Feature Friday: Debra Weiss

Audrey of Inkwell Alley: I love doing the "Feature Friday", because it gives me the opportunity to get to know more about the multi-faceted people that inspire all of us to continue toward our goals. During the past few weeks, Monica has been chatting with Debra Weiss, a freelance writer living on the East Coast. Debra is a talented writer with a passion to follow her dreams even when faced with "life's storms". She is truly a person that inspires, because she continues to follow her heart and persevere even when it may not be easy. In her blog, I came across something that she wrote, "When we hurt, God is right there beside us. Sometimes we don't see him but He's there. Going through the pain with us. Every tear we've cried, God has seen. Every time our heart's been broken, God's heard the sound." This really touched my heart, because I have found that through every circumstance, you will learn something new. Your hopes and desires for your life will become even more apparent. I found it interesting that Debra is not only a freelance writer but also a web designer and editor. She has the best of all worlds--being creative, being able to write, to edit, to mastermind new ideas... and mostly, a great sense of humor -- as she adds, "when she's not writing, she can usually be found eating chocolate at her blog: http://www.debraweiss.net/." Debra agreed to share a few fun details about herself; we hope you enjoy!
Five Fun Factoids About Me (Debra)
>> I love chocolate. From M&Ms and Kit-Kats to Dove Bars, I have always loved the feeling of chocolate melting in my mouth.
>> I have a rare medical condition called Dysautonomia. It means that my autonomic nervous system malfunctions and doesn't control my heart rate or breathing like it should. My heart rate will go low then high then back to low. It's a pretty interesting condition. You can learn more about it here: http://www.dynakids.org/what.jsp
>> I've been writing since I was seven years old. I write both non-fiction and fiction. One day I hope to be on the New York Times Best-Selling List. (If you're gonna dream, dream big right?)
>> Fall is my favorite season. I love watching all the changes taking place like the falling leaves, the cooler air and sipping hot chocolate while writing.
>> I run Novelist's Café.com (http://www.novelistscafe.com/) where writers can come for daily inspiration. Stop in and leave a comment sometime.

Thanks again for this cool opportunity! : ) Debra

photos courtesy of www.usa-fallfoliage.com and m&m.com Intro written by Audrey of Inkwell Alley; Debra Weiss wrote Five Fun Factoids as well as copy for eating chocolate at blog. Inkwell Alley really appreciates your support and would like to thank Debra for being a part of our Feature Friday!

He Says, She Says

It's funny how when one person (my husband) says one thing and it means nothing but another person (just about any outside reader) says the same exact thing and it means everything. Suddenly all is right with the world--you have confidence, the future is bright, the load is lighter, the road is paved. Unfortunately, as a writer, it's so much about receiving good feedback from the right people, that is, my readers, editors, publishers, agents and my mom. I know, my mom, right? It's like, 'Which word doesn't belong?' It's kind of random that I would have my mom in there (and over my husband at that, 'sorry robert!'), but the fact is, when a highly critical person who has no qualms calling a spade comments deeply and sincerely on your work, it's beyond sustaining.

Anyway, in a sense I guess it's normal to crave feedback because if people don't like what you write, it's going to be a challenge to do what I want, which is reach into readers' chests, grab their hearts and mold it such that it opens the floodgates for emotions, ideas and perspectives that the reader hasn't considered or has been afraid to confront for whatever dark reason. But on the other hand I need to be develop a maverick's swagger with my pen. I need to go for it and not care what people think. People can and will loathe what I write, but that doesn't mean it didn't need to be written. I've received an awful lot of rejection from agents, editors but I can't give up. My psyche depends on entering the realm of the published, where authors flip the freshly printed pages of their books under their noses.

I'm not sure how to conclude this blog entry. I like everything I write to be precisely packaged. But maybe this time I'll let go and just leave you with this thought, the anticipation that the next time I blog I will be a maverick. I will take off the perfectionist hat and let everything and anything on the tip of my brain explode onto the page. And I think it will be quite refreshing for everyone.

Feature Friday: Mary of Retro Threadz

Audrey of Inkwell Alley: It's our favorite time again...to feature another one of our creatives. I love vintage. I guess it's the nastalgia of it all. It brings me back to the days when I would visit my grandmother. I remember the smell of those fresh baked cookies, and how she thought that "Days of our Lives" was the most important part of her day. At the end of the day, when things calmed down a bit, it was always interesting to watch grandmother sit at the table doing a crossword puzzle, her hair pulled back with her eyes peering over those peculiar-looking glasses, as she asked, "What is a six letter word for dog?" I sure do miss those times. You can only imagine how pleased I was when I came upon retrothreadz shop as I was twittering through my tweets. It was so much fun looking at the selection of fine vintage clothing and accessories. It brought back all those feelings, ya know, of nastalgia. So then it began, Mary and I twittered back a forth a few times, and well, we found a common bond - a love for vintage fashion...

Audrey of Inkwell Alley: I love your shop; such nice items... :)

Mary of Retrothreadz: Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed looking.

Audrey of Inkwell Alley: I would love to feature you for our Feature Friday. Do ya think you could pull together a little fun bio.....?

Mary of Retrothreadz: I'd be honored...

Audrey of Inkwell Alley: Thanks so much. I look forward to your email :)

A few days later:

Mary of Retrothreadz: I have been asked by Inkwellalley http://inkwellalley.blogspot.com/to write a fun bio about myself. So, here we go! My name is Mary, and I am a full-time working mother with 2 wonderful sons and married to a very wonderful man. I have been employed for Ford Motor Co. for 16 years. But alongside of it all, my true passion is my obsession I have with Pin-up & Vintage Fashions. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5795583

What Else?
>> I love modeling, photography, camping, football, swimming, baseball, being outdoors, shopping.
>> I have lived in Michigan my entire life. I grew up & lived around fashion my entire life. It started with my grandmother who was into pin-up modeling & then my mother followed her steps.

>> My true passion of Vintage & Pin-up fashion came to be about 15 years ago, I love the 60s Mod-look the best.

>> I love the Twiggy style dresses with the Patent Leather knee-boots. That look is so hip!
>> My best overall quality is the never-ending love for my children. I spoil them , as I should. They're only children once.
>> My worst overall quality is definitely I am very outspoken. I love to laugh & enjoy making people laugh. I am a very down-to-earth person.

Notes from Inkwell: Don't miss out on Mary's blog. http://retrothreadz.blogspot.com/

Thank you Mary for agreeing to be our "Feature Friday" We have really enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about you! Feature Friday written in part by Audrey of Inkwell Alley and Mary of Retrothreadz.

I was quite surprised and pleased to be "TAGGED" by a dear newfound friend who I admire, Crystal of Kizzdesigns. You must read the ten fun and interesting things she listed about herself. http://kizzdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/08/unvieling-awards-stuff.html Crystal specializes in unique, handmade, one-of -a-kind jewelry http://www.artfire.com/users/kizzdesigns and she was one of our INK-FAVES http://blog.inkwellalley.com/2009/07/26/this-little-piggy-went-to-market-2.aspx Now I know most people may not like being "tagged", but actually it gave me an opportunity to chill for awhile instead of running crazy... Whew, so finally, I'm sitting down and must think of 10 bizarre or interesting facts about myself. 1. My full name is Shirley Bass, with the pseudonym (pen name) Audrey. 2. My mom just passed away on January 28, 2008; this moment has really changed my life. New endeavors are ahead, and I can't wait to share them when they get a little closer. 3. My grandmother was born on Mother's Day which was her birthday, and had my mother on Mother's Day which was her birthday, and my grandmother died on Mother's Day which was her birthday and my mother's birthday... 3. I've been married forever...and have two children; everyone spoils me and treats me like a queen! I like that part :) 4. My first cat's name was Sims! I loved him lots, and there will never be another cat quite like him! He could open doors with his paws. 6. I am the art director at Augusta Magazine where I have worked for 11 years. I try not to color in the lines. 7. We have lived in South Carolina for 12 years; moved from Upstate NY...very country. My parents farmed...I said I would never marry a farmer. When I was dating my husband, I never asked him what he did for a living...after about three months--when I was already interested in keeping him around, I found out that he farmed. I guess it wasn't so bad... 8. I don't miss the snow of Upstate NY but I do miss the summers and the countryside. I miss my house in the country. 9. Bargain hunting, garage sales, estate sales, anything where I can feel like I'm Nancy Drew on a scavenger hunt. 10. I have a porche but I prefer my old 92 Chevy Pickup! Extra. I love to laugh and make people laugh. Everyone says I'm crazy. That's OK cuz' I have a lot of fun!

So now I'll tag ten interesting people who I know will have lots of fun stuff to tell us about themselves. 1.boylerpf 2. patti trostle fine art/ 3. claudia finn artist/4. anita rae of allie cates 5. paperwerks 6. peg of bistro305/ 7. claudia finn/ 8. joanne/9. am lindsey of indiestyleblog/10. addictedtobooks/

I hope ya'll have fun; it'll be great to find out something new about you! Audrey (sbass)

Feature Friday: Alisa of Daily Violets

Welcome to our Feature Friday!

Alisa Wetzel is a stay-at-home mom, graphic designer, and the owner of Mini Mosaic, Artwear Collection. She live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and on December of 2008, Alisa decided to launch http://www.minimosaic.com/ Oh Yea, and did I tell you?! She's been busily and creatively working. In February, 2009, Alisa was featured on http://www.coolmompicks.com/2009/02/the_mood_necklace.php where they noted that they loved her "versatile, interchangeable jewelry". On July of 2009, Alisa also got a write up in Skirt Magazine .

Above Top: Sterling Pendant, Chain and Dogwood Flower tile

Above Bottom: Song Sparrow by Geninne Zlatkis tile

We decided to see what all the chatter was about, and we found out that Alisa's Mini Mosaic pendants are just what every wardrobe needs! WOW! We loved the variety and exquisite designs. The possibilities to change up your wardrobe within minutes are limitless as you can easily pick a new tile. Now that's what I call a perfect way to start the day. As you build your collection-- there are hundreds of tiles to choose from --you can add anything from modern to vintage, so it's a sure thing that you'll find that special piece that speaks to your heart. The best part? It's easy and fun to change out the pendant with whatever fits your mood! So even if you're on the run, you'll have time to change out your look!

A few extras we found that Alisa has noted about herself:
>> Favorite way to wrap a gift, and easiest, is to buy colorful nesting boxes at The Container Store, run to Michael's to pick out silk flowers and puts them together. "It adds a really nice touch to the gift!"
>> Soledad Almonds from Sahale Snacks - delicious!
>> Couldn't wait for the new Harry Potter and Twilight Series movies, and for Adam Lambert's new album. She states, "The fact that I say "album" lets you know I am not 16. :)"

>> Adam Lambert - especially his "Mad World" studio version on iTunes
>> This Retro Floral dress from Ann Taylor Loft. ("I wish it was a bit longer")
>> Experiencing a new backyard...moved last September!
>> Communication Arts, my favorite design publication.

Inkwell Alley Notes:

>>The store is Azuca in Los Gatos, CA. has a new display for Alisa's tiles. Now that's exciting!

>>Alisa was a part of the SF Trade show... and, her future endeavors? Well, maybe with TLC-KellyRipa-HSN group...stay tuned. Congratulations!

>>Check out Alisa's website, Mini Mosaic

Pendant Above: Friendship

All profits from the sale of this tile will go to the Humane Society.

Congratulations Alisa on your success. Inkwell Alley wishes you well and looks forward to any new updates! Information compiled from http://dailyviolets.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post.html
Written by sbass of Inkwell Alley

The Plum Revisited

Either the well is too empty or too full. There's either writer's block, that infuriating syndrome in which you look at white paper and stare into blank space for what seems to be hours on end, or information overload. The latter was the case last night, when I wanted to blog, make Twitter contacts, work on my book, work on my coffee table book and simply find a way to strike gold, both literary gold (i.e., a spellbinding new chapter) and any subsequent literal gold, aka, bread, cash, duckets, ben franklins. (Think Lucy in Charlie Brown's Christmas...nickels, nickels, nickels, oh how I love the sound of cold hard cash).

So I decided to work on Indigo Sun, the big piece of autobiographical fiction that I have been wracking my brain over for almost a year. After five minutes of reorganizing some of the chapters I noticed that I am only at 22,000 words on that book. My dreams seemed to shatter before my eyes: the publisher I was hoping to snag requires manuscripts to be at least 75,000 words! I'm not even halfway there. I felt like a pawn in CandyLand. You're moving along the colored squares just fine, you're almost at the board's zenith where the queen stands with her sparkling wand and then you draw The Plum (sing: dun-dun-duuuun) from the stack of cards. To refresh your memory, The Plum's orchard is at the very beginning of the CandyLand board.

Overwhelmed at the thought of penning 50,000 more words to a novel (or shall I say novella?) that is (was) almost completed in my mind, I just abandoned everything for the evening: the blog, the books, the optimism, the dreams. I had literally made myself sick, just as sbass and I had discussed earlier that day. We take on so much, we get so excited and then we're wallowing in nausea.

I downed a shot of Pepto, went to bed and here I am, back in the saddle, trekking through the Plum's orchard.

image courtesy of
http://www.lucubrations.net/2007/08/kicked-out-of-candyland-mysterious.html

Feature Friday: Animation Hobbyist Renato Vargas

Renato is a young economist who works as a researcher at a Guatemalan institute that focuses on the links between the economy and the environment. His job involves learning, critical thinking, calculating, writing, and convincing politicians and human beings of the benefits of using natural resources wisely. Although he enjoys his work very much, everyone in high school thought he would end up in advertising or journalism, given that he was a bit of a class clown with a dominant artistic side. Heck, he thought that himself, but he needed a career that could pay the bills, and was well aware of how poorly paid and exploited creative artists were where he lives (which is unfair and a shame). That drove him into Economics. Go figure. Of course, he found some sort of financial security in that field, which means he is now a bit uptight and somewhat snobby during work hours, but after five o’clock in the afternoon, just like Dr. Jekyl, he slowly becomes creativity Mr. Hyde. --Oh, and he stops talking and writing about himself in the third person.

Hello, I’m thrilled to share some thoughts with The Inkwell Alley’s beautiful readers and followers. After that long introductory paragraph you might still be asking yourselves why I’m here. Trust me, I am too, but our awesome hosts, Sbass and Monica were kind enough to let me share my creative side with you. Now that I’m out of college and have some time for myself, I decided to get more serious about a hobby I started three years ago. I’ve always liked drawing in different mediums, including digitally and have done it since I was a kid, but in 2006, I became absolutely fascinated with a music video animated and directed by Australian artist Bernard Derriman called Everyone else has had more s e x than me. I could not believe that the little singing bunny was beautifully drawn sequentially in Adobe’s Flash. Until that moment, I thought that software package was used only for interactive websites and lousy e-cards. A couple of Google searches later, I stumbled across Adam Phillips’ superb Brackenwood shorts. My jaw dropped and I haven’t been able to fully reattach it to my skull. I have spent the last couple of years trying to figure out how they did what they did, and now I think I’m ready to turn those stories that play constantly in my head into some nice 2D animated clips. Yes, I am an animator wannabe! Although, the proper term you would use to introduce me at fancy dinner parties is animation hobbyist, thank you.

Finding out about animation was not an easy task, though. That’s why I created my blog, “I’ll tell you a story…”. I want to share all the pitfalls of making animated clips for the first time so that others may learn from my mistakes. I would like to invite everyone to visit my blog at its new address http://www.telluastory.com/ but most of all, I want your nice comments to pressure me into animating more, since I tend to procrastinate a lot. I blame it on my day job, but who knows, I might just be lazy. Since this is a ten point, list post (say that really fast), here are the things you’ll find at my blog:
>>Software. The computer is a nice alternative to paper and pencil in the 2D animation world. It will never replace traditional techniques, but it can certainly help speed things up. I will sometimes refer to software specific issues in how to’s.
>>The creative process. Creativity will pick the most unexpected time of the day to strike and one has to be prepared to welcome it. I’ll share how I first visualize ideas and the results, which are often scanned-in napkins or pieces of paper.
>>Concept art. Sometimes you want to share your vision before it’s realized. Besides, it’s just nice to see how everything will turn out.
>>Writing your story. I’ll show you what I’ve learned about how scripts are written and where to find tools to help you improve your stories and their layout.
>>Character development. This is one of the most important parts of the animation process. I have neglected that with awful results, but that has changed. I’ll show you some of my model sheets.
>>Cut-out vrs. frame-by-frame animation. I’ll show you when I have found best to use each of them and how to go about a combined approach. How do you create the illusion of motion with static drawings? Let’s find out.
>>Background creation. Your animated characters need a place to live. I’ll show you how to create nice backgrounds using digital tools.
>>Drawing perspective. Perspective is one of the things that some people find more difficult to learn. I’ll show you some shortcuts to get it done quickly and accurately.
>>Special FX. This is what I find the most fascinating. We’ll learn how to draw water, smoke, light effects, fire and other neat things.
>>Production. We’ll familiarize ourselves with the various stages of production, including sound, ink-and-paint, editing, and many others.
My goal is to make nice animated clips that people will enjoy watching. My first project attempts to rescue a couple of spooky stories from the Guatemalan oral tradition. A year from now, I would love to publish a book about this whole process. Do you want to help me write it?


Written by Renato Vargas: http://www.telluastory.com/
Follow him on twitter: http://twitter.com/rindolphus
Monica & Sbass would like to thank Renato Vargas for taking the time to be a part of "Feature Friday" on Inkwell Alley and look forward to future updates.