{"id":96,"date":"2018-06-04T21:07:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T02:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/?p=96"},"modified":"2018-06-08T15:24:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-08T20:24:26","slug":"hello-and-a-little-bit-about-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/hello-and-a-little-bit-about-me\/uncategorized\/sefoster\/","title":{"rendered":"Hello and a little bit about me."},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome. I thought I would start off with a little bit about me and how I became an author\/Illustrator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am happily married to my husband Steve since September 1995. We were not blessed with children due to fertility struggles and me having a total hysterectomy in 2006 due to Uterine Cancer. We are however blessed with many nephews and nieces. We have a godson and many other children to spoil and send back home to their parents. I mean that is the best thing right. We have a 20lb cat named Gizmo who I am sure will make an appearance here from time to time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I began hand lettering in 2015 when the company my husband worked for closed. I had always loved art but hadn\u2019t really done any since high school many years ago. I spent time every day working on my lettering. I tried many types of media. My current favorites are watercolor and pointed pen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the spring of 2017 I decided to join the #100dayschallenge on Instagram. This is where you pick one thing and then do that each day for 100 days. I chose to draw flowers. Somewhere around the middle of April Instagram was being finicky and wouldn\u2019t post my videos so I started posting them to my Facebook drawing page. One of my author friends kept saying I should make a coloring book. I of course said \u201cNo way. I wouldn\u2019t even begin to know how to do that.\u201d At the same time I kept getting a clear message from God to create a Coloring Prayer Journal. Three times I ignored the message before finally taking the leap of faith and beginning to draw the pages for my first book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Stroke with God was a true labor of love. It was over a 300 hour process. I sketched each flower and word on paper. Then I transferred them in ink onto tracing paper. I then scanned them into the computer, converted them into vector images, cleaned them up and them saved them as images that I could then insert into the pages in Microsoft Publisher to create my book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The thrill I felt when my first printed proof arrived is almost indescribable. It was fantastic, amazing and scary all at the same time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I felt the same nudge from God in the fall of 2017 to do another Prayer Journal with Coloring Pages. This time it would be a 12 month one instead of 30 days. I began sketching out a few ideas and the in December when I had enough money saved from sales of my first book I was able to purchase an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. This was a total game changer. I was now able to draw each coloring page in full and then save as an image to be inserted into my book file in Publisher. I started really focusing on the second book in February and published Coloring Through the Seasons with God on 4\/29\/2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most days I still find it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I have published 2 books. It just doesn\u2019t seem real. Will there be more books? I certainly hope so. Until then I will just keep drawing and see where that takes me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome. I thought I would start off with a little bit about me and how I became an author\/Illustrator.\u00a0 I am happily married to my husband Steve since September 1995. We were not blessed with children due to fertility struggles and me having a total hysterectomy in 2006 due to Uterine Cancer. We are however blessed with many nephews and nieces. We have a godson and many other children to spoil and send back home to their parents. I mean that is the best thing right. We have a 20lb cat named Gizmo who I am sure will make an appearance here from time to time.\u00a0 I began hand lettering in 2015 when the company my husband worked for closed. I had always loved art but hadn\u2019t really done any since high school many years ago. I spent time every day working on my lettering. I tried many types of media. My current favorites are watercolor and pointed pen.\u00a0 In the spring of 2017 I decided to join the #100dayschallenge on Instagram. This is where you pick one thing and then do that each day for 100 days. I chose to draw flowers. Somewhere around the middle of April Instagram was being finicky and wouldn\u2019t post my videos so I started posting them to my Facebook drawing page. One of my author friends kept saying I should make a coloring book. I of course said \u201cNo way. I wouldn\u2019t even begin to know how to do that.\u201d At the same time I kept getting a clear message from God to create a Coloring Prayer Journal. Three times I ignored the message before finally taking the leap of faith and beginning to draw the pages for my first book.\u00a0 A Stroke with God was a true labor of love. It was over a 300 hour process. I sketched each flower and word on paper. Then I transferred them in ink onto tracing paper. I then scanned them into the computer, converted them into vector images, cleaned them up and them saved them as images that I could then insert into the pages in Microsoft Publisher to create my book.\u00a0 The thrill I felt when my first printed proof arrived is almost indescribable. It was fantastic, amazing and scary all at the same time.\u00a0 I felt the same nudge from God in the fall of 2017 to do another Prayer Journal with Coloring Pages. This time it would be a 12 month one instead of 30 days. I began sketching out a few ideas and the in December when I had enough money saved from sales of my first book I was able to purchase an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. This was a total game changer. I was now able to draw each coloring page in full and then save as an image to be inserted into my book file in Publisher. I started really focusing on the second book in February and published Coloring Through the Seasons with God on 4\/29\/2018.\u00a0 Most days I still find it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I have published 2 books. It just doesn\u2019t seem real. Will there be more books? I certainly hope so. Until then I will just keep drawing and see where that takes me.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,7],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Y6g5-1y","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/06\/16\/supply-saturday-ipad-pro-and-apple-pencil\/supply-saturday\/sefoster\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":0},"title":"Supply Saturday-IPad Pro and Apple Pencil","author":"sefoster","date":"June 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first in my Supply Saturday posts. I will be sharing with you some of my favorite supplies. From time to time I may also share the ones I didn\u2019t particularly care for and why. For this first installment I was inspired by a comment on my June\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Supply Saturday"","block_context":{"text":"Supply Saturday","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/supply-saturday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sefosterauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/7B91B14F-2D4E-491D-A9AD-C0155E7D1225-240x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":315,"url":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/06\/28\/zetangle-alphabet\/technique-thursday\/sefoster\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":1},"title":"Zetangle Alphabet","author":"sefoster","date":"June 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today\u2019s Technique Thursday topic is something that has facilitated me for several years. Traditional Zentangle is quite an art. There is a specific training required to teach this style. It is quite popular amongst the Scrapbooking crowd. Personally I just don\u2019t have the patience to do something as intricate as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technique Thursday"","block_context":{"text":"Technique Thursday","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/technique-thursday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sefosterauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/8063A736-0D8D-4E78-ACC5-B5C04B1B23C9-300x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/07\/12\/digital-chalkboard\/technique-thursday\/sefoster\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":2},"title":"Digital chalkboard","author":"sefoster","date":"July 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 I absolutely love drawing with chalk...with one exception. The dust. No matter how hard I try I still manage to get it everywhere and it makes me sneeze constantly. So I was so pleased to learn I could create the same look with my iPad. I have purchased several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technique Thursday"","block_context":{"text":"Technique Thursday","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/technique-thursday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sefosterauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/PNG-image-3-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":243,"url":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/06\/18\/fear-is-a-liar\/monday-musings\/sefoster\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":3},"title":"Fear is a Liar","author":"sefoster","date":"June 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost anyone who knows me is well aware that music holds a very special place in my life. I have a wide range as far as to the type of music that I like. Christian music is currently my number one go genre. There are so many great artists out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Monday musings"","block_context":{"text":"Monday musings","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/monday-musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sefosterauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PNG-image-2-1-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":327,"url":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/07\/04\/happy-4th-of-july-free-coloring-page\/giveaways\/sefoster\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":4},"title":"Happy 4th of July-FREE coloring page","author":"sefoster","date":"July 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy 4th of July I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday. Here is one of the pages from my book Coloring Through the Seasons with God. I colored mine on my iPad with the Procreate app. As a holiday treat you can click here to download a copy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free coloring page"","block_context":{"text":"Free coloring page","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/free-coloring-page\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sefosterauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/44C836B8-22BC-4C41-BFF4-47482A070318-240x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":210,"url":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/06\/14\/a-little-bit-about-my-process\/technique-thursday\/sefoster\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":5},"title":"A little bit about my process….","author":"sefoster","date":"June 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The most popular question I get asked is \u201cHow long did it take you to write your book?\u201d For my first book that is an easy answer. It took me well over 300 hours to complete. This is what one particular sketching session looked like \u00a0 From this point once\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technique Thursday"","block_context":{"text":"Technique Thursday","link":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/technique-thursday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sefosterauthor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/FD362B69-A21B-4A9D-BA54-30E41E23B822-300x201.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127,"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sefosterauthor.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}