hey friends!
what's the deal, yo? did you sign up for the Creative Pay It Forward? Are you dreaming big dreams and figuring out what you can do to help people? Ballin'.
I want to introduce you to these two awesome chicks, Rachel & Jessica from CMYfabrik. Rachel is an interior designer, and Jessica is a graphic designer and they are all up in that creativity. I wanted to talk to them because I felt like they had a sweet spin on the creative life, and there's nothing more I love than learning from other people and hearing their stories.
Here they are! Cuties.
Fel: For the both of you, when and where did all the creative magic start you happen? Any particular moments you remember when you were both like, yeah, this is what we want!
Rachel: Last year I was finishing up at the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham. In December I needed to figure out what the heck I wanted to do after graduating. While in school I was taught by mostly architects & they made it feel like after school we should go straight to working at a design firm. I’ve toyed w/the idea but could never see myself at a buttoned up place like that. I ended up just doing freelance because it fits best for me right now.
We wanted a way to show people what we were about, and what we could do. Our blog was the best way to reach people in an organized way. So in December we just decided to jump in with all the other bloggers and claim our little piece of design heaven.
Jessica: As for the creative juices they were pretty much always there, it doesn't hurt having a sci-fi artist for a dad and a mom that made our clothes from scratch when we were babies. I knew from a young age I loved making things but never really embraced it. It actually started out w/me taking things apart and trying to put them together again. I became the one called on to fix things like the VCR or computer.
Being surrounded by a dad & a sister who could whip up anything at the drop of a hat with a pen and paper bummed me out, seeing as my drawings were sub-par...to say the least, lol. My mom taught me how to sew when I was in middle school and I was addicted, it started out with little things until one day I decided I was going to make my prom dress...which came out pretty good if I do say so myself :)
Anyway it wasn’t until my senior year when I started asking myself “what do I want to do when I grow up?” It’s kind of a tradition in our family to join the military out of high school. Seeing my big sis being the “hard-core” Marine chick that she is (even though almost any sappy love flick can make her tear up) made me realize I was going to join the Army. My step-dad told me “If you don't know what you want to do, just choose something computer related” -knowing that I loved fixing things. I thought I’d get some type of IT job, then the Army recruiter came back with a graphic design job and the rest is history...
Fel: Rachel, you spend your time prettying up people's spaces and making them happy. What about the process is the most satisfying to you? What is your process?
Rachel:That moment when all your hard work comes together. Being able to see a real space exist when several months ago it only existed in your brain. My process looks like this: I’m usually out meeting new people & they find out I’m an Interior Designer. They’re either like “Hey I know someone who needs help!” or “Hey I need help!”. After figuring out what they need & how much I have to work with, I’ll create a board for them or design their space in an Autodesk program called Revit. (It makes a 3D model of floor plans I draw up).
Anyway, I’ll show them my ideas for their room and if they like it I’ll go shopping for them. It takes trial & error but eventually everything I buy them or DIY for them fits their style. When all’s done, I get to see their face when they finally understand the design I started out showing them. Then I take “after” pics so I can post them on our blog!
Fel:Jessica, what gets you going about graphic design? And how about that Etsy shop? What inspires you?
Jessica: Honestly what gets me going is the endless possibilities that come with the job. When I’m sitting in front of my computer listening to the comedy station on Pandora I feel complete. There’s so many design solutions for any particular project and once it gets flowing, I can't stop. Even when I’m about to fall asleep, Im still going over things in my head. Sometimes I’ll pull out my phone’s voice recorder so I don't forget my amazing ideas...even though sometimes what I thought was cool when I’m half asleep doesn’t turn out so cool in the morning. But that’s the beauty of it, one lame idea can turn into 5 other ideas & before you know it you have something you’re uber proud of.
As for my Etsy shop I started that because I saw the cutest sleep mask that Khloe Kardashian was wearing and I absolutely loved it. After not being able to find one like it I decided to make one, (don’t know why that wasn’t my first thought) then one turned into 10 and I started selling them...It’s nothing big but it’s one of my creative outlets that I mentioned where I can zone out and make cute things.
Fel: For the both of you, what has been the most challenging thing about pursuing a creative life?
Rachel: We already have all these ideas floating around in our heads about posts or DIYs we want to do. It just depends on our schedule, finding time to put a post together and making it understandable or interesting. We try to do new posts every Tuesday & Thursday, but sometimes school and work make it harder for us to get it out there. On days like that, we work together to help each other out and do posts that tie into one another to satisfy our readers regardless of which one of us they’re mainly following the blog for.
Jessica: It definitely works out great that we think alike in many ways...it’s funny even though we’re two years apart people have always mistaken us for twins and I know I’'m thankful to have Rach there. I know she understands where I’m coming from and when she sees me getting overwhelmed w/school she has no problem stepping in and helping out however she can. We’ve always wanted to do something together but never really dove in, but I think this past year we just knew it was the perfect time. Being sisters I expected the most challenging thing would be us working on this project & not fighting or being competitive- but it helps living in two different states I guess :)
Fel: How has both of your passions allowed you to do dabble in other hobbies you're interested in? What else have they led you to?
Jessica: We’ve been making things and DIY’ing it up for years now, we should have been the one to start Pinterest (but that’s for another day, lol). We see things and whether it’s because it’s crazy expensive or we think we could do it better has pretty much been the driving force behind our creative hobbies.
Rachel: I definitely agree with Jess on this one. Plus I looove to save clients money so DIY projects are great to do because it gives their space a more personal feel. Those projects are the time to customize things so it feels more like the client and less like something off the assembly line in China. I get to sew them curtains, make pillows, paint pictures or even make picture frames from scratch. In the future it’d be cool to take classes to learn how to make pottery, woodworking crap and other things that I rely on stores for. In school I took a lighting class and learned how to make light fixtures, that too would be cool to learn more about so I could do it more often.
Fel: And finally, what can you tell our readers about how they can start living the creative life they want, and why they should even think about living one in the first place? What's one question you would tell them to ask themselves?
Jessica: In my opinion everyone should allow a little time in their lives for some sort of creative outlet. It can be such a stress reducer and just allows that “me time” that most people need. My advice is don't allow yourself to be a perfectionist, I don't mean just throw some tin cans and glue together and call it art (even though it possibly could be) I just mean don't get discouraged. That’s one thing I still sometimes struggle with today, if it doesn't come out exactly the way I pictured it I get bummed, but one thing that Rachel has helped me to realize is even if you mess up or it doesn't come out perfect you can ALWAYS tweak it and make it better, it’s not the end of the world.
I guess the question I would tell people to ask themselves would be, “have I used enough glitter?” because there’s always room for more!!
Rachel: It’s good to have that extra thing that makes you happy. People these days come home from work, eat then zone out on TV for hours then go to bed and do it all over the next day. If you don’t have something fun to look forward to or new things to learn, it’s like what’s the fun in that?! Even if you’re not “creative” hang out on Pinterest for an hour or two and see how many projects you come across that you’ve been wanting to try. Even the people that say they’re not “creative” just haven’t found the hobby that unlocks their awesomeness.
One question to ask yourself is: “Am I doing enough in life to make me happy?” If not, find something that makes you...
Hope your 2013 is full of design, inspiration & color, all you classy broads!
Thank you so much, ladies! I am so feelin' all the glitter. Take a look at Rachel & Jessica's site, CMYfabrik, and just check how talented they are. They're on Twitter + Facebook + Pinterest, too. Love love love.
+ And if you haven't seen it yet, there's a new creative writing vid up on the Tube! Subscrizzle, yo. And let me know how you're doing! I mean it. :) fel@feliciaspahr.com
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