Hi There, I’m Joan
And if you ever see me stopped alongside the road, don’t worry, I’m meant to be there!! More than likely I am probably just picking up another old door, a rusty metal bucket or even a rickety ole’ chair that someone “ditched” and I just couldn’t pass by!!
To be honest — I just can’t help myself – I have an eye for finding old junk! But that’s because I don’t see junk, I see possibilities. Because there is always some sort of fun, useful and beautiful treasure hidden under those dirty, dusty, and scuffed up exteriors.
I believe that everything “old” has a story that is just waiting to be told and that old Junk is just old Junk until you give it a purpose. That’s exactly what I’m here to help you do!
So how did I get here, turning trash into treasure?
I realize now, it’s a passion that is in my blood.
I grew up in an artistic and entrepreneurial family. My mom, my grandmother, and aunts all loved creating and sharing their creativity with the world. As a child, they taught me how to paint ceramics, how to macramé, how to tole paint and how to cross stitch just to name a few. In high school, my favorite classes were my art classes. You know how everyone has that one teacher that made a difference? Well, even though I didn’t realize it back then, for me it was my art teacher. She taught us about color, different painting mediums, beadwork and how to work with a potter’s wheel designing our own pieces. I fell in love with creating beautiful things.
And yet, I didn’t believe those beautiful things could get me anywhere.
As I graduated from high school and began looking towards the future, I dreamed of a career in interior design. And yet, living in a small country town in the rural Midwest, it seemed completely impractical.
I chose Veterinary Science instead, the practical choice for a farming and ranching community.
I made it through one year of Pre –Veterinary Science and realized that was definitely NOT what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
And so, unsure of what the next step was, I came back to the farm to reflect and to start a new chapter in my life–a chapter that turned into a whole book.
I went to work at the local bank as a teller, found the love of my life on a hog farm, got married and settled into what I thought was the absolute best love story on earth.
In six years, we added four babies to our brood, and needless to say my artistic creativity was put on hold, locked up in captivity, while I tried to find some type of a routine that would keep me sane!
But every little bit I would get lucky and find one little sliver of time, usually after everyone was in bed, to do a little crafting! IT was what was keeping me sane – IT was my outlet – and here again that captive creativity was slowly escaping and showing up in little craft projects scattered around my house.
Over the next several years we welcomed 4 more children to the “tribe”, as we were now beginning to be called! Times were busy (like folding 87 pairs of socks a week!) and money was tight (like using duct tape to keep the dryer door shut!). We had gotten out of the hog business and we were buying a ranch and I was still working full time at the bank. I kept trying to find new ways to earn extra money. I had a crafting business, I sold Beauty Products, I had a Photography Business and a Framing Business.
But what I really wanted was just to be a Stay-At-Home-Mom! The only problem with that plan was that I had to be able to make as much money working from home as I made at my full time job, and that just wasn’t happening – in fact it was going the other way and I found myself buried in a heap of debt. These were extremely trying times, in fact the only way I survived was by my faith in God, saying a lot of prayers and knowing His never ending love would pull me out of this deep black hole.
And even then, through all of that doubt and fear– there was that creativity – it just kept reappearing – like it was in my blood!
Not even realizing that I was still holding onto that sentiment from so many years ago, that said “Interior Design is not practical” – I had been trying to down play my true desire to just do it. I realized that subconsciously I had been letting it hold me back! And I started to slowly unlock the door and the creativity escaped……..again!
I started going to small junk vendor shows and bringing home some fun treasures. I would create fun crafty things all year and then sell them at our Christmas Show. I would take junk I had repurposed, things I had crafted and furniture I had painted to local art festivals and sell my wares!! People loved what I was bringing and they were wanting more! And for me, personally, it provided that creative outlet that just let me …… be me!!
Then a little miracle happened….. I had been praying about finding a place to work on all of the junk collections that had gathered in the garage and the basement. I needed somewhere warm in the winter and a place where I didn’t have to pick it all up and put it away when company was coming! The basement just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I thought about remodeling the garage – or building one little heated room in the shop……and then, just like that, I had the opportunity to rent a studio on the top floor of a business building on Main Street!!! It was the perfect answer. And once again I realized that God answers prayers. Always.
We had our first Vintage Christmas show in the new Shop and it was amazing!! My customers were asking questions like “How did you paint this piece?” and “Can you teach me how to do this?” or “What kind of special paint do you have to use to do this?” and “Where do you find all of this wonderful junk?” “Are you going to have painting classes?” “Could you just come over and decorate my house for me?”
And then finally, after all these years, it clicked!
I could use this new shop to share my “creative spirit” to help so many other people create the wonderful pieces they love and then use those to create a room as beautiful and as functional as those decorating magazine pages always promise.
Of course, this is where YOUR junk story begins………
My goal and passion is to inspire you and to motivate you – to give you the information and instruction you need to be confident in your ability to CREATE and DECORATE!!
To make your home the next beautiful page in the magazine!
Let’s get busy and have some fun!!
Happy Creating ~
Joan
“Junk is just Junk – until you give it a purpose!”