its here! my doodle book is finally here! actually, it came late december, but who has time to blog amidst making MANY christmas cookies and wrapping lots of goodies? : )

2011 was such an amazing year with milestones, joy and tears. So my first post of 2012 is really a thank you to all of you who supported me the whole way through this whirlwind year.

From watching my belly grow week by week on Facebook until out popped a beautiful baby boy only a few weeks before my firstborn turned 5! i cannot believe i have a kindergartener now! hmmm, and factoid: that room in the photo is a lovely pale shade of grey now.

….to cheering me on as i illustrated my very first book, and got to see it on the shelves at Barnes & Noble!? i didn’t care if i looked geeky….i snapped an iPhone photo or 2 when we spotted it! : )

…..to continuing to cheer me on even when it was probably getting PRETTY boring – as i DOODLED my way to writing my 2nd book. MAN! i really could not be more humbled by the people surrounding me. You guys never complained about how blah my facebook posts were all that while. that’s totally impressive….cuz they were REALLY blah.

i closed out the year doing a lot of painting….a lot. see?

and hung a solo local art show that is actually still up thru january at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, PA. Its a cool coffeehouse/LIVE music venue that our family really loves. i highly recommend the breakfast sandwiches! i’ll be taking down the show at the end of the month and will try my best to find homes for all these babies. my house cannot contain them. 3 of them are 4 feet square! so keep me in mind if you are looking to splash some color on the wall.

lastly, a new little book i collaborated on at the tail end of the year is slated to come out in spring and i can’t wait to share the details. But until then…

…x to tha o my friends. i am truly thankful because i couldn’t have done any of it without you. i sure do hope that 2012 holds many blessings for all of you and your families.

I’ve told this story before.

When my husband and i first started dating, i learned that N is not the mushy kind of guy. Sentiment is not his game. He is awesome and caring and funny and scary smart, but not super expressive about his feelings. i couldn’t count on him to remember anniversaries or birthdays. He wasn’t one to plan romantic dates or trips. It was kind of a bummer since he was just so darned perfect me in almost every other way.

But then, one day while i was at work (i had an office job a long time ago!) i got a delivery. A big bouquet of flowers.

The card simple said, “for a random tuesday”

i had a lightbulb moment.

N might not make the grand gestures at the conventional times, but on his own time, it was there.

In the months that followed, i was often surprised to find little treats here and there….a can of my favorite wasabi peas on my doorstep when i went out one morning for work….a snickers bar on the shelf in the refrigerator after a rough week….even a quick drive-by my office to deliver a starbucks brownie frappucino.

All random acts, that still pop up on occasion even 10 years later.

All started on one random tuesday.

Artsy kids might seem shy at times. They might retreat into their sketchbook, or coloring book or picture book. Their christmas list might be filled with items like colored pencil sets, air dry clay, and anything with “Crayola” in front of it. And if an artsy kid grows and matures into an artist as an adult, the wish lists hardly change.

i was a super shy kid, always had my nose in a schoolbook or sketchbook. My family consisted of 4 kids, plus mom and dad, and we were all scholar athletes as was demanded by our parents. Not demanded in a bad, restrictive, “you’ll do what i say” kinda way, but in a “we want you to be all you can be and we think developing your body AND your mind is a good route to take” kinda way. The only problem was, that as much as i excelled in school, i never really got past “so-so” in sports. My siblings could all kick my butt up and down the court, or field, or driveway blacktop. i was a little jealous, but i was also super supportive of them. i’d cheer the loudest from the stands and be fiercely protective if someone knocked them down. Those 3 had a drive for sports and an affinity for competition. i loved watching them dominate their competitors. i was so proud of them.

But i just wanted to draw.

i guess you could say my childhood artistic inspiration sorta came from feeling like the odd man out. i needed something that was just mine and that i was passionate about, good at…something that spoke to ME. Art fit the bill. It should be no surprise to anyone who has seen my work that COLOR, and the possibilities contained within a box of vibrant new pencils were my muses. i drew clothes. i drew houses. i drew people. i once drew a picture of a hamburger ~ or was it a cheeseburger?  And my Mona (mah-nah), my paternal grandmother, put it on the cover of the menus at her old-fashioned soda-shoppe type luncheonette. She was so proud. i was so proud. She bragged about me to the older gentlemen sitting at the counter an they’d nod their heads to appease her.

When i think back on my childhood, i remember more broad feelings and snapshots than i do specific events. But i surely remember getting a Crayola interior design kit one year for christmas. i remember getting my first sewing machine when i was probably too puny to even pick it up. i remember paint sets and big, blank drawing tablets. i even remember sitting on the beach during one family vacation, sculpting figures in the sand with all my concentration while my siblings dunked each other in the surf. It was totally ok. Being the odd man out provided me with a quiet space in which to create and dream. It gave me my own unique voice. It lead me to enter and occasionally win little art contests for kids. It made me feel like i had something special to offer.

…and every once in a while i’m pretty sure those lovable, knucklehead siblings of mine were pretty proud of me.

i’ve really been loving blogging about these designs this week. It makes me remember what i loved so much about sewing one-of-a-kind gowns. (sigh*)

Please do not use this design without my permission.

Um, this sketch stole my dream hair. Touseled, wavy low ponytail with perfect pieces around the face. Ah well, my hair does not have quite the volume to pull this off, but pencil chick here is rockin it!

This sketch was for an asymmetric beaded/sequined skirt with a charmeuse keyhole, racerback bodice with beading along the armhole edges.  This was one of 3 sketches that were shown to a very cool bride who actually became a dear friend. She chose a different dress….a sheath dress entirely in beaded chiffon with a low scoop back that was held up entirely by an attached corset which was the workhorse of the dress. She is awesome. She rocked a cage veil and black gloves and i think there were black feathers involved (tastefully) in the bouquet. My fashionista buddy. She is fearless!…and is now a brand new mama : )

i had so much fun sifting through my design journals from my days in the bridal biz. And response from my sweet readers was quite positive….so here we go~ a week-long peek at some of my favorites.

Dress #1

This sketch is a beaded, triple layer chiffon gown with a bodice overlay in wispy coordinating chiffon with beading along the edges & dangles on the points. i think i might revisit this bodice for a little summer dress! : )

Please do not use this design without my permission

Dress #2

Now, if only i was a good at taking actual photos of the completed gowns to compare! i was horrible at that. i think i only have maybe 4-5 photos? My sister and a few friends are easy marks though. i can squeeze some photos out of them! For now, i’ll leave you with and in-progress shot of my sister’s gown and veil back in 2000? i think?  In this pic, i was about midway through the sewing and had a lot of hand beading left to complete….

Please do not use this design without my permission

bye for now! More tomorrow!

Soooooo……back in the day i used to make dresses. i have many, many sketchbooks filled with designs and a few minutes ago, while looking for some tracing paper, i got sucked into the trap of flipping through a few. Oh boy. i just had to post this one. The date says 2002. i totally don’t remember the year, but i know i had just seen Cameron Diaz rock the red carpet in a dress that most critics disliked, but i LOVED. it was drapey and silky and she wore a bangly necklace or something as a sash at her hip. She looked like a couture gypsy! i’d LOVE to look like a couture gypsy! Man, i wanted that dress. Soon after, i came across some ombré charmeuse and thought i’d have to give it a go.

Yep, that’s my rendition of myself (hair was way short then)…much skinnier and aloof than my actual self – haha!

Yep, i loved the dress.

No…..i have no idea where that dress is today. C’est la vie!

i was going to save a wedding post for my anniversary in august. But Tara Gentile at Scoutie Girl challenged me today with her We Scout Wednesdays and so i’m posting all my wedding-y goodness a little early.

August 23, 2003~ i chose the date because i love the way “august” looks in print, and because 23 is a number with family sentimental value. We knew we wanted to be outside at dusk, and everyone was nervous because the entire month had been a festival of rain, and muggy, oppressive heat. But the night before our wedding, the sky went pink, a rain shower breezed through and cooled things off, and we enjoyed temps in the 70s on the big day day even as we danced the night away. My Mona (mah-nah), my late paternal grandmother, with whom i had a special bond, must’ve sent us that gift from heaven.

SO here’s our deal. At this point in my life i was designing custom wedding gowns and sewing them in my own studio. It’s a business i had about 6 years before i gave it up to have my son. Dealing with brides all the time gave me great perspective. They were often quite upset about small details of their weddings and super stressed. They were IN it. They lost the forest for the trees. i was lucky to have learned what i did from them. When the time came to plan MY wedding, my husband and i knew we wanted to lose as many of the trappings as we could that weren’t important to us. We didn’t have a wedding cake. My mom made several of her famous cheesecakes and i made homemade fruit sorbet instead. We didn’t have limos because we got married right on-site at a beautiful, 50-acre B&B that also accommodated our entire bridal party/family for the whole weekend. (We searched a long time to find the venue. i wanted a canopy of trees and lots of guest rooms!) We didn’t have a rehearsal dinner, just hoagies and a magician out back at the B&B the night before.

The boys didn’t rent tuxes and the girls chose whatever chocolate, mocha, khaki dress they liked. We skipped flowers….mostly. My friends tied a loose bouquet right before i walked down the aisle, and i carried it casually. i asked all the little girls in attendance to wear a white dress and we had a babysitter on-hand to help them get all dolled up from a big dress-up trunk i placed in the yard. i had head wreaths, fairy wings, stretchy bracelets and tiny tin pails for them to fill with rose petals. My friends made an aisle with luminary bags across the yard. In the tent, my electrician husband strung a kazillion white lights and paper lanterns. i made cloth covers for huge old wire spool “tables” and picnic benches so we could create little carpeted seating areas. Each of those also had a canvas ikea armchair. We had TONS of hors d’ouvres + pasta and salad stations. i didn’t want to fret over a seating chart! We had a DJ instead of a band, because i wanted lots of old school rap and R&B! We rocked it out to some Fresh Prince, Sugarhill Gang (my siblings and i are all saying “Apache! Jam on it! in the pic way below) and Jackson 5!

But i think our best decision was to have cocktail hour BEFORE the ceremony. Nick and i barely had a drink each, we were so busy saying hello to everone, but it eased our nerves and freed us of the need to make the rounds at the reception. Everyone chatted on the sunny back lawn and waited for the sun to go down for the ceremony. i had made myself some sparkly, vintage lace pants and a silk halter, and nick wore black pants and a dress shirt(no tie). When it was time, we went inside to change into our wedding gear. i re-emerged in my gown on the back porch after all 8 flowergirls had paraded down the aisle. Of course i made my gown. But i hadn’t started to even cut the fabric til 2 weeks before the wedding. i had so many summer clients to please! But those 2 weeks before the wedding, i shut my studio doors and just set about making “the dress.”  Many shreds of chiffon, vintage sequins, lace and silk later, it was done. Nick never saw it. HE wanted to be surprised. Isn’t that adorable? We got married under the most gorgeous old tree and nick could barely get the vows out. We then headed back up the aisle to Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” and egged our guests on to follow us in true party fashion over to the tent. It was like a warped wedding congaa line and it was awesome! I remember it like it was yesterday.

So that was our wedding. We did it our way and we still say we wouldn’t change a thing.

i am thinking of my little buddy, “C” today, because i’m about to go surprise her at school. They have a program called “surprise reader.” i’m sure you all can imagine how it goes. Crazy, but i’m nervous about choosing the right book….i’m taking a bundle just in case…leaving now! Wish me luck!

As browse through my “vault” of images to post this “looking back” entry, i am realizing i really wrote and story-boarded quite a few children’s tales when i was a new mom. That doesn’t seem weird to me. That’s where my head was after all. But i just don’t remember doing it! HA! Not remembering stuff is, strangely, the thing i remember best from those sleep-deprived days.

Anyway, upon seeing this artwork, i do instantly remember the premise of the story. It was based on my son, who was a gold-medal drooler back then…. (Seriously, he drooled more than 10 babies and i kept him in rotating bibs constantly!) and his favorite blue monkey toy who, sadly, caught the lions share of said drool and who had a little rattle thingy in his belly that sounded like a hiccup. i came up with a story about how Dr Drool was a superhero and Hiccup was his trusty sidekick. They saved the world by slaying bad guys with SWACKS on the hiney with soaking wet drool bibs. Yowch! Totally believable. i also had an angle where the bad guys would always scare Hiccup’s hiccups away at the end of the mission… but they’d always come back. You know how it is. They always do.

If you think this story is silly, you’re probably right. But if you try thinking about it at 3am while in your 4th month of round-the-clock feedings and very little sleep…..trust me – IT IS HI-LAR-IOUS!