Not So Cli-Shéa: Meet the Maker: ME!

Happy Monday! I'm SO excited to be starting this new "Meet the Maker" series! Even though I grappled with it for a bit, I figured the best place to start was with yours truly! Over the course of this blog I have shared plenty about myself but I figured why not let everyone formally "meet" me!

Tell me a little bit about yourself...

Hi Friends!

I'm Shea and I am the creative redhead behind Not So Cli-Shéa. I'm married and live in sunny Southern California with my husband and two piebald dachshunds. I enjoy craft beer, country music and the occasional necessary gangster rap. My hair can usually be found in a bun.

What is it that you make and how did you get started?

I make just about everything but lately my real passion has been party goods, things like banners, photo props, cake and cupcake toppers. I'm a hostess by nature (I like to think I got that from my grandmother) so I love hosting parties. Seriously, I'll use any excuse to throw a party, sometimes I even make them up (does ChristmAugust ring a bell?). I'm not exactly sure how I got started making but it has been something I have been doing as long as I can remember. The craft store has always been my home away from home. I vividly remember the first time I used a sewing machine. I was probably 6 and my babysitter wanted to teach me how to make a scrunchie (I was a child of the 90's). Once I knew how, I was hooked. I got my mom to register me for a class through the city and started sewing as much as I could. Even though I don't sew as much these days, I still dust off my sewing machine around Christmas each year to have a stocking making party (told you I'll use any excuse to throw a party) where I teach all my girlfriends how to make stockings. Aside from that sewing class through the city, I am pretty much self taught in all things crafty, with the exception of the occasional YouTube video.

Loves: Slurpees, sleeping in, french fries, a good cheeseburger (you know the kind, from those diner type places), pickles (but only halves or spears, I don't like the little slices they put on burgers), cereal, thrift stores, flea markets, the smell of books, poppies, cheese, unusual pet friendships and dogs... like ALL the dogs, I want them all... is that too much to ask?

Hates: Being hot, seriously though.... I HATE being hot, blow drying my hair, rude people, returning the cart at the grocery store (I already am not a fan of going to the grocery store and having to return the cart is like the straw that broke the camels back for me... don't worry though, I always return it, I'm not one of those people).

Guilty Pleasures: I don't feel that guilty about it, but probably the tv show Friends. I watch it constantly. Yes I've seen every single episode multiple times and no, I don't plan to stop any time soon. The "Disney station" on Pandora, also don't feel too guilty about this one haha.

Cocktail of Choice: Oh man that's a hard one. I'm a firm believer that your beverage depends on the occasion/environment. Like while on a beach vacation, you should definitely have a lava flow in your hand. When you're at a baseball game you should have a nice cold beer. And when celebrating, champagne is always the answer. I'm also always a sucker for a "signature cocktail". Lately I've been enjoying lots of new craft beers, but if I HAD to choose just one drink, I'm embarrassed to say, my go-to is a Captain and Diet Coke.

What advice to you have for fellow makers?

My advice would probably just be, do what makes you happy. I know this sounds so cliche, but I think sometimes people get so focused on making money or doing what they think other people would want that they loose themselves or they aren't even happy making what they're making. It took me awhile to make a decent amount of money being a maker, and I'm still far from it being enough to pay my bills, but I still love doing it. When I hear that cha-ching on my Etsy app, my little maker heart flutters, and even moreso when I see that it's a custom order! I genuinely love what I do and I think that's the most important part of being a maker.