on Friday night.

What does this posting have to do with art, you might ask? Well, I did design the brochure for my husband’s city council campaign, I also included a link to David Pascolla’s portrait and wedding photography site, and I illustrated the image of Mitchell taking fake photos of our neighbor, but more than anything, I wanted to stress that creativity is expressed in a multitudes of forms. These boys have never failed to live life to the fullest, explore their surroundings, and creatively bring appreciation and laughter to our lives.

Note: I have photos of the boys making funny faces…and standing next to their overturned wagon smashed into the truck, but I couldn’t put my finger on them. As soon as I find them I will add to the post, so keep watch. They are priceless!