Spots of Joy

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Hayden, CO
Spots of Joy

Offering graphic design and specializing in book design services. Also the author of Meet Faith. Hey, it's Tracy here! Consultations are always free!
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I'm the author/illustrator of Meet Faith - The Story of a Deaf Dalmatian. I created Spots of Joy to self-publish my children's book and to offer graphic design services. I'm now specializing in services for authors, so if you're creating your own book and would like guidance or design help, please reach out!

08/13/2026

This year, I'm participating in the Pikes Peak Challenge to support brain injury survivors. This event raises money for the Brain Injury Association of Colorado, a non-profit organization that provides critical support to survivors of a brain injury in our state. Every dollar helps! Here is my fundraising page: https://www.pikespeakchallenge.com/campaigns/2026-pikes-peak-challenge-virtual-challenger-tracy-tydeman/

This event is very dear to me because I have two family members who have been dealing with brain tumors and I have a few friends who have also had to deal with traumatic brain injuries. Brain injuries are truly life changing and often more difficult because they are not often visible and can effect so many aspects of life.

This year is especially important to raise funds because it is sadly the last year of the Pikes Peak Challenge. This long standing event has slowly declined in participation and event expenses have risen enough that it's no longer providing the support needed to be sustainable.

Lastly, I have been working with this fundraiser and the Brain Injury Association of Colorado for well over a decade. I have seen their passion and support to survivors and their families in Colorado and want to make sure they get all the support they can. It's truly a wonderful organization.

Please consider donating today. Every dollar helps and no donation is too small! And if you're not able to donate, please like, comment and or share as it will help get more visibility! Thank you 💗

Donation page: https://www.pikespeakchallenge.com/campaigns/2026-pikes-peak-challenge-virtual-challenger-tracy-tydeman/

04/24/2026

I started writing this blog post last summer, and finally got the motivation to finish it yesterday. I know not everyone will agree, but I think we could do the planet some good by reducing our use of AI. Not to mention keep artistic industries alive.

I'm still waiting for my self-cleaning house personally...sure would allow me more time to create!

Here's the direct link to the full blog post: https://www.spotsofjoy.com/2026/04/24/why-i-minimize-my-use-of-ai/

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Why I Minimize My Use of AI

AI Cannot Replace True Art
Art is beautiful because it’s something humans create. That’s right. HUMANS. Not artificial intelligence.

AI is Harmful to the Environment
AI data centers use massive amounts of water, energy and resources like copper. So here we are, trying to help our planet by recycling, driving electric cars, using less coal, using less straws and now it feels like we’re undoing all of that...

Read more at SpotsOfJoy.com/Blog

04/23/2026

It's Meet the Author Day for , so I thought I'd re-introduce myself. Follow along in the slides if you want to learn more!
book.week

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Meet the Author Tracy

About Tracy
- Author
- Graphic Designer
- Snowboarder
- Avid Reader
- Mother

I decided to write a book in 2019, after the death of my deaf Dalmatian.

I also decided to illustrate the book. This was a challenge for me since I had never illustrated before, and I was not very confident in my abilities.

I have my own graphic design business, and especially love helping authors and small businesses.

I Really love snowboarding. I know my profile is all about dogs, books and design, but I really do love snowboarding. I love it so much I have been a snowboard instructor for over 20 years!

Reading at bedtime is a must. Fantasy romance is my favorite, and I'm usually accompanied by a snuggly friend.

I'm a mom. I have an amazingly awesome daughter - my pride and joy! I mostly keep
her off of social media, but I am constantly sharing my four-legged kiddos.

Colorado is home. While born in Colorado, I've lived in Texas, California, North Carolina & New Zealand. Every time I came back to Colorado. There is just something about this state that I truly love.

Want to know more? If you want to learn more visit SpotsOfJoy.com/About

04/22/2026

I thought I’d chat about my story for today rather than my usual set of slides. Faith truly changed my life and I’m so happy to share her story and hopefully provide some inspiration on her behalf. I’m grateful to have found .book.week to connect with other authors and people who also want to share these important story and help make the world more inclusive!

04/21/2026

It's day for .book.week! Since I'm the steward of a Little Free Library, I thought I'd share a shelfie of myself with my book Meet Faith - The Story of a Deaf Dalmatian! is an inclusive library located in Hayden, Colorado. This week I also added in Disability Book Week bookmarks, and we also have some leftover wildflower seeds from AND Hayden, CO stickers!

04/19/2026

Today is the start of Disability Book Week! And that means today is the day to SPREAD THE WORD! That means sharing posts like this, telling friends about .book.week and having open conversations about the importance of disability representation in literature.

Click through the images to see a tiny sample of some of the books you can find on https://disabilitybookweek.org/

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Help your child to stand proud in who they are with books like these!

"All My Stripes: A Story for Children with Autism"
by Shaina Rudolph and Danielle Royer

"Different - A Great Thing to Be!"
by Heather Avis

"Meet Faith - The Story of a Deaf Dalmatian"
by Tracy Tydeman

"Racing Mind: A Story of a Girl with ADHD"
by Donia Yousry

"If Goldfish Were Bluebirds: A Story About Self-Acceptance"
by Stephanie Lock

"Beyond Words: A Child's Journey Through Apraxia"
by Dana Hall

"Stutterland: A place for those of us who stutter- and never grow out of it"
by Wendy Aguilar

"The Adventures of Incredi-Wheels & Triple S: The Lemonade League"
by Rebecca Rubin Seligson

Show children the beauty of what makes us unique.
Through stories with unique and relatable characters, children can relate to the story, learn empathy and see that the world is not full of people who are all the same.
Find these stories and more at DisabilityBookWeek.org

04/17/2026

Disability Book Week is an organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting disability-inclusive literature that authentically represents the diverse experiences of individuals with disabilities. I started volunteering with them earlier this year and donated some books last fall, but now I would like to donate MORE books!

I am hoping you all will help me donate more by purchasing a book on my website that I can send to .book.week! And you can purchase one for as low as $3.74. That's less than $4 to help spread the word about Disability Book Week and help promote disability-inclusive books! (Just select the $5 printer defect version - I assure you they probably won't even notice the defects - they are still excellent books!)

For the entire month of April, all donated books will be 25% off, so be sure to use DONATE_MY_BOOK in the coupon area of your cart and that will not only discount your books, but will remove the shipping and "tell me" that you want your books donated. I will collect the orders and send them directly to DBW for them to use at events.

➡ Just visit SpotsOfJoy.com/shop/ to donate a book today! (link in bio)

💗 Want me to add a personalized note on your behalf? If you add in the notes section that you want an encouraging note, I can add one you suggest, or make one of my own to "personalize" the book. And yes, I will sign all copies!

🌟 x5 BONUS! For any order with 5 or more books, I will donate a copy of my bilingual paperback version.

🌟🌟x10 BONUS! For any order with 10 or more books, I will donate 2 copies of my bilingual paperback version.

And remember...Disability Book Week is April 19-25! To learn more, visit DisabilityBookWeek.org.

Please note, the coupon is only valid for donating books. Meaning, if you use the coupon, the books will go to DBW, not your address ☺️

04/16/2026

It's been a while since I've shared my illustrations, so I thought I'd share them again. These slides give a little idea of my process, but you'll have to look at my videos for a full visual. If you're curious, here's my process:

When thinking about illustrations for my book Meet Faith - The Story of a Deaf Dalmatian, I wanted to make sure to capture Faith as she was. I explored a lot of ideas and ultimately landed on this style that captured her in real life, but was still illustrative and bright/colorful for kids. I wanted kids to understand she was REAL! Also, I happened to love this hyper realistic color pencil style as the actual process. It pulled from my strengths, created something new and the process was actually fairly therapeutic for me! It may not be traditional and it takes forever, but I love it!

Basically, I put a photograph on my iPad, open it in Adobe Fresco and then start drawing it layer by layer. It's a technique I learned in school that was meant for vector art, but I turned it into an adult colored pencil style project. I go layer by layer (starting with the farthest background and I essentially color over it and then carry on with the next layer. Once I'm done, the finished result is a hyper realistic, illustrative version of the photograph.

Throughout the process I can remove unnecessary objects, brighten up colors and even help poor quality photos look sharper. Much of Faith's life was before all or fancy camera phones and such, so some of the original photographs are actually not the greatest of quality. So this style allowed for a variety of quality of photographs to be used.

Want to know more - here's a blog post I wrote: https://www.spotsofjoy.com/2023/11/03/how-i-illustrated-meet-faith/

And as always, feel free to ask questions anytime - happy to answer them!

04/15/2026

Books are a wonderful way to teach children (and all ages) compassion and empathy for themselves and others. .book.week show cases inclusive books about disabilities and help children see the world from all perspectives.

Whether your child has a disability themselves or knows someone with a disability, reading different books about our differences is important in childhood development. They will see the world in a better light and learn to embrace what makes them unique.

Check out some of these books and more at https://disabilitybookweek.org/

04/14/2026

Happy 1st birthday to our wonderful Koa! His birthday was actually last month, but I'm just getting around to sharing photos. Seriously check out the last photos - he's too funny!

Here are some quick facts about Koa for those who don't know him yet:
1. Koa's name means "joyful" in Maori.
2. Koa is a polydactyl cat meaning he has extra toes or thumbs.
3. Koa was a feral kitten found in a barn with his mom and siblings. Some young boys were going to kill them before someone stepped in and rescued them.
4. Koa is not as brave as I thought he might be, but he is super smart!
5. Koa is slowly getting accommodated to life with dogs. It's been a looonnngg, slow process, but we're finally able to settle down at night all together. I'm still convinced him and Tumanako will become best friends.
6. Koa is a growler - he is not afraid to tell you if he's upset, but he's all talk and he loves to snuggle!

We're so lucky to have this super sweet guy in our family and forever grateful to the ladies who stepped in and helped keep him and his siblings safe!

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Hayden, CO
81639

Website

http://SpotsOfJoy.com/

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