The World of Women Create Podcast

Listen to Jo Packham and Mary Engelbreit, a virtuoso in the art community, discuss what it takes to make it to the top, how to continue to create new and exciting work, and Mary's partnerships with other artists, like Lori Siebert, who is a featured guest on this episode!

Over 40 years ago, Mary Engelbreit launched her own company with a strong desire for creative freedom and a line of 12 greeting cards. The head of a highly successful business bearing her name, Mary is one of the country’s premier designers and artists. She is known throughout the world for her distinctive illustration style and design sensibility, modestly referred to as “eclectic traditional”. Mary’s signature art, imbued with spirited wit and warmth, appears on thousands of products, including greeting cards, books (design, gift, children’s, cooking, home, and art), calendars, stationery, fabric, crafts, kitchen accessories, dinnerware, and other home décor items.

Learn more about Mary Engelbreit:

Instagram

Website

Facebook

Listen to P. Marin (Rachel), and Jo Packham dive into the topic of finding hope during tough times, P. Marin's kidlit writing and illustrating process, and believing anything is possible! P. Marin is the author/illustrator of the acclaimed Pig and Chick Series. She’s an SCBWI honor award recipient and was recently featured in the Winter edition of Where Women Create. She lives in Huntington Beach, California with her husband and their son who she affectionately refers to as The Domestic Zookeeper. When not spending time with family and friends, you can find P. Marin in her studio 

With much going on in the world today, P. Marin no longer believes it’s only the little ones in need of hope. So, with her latest book, The Goal is Hope, she’s trading in her children’s book hat for one with a wider brim big enough to cover us all.

Learn more about Rachel a.k.a P. Marin: 

Instagram

Website

You can be born with the gift of creativity and artistic abilities, but you can also gain these skills through determination and enthusiasm. Listen to Marian Parsons, and Jo Packham chat about art and creativity as learned skills. Marian is the creative force behind the blog Miss Mustard Seed, a paint enthusiast, artist, encourager, bibliophile & lover of all things home. She is also the author of Feels Like Home, a home décor book released in October 2021.

Marian lives in the Midwest with her husband, two boys, two cats, and a dog. She is the epitome of a multi-passionate entrepreneur with a spiderweb of creative endeavors including writing, photography, design, fine art, furniture refinishing and home décor. She has a habit of turning every hobby into a business, which can be simultaneously amazing and a problem, especially when it comes to creating a studio that accommodates all of her ideas. 

Learn more about Marian Parsons a.k.a Miss Mustard Seed —

Website

Instagram

Youtube

Listen to Lori Siebert, Kenzie Elston, and Jo Packham chat about all the ins and outs of what it is like working as a mother-daughter duo. In Lori's first podcast episode, she discussed her perspective of having a daughter who loves art just as much as she does. Now, Lori and Kenzie come together to share their story together. 

Kenzie Elston is a born creative who loves color, whimsy and all things floral. With a degree in graphic design, she works for her parents’ small design firm Olika, who licenses art to a variety of companies. Outside of illustrating, Kenzie is a notorious collector of sketchbooks, antique tchotchkes, and novels and she lives for daily dance parties with her 6 and 4-year-old sons.

Listen to Lori's full episode HERE!

Learn more about Kenzie Elston —

Instagram: @snippetsofwhimsy

Website: Lori Siebert & Co - Kenzie's Work

Learn more about Lori Siebert —

Instagram: @lorisiebert.studio

Website: Lori Siebert & Co

In this episode of WOMEN CREATE’s FROM MY KITCHEN TABLE podcast, Jo Packham is joined by special guest Deanne Fitzpatrick, an artist renowned worldwide for her beautiful rugs and patterns. Learn everything from how Deanne first got into rug hooking to the ebb and flow of trends and techniques, what inspires her new collections, and more!

Deanne's work is in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and she is the author of seven books. She works from her studio in downtown Amherst, Nova Scotia where she writes and teaches on her website, hookingrugs.com, and creates beauty every day.

More From Deanne —  

Instagram: @deannefitzpatrickhookingrugs

Website: hookingrugs.com

Meditations for Makers Deanne's New Book, Available NOW!

Listen to Jo Packham and artist, writer and founder of Curly Girl Design, Inc., Leigh Standley discuss celebrating a big milestone, 20 years in business in the next year. Additionally, Leigh dives into the topic of longevity and creativity in business for the long haul.

In its nearly twenty years in business, Curly Girl Design and Leigh’s line of clever and colorful greeting cards and giftware have changed the way we connect with each other with cards and gifts. Harnessing the power of language and humor to help people feel seen and understood, Leigh’s work has set trends in the industry, been distributed worldwide and most recently earned her the prestigious “Writer of the Year” LOUIE award from the Greet Card Association.

After 20 years in Boston, Leigh now lives in the mid-west with her husband and twin 8-year-olds. She believes firmly in the power of creativity and community to unlock our truest selves and is proudly “Living imperfectly with great delight.”

Links: www.curlygirldesign.com

IG: @curlygirldesign or @leigh.standley

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*Leigh shared a story of a conversation with business owner Jason Fried of Basecamp.

Listen to Jo Packham and author & artist Sabrina Ward Harrison as they discuss the importance of living a creative life. Sabrina dives into her motto of, "Our lives are just a handmade journey. Trust that the story is unfolding as it should," discussing her chosen path and how it has shaped her personal and professional life. Additionally, learn about Sabrina's love of books and her book writing process. 

Bring Your Book to Life:

Lori Siebert began her design business in 1987, just 3 years after graduating with a degree in graphic design. With her husband Steve, as her business partner, she spent the first 20 years focused on branding, packaging, and print materials for clients like Target, Nickelodeon, and Bath & Body Works. Her studio also spent a few years doing environmental graphics for the city of Ciniccinatti and for Universal Studios in Florida. About 14 years ago, her design firm switched focus to art licensing. Lori and her designers create art, pattern, and product concepts for licensing with a variety of manufacturers. These designs have been featured on ceramics, wall decor, stationery, rugs, pillows ... all kinds of gifts, and home decor products. Today, Steve and Lori's daughter, Kenzie, works as a designer with them. Lori is looking forward to supporting Kenzie in licensing while she concentrates on her loves ... painting and making and hosting art retreats in gorgeous locations.

Listen in to Lori Siebert and Jo chat about the many chapters and learnings from Lori’s 35 year career as a graphic designer, artist, product developer and retreat host. Lori shares her thoughts on having an agent, being a chameleon vs. having a signature look, and tips to building long-lasting client partnerships. She also talks about all of the exciting things that are part of her next chapter… including working with her talented daughter, Kenzie Elston and being a featured artist on Bloom TV Network!

Learn about Lori's Retreats Here:

Richwood on the River, Kentucky (October 17-20, 2022)

France (September 5-8, 2022)

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Visit Lori’s website, Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest!

• Check your library’s online resources. LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) is free through many libraries. Universal Class is also available through the library.
• Craftsy.com has a number of classes for purchase, either monthly or per class.
• Do a search on YouTube, especially for product photography or interior photography.

Michele Muska's approach to working with a variety of brands and designers is similar to how she lives her life. Surrounding herself with people she finds interesting, kind, and passionate about what they do is something she looks for in others and strives for personally.

Understanding what it means to be an artist has certainly given Michele insight into how other designers may feel vulnerable about reaching out to collaborate with larger brands. Her position as the Director of Content for Oliso has given her the opportunity to welcome many different types of designers and influencers to be part of the Oliso community as well as other communities …  and her own community. She hopes what she shares with you in her podcast will be of some help.