Meet Your Makers!

Good Evening! As we kick off a push to regularly post and keep you in the loop, we can hear birds chirpin' outside open windows, which takes me (Nicole) back to spring days as a kid in Indiana. 

Those memories gave us the idea to start things off by sharing what has influenced our personal styles & tastes. So today I am going to give you a peak {part 1} into my influences and Kara's feature will follow next week. 

Thanks for joinin' with us on this new adventure!

Marsh Road Bridge in good ole' Indiana

This photo includes 3 of my style influences: nature, old/antique and sentimental.

Nature: 
I grew up in the sticks with little to do: movies, bonfires or DQ (still love M&M blizzards!). Summers with my 3 bros had adventures in woods, cornfields and the Big Ditch. 

By default, nature became a primary inspiration, but it stuck and the comments about the branches & tumbleweeds hanging in my house never cease.

   

Old/antique: 
Being raised on a chicken farm (not in, just on), people naturally gifted us anything with a chicken on it. My mom went with it and adorned the kitchen with all sorts of treasures from egg scales to mason jars. So now, I am drawn to anything old.

I have pulled too many u-turns to save a “treasure” from rain, dust and coyote urine and then lovingly cleaned out mouse turds and spider webs. I may need counseling. Hmm.

Sentimental: 
Heading to Seattle for college almost made me... a hoarder. When I graduated, there was a thrift store streak where I'd go weak in the knees for anything that reminded me of my childhood (or anything avocado green). 

Fortunately, my 50 cent impulse buys of grotesque things ended when I realized dusting loads of clutter was more stressful than the fond memories associated with those items.

I'd like to think my parents saw talent in my drawing above, but I'm positive love trumps talent at age 9, so it hung in the kitchen for YEARS! 

I included this photo to emphasis the appreciation I have for artwork that showcases a handmade quality (notice the food stains- bah). 

I am a perfectionist, but there's something in me that time and time again is most drawn to work that isn't perfect because it's made by human hands. It reveals character. It breathes. It's perfect in its imperfection (oh Wabi-Sabi).

I'll wrap up my style influences on the next post, so check in tomorrow! 

What would you point to as the big influences on your personal style? Do you see your style evolving? 


We would love to hear from you!

~k&n