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Friday, October 16, 2009

Chrissie Grace Designs

I get a lot of questions about my business, and I thought I would answer some of them by participating in Kelly's party about mom's who have their own small businesses. So if your new here, welcome! And if you come by often, thanks so much for reading and leaving comments and supporting me in all my endeavors!


I have loved art since I was a very little girl. It is a huge part of who I am. If I didn't make any money doing art, I would still do it every single day. It keeps me together, and creating brings so much joy to my soul!

I am a mixed-media mosaic artist and author, and I work almost exclusively from home. I will be leaving this weekend for a photo shoot for my new book and I'll be gone for a whole week! That is a very rare occurence!
Here I am working on a custom painting for the city of Sebastian. These doors were auctioned off for an Autism Event.

These are some of my "She Said" prints, which are available in my etsy shop. I have a lot of big dreams with this line. In the new year I am planning on turning these into not only prints, but cards, necklaces, pillows, and other new items.


I started this series after coming up with the concept of Family Rules. These are also available in my etsy shop.
I started my business over 10 years ago. I was getting my Bachelors Degree in Art Education at the time and I was totally intimidated by all the "real artists" in my class that could draw realistically. Mosaics became my thing!

I started doing lots of local art shows, and through the years I started getting a lot of custom orders by word of mouth.
I've done lots of stuff for schools and city projects, including this 7 foot Alligator.

In 2004 I wrote and published my first book with Northlight Publishing. It is a how-to book on Mosaics. I wrote and published another book with them in 2006 on mosaics as well.
Mosaics are very time consuming, and as we added to our family every couple of years, it became harder to have tile and glass laying around. So I slowly started to get back to mixed-media and painting.

My newest passion is sewing and quilting.
Fabric is my new favorite media.
I love to do custom orders for people, like this monogrammed set of dishtowels.
There's a whole world of sewing and quilting that I'm just beginning to learn about.
The number one question I get is how I work with four kids at home.

My answer is...very sporadically! I give myself self-imposed deadlines, and sometimes work late at night or on the weekends to keep up with them. Naptime is usually spent working, and a lot of times my kids will be painting right alongside of me!

Of course they are my first priority, so there are some days when I don't get any work done!:)
You can see a lot of my art archives at my flickr account here. I do love custom work so please feel free to email me any time!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great weekend friends!
xo
Chrissie

11 comments:

Paul and Cheri said...

Great resume! Have a wonderful week in OH ... pack a coat. We're supposed to get *snow* tonight! :)
ENJOY!!!! xoxo

Salinda said...

Thanks for posting this link. It turns out I went to collage with Kelly. What a small, small world.

the undomesticated wife said...

I'm so happy (and jealous!) that you were able to turn your love into a business!

Beth said...

inspiring!
ps love the alligator!

Ruth said...

I love your artwork. Your books are both wonderful. The new sewing and fabric projects are amazing. I can't wait for your new book.

Ruth

Kelli said...

How great. I have read your blog for a little while but it is nice to see all that you do in one post. Your work is so beautiful. I love the commandments.

lori vliegen said...

i loved reading your story!! i've always had nothing but high admiration for the way you juggle everything! xoxox, :)

Beth Anderson said...

You have such talent and you are an inspiration!

Sarah Brown said...

That is both awesome and very inspiring. You are very talented and I love the She said pics!!!!!

Stopping by from SITS

A Little Of A Lot said...

Love, love , love that alligator. What city is it located in ?

Good luck w/ everything, I saw some items in Hallmark the other day and thought of you... I like your stuff better ;-)

Kim's Treasures said...

You are so talented! Love the alligator!

I posted on our fall swap today!

Have a great day!
Kim