the Crumbs of Life.

Some say cooking is an art,
some say cooking is a science.
I believe it’s a little of both. 
But I don’t believe cooking needs to be
overly complicated.  I do believe that
practice makes perfect…
or at least perfect enough to fool most people.
Cooking frequently helps you gain confidence…
you become more daring, adventurous and creative.
Inheriting some great DNA never hurt anybody either!

I’ve been very blessed to have been born and raised by
a Proverbs 31 mother.  She was truly a Martha Stewart
and Paula Deen all wrapped up into one.
She was a seamstress, an amazing cook,
decorator, craft person and most importantly,
a godly woman.

During my early married years, I had the privilege
of working with her when she and my dad
owned a tea room.  She crafted in her spare time
and also served lunch there. Daily.
This is where I come in. 
I was a chef-ette at the tea room.
Those years are when I learned the most about cooking
from my mom.  It wasn’t growing up in the ‘log house’
(yes, we really did live in a log house –
but not on a farm-small town maybe, but no farm)
I had the HUGE privilege of watching
and learning and doing,
almost everyday.  Learning so many tips and secrets.

My dad made most all of the items she painted to sell
there as well.  She taught many a painting class
thru the years and I was able
to learn many of those tricks also.  Priceless.

As a young wife, I also began
to search out new recipes
and new techniques…striving to learn
as much as I could
without having to spend a bazillion dollars
to go to cooking school.
After all, I was a chef-ette ya know.

It just so happened that at that time,
public television had
boo-coos of such cooking shows on daily.
I was SO influenced by public television.
Thank you PBS.
(and not just for Sesame Street and Barney)
I would faithfully watch Julia Child,
Jacques Pepin,
Jeff Smith (the Frugal Gourmet),
Chef Paul Prudhomme, Natalie Dupree
and the cajun cook Justin Wilson….I garon-tee.
They played a huge part in showing a more
‘professional’ or ‘advanced’ way of cooking…
especially for me, as a young wife and mother.
(wayyy before the days of Food Network or HGTV)

I have enjoyed cooking and baking since
my early married life began.
Eventually, my skills were really put to the test
as I was trained by my awesome ‘cook
of a sister-in-law’ to take her spot as the
supper coordinator at our church.
As terrifying as it may sound,
planning and cooking for 250-300 each week
soon became second nature.  It was great fun.

Somewhere in 2002, I began doing cookie cakes.
It’s kind of a blur though.  I believe those were the
beginnings of our eldest entering middle school.
Did I mention we had 3 daughters?!? 
That are redheads?!?
Sooo, this cookie cake thing eventually
turned into a pie thing, then cinnamon rolls,
cheesecakes and custom sugar cookies. 
This became CRUMBS.
C.R.U.M.B.S. – crumbs.
A few years later, after a wedding cake here and a
birthday cake there….gaining more experience
and creating a website….
I was presented with another venture.
A venture that came from out of the clear blue.
Well, sort of….

In the meantime, I’m still trying to figure God out.
Have you figured Him out yet?!?
Let me know if you do…we’ll need to do lunch.

an Ode to Engelbreit!

Okay, so, before we go any further
here with this journey,
I have to stop the train and just pause for a moment
to reveal my great inspiration for illustrating.
Yes, I could draw long before I knew
who my inspiration was,
but the moment I was exposed
to the work of Mary Engelbreit…

I, I, well, I just melted inside.
She illustrates in such a way
that you want to climb into her scenes
and be a part of them.  They are so happy and warm.
Just lovely and perfect.  Whimsical and believable.
I think it's why, to this day,
I struggle with artwork done digitally.
For me, it's not believable.
Sorry, it's just this thing I have.
Even though I draw people with 3 fingers,
the scene has to be believable to me - the proportions,
shadowing, angles, etc.  I feel like digital art,
just by the nature of it,
has to work harder to be believable.
But that is the beauty of art -
it's beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So, have you seen Mary's work?
It's massive - and licensing all over the place!
She posted a short video yesterday of herself
illustrating a girl from start to finish! HOORAHH!

SO awesome to see a pro in action...fast action!!!

Love. Love. Love Mary Engelbreit.
You can see more HERE!

Thanks so much for allowing me to tell ya about
a big hero of mine.
Check out the link above if you need to feel
all warm and fuzzy inside,
you've probably seen her gazillions of illustrations
in all kinds of places over the years!

See you next time!

In the Beginning...

I’ve decided that I should be documenting this ‘path’
of creativity.  So bear with me….
as we start from ‘the beginning.’

I have always had a passion for doodling
and illustration…
I can remember winning a drawing contest
in the early days of elementary school.
I can even remember exactly what I had drawn
and can remember being very OCD specific
about how it had to look
(it was a house [of course]
with snow on the roof and yard).
I don’t remember specifically being artsy
or crafty for the rest of my school days,
besides doodling on everything
and painting spirit signs -
but I loved doing the lettering!

After high school graduation,
I then attempted a Commercial Art
major in college -
but at that time in the mid 1980′s,
being an artist around here,
meant a big city, very competitive life…
and the thought of that was stressing and was
something my fiance, (whom I met in college)
and I weren’t ready for. At least my time in college
was not in vain…wink, wink!

The artist in me then took on many forms
thru the years -but my first and foremost priority
was being a wife and later,
a mother to 3 beautiful redheaded girls…
my favorite thing….
and motherhood allows you to be crafty
in all sorts of ways.  But the children grow up 

and there are no hairbows to make,
no school projects to design,
no dance recitals to paint shoes for…
and that creativity just simmers and stews.
After it has simmered for just
the right amount of time,
things just start to bubble up and pop out!
Life slows down a bit (wait, whaat?)
and you begin to pull together
all the different aspects of what you’ve learned
along the way (IF you have any brain cells left).
And things just start to click.
That’s when you say, ‘hello artsy path,
I have missed you, welcome back!’

One of my fav writers, Jon Acuff said,
“Finding your true passion is a reunion, not a first date.
An act of recovery, not discovery.”

And so the story continues…….