Who do I think I am?

I always love the about sections on a website. You know they have to be written by the owner or whomever the owner paid! Let’s be real I am not rich enough to have paid people to do my work for me, so here ya go…

The early years…

I have been a creative person my whole life, it’s just the way I am and maybe you are that way too or just discovered your creative side.

I made things all the time as a child, my poor mom’s refrigerator was covered with my projects. I made my own paper dolls, barbie clothes and houses. In high school I sewed my own prom dress from vintage fabrics, was a cheerleader in charge of making signs and banners.

When I was older I made all the decorations for my babies nurseries from ceramics, to woodwork to cross stitch. I sewed matching outfits for our family (LOL) we were very coordinated.

I made custom items for my home from sewing to painting projects. I love to repurpose and transform items into something amazing.

The professional stuff…

Later on in life I picked up soldering and created my own product line that I sold wholesale and retail Internationally! I was even featured on a HGTV special for the latest and greatest craft companies!! I authored 2 books Simple Soldered Jewelry & Accessories and Creative Soldered Jewelry & Accessories. I taught classes all over the US, it was a great time. The business kept me busy and was successful above and beyond my dreams. But I was tired and felt the business side was squelching my creative side. So I sold my inventory to my distributor and closed up shop. My company was called Simply Swank and my name at the time was Lisa Bluhm (just in case you want to fact check that)

I took a break from the craft world and entered the Beauty world. I started with running in a pageant something I never thought I would do!! So at the age of 41 I became Mrs. Washington America and competed in the nationally televised Mrs. America pageant. It was an experience to say the least!

I then really got into cosmetics and became a counter manager for Bare Minerals and was one of the top 3 counters in the country for sales! Even though I was not in the crafting world I got to be creative by making over faces. I moved on to be a free-lance artist and then became a Sales & Training Coordinator for IT cosmetics for Washington, Idaho & Alaska.

The plot twist…

At 48 I became a widow to the man I was married to for 30 years. It was unexpected and shocking. My two adult sons who were 19 & 24 at the time were left to figure everything out. My husband and I had owned a recycling business he operated with my son. It was all so complicated.

My grief became overwhelming and I decided to take time off for my mental health. So I quit my beloved job from IT. And focused on my boys and all the other things I had to take care of.

Another plot twist…

While dealing with grief a former class mate, we’re talking Kindergarten all the way through High School, befriended me and stepped up to help me with so many things. He was familiar with grief having lost both his parents to cancer and a best friend to a drunk driver. He understood grief and how to just be there for someone in their time of need.

You probably guessed it already, he married me. I couldn’t ask for a more understanding, loving, fun person to share the rest of my life with. I am truly blessed and grateful for how God provided for me and my boys.

A happy ending…

Ok well not really the ending but pretty happy. Because of my husbands schedule working a regular job would mean not seeing him. We really like to be together as much as we can! So I am a stay at home wife to my hubby, 3 adult children who take refuge with us once in a while and 3 dogs!

But I needed a creative outlet! So I joined a Direct Sales company for craft supplies & my creativity was sparked again. I found myself wanting to work with wood to add to my artwork I was creating and thats when I discovered the glowforge Laser!

I was terrified the first time I ever fired it up and did not know how much I would LOVE it. I found a new creative outlet that I can be consumed with for hours on end…. creating & perfecting svg files for the laser.

I love everything about the creative process from thinking of the idea, bringing it into life on my computer screen, challenging myself with 3-D and fitted pieces, cutting it out on the laser, assembling it and making it look amazing with paint techniques, staging it and photographing it.

I love sharing my ideas and helping others so I began to sell my files on my own website and in the catalog for glowforge. I also started a Facebook group where I helped with ideas, tutorials and answered questions. It became harder to be spread out over the platforms and challenging to charge for lessons and file creations.

So my solution is this… a subscription club and community. I joined a few other subscription clubs for svgs and I enjoyed them and the owners were very talented. But for me, I found the designs were not my style or wasn’t exactly what I needed and I really wanted to differentiate myself in my designs, classes and kits.

My style is not cutesy. There I said it. If cutesy or kid designs is what you prefer this club would not be for you. Sorry Im not sorry…. we all like what we like! I love French country farmhouse but don’t let that scare ya either! I like all kinds of (non cutesy) designs. I look at the market and the trends and I design along those lines but also creating unique versions of things so that its not the same old thing everyone else is making.

I decided to not limit my creativity or put a time limit on it. The first of the month new files will be added and I will add more files throughout the month. The variety to choose from will help you to stand out from the other kit makers. In most clubs everyone is releasing the same kit at the same time. You can choose what you want to offer and how you want to offer it.

If you’ve read this far WOW I am impressed. I am a pretty open book once you get to know me. I hope you want to partner with me on this creative journey where we all can be successful and fulfilled!

xoxo
Lisa Yost