barbara techel

Postively Impacting the Life of a Young Artist

Posted by Barbara Techel

Third graders from Immanuel Lutheran school, Haley, winner of our “Be Creatively You” contest.

One way in which I define success is being able to leave a positive impact on the life of a child. So it was especially rewarding to have partnered with the talented young artist, Cassy Tully for a design contest to encourage the arts in children.  Since the idea was to have children design an outfit for Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog, we also encouraged the children to read about Frankie in her book series, which also then encouraged reading.

Having Cassy, the artist and me, the author come together for this project was one those magical days I will forever cherish and remember.  The super wonderful thing is that Haley, our first place winner, truly wants to be an artist.   Many of her fellow students want to be artists, as well as authors.

Haley and her classmates were treated to a presentation this past Tuesday by Cassy and me, with Cassy talking about how art is made and I talked about how a book is made. The finale was sharing a little bit about Frankie’s story and then having the kids pet her.

The third grade students of Immanuel Lutheran School all went above and beyond in the design of the outfits for Frankie, so in our eyes, they were all winners!

Be Creatively You Design Contest Winners Announced!

Posted by Barbara Techel

We are so excited to announce the winner of our “Be Creatively You” Design Contest!  Haley of Immanuel Lutheran School takes 1st place! Cassy Tully of Cassy Tully-Fine Art and I sponsored a design contest for  third grade students at our local schools in Sheboygan county.  They were provided a Frankie template and encouraged to design an outfit for her.

We had a hard time deciding as so many of the entries were so creative and fun!  What we loved about Haley’s entry as well as all her classmates were how they went above and beyond with embellishments and design.  We loved the added touch of the bow on Frankie, as well as all the details to her vest and background.  Great job Haley!

We also picked 2nd and 3rd place winners.

Congratulations to 2nd place winner, Hannah of Wilson Elementary!

We loved all the sparkles and pink of this design and so neatly colored.

Congratulations to 3rd place winner Brooke of Cooper Elementary!

Frankie as a hula girl really made us smile!

Some of the many entries we received.

Cassy and I posing with some of the entries.  We truly loved looking through all the entries and thank each and every school and student who participated!!

 

 

Seeing It in Print – One Step Closer – I’m a Work in Progress

Posted by Barbara Techel

Today I completed yet another full edit of my manuscript,Through Frankie’s Eyes. At the end of January my editor,Yvonne  left me with the task of editing the majority of my manuscript with suggestions/comments she made on a portion of it. Because I have a limited budget to work with and Yvonne believes in helping authors be better writer’s, I had a lot of work ahead of me.

My initial reaction was that I didn’t want to do it. I felt defeated when she suggested I go through the rest of the manuscript and make improvements based on her suggestions. But after sitting with it a day, I realized I was too anxious to move through the process. I was frustrated it was going to now take longer. Once I made peace with that, I dove right back into it – little by little – each day. As I got into it I felt embarrassed for things I should have caught the first time around – but no use in beating myself up for that now – no time for it. I’m a work in progress.

Today after finishing up with the last edits to the last chapter, I felt elated – I did it!  Anxious for step two of my editing process I drove to the printers and had the manuscript printed out. I had to pay extra to have it done right away, but I didn’t care. I was ready. When the gentleman handed my printed manuscript to me, I got goosebumps.

I made my way out to the car where Frankie was waiting in her doggie car seat. I skimmed through my manuscript and seeing it all in print made me realize that I had now actually written a whole book – tears filled my eyes. I looked at Frankie and patted her on the head – this manuscript I held in my hands is all because of her – my dog on wheels who led the way to me finding my authenticity.

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to taking my printed manuscript along with a red pen and heading to a new coffee shop nearby to start a line by line edit for any other changes I need to make – of which I am sure there will be more. But I can accept that every change I make is another step closer to being a better writer. I’m willing and ready. I’m a work in progress and I love it.