My Creative Passion
Hello, and welcome to Artistic Atmosphere! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Erin, and I am a wife, a work-my-butt-off-mom (WMBOM) of an absolutely amazing little 15 month old, I work full time as a gymnastics coach, and I am a recently new entrepreneur. All of that leaves little time for anything else, as many other working moms out there can attest to.
I started my own little business through a desire to share the creative spirit with others, to share inspiration and to build something that will show my son that his imagination and what he can accomplish has no limits... All while making it so that I can coach gymnastics because I love it, not because I need to work full time.
When I was a kid, I had a TON of different hobbies. My mom taught me to sew when I was 5 years old (like real sewing, with a grown up sewing machine), I learned knitting, crochet, beading... I learned HTML and graphic design from tutorials on the internet and made my own websites (before that was a thing that people did...), I loved dance, gymnastics, music, you name it, if it was creative, I couldn't get enough, whether I was talented at it or not, it made me feel free. It still makes me feel free.
Although it feels like just yesterday when I was a kid, a teenager, a young lady, I have much less time to devote to my creative hobbies now, but I still try to surround myself with them, and I use other ways of sparking my creativity, one of which has been creating Artistic Atmosphere.
I create through decorating my own home, choosing bright colors on my walls and framing artwork, as well as decorating my sewing room with purple walls and unicorns (because I'm 12 years old, obviously...).
I create through cooking healthy, organic food and organizing my home (or trying to...) to be as efficient as possible, and working out as often as I can (because I feel WAY better when I'm in shape, which I'm currently not so much... ugg!) so that I can enjoy looking alright and feeling better than alright.
I create through raising my son, who is the most, adorable, energetic, hilarious, intelligent, athletic little boy and has more character than many people 10 times his size. The speed at which he learn new things just baffles me, and I can truly say that motherhood is an experience that has changed my perspective in ways I never imagined.
I create through coaching my gymnasts, who are some of the toughest, hardest working kids out there. It was a childhood dream of mine to coach high level gymnastics, and I take a lot of pride in helping my girls to become better gymnastics, general athletes, and especially as people - in a world where instant gratification, the latest tech toys and shallow relationships are trendy. They learn to work hard to earn their achievements and to have integrity, two skills I've observed to be greatly lacking in parts of our society.
I create through bettering myself as a person, because to become stagnant in one's life sounds like a bad time (been there, done that). I try to educate myself and learn about the things I'm interested in, keeping in mind that the only people who can't learn are those who know it all...
I create through my felt letter boards, which has been a labor of love for the last 4 months, and I can't wait to introduce to you in March 2018. There are ENDLESS creative ways to use them, and I am really excited to see them in your homes as well as my own!
I am a perfectionist to the core, but I have learned to let it go quite a bit since I got married (because spouses rarely share your pet peeves and anal tendencies, just ask Jesse), and even more since having a baby (puke in the hair? I've got this)... Gotta pick your battles, if you know what I mean. When I was a little girl, I was the one who didn't like getting dirty, who loved anything in the color pink or anything pretty (unicorns, mermaids, bows, ribbons, etc.). I couldn't handle anyone being mad at me, and I was without doubt, a crybaby. I was shy, and the teachers pet, and I HATED making mistakes.
Life has thoroughly disabused me of that, and I've seen time and time again that mistakes create learning, and growth can follow. Although I still don't like making mistakes (because, who does?), I can confront them with calmness (most of the time) and appreciate the lessons they can teach. Now I'm the one who buys whole chickens and cuts them up myself to save money. I'm the one who uses power tools and puts together furniture (using the instructions, because I'm female ;-D) and although it isn't my preferred state, I'm not afraid to get dirty... But I am also still the girl who likes the unicorns, mermaids, and anything pink.
You can freak out about the puke in the hair...
Or you can embrace it as a weird, gross, side-effect of having a super awesome little monster to call your own, and just enjoy life.
It is a choice, and I choose the second one. :-)
Owner, Artistic Atmosphere
