Featured Artist Lauri from Straight from the Heart Greeting Cards

If a person has a creative soul it will find a way into every aspect of their lives no matter where their path leads. Such is the case with Lauri, who spent 37 years devoting her life to teaching children.

Lauri allowed teaching to consume her, starting at 6 a.m.and working until late at night, leaving little time for anything else, basically, weekends were spent catching up with friends and sleep!  She never had children of her own so the students in her class quickly became hers for the year, each one holding a special place in her heart.  She took it so personally, like any good “parent” that if a child was having difficulties she blamed herself and began searching for a new way to teach so that they would understand.

When her teaching career ended with retirement, Lauri found that she was left with no creative outlet any longer as well as a lot of time on her hands.  One evening, when sleep just would not come, she saw a show about making greeting cards and the fire was lit within her.  Lauri had found that creative spark could be used to bring happiness to others and she quickly traded grading papers for card-stock and hasn’t looked back.

After a time, Lauri found that mixing patterns, colors, ribbons and ideas was to become her new passion in life.  She quickly churned out 59 individual greeting cards and has a mind full of new ideas all the time.  Each card is made one at a time, so even if you were to order a pack…each one would be one of a kind.  As her piles of cards grew, she knew it was time to share them with more than family and friends and Straight from my Heart Greeting Cards was born.  As Lauri began looking for an outlet for her work, she walked her portfolio and examples to local stores and has been pleased with the response.  She has a rack in a local shop currently and is always looking for more.  Even if her work doesn’t fit in the shop, the positive comments from shop owners encourage her to keep working.

While Lauri is still working out the best way to show her work, she does offer some advice to others looking to sell their own handmade work….always the teacher!  She advises others to “follow what their true bliss is” and be proud of what you have created.  You need to put yourself and your work out there, even if that means taking yourself out of your comfort zone.  Who knows, rather than rejection, you just might find a new customer!

Are you ready to see what this retired teacher with a passion for paper can do?  Lauri is easy to find on HandmadeArtists as well as on her own website.  Her cards and obviously made with love and care and you will surely be able to find that perfect greeting for any occasion.

Tags: baby, birthday, cards, greet cards, paper, retirement, straight from the heart

Posted in Handmade Artisans, Handmade Harbor