I’m an artist, crafter, instructor, author, Bible journaler, plein air painter….if I can add color to it, I do!
My vision
I love to use my God-given gifts to encourage others to find their own artistic gifting, whatever that might be. I truly believe Psalm 139:14 is true of each of us: I am fearfully and wonderfully made; we have been endowed with gifts that are worth sharing! I create to help others to step out and try something new!
I believe everyone is naturally creative.I believe that life is an adventure filled with untapped creativity.I believe that art has the power to transform the world. I believe that we have a responsibility impact our world for good wherever we can.
My vision is to see a new renaissance unleashed around the globe. Whatever part I can play in realizing that – I’m all in!
My Creative Journey
I’ve been papercrafting since the early 1990s, though my life has been full of creativity since I was a small child. My dream as a young girl was to become an art teacher, as I admired those who had encouraged me.
I attended Frostburg State University, but not in art education as I had planned; this was in the time period when art funding was drastically cut from schools, and my advisor suggested I study graphic design. “Eating is a good thing!” After graduation with a BA degree, I led a long career as a marketing graphic designer and illustrator at agencies and organizations in New York City, San Francisco, Montana, and Washington State.
Papercrafting became a major part of my life in the late 1990s in church ministries and charitable works. I discovered cardmaking, coloring with Copics and pencils, and all my free time was taken up by them! I started blogging finally in 2007 — and haven’t stopped.
My activities eventually led to the start of a wildly successful charity, Operation Write Home. Founded in 2007, I nurtured it into a million-dollar charity – on a shoestring budget, using social media alone. My gifts as a technically savvy content creator and volunteer organizer served the organization well until it closed due to reduced need for our services.
A life in art
In 2013 I left the 9 to 5 world and began making an earnest effort at pursuing a life of art.
My passion to grow in my own skills and share my passion with others led me to increased teaching on my YouTube channel, with tutorials on a growing array of coloring mediums and products. The desire to teach more deeply than is possible on YouTube, I began to create classes at a variety of different levels and in different mediums, and in 2017 opened Art-Classes.com to host them in one big beautiful creative space online.
In the same timeframe, I was approached about writing a book on Bible Journaling, which was quite the adventure! It’s leading to many more opportunities to reach more people – especially those who have never thought of themselves as creative. I become wildly excited at the idea of turning new people on to creating art from their heart! I am honored to share my knowledge and encourage others to step out and become the artists they were meant to be!
As my little business as an artist has grown exponentially, I realized that my childhood dreams are coming true: I have become an art teacher!
My Experience
The ol’ crafty resume…
- Instructor: Art-Classes.com
- Content Creation: Ellen Hutson, Hero Arts, Purple Onion Designs, May Arts, My Favorite Things
- Product Design: Hero Arts, Whimsy Stamps, Stampers Best, Simon Says Stamp.
- Design Teams: Ellen Hutson, My Favorite Things, May Arts, Eat Cake Graphics, Oozak, MelJens Designs.
- Publications: Cardmaker Magazine, Papercrafts Magazine, HubSpot
- Teaching Online: Art-Classes.com, Imagination International/Copic. Online Card Classes.
- Teaching In-Person: Absolutely Everything, Impress Cards and Crafts, Queens Ink, Angela’s Happy Stamper, Scrampers, Art n Soul, Hero Arts, Simon Says Create.