Hey There, Makers!
(If you don’t think you’re a Maker, keep reading. I’ll get to that in a minute.)
I’m KatyAnna. I’m the big ball of creative energy behind Simple Creative Living.
And I’m so excited that you made it to my little slice of the internet. But more importantly, I am SO EXCITED that you are out there looking for creative inspiration at all.
Life is stressful. There is so much happening in our lives and on our phones. It’s so easy to be consumed by all the stresses and the constant media that we have attached to our hips. And there’s always more to take in or more to do. We live in a culture where if you’re not ‘being productive’ you’re wasting your time. Personally, I think that’s a crappy way to live.
To me, (and hopefully to you, if you’ve made it to this page) simply being creative is the perfect solution. It can shift your focus away from those stresses so you can recharge, it allows you to bring new, nice things into the world, and sometimes it can even make you money!
And the best part about it?
Everyone can be a Maker!
If you were one of the people who said, “well, I’m not a Maker” when you opened this page, here’s what I have to say to you:
- Being a Maker doesn’t mean you have to know how to sew clothing and stuffed animals from scratch. It doesn’t mean you have to be able to whip up a handful of vector art for custom decals next time it’s your turn to host crafting night. (But if those do interest you, I’d be happy to teach you how.)
- Being a Maker doesn’t mean you have to have all the latest tools and machines. – I’m looking at you Cricut Maker. Seriously. Like longingly, every time I’m in the craft store.
- And it doesn’t mean you need to have a fancy white Pinterest-worthy craft room. I’m a career Maker and I still keep almost all of my crafting and art tools and supplies in mismatched plastic bins in the garage. And I do all my projects at the kitchen table or on the couch.
Being a Maker means putting out lovely new things and ideas into the world.
I think that’s something everyone should try to do. That’s why Simple Creative Living was born. Well, that’s part of it.
Read about why everyone should have a creative hobby here.
Here’s the rest of the story:
Crafty Girl
I have been a Maker preeeeetty much forever. Or at least for as long as I can remember. You’d be hard pressed to find a type of crafting or art that I haven’t tried – and usually succeeded – to teach myself. (Except knitting. Ugh, I hate knitting.) And then of course, I would find a friend to teach too.
Making is (usually) more fun with a friend.
Over the years I my creative interests and supply collection grew. During college I actually paid extra to have the bigger room in our apartment without a roommate so I could fit in all my supplies. This was super convenient when the girls needed a wine and crafting night.
In 2016, I graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Linguistics. So naturally, I immediately got a job in that field – not! I ended up at a temp job doing data entry. The money was awful. (The not-knowing if I still had a job the next week every day for four months was even worse.) So to bring in a little extra income, I decided to reopen the Etsy shop that I had been using on and off during college.
Boss Babe
To my surprise, I actually started making decent money. Five months and one new job later, I was making over $1000 a month from my crafts while working full time.
Interested in learning more? I’m working on a post about exactly how I did that. Sign up for my email list below and I’ll let you know when it’s ready.
Wedding Wizard
I kept my store running for about 2 years, then decided to close it down to make more time for wedding planning and packing for our move across the state. During that ‘off-time’ I did something I really missed. I started making things for myself again. It. Felt. Amazing.
But the very best part was after the wedding, when I got a call from my Matron of Honor. She told me there seemed to be a bit of a common theme in her conversations with the guests:
Guest: Where did she get this [decoration]? Its beautiful!
MOH: She made it.
Guest: Oh, duh. Of course she did.
That comment absolutely made my day. Maybe even my month. (Update: it’s been several months and I still think about this sometimes.)
Back to Basics
Now that the wedding was over, it was time for me to open up shop again. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had been more creative in the past few months than I had been in a long time, and I was loving it. I wanted to keep that alive.
So, instead of just selling crafts online I decided to go back to what I have been doing my whole life. Making new things and teaching my friends how to do it to. (I hope you’ll stick around and be one of those friends.)
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