Featured Artist Bernoullis Attic

It is a dream of many to make the transition from the corporate world to the creative world and it is so nice to meet someone that actually did it! Susan spent a full 20 years working in the petrochemical and refining industry eventually climbing to the position of consulting engineer. She found the job exciting with lots of travel but also stressful.  She managed to retire young (lucky lady!) and is now often found on her back porch with a book, cup of tea and a couple of cats! Now that is a life I could handle.

 Susan was always creative, though she never pursued it steadily as an income source.  Her love of creating was more of stress relief for her and the fruits of her labors were often gifted to family and friends.  Susan’s grandmother and a family friend taught her to crochet as a child…not as an art form but more of a keep the kid busy kind of project.  She happily kept the family in potholders for a long time after that.  Susan used this craft as a way of keeping herself occupied on her many business trips in various airports, planes and hotels because it is such a portable craft.  All the while, traveling and living the corporate life, Susan dreamed of the day when she could spend her days working with the creative side of herself and not be looked at as that eccentric lady down the street!

Eccentric?  Artists are eccentric?  Well, as Susan states quite clearly, the corporate world really doesn’t put much stock into creative endeavors that don’t have an economic value to the company.  Many still see crafting as failed home economics projects or macaroni necklaces.  Susan lived in this world for quite some time and it wasn’t until retirement that she was able to really live the artistic life fully.

In addition to her talent with a crochet hook, Susan loves to play with paper and card making as well as scrapbooking and jewelry.  When those aren’t holding her interest for the moment, soap, candles and decorative painting might just find their way into her day.  While crochet is really second nature to her now (after 40 years of working with it there is probably nothing that she couldn’t whip out!) she has found excitement in paper and all the ways that it can be used.

Susan was thrilled at the idea of creating full time, but there were a few concerns that her practical side had.  First of all, what do you do with all the creation you make and second, how do you pay for you crafting obsessions?  Well, the answer, Bernoulli’s Attic was born.  Early on Susan’s sales were mostly to friends, family and coworkers…nothing formal, more a here and there project.  She found it very rewarding to set her own hours and work from home as well as put a special piece into happy buyers’ hands.  The next logical step was online selling which allows interaction with customers all around the world!

Susan is nothing if not practical and offers a bit of advice for anyone thinking of ditching their day job and creating full time.  First of all, you need to look at the reality of your life.  Are you planning on supporting a full family selling handmade feather dusters?  If so, do your research and have both a marketing and a fall back plan.  Secondly, have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously!  The world is full of people, each with their own likes and dislikes and opinions.  If you are planning to please them all, think again.  While many might look at Susan and think she is wasting her time and talent creating instead of working in business, she knows that serenity and peace of mind are valuable to her and what she does makes her happy.  Sales are nice, of course, and necessary to continue your business, but that is not what drives Susan to wake up each morning with fresh ideas and a desire to create…she creates for the love of creating!  What a wonderful way to live!

 Now, are you ready to feast your eyes on what this talented lady in so many ways is able to create…prepare for cute overload!  You can find BernoullisAttic on the HandmadeArtistsShop of course as well as her own stand alone website and on Etsy.  You can follow her day to day creating on FaceBook as well as on Twitter.

Tags: bookmark, buy handmade, children, crochet, Handmade, Handmade Artists, Handmade Products, handmade teddy bear, jewelry, paper, soap

Posted in Featured Vendor