Featured Artist April 2009   featuring the artistic talent of Karen Jameison
- What is your artistic contribution and why do you love it?
I design stationery and gift items. Basically, I take plain white paper and make it pretty! I create note cards, invitations, stickers, bag tags, party favors, clipboards, personalized plates and trays and much, much more. I love doing what I do because it lets me use my creativity. I've always got ideas running through my head but one girl only needs so many note cards and personalized pens so its great to be able to create the things I love for other people.
- Where do you practice your craft?
I make all of my creations in my home office but I like to call it "The PaperDoll Studio" because that makes it sound fancy.
- How does your family support and/or participate in your artistic endeavors?
My family is a HUGE support! My fabulous husband sometimes helps with the books and he has been known to wrap a few cute candy bars. My three little darlings love to "help" and they make great little sales reps. They love to take the things I make for them to school to show their friends. Most evenings you can find the whole family "working" in the studio.
- When the well runs dry how do you recharge your creative spark?
CAFFEINE. Lots of caffeine. I'm a night owl so I find that I am much more creative at 2 am than at 8 am.
I also get recharged by walking the wrapping paper aisles and looking at fabric. I love walking down an aisle filled with colors and patterns. I'll often see a color combo that I love and run home to my laptop to start designing.
- What is your life motto?
"Life is an occasion, rise to it." Mr. Magorium
I loved the movie and love that quote!
I also love Acts 20:24 which is on the back of all of my fold over note cards: "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love."
- What is the biggest enemy of your creativity?
TIME. Being a work at home mom to three kids, I don't have a lot of time to be creative. A lot of times I don't start my "work day" until about 8 or 9 pm and by the time I fill all my orders I don't have the energy to create new products and designs.
7. What are some of your inspirations?
My kids are my inspirations. My new creations are usually for them. Nora loves all things pink and frou frou so I love to make things for her. I have to stretch my creative muscles when I am creating for Graham and Charlie because I tend to be a little girly with my designs.
I'm inspired daily by all the creative people out there in blogland. I just got into blogging about a year ago and it has been a huge inspiration and has really changed my business for the better.
- List some of your favorite inspirational and creative websites or blogs for us to bask in!
I love to stop by these sites to get a creative spark:
http://www.paper-source.com/ I love their paper colors
http://www.etsy.com/ There are so many creative sellers on Etsy…I'm amazed at all the fabulous finds!
http://www.sarahandabraham.blogspot.com/ This girl is a wealth of information! She's an amazing designer and although our styles are way different I love to check her out every once in a while.
I'm a blog addict…I can find inspiration all day long just by surfing blogs.
- Who influences you?
My friends, my family, my customers, Target. Seriously. I can be totally influenced by the colors I see when I am walking the aisles at Target. Walk in when the seasons are changing and you can tell what colors are going to be hot. I'll instantly start designing in my head with the new colors of the season.
- What was your first job?
My first job was in retail. I worked at Dewey's Clothiers in Tulsa when I turned 16. I loved it! I was a terrible sales person , I'm too shy, but I loved to unpack all the new clothes that came in and I loved the discount.
- What do you know for sure about the creative process?
I know for sure that my mind is always spinning…I'm always thinking about what I can create next…I know that being creative keeps me happy and BUSY!
12. What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you were younger?
I wish I had known that it was okay to go down the artistic path. I assumed in college that if I was going to be successful I needed to get a parent approved degree that would look great on a resume. If I had known that one day I would own my own creative business, I would have studied graphic design.
- Is there any current or upcoming project that you'd like our readers to know about?
I'm currently working on a new and improved website. It's a slow process (remember, time is my enemy) but I hope to have it up and running soon.
- Can you share with us a teeny tiny short bio about your creative process and the background behind it? For example, how did it all begin? Did your parents influence you growing up? What was your first "creation" like?
I've always been creative. My parents say creativity skips a generation and they weren't really into the artsy craftsy stuff. I remember begging my mom when I was very young to teach me to sew. She sent me over to a neighbors house to learn and I loved it. I spent hours as a child designing clothes for my paper dolls, making tiny beds out of boxes and fabric for my doll house and cutting pictures out of magazines to make collages. I remember being over the top crazy in love the first time I saw one of those lapboards that everyone made in college. I think I decoupaged something for everyone I knew. I was the rush book editor in college and I was fascinated by the process and loved learning how a printed publication was made. I also worked for a graphic design t-shirt company in college and used to stare over the artists shoulders while they worked. After college I got a job installing computers and doing software training and I hated it. For fun I took quilting classes and cake decorating classes and loved it. After my first child was born I started making birthday invitations and note cards and when my daughter came along I went crazy creating pretty pink paper. My life long friend Kara encouraged me to start a business. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that creating was what I should have been doing all along.
 You can visit Karen at her blog PaperDoll Designs Blog or on her website at PaperDoll Designs. Look for her new website to be launched soon!
Featured Artists Are you interested in being a Featured Artist of the Month or know someone who you'd like to see Featured? Please contact me with the details including your name, website or blog, and a brief description of your creative inspiration and talent. Please submit your email with Featured Artist of the Month in the subject line!
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