Technology
The Crafter with Tisa Jackson
In this episode of Michael's Craftivity Podcast, host Anna White interviews DIY content creator Tisa Jackson, who shares her journey into crafting and tips for balancing a creative business with ...
The Crafter with Tisa Jackson
Technology •
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Interactive Transcript
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Every creator finds their own unique way to be creative.
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We're here to celebrate and learn from some of the best.
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Welcome to Michael's Craftivity Podcast.
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Hey everybody, it's Anna White, Vice President of Combs here at Michael's.
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And today on our podcast, we're going to be talking to DIY content creator, maker,
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and the creative mind behind both this is Tisa and Kampetti University, Tisa Jackson.
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Whether she's blinging out everyday objects to make them sparkle in shine or crafting greeting
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cards from scratch or find the inventive new ways to use her favorite glow forged tool,
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Tisa shines as a creative force for good and happiness in the world and she loves a good rainbow.
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Tisa shares her story about how she got into crafting.
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She explains the process of how to land a spot at a craft fair, which can take more than one try.
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And she speaks on how to achieve a balance between running her own craft business and maintaining
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a day job. I'm so happy to have her on the show today. Please join me in welcoming Tisa.
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Tisa, hey, how are you today? Hey, how are you? I'm so good. I'm so happy to be here.
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I'm so happy to have you. I have admired you from afar since I've been at Michael's because
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you've done so much cool stuff with us, but we haven't actually had the chance to sit down and
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talk and get to know each other. So I'm really excited to do that today. I am so super, super happy
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to be here and share a little bit more about myself. I love it. Yeah, I think your story is going to be,
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it will really resonate with a lot of people who are interested in taking kind of their hobby or
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passion into more of a business and I think you have a lot of tips that you'll be able to share.
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So that's going to be great. So tell me a little bit. I'd love to start just if you could tell me a
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bit about yourself, your name and how you describe what you do. Okay, so everyone, I'm Tisa Jackson.
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I live near Austin, Texas. People find that to be amazing because Austin's such an amazing city.
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I am a mom. I'm a wife. I have a twin sister that's so odd. She's not crafty at all. She doesn't
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it, but she's not doing what we're doing. I say that I'm a maker. I'm a content creator. I'm a
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and I just have a huge passion for crafting. It just makes me happy and it keeps me balanced.
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I love that. I want to talk about many of those things. Okay, especially the balance piece and
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the content creation. How you kind of that almost seems like another kind of job. You know,
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you have to make, but then you also have to create the content and share it and the fact that you
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can do both so well is really impressive. Tell me your twin. Are you all identical or fraternal?
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No, we're identical twins. That's awesome. It's kind of weird. She lived in Oklahoma City now.
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She's moved to Austin and we haven't lived in the same city in like 25 years and so it is so
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weird having her close, but it's so awesome. She's like a huge help for me and she'll come over
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and help me package orders and so it's really awesome. And do people in town like that she'd been
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confused for you at times. Yes. Yes. She was in some store and it's happened a couple of times
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where they think that it's me and you know, it'll be one of my friends like someone I know
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personally and she's like, I'm Reese, I'm not T-Sum, so sorry. Oh, that's funny. Austin's kind of like,
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I feel like people do love Austin and maybe part of it's because it has that small town feel
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a bit still even though it's really hopping at the moment. So tell me you said she's not a
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crafter but you are. How long have you been making? Oh my gosh. I don't know. I think the first
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thing I ever remember making was probably middle school. I was in art class and I remember they
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wanted us to make a 3D project and I was like, well, I'm going to do ice cream cone and I'm going
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to just take this cardboard and I'm going to peel it. I want to use the middle like I used the whole
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everything in the cardboard and it was presented at a PTA meeting and it was amazing.
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I wish I still had it. It was really awesome. But I think that's the first time where I just took
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a project and just kind of went with it and it's just from there. I've just always loved art
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and was that something in your home? Was your parents or anybody in your life kind of crafty?
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That were you kind of started to pick up the interest? Yeah. I think like I saw it mostly for my
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grandmother who was a pastor's wife and she used to like do home decor before that to me before
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it was even popular. I remember she was hanging curtains one day and I'm like, grandma, why are
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you making them so big? Like the window so small? Like why are you putting the curtain so wide? And
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she says it makes the windows look bigger in here. Don't you think? And I'm like, oh my gosh,
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I didn't even think of that. And she just thought like that. She just kind of thought I saw
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at the box all the time and she could do anything and I just remember her doing floral decorations
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and we would be there stuffing envelopes for parties or wedding invitations or it was amazing.
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So she had that eye for design. Yeah, she did. Yeah, yeah. That's something I've been thinking about
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for the new year. I'm like, how do I really make my office awesome? Do I need to find someone to
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help me do that or can I just like lean into it and do it? And it's fun to play around with. But
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you see why people, some people go into the field because they're really good at it. It's not easy.
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It's not easy at all. And you know, like even as a crafter, it's not like people always tell me,
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can you come over and help me decorate? I'm like, I'm not a designer. I'm not a decorator. And
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they're like, well, look at your craft room. And I'm like, oh, I just take the things that I use
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and crafting and I display them in rainbow order. That's all I do. And people love it.
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Yeah. I mean, it is beautiful. Yeah, tell me a little bit about the scene behind you.
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Oh my goodness. Listen, this craft room is amazing. Before we moved here, we lived in a house
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for like 15 years. And my craft area was my master bedroom. And we used to call it an office
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with a bed in it because I took over. And I used to like store stuff under the bed and like
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anywhere I could get it. I would store it. I could talk my husband into about one more bookcase
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to put in there. Like he hated it so much. And then we moved here. We started looking at houses
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and he says, I really think that this formal dining room would be perfect for your crafting area.
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And I'm like, really? For me? And he's like, yeah, gave me a small budget. And I started out with
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five bookshelves. And I just placed them. They're behind me. They're all white. They look amazing.
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They are from a store that's kind of low in. But I bought the higher end bookshelves to just kind
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of make it look a little bit just nicer. And then everything's white. And I just kind of decorate
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everything. Like I said, in rainbow order, there's acrylic paints, there's spray paints,
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vinyls in rainbow order. When I make something like I bling my cricket maker is up here. It's like
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rainbow. And so I just try to make the colors pop by keeping everything else white and clean.
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And I love it in here. I have like a dining room table that sits eight people for my craft table.
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And when people come over to our house, we tend to gather in here and eat dinner because it's
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really all picked up and the chairs are all around because we want people to feel welcomed here.
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And people love coming in here and just looking up and looking at everything I have on the walls.
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I even paint it the inside of these double doors in rainbow, like my, um, brand. And people love
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it. They want to touch it. I'm like, touch anything. Oh, you want to make something? Let's pull out
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some things. Well, craft. And that's what I really wanted people to just come in here and just
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feel like that they could make anything and be crafty when they feel like they're not crafty. And
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I really love it in here. It's really peaceful. So that's such an interesting use of the space
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in your home because I feel like the whole concept of the formal dining and living room is a bit
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of the thing of the past. There'll be like these kind of more formal areas as you enter the house,
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but then everyone's really in the kitchen. And it's like a small kitchen, but that's where you gather.
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So I love that idea that you've created like an artistic, beautiful creative space with lots of
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fun things to touch and feel and play with and make in your dining room. And then that is where people
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gather. That is really inspiring to me. I have been bringing a lot of crafts to dinner parties
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or to like play dates with friends and their kids. Like I just bring like a big bag for Michael's.
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But it's nice if you had it just all around you all the time. It is all around me all the time.
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Sometimes it sneaks out the room a little bit and my husband reminds me you have the biggest
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space in the house. You have to push that back into the craft. Oh my gosh, that's funny. He's
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very supportive, but he likes everything else in order and all that. And here we can do whatever we
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want. We can add colors to the wall. We can do whatever. But outside the craft room, it's like really
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nice and always organized. Oh, that's awesome. So what are some of the things that you're working
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on right now? Like tell me about some of the bling. Oh my goodness. And I think a lot of people
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will say this and I don't like to feel like I'm repeating what other people say. But when I started
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blinging, it was 2021. I don't believe it was 2020. Maybe the end of 2020. I just felt like the weight
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of the world on my shoulders. And I needed to do a project from one of my clients. And it was using
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their glue. And I said, okay, I think I can do some rhinestones or whatever. And so I talked to this
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person. I got some rhinestones. Make sure I was buying the right thing. And then I bling. It was
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so funny. It was a lip balm container. And I just put rhinestones on it and people loved it.
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When I finished, I thought, oh my gosh, like, what else can I put this stuff on? Like, what can we do?
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It has really exploded until something I just never ever thought it would.
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Because I'm a paper lover. Like, I love paper. I love vinyl. Give me a cutting machine. Let me cut
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something, you know, but rhinestones, I can sit and just be here when it takes hours. And you just
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sit and you're just doing something repetitive over and over. It kind of just eases your mind and
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it just takes you into the zin space. You put on some music or you put on a movie. And then you
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just go for it. And it's really helped me relax. And I just, I love it. We do hear that quite a bit
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from makers that we work with or from customers at Michaels who just talk about the craft and the
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art that they create as being very therapeutic. So it sounds like you also have that experience
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when you're making. Absolutely. And I knew crafting in general relaxes me. But when I started bling,
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I'm like, wait, what's next? What can we do next? And then I loved it so much. But I have confetti
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university, which I teach people how to craft. And so confetti university, I started teaching
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blinging. And it's been amazing. People love it. They look forward to, you know, what I'm going to
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create next. And sometimes, you know, I'm blinging and I'm stressed out. And then my followers will ask,
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can you please make that into a workshop? And I'm like, there's no way I can make this into a workshop.
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I don't know how. And then the next month, I'm like, guess what's the workshop? This project I created.
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And so I get a lot of my inspiration and they can, my followers push me forward. They push me
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outside of my comfort zone. And I love that so much. So where can people find your project? So do you
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go to the website? Yeah. So on Instagram, I am at this period is period Tisa. I talk about all
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of the workshops when they're ready and up on the website, I drop all of the information there.
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And then all of the workshops can be found at this is Tisa.com also. And just to be sure, I know
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exactly what you're talking about. So you take a little rhinestones, you have an object that you
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like a lipstick case or I see a couple of like mug and water bottles behind you. And then you take
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a hot glue gun and you glue the rhinestones in a pattern or some type of order around. And the
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designs vary. It sounds like right. And so there's all kinds of rhinestone adhesive. And so you use
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a rhinestone adhesive and you just add it on little by little. And then you just one by one.
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This is how I do it. You just add them on the cup. The, I don't know, I've leaned some very
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interesting things. So the jack. What's the craziest thing? Yeah, what's the craziest thing you've
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blamed so far? I have a mini refrigerator in here. And it's lean just like, you know, I told you,
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I painted my doors and rainbow order. So my mini refrigerator looks exactly like my doors. It's just
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a smaller version. And then I've recently just blamed a megaphone and it's beautiful. I cannot wait
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to take it out and take it to a conference with me. And I just can't wait. And you're going to use it
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at the conference just like, hello, everyone teases here. Yes. I'm teaching blinging it. I'm definitely
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going to use it in my workshop. Oh, I love that. It's so fun. So you mentioned that you started
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blinging is kind of what you're into right now. Yes. One of the many things, but one of the main
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things. And then you started more with paper crafts. So tell me a bit about that in the journey
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to get you to where you are today. I thought you might ask this. So I was just like just thinking
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about it last night. So I used to work for a huge computer company in the area. And there was
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this guy who had just started and his name was Jim. And I worked for someone who wasn't very
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nice. And Jim was new. And he took me to lunch. And I was like, okay, I'll go to lunch. And he,
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you know, he asked me about my passions and all that. And I brought up art because this is when
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my kids were little, this happened. And so he took me lunch. We talked about art. We talked about
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him and his wife and everything. And then like the next week, he and his wife met me and I met
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us wife. And they presented me with a gift of art classes for a year. And so I was like, wait,
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what art classes? Like, because you know, we were living paycheck to paycheck. We were paying for
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day care and diapers. Like I didn't have money to take art classes and pay $200 a month for that.
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So I was like, oh my gosh. Okay. And they're like, whatever art school you want to go to. And so
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I found a little art school. So I was able to go back and support a small business in the area.
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And I went to art school and I start painting with oil paints. And I would make these paintings. And
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I was like, so happy with it. I'm like, oh, my God, every, you know, I keep the go, I don't know,
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two times a week. And I get to work on this art. And it took a long time. Like, I mean, it's oil
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paint. And so it takes a while to dry. And so my neighbor invited me over to this creative class.
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It was hand stamping and making handmade cards. And I was like, I'll all support you. I'll come over.
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You know, like one of those, you know, you just kind of go and support your, your neighbor.
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And I made this card and I'm like, wait, this took like five minutes. Like you can like make stuff
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and like five minutes. And she said, yeah. So this company, I start selling this stuff. But I really
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didn't sell it. I signed up so I can get the discount because I wanted all the stuff. And that's how
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it started like making handmade cards at my neighbor's house to support her because she's trying to
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sell this stuff and get all the free product and all that. And that moved to me making cards for
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like friends and family. I was just like, oh my gosh, I have these new stamps. It's paper. I want
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to make something. And then I started selling at like elementary schools like at their fall
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fest or churches for their fall events. I would sign up as a vendor and I would just take my little
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post-aport of cards and I would have some in a little box. And I this play them and people
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tell me what number they want. And I'm like, okay, you're card. And I was so happy. I was like,
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oh my god, can I believe people are buying my cards? I didn't care if I made $50. I was just like,
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I can't believe someone bought my stuff. Like I'm so excited. And that's how it all started. I just
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moved to bigger and bigger craft shows. I would just start making these goals. And I have them over here.
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Like I would take like my acceptance letter or if they have my name on one of my bigger craft
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shows, if they have my name somewhere, I would take the sign and I have them all. And like I have
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all my Michael stuff because I was on the poster, you know, in the stores, I have all that. So
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it's a reminder like when I'm having a bad day that you have done some amazing things and you
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have set some goals and you have achieved them, there was a craft show I applied for six times before
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they let me come and be a vendor. And I just just like, I'm going to apply again. I'm going to do it
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again. The worst thing they can do is say, no, and that's okay too. And you can grow from that.
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Now, you know, no, it's still hard, but you know, it's okay to get a no.
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Yeah, well, they say maybe I know is actually a slow yes. You just have to keep asking.
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So tell me about those first cards.
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So I don't know. So the company, and I'm not going to say the name of the company,
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it's an amazing company. I think it's still around, but you would buy these stamp kits and
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there would be an occasion. So for Valentine's Day, so you get all this stuff for Valentine's Day,
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you might get some hearts and sayings and then they had card stock that matched their markers,
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that match their ink pads. And I'm like, oh my gosh, if I had to get this new pink, I need the pink
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in all of the things, right? And so I would make these things. I remember making stuff with frogs
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on them or I would stamp in black and then use like a watercolor method to color things in. And
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that's where I learned how to use an embossing gun and embossing powders. And then today, I'm like,
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oh yeah, I don't have an emboss. Let me do that. And people are like, oh my gosh,
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Tisa, like my followers have never seen me do it before. And I'm like, wait, what? And so like,
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I introduced something on Instagram today. And people are like, I've never seen you do this before.
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And I'm like, I used to sell this at craft shows 10 years ago. And they're like, what? And so it
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just all comes back. Like crafting is crafting. And it just evolves gets better. But you can still go
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back to the things that you learned before and pull those things back out and still make amazing
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things. So at the beginning, when you were making those cards, that was more of a, was it a bit of a
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kit? And you would get it. And then you could kind of, you maybe had a little bit of creativity.
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But that's where you began. So there's a bit of structure to it. And now you're off doing your own
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thing and just creating stuff. And how long has that process taken you know, from kind of taking
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the classes and following the kits to now being your own artistic genius? This has probably been,
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I'm just going to say 12 years. I'm sure it's more than that. But we're just going to leave that
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number right there. See, that to me is also really impressive. Because I would tell you
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you're going to say like 20 years, you know, like it's just like it's been this, you know, you
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started obviously very young doing it. So I feel like in 10 years to go from something that probably
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felt a bit safer, right? There's a bit, it's like here's the art class. We're going to teach you
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how to do the thing. Here's the kit. You're going to make this type of a thing for Valentine's.
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But then to now be so confident that you're not afraid to paint your doors all kinds of colors. And
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you know, like or or or blowing anything that is a solid object. I'd love to talk about that for a
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minute because that confidence, you know, how long did that take or how did that come about?
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Because I feel like we hear a lot. And even in this podcast, we've talked quite a bit about
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self-doubt amongst artists and creatives and how you sometimes your own worst enemy, everyone
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else is telling you know, you can do it. You're talented. You're like, I don't I don't know what if I
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fail. Yeah. So tell me about that a bit. How have you moved through those feelings? You know,
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it's funny. I laugh now. But you guys, I'm telling you there have been days where I'm just like, I
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don't know what I'm doing. And that probably happened last week. Like seriously, like I don't think
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it goes away. I really think that you really have to trust the process, right? But then I remember
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I was doing a Michael's online class. And I don't know this just came out and I live by it now.
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There's no stress and crafting, right? You have to know that it's just crafting, right? This paint
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on the wall is just paint. You can cover that. You can start over. I feel like this is something we do
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like and I feel like I'm going to get emotional. We this is something we do to just have this outlet
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to just um, I don't know. Just enjoy this time that you can take for yourself and not a lot of people
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get this time, right? Not a lot of people have amazing craft rooms, not a lot of people have
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supportive families and things like that. But I think the point is you just have to trust the
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process. Know that you can start over whenever people seem to think when I blink a cup that I
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just start in blink. And I started to show in my Instagram, oh, I have to start over two times.
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Like I am removing these stones because I don't think I like this. And I think people followers
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have started to say, you make me think I can do this. And I'm like, you can do this. Like everybody
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can do this. Let's just say you're making a card. And I've done this so many times where you
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you're using a paper cutter and you cut the wrong size. You just get another piece or maybe
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you can reuse the bigger piece that you didn't cut. Like you just have to know that it's going to be
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okay because it's just crafting. This is supposed to be making us happy. We're not supposed to be
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stressing out over this. And to have the confidence to just paint a wall. Well, I don't know about that.
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I just, I don't know. I feel like I see things a little bit differently. I feel like I see the
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world in color. And if I see a white wall, I'm going to try to figure out how to paint it. But I know
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I've seen someone paint their walls or I know I've seen this. So how can I make that different?
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And how can I keep that on brand? And how can I make that teaser? And that's just when I think of
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things, that's just what I do. And I haven't done this yet. But I have to blame for this company.
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And they keep asking me to blame, blame, blame. And I'm like, what else can I blame? Like what else can
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I do? And so this project should be already done by the time this airs. And I'm bringing luggage. Like
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who? What in the world? I'm like, Tisa, did you really think through all of this? So it really is
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like this process where I come up with these huge ideas and sometimes I have to bring you back
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down. And sometimes I'm like, no, go with it. It'll be okay. So now we're trying to figure out. It's
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a carry on piece of luggage. Now we're trying to figure out, hey, when you put it in the overhead,
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how do you protect those rhinestones? So you do have to kind of reel yourself back in
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for these larger projects. But I don't know. I'm like, hey, I've seen luggage tags because I've
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done them. And I've seen this. And what are people doing in March? A lot of people traveling for
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spring break. And so I'm like, oh my gosh, luggage. So I don't know. I try to think outside the box.
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I love the luggage idea. You also like it. So you could do a
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peat, you know, like a strip across the front of the luggage with like your name,
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or your initials or something, your monogram. And that's what we're doing. That's an interesting
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we're probably putting it up and all the little, all the little dumb and just like following
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the person underneath it is something you have to think about. It's product design.
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It is going to be a personal last piece. We're not bleeding an entire piece of luggage. Like,
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I don't know if that's been done probably. I don't know. But we're just going to either do a
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monogram or name or maybe there's no stress and crafting. Maybe I'll put that on there.
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I love that mantra. That's a really good one. It's interesting that people feel pressure, though.
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They want to have everything right. They want to have, well, what do I need? And
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and where do you get this? I'm like, you don't have to have everything. Just start. It's okay.
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Just start. And then you're going to figure it out. And I think a lot of people feel like they're
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going to mess up and they don't want to spend all the time and money learning something in the
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mess up. And I'm like, just start because you'll figure it out. And then you'll know,
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hey, I need to run a Michaels because I need one more thing here. It's just like when you go to
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like a hardware store, you're working on a project at home and you keep going back to that hardware
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store because you need nails and you need this. You need that. It's the same thing with crafting.
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And you will learn there's no reason to be afraid of crafting. So at Michaels, we're trying to
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encourage people more to not be afraid because there does seem to be a bit of a hurdle to getting
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started. But people love how they feel when they're making. Even if it's not perfect. Now some
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people I guess maybe get frustrated if you know, they have the perfectionist tendency or you expect
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it to be better on the first try. But I love what you said about you'll do it over. You'll mess up
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on Instagram, which I worked at Instagram for a bit. And the messing up on Instagram is not
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really what people like to see on Instagram. They love to see the perfect home or outfit or
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mug, you know, dazzled mug. So I love that you'll take something off and then do it again. And
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it's like, yeah, that's not right. And we've thought about even doing a series of almost like ads
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that show like this is the pumpkin, you know, in your case, the blinked out pumpkin. And the first
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five are not good. But you know, the six when you're like that, I nailed it. You know, now I've got it.
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So I think that joy of the process. Why do you think people are afraid of the process or
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afraid of failure? I think in this world of getting it fast, people make projects look easy.
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And they make it look like your videos, everything's perfect. And I think people want that. People
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want fast, easy, and they want it done right. And they want to try. They're like, oh, I saw this
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on the video. I can do it. And when it's not done right or if they mess up, they're like, wait,
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what? Why didn't you show this messing up? You know, the one thing I'm getting right now is people
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are saying that when they put a transfer tape on paper, like they're using the vinyl and they're
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using a transfer tape that it tears. And they're like, Tisa, why is your paper not tearing? And I'm like,
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you really guys, I know my video goes super, super fast because I have to speed it up to get it in.
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But you really have to go slow. You really have to go slow. And so I think you have to just
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reassure people like, it's going to be okay. Like, just take your time. You cannot move as fast as
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my videos. It's not realistic. That's such a smart point, though. That's like the disclaimer.
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You know, in your mirror, it's like objects are closer than they appear. It's like projects take
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longer than they seem to on TikTok. You know, you have to actually, that's really interesting.
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It's a good problem that you're helping people solve, I think, because the perceptions probably
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is different than the reality. So, okay. So you started with your paper crafting and you were
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going to different markets. Tell me about that submission process. You mentioned that some markets
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you got rejected from what do you submit, especially for customers who may be wanting to try,
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you know, to get into a craft market. What do you have to do to make that happen?
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I just actually finished a video for a couple of friends talking about making a profit in crafting.
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And my part was talking about craft fairs. And so I just did this last week. So I feel like
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my number one tip, anyone who wants to sell at a craft market, if you can, visit that market
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in advance. So if it happens once a year, visit the year before, because you want to make sure
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your product fits, you fit, you know, and you want to make sure like there's people there, you
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can see things on their Instagram or photos. And you think there's a lot of people shopping in,
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it might not be a lot of people shopping. So you just want to know that it's a great fit for you.
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And so the application process is fairly easy. You just kind of have to look out. You can
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join Facebook groups where other people in the area are doing the exact same thing as you,
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like, tending markets. And then on there, they'll say, hey, you know, Hillcrest has their
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application process coming up. You guys, here's the link to apply or you just kind of go to their
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website and see, you know, when it's going to happen, a lot of times it's just you submit your name
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and what you do and a couple of photos and great photos. And then they'll make their decision from
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there. And then there are some where you have to upload photos and, you know, maybe a video and
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those are okay too. But it's just really talking about yourself and your product. So know your
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product. Be very confident in your product. And nine times out of 10, you're going to get accepted.
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Why do you think that one craft market didn't accept you for so long? I know exactly why.
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Because I think when I first started to apply, it was my stuff looked a little bit more handmade
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than what they were used to. Although everything had to be handmade, they had a Pacific customer
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that came that kind of wanted something that looked a little bit more excellent. I don't know.
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Not a little more polished or a little bit. Yeah. Interesting. And so that in it was like a night time
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show and there was alcohol involved and things like that. So I think they were just hand made cards
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with hearts on it was something that they were not interested in. So I had to reinvent and I just
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are coming up with new products and things like that. And then I just started submitting those things.
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So like a blamed martini glass would be my big. Exactly. Yeah. That's exactly what I want.
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Everyone gets one upon entry. Absolutely.
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So okay. So you started doing more craft fairs and then it seems like you really bolstered your
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online presence. I did. So 2020 came around and it was February and I had just come back from my
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last conference that I ever attended. And then I had an event with cricket too. And that was
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amazing. I'm off my flight. And then I was supposed to go to another conference and I'm like,
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well, maybe I'm not supposed to go like this stuff is happening. Like things are happening.
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And then it all happened. Like the whole pandemic happened and everything shut down. I was like,
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wait, so no more craft shows. Like I can't make money. I don't understand. And confetti university,
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I was on my fourth class and I had to cancel my fourth class. I'm like, oh my god, just started
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this confetti university. What am I going to do? And so my father was pretty small. And so one
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of my followers said, do you think that we could attend your workshops virtually? And I'm like,
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oh, I don't know if I can do that because all this stuff, right? You got to use my machines.
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You have to use this. You have to use that. And then like I said before, I changed and I'm like,
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I can do it. And so I started to do online workshops. And that just kind of evolved. And then I
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worked with Michaels. And I did the May by you campaign. And I still do not know to this day how
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Michaels found me. But my point to that is you never know who's watching you on social media.
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Right? You always have to bring your best. Even on those bad days, like let your followers know
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you're having a bad day. And then still do your best. Like still bring it. Right? And so I think I was,
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you know, someone for Michaels was watching my feed or something. I don't know. And then I got
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this out of the blue email asking me to do this campaign. And I was just like me, like you want me.
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And they're like, yes. And I'm like, okay, I'll do it. And from that, I, you know, started growing
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a little bit more. And then there was this time. And I won't go into the whole detail where there
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was a lot of people supporting black crafters, black artists. And so then there was a huge bloggers
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sharing my site that brought more people. And so I think it's just like I have been doing this
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for so long. I was so frustrated with my numbers. And I was just like, I don't know if this social
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media thing is for me, you know, I'm older. Maybe I'm just not doing this right. And then all of a sudden
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something happens. So I say, don't give up. You guys, please, if you're doing this and you're
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passionate about it, just keep doing it. Because if I didn't love crafting, I probably would not be where
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I am today. It's just I get off work from a stressful day. And I'm like, I have to go on my
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craft room, even if it's to clean up this table. I look up and I'm like, this is your craft
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room. This is your space. And it's going to be okay tomorrow. Tomorrow's a new day. And that's
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just how I handle it. But the Michael's thing, I think that's what set it off. And then all of the
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pandemic stuff, people follow me, people wanted to take workshops like and my numbers grew. Now,
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I'll be honest right now, my numbers are kind of not moving too well. But I was listening to another
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creator today, her name's Megan in her life today. She says, I don't need all of the people. I need
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the right people. And I'm like, Megan, this is amazing. So I sent her a note. I'm like, Megan,
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I love this so much. Thank you so much. And because I've been like, Brett, I'm like,
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my numbers have not been moving. But there it'll be fine. It will be just fine. Support the people
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who are already there for you and keep doing what you're doing. Someone will recognize you. And
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working with brands is not like I never thought I would be working for brands. And it happened.
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And it's because someone said my name in the room when I wasn't there. It was another blogger. And so
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there's this group of bloggers that we used to go to conferences together before the pandemic.
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And I just surround myself with these amazing people who will speak my name when I'm not in a room.
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So if they're huge bloggers and someone comes to them and it's something that's a little bit too
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small, like a smaller company and they're like, yeah, I really don't have time. But maybe Tisa
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might be interested. And so those are the people you want around you. And that's how I actually got
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my first major brand deal or contract. It was with HP. It's because somebody said my name in a
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room and I had no idea. That's such a beautiful sentiment that someone talks about you
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positively when you're not there. And I love that. You kind of like, as you said, do your best and
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put yourself out there and people support you probably in large part because of your authenticity
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and your honesty around like I'm having a good day. I'm having a bad day, but I'm here to
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bring my best and to show you all how to do whatever project. So I'd like to hear a bit more about
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community. I mean, you kind of mentioned the people who speak positively about you when you're
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not in the room. What is your community of crafters like and how do you nurture that? So I remember
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going to conferences, blogging conferences to learn more about blogging. And I didn't see a lot
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of people who look like me crafting conferences, things like that. And then 2020 happened and I'm like,
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oh my gosh, I get all these groups. I had no idea. And so it's been really fun to be involved in
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those groups. But I do think that my community involves everybody. Like it's just so many people
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who have helped me. There's so many people I look up to right now. And it's just to me, the community's
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amazing. The community that I surround myself with, it's amazing. And they speak highly of one
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another. And then they like to bring on other people and promote other people too. And are you doing
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more stuff in person now or is your community largely kind of online and virtual? Are you able to get
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back together with people in person as much as you did in 2019? I was able to have two events last
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year in person in Austin. And they were amazing. But most of my things are online. Most everything's
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virtual. We are taking confetti university on the road. I've been saying this for two years that
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I've wanted to do this. This is part of one of the goals I have for confetti university. So I have
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a couple of dates already scheduled at a state. And I'm very excited that I get to go teach
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crafting or blinging or whatever it is outside of my little comfort zone, my little bubble.
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And will you do that at a specific location like an art studio in different towns or is it part
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of a conference or part of a craft market? For the first time, I'm going to represent the brand
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that says Tisa at a conference. And I am going to be able to teach there. And then I have two
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other events that are at little studios owned by small businesses. And so I'm going to be able to
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bring some of my followers and then I get to meet some of their customers and bring them in there.
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So I'm very excited. I love this like Tisa's going on tour. I need to do a tour.
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Like the tour stop T-shirt. You know, out of few more stops 2023, that sounds great. You'll have
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to let me know. Are you coming to California at all? Not yet. And I was in California last year.
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And I wasn't able to put anything together. But not yet. Not yet. Okay. Well, keep me posted.
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I will. If you come out this way. Yeah. And then I wanted to just for our listeners,
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when you were talking about the made by you campaign. So Michaels did a campaign started in April 2020.
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And by campaign, I mean, an advertising campaign that had real makers who shopped Michaels,
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who were doing really cool creative innovative stuff and represented also all the kinds of people
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who craft and shop at Michaels, which we hope is kind of everyone. Everyone feels welcome and
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wants to shop there. Right. And so we did this ad campaign. And Tisa was one of really a handful
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of makers. And that also that was on TV. It was on radio. It was in store online on social. So
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that was really fun. And a lot of people did craft during the pandemic. It was nice that that
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ad was kind of our statement out in the world during that time. Oh, it was amazing. Every time I
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hear the jingle from a commercial, I look up to see who's on TV.
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Well, did you know any of the folks before or did you? I don't actually know if you were even
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able to cross pollinate because it was during COVID, I think when we shot it, right? There was one
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person I knew who went the spring before me, but I didn't know anyone else. And I've
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started following these people start to get to know the people, even from just the last one that
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just happened, I just started reaching out to people. I'm like, I'm so excited for you.
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Congratulations. You know, because it's exciting. It's really exciting to walk into a craft store.
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I mean, and see your face hanging in the store. And then for followers to be like, I took a picture
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with Tisa today and they're taking a picture with the picture and then posting it on social.
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Like it is amazing. And the managers at My Michaels are so amazing. Like I go in and say,
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can I have the posters when you're done? And they're like, absolutely. We'll save everything you
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want. But a lot. And I'm like, thank you so much. And so it's just been really, really great.
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You know, people ask me all the time, how did you get that? You know, what do I need to do? And
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I'm like, just be yourself. Like, I really don't know. But just be yourself and shop
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Michaels and go get your supplies and it makes them. I don't know. So yeah, so awesome. And it's
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funny. Before made by you, I did one campaign with Michaels two years before. And it was a wedding
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thing. And I had never worked with Michaels before that. So my team actually is the group that's
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responsible for finding awesome people like you. We have a couple people actually who focus on just
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looking for influencers. Let's call them in the age of social media. But people who
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craft and do that thing that we, I would love to talk about a bit, not just making the items,
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but then also making the content of them, making the item or of the finished product. How did you?
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I mean, at first you said, you know, social media, like maybe I don't believe this, but you said,
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maybe I was too old to pick up social media, which I think some people may feel. Because now we
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have TikTok. And it's like, you know, I'm feeling a bit too old for that. But then whatever comes
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next, we definitely will probably be old to old for. But not necessarily because you figured out how
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to do it. Can you talk a bit about how you were able to thread that needle of both creating items
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product and also filming it and videotaping it and sharing it in a way that resonated before. I
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mean, I was just a blogger, not just a blogger, I only blogged. And so I was used to like creating
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the content, taking a step by step photos. I didn't do any video. Oh my blogger was just photos.
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Video wasn't popular and a lot more writing. I said a lot more writing. So when I'm like, so you
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could just write two sentences and put it on there. And then you can like just tag brands like what?
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You could do that. And like I said, it's like a faster. It's like a mini blogger. Everything's
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speaking up. Everything's getting faster. And then people will be surprised with the video. I
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just kind of start picking that up. And I still use my iPhone for photos, for video. I use an app
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on my phone to edit my videos. Like I have a professional camera. It's in that drawer. I haven't
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pulled it out in a long time. And so you know, I feel like a lot of people feel like they can't do this
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also. But there's the same like everything's content. And it's true. Like if you are going to paint
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something, just pull out your phone and just paint a little bit and record it. And then that's
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a little bit of content. Or if you want to show people what glue you use or you know, scrapbook
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adhesive or whatever, you can like just use it and show yourself just using it. And people
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love that. And then you can tag brands and stores and things like that. And so it's not as
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hard as it seems. It's a lot easier to me than blogging. And I love video. Like I editing videos
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is probably my number one favorite admin thing to do for my creative job. What software do you use
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when you edit? Are you using like in the Instagram app, those tools? Or do you do it? I use an app called
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InShot. And I love it. And people are like, you use InShot? I'm like, that's all I use. It's just
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InShot. And I for my longer videos, because I do some other stuff for other people. And for those
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longer videos, I just use InShot. People are going to be like, Tee said, no, you have to use this
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other one. And I'm like, no, no, no, I just want to use my phone. I just, I need it quick and easy,
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you know, and I don't know if you want to bring this up. But you know, because I work a full-time
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job. So I need quick, easy, get it done, get it posted, because I have a whole of another eight
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hours where I have to be doing something else. So I would love to talk about that. Because I think
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sometimes there's also a bit of, I think people feel like maybe it has to be all or nothing. Like,
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don't have a corporate job and just head first straight into like being an artist. But you're a great
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example of, you know, maybe you don't sleep a lot, but you can do both. So tell us about your
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day job. And then also how you bond time for both of these careers. My day job, I'm an executive
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assistant. And I love my job. And I love helping people. I, you know, I'm just the same with
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crafting and good, better university. But I have to spend a lot of time. Like my full eight hours
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have to be spent doing my, my corporate job. And you know, so I used to say that I had a full-time
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job and then like a part-time job or like a side hustle. But I think I'm working two part-time jobs
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so I don't sleep a lot. I do go to sleep really, really late or if my brain just can't take
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anymore, I'll just set my alarm for 5 a.m. and then I'll wake up super early and then I'll continue.
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But once my brain says no more, I can't do anymore. Like everything I create is trash. And then
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that kind of brings on that like, oh, do you really know what you're doing? And then you're like,
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yeah, you know what you're doing. You just need some sleep. Just go to sleep. You'll be fine. So
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I do love it. I do say I am very, very comfortable getting paid every two weeks. And I am very,
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very comfortable with the insurance and supporting my family, right? So we have a mortgage. So I have
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to pay that. But I will say that what I have found is a lot of my work comes from working with brands.
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And it's not consistent. And so I love the consistency of doing this. I think if I didn't love my
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job, I don't know how I would make that work. But I do love it. And I've been doing that for a long
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time. And so it's, you know, I'm sure one day they get to a point where I have to make a decision.
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But I don't want to do that yet. That's really good advice. I think for people to hear that you
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can have a little bit of both. And it seems like it's working for you. And I think like I've had to
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and I've said this before, I've had to say no to happy hours and dinners with my friends because
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I have been really working two jobs. And so when we first got married, we said we wouldn't work two
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jobs. And then I was like, I think I'm working two jobs. And he's like, but you're home. So it's fine.
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I'm like, okay, and he's like, you're being creative. You love it. And so it never felt like a job.
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But since 2020, it's a job because you have to pay taxes. It's a real job. And so you have to
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take care of those things. So I love being creative. I hate the admin work part of it. But you just
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kind of have people help you for the things you don't want to do. And so that's helped us a lot.
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And if you're not there yet, it's completely okay. You don't have to have those people. I just don't
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feel comfortable working with things that I just don't know about. But you can definitely learn
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or once you get more involved, you can hire those people. And do you mean like creating an LLC
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or working in QuickBooks and like the payment platform, right? Like all that stuff you've had
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helped setting up. So you know, right, you're doing it. And you know, your EIN number and all of that
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and going through CPAs and accountants and then find it, have to find another one. Because a lot
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of people do not understand the blogging creative side of taxes. So just be careful. Make sure
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people have experience with what you do and it will be fine. It'll be completely fine.
spk_0
So what are you most looking forward to this year in terms of your creative endeavors? Is there
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something you want to try that's new? I'm going to say no, but then now I'm going to try something new.
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No, you don't like me as the kind of person who just wants to do the same thing over and over. I
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feel like part of what fuels your creativity is learning new stuff. Yes, I love learning new things.
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I am going to try. I don't know what it is yet, but I do want to try something new this year.
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Because you know, I do love the bling, but I'm like, there's only like, I was saying so many things
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you can bling, right? So many ideas you can come up with. And you know, it might not work out.
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Like I might start. I'm just going to say knitting and I know that I can't knit. I already know
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that already. And so that might not even work out for me because I'll be like, okay, my brain can't,
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I can't do this. And so I don't know, cake decorating or cookie decorating. Okay, cookie decorating.
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Let's put that out there. All right, well, now you've put it out there. So you have to do it.
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I'm going to check back in and six months and see how many cookies you've decked. Absolutely.
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Well, I think some of it might be a bit like blinging. You know, the little dots you have to squeeze
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the little like, yeah, the designs on cakes and cookies is just wild at this point. Very cool.
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Okay, so what about one tool? And I feel like you might say rhinestones, but one tool that,
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you know, hopefully you've purchased at Michael's that he cannot live without as a crafter.
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Well, I'm just going to say my new love right now is my glow forage. I love my glow forage. Like,
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I've been doing so many things with it. And then I just figured out the other day how to cut paper.
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And I'm like, wait, this thing cuts paper? This thing has been sitting here for two years.
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And it was hard for me to adjust from my cricket or silhouette design studio stuff like that,
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which those are high number two, but I love that I'm getting to know my glow forage. And I'd
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love all of the things that I'm able to make with it. I just made this huge calendar. It's on the
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back of the rainbow doors. And I made it from a drip oil pan that I went to Napa Auto Parts and
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got the drip pan. It's like four feet tall. And I made a calendar and I cut out all the letters
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and all of the numbers from acrylic. Oh my glow forage. It I'm like, wait, what?
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And so then you paste it up into the pan by month. So yeah, so I put magnets on the back.
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The glow forage cuts the double sided tape. And I put magnets on the back. So every month,
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I can go and change out all of the letters and all of the numbers. It is amazing. And it wasn't
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a sponsored thing. It's just like when I have these creative moments, I come up with these
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crazy ideas. And I'm like, this is amazing. And then I was like, you know what? Why don't you just
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sell the SVG file for all of the numbers and all of the letters and then people can make whatever
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they want. So if they want to make a small calendar or do what I did, a drip oil pan from Napa Auto Parts.
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I love that. That is brilliant. Tessa, this is why you do what you do. So I look at it every day
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and I love it. And I'm able to, you know, put post it notes on there. But I love that project.
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It's amazing. I love writing on the calendar. I love looking at it. I love talking about it.
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People, my followers like went Google over it. And it was not bling. And it was outside the box.
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And then I think that's they're going to start expecting me to do that a lot more. I better be careful.
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Was there something that you saw that inspired you to create that? So remember, I talked about that
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show that I could never get into. There was this lady who, when I fell in, got in. I went to her
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booth. She made these calendars. But what she would do is like, she would just go to all these
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vintage shows and buy anything that had a number on it. And so her numbers were all of these
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vintage pieces she found everywhere. Well, I'm not going to do that. So I was like, girl, just
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cut it out with acrylic. You'll get it. And then just make it huge. And I was like, oh my god,
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I can't believe it. And I spray painted it. And it's still at the bottom. Says oil drip pan. And I'm
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like, I don't even care that it says that. I love that. That's more like your vintage element.
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You know, a lot of those vintage products say something. It's like dairy farm or something kind of
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unrelated. This has been so much fun. I love talking with you and getting to know you and hearing
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your story. It's so inspiring. And I feel like I need to paint a wall this year after after talking
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with you. When you check in with me with a cookie decorating, I'm going to ask you who painted a wall.
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Okay, great. See, I have fear of commitment though. I might do one of those peel off decals.
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That might be where I go. Absolutely. That works. That works. Okay. Awesome. Well, thank you so much
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for the time. It was wonderful speaking with you. This has been amazing. Thank you so much.
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And that is a wrap on season one of the Michael's craftivity podcast. Thank you all so much for
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tuning in. I really hope you enjoyed the conversations we had with each of our incredible guests.
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And I hope this podcast inspired you to pursue some creative passions and projects of your
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variant. Thank you again for listening and stay tuned for more episodes later this year.