Through blogging and Instagramming, I’ve been introduced to an amazing Virtual Sisterhood of Creative Ladies.
The Oh Creative Lady series is your chance to meet these incredible, kind-hearted, inspiring <insert ALL the happy, positive adjectives HERE> women.
It is such a pleasure to kick off the 2018 series of Oh Creative Lady with this gorgeous mamma, Karla from Blastastic Day. We met via the old Instagram (I feel like all my stories begin this way.) I was captured by the way this lady so obviously makes the time to creatively connect with her little one. No mean feat when she also works full-time and runs 2 Etsy stores. My love for Karla has been completely affirmed by her admission of loving carbs. I love the way she gently gives us an insight into her life here and shares the advice she gives herself. Introducing Karla from Blastastic Day!
I am… Karla, but you can call me Karlita. I’m a mama, a wife, a friend, an introvert, a twin, a carbohydrateholic, a cat lady, a daydreamer, a designer, a maker and a wannabe art teacher.
I’m lucky to share my life with my favorite people, my husband, best friend and boyfriend for 17 years, Angel, our 4-year-old son, Lennon, and our cats Rita and Maxwell. (We’re big Beatles fans in case you haven’t figured it out by the names of our son and cats!)
I was born in Mexico and moved to the US (against my will!) to attend college in El Paso, TX. I studied graphic design and in my last year at university I got an internship opportunity in Knoxville, TN with Scripps Networks, the parent company to a handful of cable TV channels like HGTV, Food Network & Travel Channel. That opportunity lead me to my current job with the company as a graphic designer… that was almost 10 years ago!
I spend a good part of my day in front of a computer pushing pixels left and right, that at the end of the day all I crave is to do things with my hands. I run two Etsy shops KAANG and KAALEN and this year I’m working on my Blastastic Day Etsy shop. @blastasticday is my Instagram account where I share creative projects I make with Lennon. I’ve always loved to make and create and to share this passion of mine with my son is everything to me. It is my favorite way to bond with him and to keep our creativity going. Starting my separate creative Instagram account has been one of the best things I did last year, it is something that I had been wanting to do for a couple of years and I have gained so much out of it. I have met so many incredibly kind and creative people (like you, Shannon!) through the Instagram community. It inspires me daily to check my feed and see what everyone shares.
I find inspiration… The internet is my main form of inspiration, it’s where my heroes “live.” I get so inspired by people who work hard to follow their dreams. I love reading inspirational books from my internet heroes, my current favorites are: Steal Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon, Things Are What You Make of Them, by Adam J Kurtz and The Crossroads of Should and Must, by Elle Luna.
I also get very inspired by picture books. I love them and can’t get enough of them! It’s hard not to be inspired by the genius books from Hervé Tullet, the beautiful illustrations of Christian Robinson or the brilliant work of Eric Carle.
I am excited about … Tomorrow, the future. There are so many things I want to do that it will take me another lifetime to do it all.
When I’m in a creative slump, I… like to go outside for a walk, nothing beats some fresh air to clear your head. If I’m in front of my computer I like to listen to music or podcasts like Out of Line, Creative Pep Talk and Design Matters. If I have the chance, a trip to Barnes and Noble or Target always help me get inspired. Browsing through books, enjoying beautiful designs and illustrations. The internet is great but being able to touch things and hold them totally beats any screen inspiration.
I’m really proud of… Working hard to overcome my shyness. I have always been a shy person but I had learned little by little to overcome it and it has not been easy. But it has been so fulfilling and it have opened many doors that before I would feel so intimidated to knock upon.
Someone once told me… It’s a quote that I love and I live by about gratitude…
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Ward
My advice to you is … I don’t like giving advice. But I can share with you the advice I gave myself on my past birthday.
It has taken me way longer than usual to organise this Oh Creative Lady post from Amanda of barley & birch. Mainly because throughout this interview, Amanda recommends so many interesting and ace things that I became very distracted (Google the Christmas cards of Hilma Berglund! Subscribe to the Making Oprah podcast! Check out Smudge!) Amanda’s suggestions, her words and her insights into her life all confirm something I’ve suspected for awhile now- Amanda is one insanely rad lady.
In the grand scheme of online FanGirl relationships, we haven’t been InstaBuds for that long. But y’know when you come across somebody online and you think “how has this person not been in my life for longer?!” Well, that.
(You may recall we recently celebrated 80s Week together.)
Enough with the gushing. Introducing the very fabulous Amanda.
I am… Amanda Eldridge, hi! I run barley & birch & put together small modern art collections by day, just started teaching creative workshops for kids & families by night, and quietly tinker with various side projects in the background.
Currently, I live in the Midwest with my very large, extremely huggable Golden Retriever, Thor. I love traveling and LOVE (in caps!) moving to new places, so also enjoy living fairly simply. When I picture my perfect life I have a 1988 Jeep Wagoneer, a rehabbed trailer, my dog, art supplies, and a camera – and we just motor from place to place around the US. I’m skeptical this would actually go at all well in real life, but I love daydreaming about it!
I’ve lived in NYC, Chicago, Cleveland and San Diego, and Southern California will always be one of my favorite places – a big part of my spirit is forever a California girl! I love being outside, especially being near (or in!) the water, and take every chance I can to get out and play. I’ve tried my hand at quite a few different professions – reinvention is one of my favorite things! I love experimenting with all different kinds of art mediums and am outrageously jealous of the abilities of good illustrators, but am trying to practice more. I’m a digital and visual tinkerer, I can easily spend a day playing around on my computer editing designs, figuring out some little trick in a program, or moving 2 pieces of paper around to determine how they’re going to look best together.
Laughter is my own best medicine and I love making other people laugh. I’m a movie buff (new and old), a habitual Bette Davis quoter, and armchair singer/dancer during musicals. I’m an extroverted introvert, so love being with people, but need my alone time and privacy on the regular. Revealing anything about myself on social media still feels very, “ohhhh gaaahhhhd”- it’s been a challenge, but I’m slloooowly wading in…!
I find inspiration… Anywhere and everywhere. All the classics: nature, art, books, working with kids. Those are the big ones. Some *extremely* specific things I’ve found inspiration in lately, just for fun: The podcast Making Oprah (and *actual* early ’90’s Oprah) Jim Henson, the Christmas cards of Hilma Berglund (google them!) the artwork I made when I was little, the designs and illustrations of Olle Eksel.
I’ve been really into learning more about creating art materials from nature this year, and I’ve found amazing inspiration in the IG feed of The Toronto Ink Company – the colors, the textures, the layers – don’t even get me started. I also subscribed to some monthly newspapers and zines from small independent presses this year – one called the Smudge has become the highlight of my mail and is absolutely jam-packed with things I pull ideas from.
Another hobby (or…maybe more accurately a hobby I like to daydream about) is film-making and animation. You’re either a Wes Anderson fan or you’re not, and I AM. There are so many scrumptious details in Anderson’s style, aesthetic and process that have given me ideas for kid-related projects or concepts. Instagram is also just an endless fountain of inspiration for me – everyday I find a new person to follow or see something that I HAVE to save.
I am excited about … So many things! In addition to my art work and planning some new things for barley & birch, I’m also teaching some very small family creativity workshops. This is my first time teaching kids, and I’m still slightly terrified before every class, but as soon as we start working on something that melts away, and we’re all just making something together. That’s exciting to me.
I’m also thrilled about the new people I’m meeting through barley & birch! For anyone who works from home, I think the lack of physically-present work peers can be a challenge in that it sometimes feels lonely and isolating. Every time I make a connection through b&b’s social medias I have the sense that I’ve gained another “coworker” and I find myself buoyed by the community (so many of you!) almost every day.
When I’m in a creative slump, I… On a good day, I take my dog for a walk or bike around for awhile. We tend to walk the same routes, and I’ve resisted succumbing to the boredom of it by becoming a stellar observationist. Doing anything over and over and over again is a great way to learn to appreciate the smallest of things! I think it’s also helped my brain to stay on its toes, observe everything, appreciate sensory changes and practice the ability of seeing one thing in a variety of ways. It’s also just refreshing to walk away for a bit!
Of course, those are the good days – on a bad day I pound coffee and lose myself online, or just give up and stream Mad Men for hours at a time.
For what it’s worth, I think days like that have their place too.
I’m really proud of… To say I’m a commitment-phobe is probably an understatement, so when I stay committed to anything for more than 2 hours I am more proud of it than I deserve to be. I have worked really hard to stay committed to barley & birch, finding helpful purpose in what I do and using my imagination every day. All three require the others to function successfully as a whole – that’s been a magic combination for me, so I’m MOST proud I never gave up on finding it.
Someone once told me… One of my favorite books as a kid was Miss Rumphius – if you haven’t read it, the main character is advised to “go to faraway places, live by the sea and do something to make the world more beautiful,” and that’s hands-down some of the best advice I’ve ever heard.
Another important one for me was being told to “sit down and do the work”. As a lifelong serial procrastinator, I’ve spent quite a bit of my adulthood working at “doing the work”. More good advice: listen and observe as often as you do anything else.
My grandma would say we should all lay out in the sun more, and to be completely honest, I think that’s rock-solid wisdom!
My advice to you is … Come at life with as much informed optimism as you can. It’s under-valued, under-appreciated and often the hardest choice. People have a tendency to write it off as silliness, naiveté, or even willing-ignorance, but the truth is that it’s hard work that’s totally worth it and always ten times more productive.
Mary Alice revealed her love of connecting, collaborating and community during an Instagram conversation, and at that moment, I knew she was my kinda creative lady. We’ve also had several hilarious exchanges about this season’s Game of Thrones (and that will always earn you extra points in my books.) Mary Alice is the brains behind Brainy Beginnings Network, a place filled with insanely rad creative ideas. All of her projects have this magical and unique twist to them. It was most excellent to get a peek into the brain of this genius! Introducing Mary Alice!
Through blogging and Instagramming, I’ve been introduced to an amazing Virtual Sisterhood of Creative Ladies.
The Oh Creative Lady series is your chance to meet these incredible, kind-hearted, inspiring <insert ALL the happy, positive adjectives HERE> women.
I’d be stoked if this Creative Lady taught my littles. Cara shares the colourful homeschooling adventures she creates for her daughter, Kinley. I’m pretty sure I’ve asked (on several occasions) if I could come and hang out in their schoolroom. Cara’s enthusiasm and passion for creating fun and engaging learning experiences is awe-inspiring. (Her Nana also sounds like a rock star too. Make sure you read on to hear Nana’s advice.) Not only would I love for Cara to teach my children, but I’d want her to be in my Mother’s Group. She is supportive, hilarious and full of joy. Okay all this gushing is getting embarrassing. Introducing Cara. (more…)
Through blogging and Instagramming, I’ve been introduced to an amazing Virtual Sisterhood of Creative Ladies.
The Oh Creative Lady series is your chance to meet these incredible, kind-hearted, inspiring <insert ALL the happy, positive adjectives HERE> women.
I love a good Leap-of-Faith story. I also love a good Motherhood-Changed-Me-Forever-and-so-I-Took-a-Leap-of-Faith story. If you do too, then you’re going to love reading about this Oh Creative Lady.
Shelly is the Head Creative behind Creating Creatives, an insanely rad site for ideas on raising artsy and craftsy small humans. We first met on Instagramwhere we bonded over music, colour, British vs American English and the antics of her hilarious and adorable daughter. Shelly also happens to be just a wonderfully lovely and supportive human. Although I’ll overlook the whole Marmite-loving thing. #Vegemiteforever
I am… Karla, but you can call me Karlita. I’m a mama, a wife, a friend, an introvert, a twin, a carbohydrateholic, a cat lady, a daydreamer, a designer, a maker and a wannabe art teacher.
I was born in Mexico and moved to the US (against my will!) to attend college in El Paso, TX. I studied graphic design and in my last year at university I got an internship opportunity in Knoxville, TN with Scripps Networks, the parent company to a handful of cable TV channels like HGTV, Food Network & Travel Channel. That opportunity lead me to my current job with the company as a graphic designer… that was almost 10 years ago!
I’m really proud of… Working hard to overcome my shyness. I have always been a shy person but I had learned little by little to overcome it and it has not been easy. But it has been so fulfilling and it have opened many doors that before I would feel so intimidated to knock upon.
