Life is strange my friends.
Here’s what I know for sure:
Sometimes you don’t choose your career path, it chooses you.

I grew up surrounded by women who made their living from “handmade”. My grandmother, 3 aunts, and my mother all gave me the gift of knowing how to make things.
All the things.
Anything and everything.
All but 1 of those family members started their careers in the craft world both while married but especially after they were divorced.
Funny how history repeats itself.

2020 brought with it pandemics, deaths, divorce, kids growing up—starting their lives and single motherhood of a little boy during a time where finding a job outside of the home after years of raising a family and running a photography studio became impossible with those variables. 2020 was the year that forced me to figure out “What the heck am I going to do?!”
The question of finding a job outside of the home that would actually work with a kid who needs to be dropped off and picked up every single day from school (no bus comes to my house) or could have his school shut down at any minute for illness or quarantine made it clear that what would have worked in 2019 for a single mom was definitely not going to work in 2020.

So I doubled down on my little side gig. Crafts. Duh. It’s in the blood.
I can’t remember a single day of my childhood that didn’t involve being surrounded by my mom’s work. She primarily sewed as her main craft, which interestingly enough I can only sew a straight line—-but don’t tell on me. Mom could sew ANYTHING and woodworking—china painting—pattern making—-you name it she could do it.
Put a new roof on her house? Yep, she did that too. I can remember running around craft shows and visiting 2 of my aunts who had their own shops as a childhood favorite of mine. My grandmother's house was filled to the brim with her creations and my other aunt still to this day sells her handmade creations and one still owns two sewing stores her daughter’s now run as well.
These role models of mine had entrepreneurship going on well before many women were actually doing such things. They gave me the road map of “Well I guess God is saying I have to save myself and he gave me these two hands…I best get to work.”
And I did.
What a gift they gave me without even knowing it!

What was one of the hardest times in my life became the way
I found my new purpose in my artwork.
Products that bring joy. Those hopeful little messages and items allow my customers to express who they are, what they are going through, add in some laughter, or purchase as gifts they can give to lift others up.
Oh how I love this job. I
t brings me joy 💗

Being human is hard. This much I know for sure.
Sometimes you just have to write your own book…scared to death or not.
The years since have brought more loss and hard than most have in a lifetime BUT sandwiched in between all the hard I fell in love again with an amazing man. A man who cheers me on and supports this business (that just keeps growing) in so many ways!
Fun fact—he threw a “surprise wedding” for us!
Knowing that after a decade in the wedding industry as a photographer I was NOT interested in the struggle that is planning a wedding. I knew EXACTLY what goes into planning a wedding and the stress it can bring.
This man is my best friend and knew exactly what I wanted. The biggest gift he ever gave me…he planned it all. Every single bit…with help from my tribe of loving girlfriends of course.

I like to say that this is exactly what we bring to this business of ours!
The ability to celebrate each customer’s unique story and how they envision what they would like us to create for them.
It’s the beauty to custom work.

This new book of mine—I didn’t see it coming but I sure am glad to be writing it.