Inside: Kari Hansen, formerly craft editor at Memory Makers magazine, returns to the industry with a DIY craft blog after years as a SAHM.
Let’s play a little musical game! Are you ready?
Okay, first, conjure up the tune to “Back in the Saddle Again”, and channel your inner Gene Autry.
You got it: you’re strumming your cowboy acoustic guitar and tapping your foot. (BTW, great hat!)
Now, plug in these revised lyrics:
I’m back in the craft chair again
Using Copics, ink pads and pens
Where the mojo is flowing
And projects are growing
I’m back in the craft chair again
I’m stampin’ the paper once more
And scrapbooking family lore
Making cards to send and share
All handmade with love and care
I’m back in the craft chair again
How was that gallop in my mental soundtrack for you? I’m so thrilled to be “back in the craft chair” that I just can’t help myself from humming that catchy tune.
Admit it, now it’s stuck in your head too!
Rejoicing in the Return
You might think I’m new to the craft scene if you’re not one of the ten people, besides my mother, that remember me from a long, long time ago when there were still lots of scrapbooking magazines, and blogs hadn’t yet taken over the world.
But actually, Kari Doodle Studio is the third act of my crafting career!
My Act One was craft editor for Memory Makers magazine, the very first scrapbooking mag to start publishing, back in 1996. I worked full-time for Memory Makers for three years, from 2003 to 2005. The ultimate dream job for a magazine geek like me!
After leaving Memory Makers, my second act was publishing a best-selling book with F+W Media, The Scrapbook Designer’s Workbook, and freelancing in the craft industry through 2008.
These were golden years in the evolution of modern papercrafting, and for me too– I grew so much as an artist and writer. I’m so grateful to have been a part of that transformative time in the craft industry!
Detouring to a Different Kind of Project
When expecting my first child in 2008, I fully intended to keep freelancing after she was born.
(Insert sounds of screeching halt and wailing baby.)
But once she arrived, it was clear that I needed to reevaluate that expectation. That beguiling red-headed wonder of a baby girl also happened to be extremely colicky, sensitive and high-maintenance.
And a few years later, a second baby girl was born, just as intense in her own way! No ifs, ands, or diaper pails about it: my motherhood detour was underway.
Lots of other moms have pulled off the duality of work and motherhood, but it just didn’t work out that way for me. They clearly have super-powers I don’t possess!
I never stopped crafting and creating, but as far as maintaining a professional career doing it? Well, I ended up taking an accidental sabbatical.
Read more: Find out more about the “Accidental Sabbatical” scrapbook page shown above, including a supply list and instructions for how to make the inlaid die-cut rose featured in the layout title.
Sure, I dabbled and doodled as the years went on, but my creativity tended to manifest itself within the mom thing.
I organized art playdates for kids. I sewed Halloween costumes and living room curtains. I made sculptural cakes to go with the Pinterest-worthy birthday parties I threw for my kids. (Yes, I’m one of those moms. Have a cupcake.)
All that creative juice had to go somewhere, so why not chocolate fondant and Pippi Longstocking costumes?
Embracing a New Chapter
Love you so much! Now go to school. Now, at ages 6 and 10, my girls are both in school all day. Sigh. I can finally take a breath and embrace the opportunity to become a WAHM. I can get back into my much-missed craft career!
But what’s a magazine contributor like me to do when the mags as I knew them are now gone?
How about I start my own ‘zine, in digital format, otherwise known as a blog?
And so my Act Three began, and this blog, Kari Doodle Studio, was born. With this new chapter, I’m officially back in the craft chair again. I’m so excited, I may break into that catchy song again!
Sing along, because I’m elated you’re here and I can’t wait for you to doodle with me! (And please, keep the hat. It suits you.)
