Artistic Mother - Intro Part 2, how the book came to be

I thought I would share with you a little about how I got my break into the world of being an author and one big lesson that I learned!

In 2005 I made it my goal to meet every theme challenge in Stampington & Co.'s Somerset Studio magazines. I would find out the challenge and the deadline and go about making something for it, mail it off and then look for the next challenge! At first some of my pieces were published in the Reader's Expression section of Somerset Studio. Eventually I was invited to do the With One Stamp section, With One color section and the Last Page article. Soon enough I got the chance to be one of Stampington's Artists On Call.

So after about 2 years of this I had regular assignments and publication opportunities. One of those was an article in Somerset Memories in 2007. It was that article about on doing art & raising kids that caught the eye of the Acquisitions Editor at North Light Books.

One afternoon Tonia Davenport read my article while on her lunch break. She emailed me and asked if I had ever thought about doing a book!

I said yes of course! In reality I had thought a book would be something I would pursue when my kids were grown, but here was my chance! That weekend I bounced around some ideas with my friend Erin and then wrote up my proposal on a date with my husband at Starbucks.

I sent it off and waited. A few weeks later I got the go ahead. They liked my idea!

So I planned, I wrote and created the projects. After I went to the North Light offices in Cincinnati for the project photoshoot the editing process begun. My original manuscript was a messy tome that my editor, Liz Casler had to reign in, bless her heart.

Once the designer got it I was pretty much out of the loop. Marissa Bowers did a beautiful job. I was tickled when she wrote on Facebook:



How is that for kudos? The best feeling.

The one thing I have learned is that you need to be doing the work so that when the opportunity comes along you are ready to take it. I was working diligently at my mixed media work night after night in my spare hours. I never missed a challenge. I kept doing it regardless of whether my pieces were published or not (yes, I have sent Stampington way more stuff that they have published!). I formed my own vision of what I wanted to do with art, all the while keeping my regular home life ticking along. I kept at it, so when I got that fateful email I didn't have to scramble. I didn't even really know that I was ready, but the work I had done made me ready!

'So keep at it!' I remind myself, you never know when the next opportunity will arise.