We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melissa DiStefano. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melissa below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I had never had an artistic bone in my body! Like ever! When I would draw a stick figure, you couldn’t tell the difference between my dog stick figure and my person stick figure. So, to think I would work full time as a artist is almost laughable!

Fast-Forward to my mid-thirties, and I was diagnosed with cancer. This was a pretty scary season of my life, I had two young boys, one starting Kindergarten and the other in pre-school, and my husband left when I got the diagnosis. The only thing I could do was to pray.

So, during these long sessions of solitude during Chemo, I opened my bible. I would pray and read the chapters. I then started taking notes in the bible, and slowly started doodling in between my notes. Eventually, I bought a separate bible just to draw and take notes throughout the pages. Eventually, I added watercolor to my doodles and realized that I could draw and I was actually pretty good. I feel like my Chemo was my anti-kryptonite, it gave me the gift of art!

I have sold my art, to actual people that I don’t know, which just seems crazy to me that, something I made is hanging up on a wall in someone’s house that I haven’t met, or that I don’t know. But I found solace and hope in my art. When I was told I was cancer-free, I almost thought that I would loose my super power, but I didn’t! I went on to learn how to paint watercolor to make the object look real, and my art hangs in a few galleries!

In that time, I opened a bakery selling decorative sugar cookies, I combine my love of baking with art, and I haven’t looked back!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi! I’m Melissa, and I love to paint and bake, so why not combine my two passions and make edible art…. the answer was cookies! I also enjoy some crazy things like Triathlon, Running, and spending time with my family. Growing up my mom was the queen of “Shake and Bake” – in fact, I didn’t even know that you could bake from scratch until I went to college and one of friends invited me over to bake Christmas Cookies with her, and the flavor and texture were like nothing I had ever tasted before – they were crunchy on the outside, but tender and soft on the inside – with a hint of honey and vanilla beans. I spent the last 8 years perfecting that recipe and it is delicious! My cookies are soft to the bite with a slight crunch.

I really enjoy the science of baking, knowing what makes cookies spread, and trying different butters and baking temperatures. I love that what I am baking is bringing a smile to my clients eyes and taste buds. And that I can combine art and something delicious! Being able to watercolor paint directly onto a cookie is my favorite, combining my passions is a dream come true!

​To better tell you more about me, who better to ask than my family? They are completely honest about everything – even when they think I’m being ridiculous.

​Gabriel (age 12): My mom bakes the best chocolate chip cookies ever, I asked her to bake them for me instead of a birthday cake this year. She can paint and draw. She is silly and a goof. She loves church and dancing (even though she’s a horrible dancer). She can’t even floss. My mom loves her boys, and our doggie. She loves me and never forgets to tell me she loves me, but I love her more.

​Zachary (age 10): My mom is an artist. She is super silly, loves to snuggle and watch movies with me. Her cookies are so yummy, like you don’t understand. 10 million stars, HIGHLY RECOMMEND. They are super duper yummy. And they are pretty, but yummy, too.

And she’s the best mom in the whole world.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve learned to accept that perfect is not the answer to everything, art isn’t perfect, I am not perfect – therefore I should stop being upset that my art, or my craft isn’t perfect. Striving for perfection isn’t the answer, but if I always give you the best that I can create, it’s even more fulfilling. No one is perfect, therefore striving for perfection will just leave you feeling mediocre, and no one wants to just be mediocre – so if I always give you my best, that’s all anyone can ask for.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being married to my high school sweetheart for 25 years, and suddenly being alone and having cancer – could have completely emptied my tank and I could have fallen into a deep dark place and given up on everything beautiful in my life. But instead I just knew that having hope in my heart meant that I would be okay. And, in fact, I feel that I came out stronger in the end. There was hope in the dark, and I found the MESSage in the MESS. It was to trust and have faith – and I did, and here I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,mysugarcookiejar.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysugarcookiejar/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mysugarcookiejar