I love art and artisan-made and hand-crafted items. I grew up loving those things, influenced by my mom, the mosaic artist who knits quilts, spins wool, hooks rugs… You get the idea.

Looking back on my childhood, I realize I never knew how tight things were financially because we were always doing something. Most of the time, we created things at home or spent time at the Flint Public Library and museums. We also got to attend art classes at the Flint Institute of Arts. I have to hand it to my mom. She did a great job of doing a lot with a little.

As a disabled adult with minimal income, art and one-of-a-kind handmade items often feel out of my financial reach unless I create them. This is why I started my Affordable Art Revolution in January 2023.

I was inspired by my musician friends who have held virtual concerts with “pay-what-you-can” ticket prices. My friend and fabulous musician, Austin Lucas, did a “pay-what-you-can” songwriting promotion for the holidays in 2020. I paid $75 for a custom song written for Jeff, my Person, as a Christmas gift. I otherwise would never have been able to get him such a meaningful gift. It is one of our most prized “possessions.”


Crafting became my self-care as an adult.

I began learning applique and embroidery with Bucilla felt kits in 2016. Hand stitching and sewing became my soul’s refuge when I became disabled. I didn’t know just how much of a part of my life stitching would be.

I live with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD,) Major Depressive Disorder (MDD,) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD.) In addition to my mental health diagnoses, I live with severe chronic pain and multiple conditions and diagnoses that contribute to that pain. Mainly it all revolves around my spine. (You can learn more about my medical experiences and things at my old blog, Nerdzilla Lives!)



For a period of about 3 years, I lived mostly on a couch. There were periods when I couldn’t walk or sit upright and lost about 95% of my mobility. It seems like fate that I would have picked this hobby up just about six months before the worst of my pain hit. And as bad as the physical pain was, it was almost nothing compared to the emotional and medicalized trauma I experienced while searching for answers regarding my pain. Hand stitching, for me, is meditative, which positively impacts my anxiety. 


Stitch. Breathe. Stich. (Throw in some ‘pray’ now and again. Now also throw in a little “bitch” because stitching and bitching can also be a thing.) 
That about sums up how I got through six major surgeries and 5.5 years of a legal battle over my disability benefits.

Why do I create so many Bucilla/Plaid Crafts kits?

When I was a baby, my great-grandmother Mable made me (and all the other great-grandkids) a felt applique stocking. I love that stocking. I have loved it well my whole life. I am 40 as I write this, and this was the first year I didn’t hang anything in my stocking because it finally needed repairs.

When my older sister had her firstborn, I wanted to make him a stocking as unique as mine. Then, his sister came along, so I made her one. I was entirely hooked after that.

I’ve tried kits by other brands, and they were horrible. Horrible.