THE WASH, crafty chicks come clean

I knew Josephine when she worked as a graphic designer at Hallmark Cards. I’d always see her around in the café with her red curly hair and her outfit perfectly put together with the cutest flats adorned with some kind of flowers or sparkle.

We’d always smile and say hello. Josephine eventually moved back to Seattle to work for Nordstrom again as a textile designer. I was sad that I missed out on getting to know her better. But I was pleased to find her website and see that she was designing her own fabrics under her own brand!

Josephine Kimberling
MAIN CRAFT: Licensing Artist & Surface Designer
SITE: www.josephinekimberling.com
BLOG: josephinekimberling.blogspot.com
FACEBOOK: Josephine Kimberling
FLICKR: josephinekimberling
TWITTER: PatternSavvy
LOCATION: From California, currently living in Seattle (for 12 years)

Josephine is a Licensing Artist, with her own personal business – the Josephine Kimberling brand. She creates artwork and license it out to different companies in a variety of industries.

“This allows me to combine my art and love of different products & industries together under one umbrella.”

Josephine is already on her second fabric collection with Robert Kaufman called Glam Garden. It hits stores this month (check Josephine’s web site for store on online locations).



Hot Blossom is Josephine’s first collection with Robert Kaufman that she put out about a year ago.

Josephine’s love of modern style and eclectic prettiness makes her my signature style creation of bohemian and colorful prints.



And Josephine sews all of the outfits and accessories for the photo shoots herself using Simplicity patterns. She had to teach herself how to sew for her first collection photo shoot!

Josephine started out by going to college at the Art Institute of Seattle for Graphic Design & Illustration.

“I have always been an artist, and knew I wanted to do it professionally. At the time (1996), I didn't know what types of jobs were out there for artists & designers, but I knew I wanted to brave the industry. During my last quarter of school, my teacher set me up with an informational interview with a recent graduate. I met with her, showed her my work and continued to keep in contact with her by sending holiday cards and notes here and there. A year later, she referred me for her job, which was as a Textile Designer at Nordstrom. I didn't even know those types of jobs existed! Once I was there, I realized it was the perfect fit for me, as I've always loved fashion, fabric and art.”

“In college I worked for a Rubber Stamp company and spent hours and hours making greeting cards, designing for their stamp line, and teaching classes. Which is where my love for greeting cards grew. It was always my dream to work for Hallmark.”

You can see some of the stamps she recently created for Impress Rubber Stamps here.

“I moved on from Nordstrom after six years to work for Hallmark Cards. However, while at Hallmark I really missed drawing textile patterns and the fashion industry, so I started working for a fashion rep out of London on the side, and started creating my own collection of patterns that I wanted to propose to the quilting & fabric industry, so I could start my own business. I've wanted to start my own business for so many years, and the timing was finally right. So I decided to take action, set goals in place, and not let "no" derail me or cause me to give-up, like it had done in the past.”

Josephine moved back to Seattle to work for Nordstorm full-time again because she missed fashion so much and then launched her brand. She’s glad that she took a chance and to go work at her dream job at Hallmark.

“I would have always wondered "what if?" about my dream to work at Hallmark, had I not done it, so now I can rest knowing I did it.”

Josephine doesn’t have much free time with a full time job and doing her own business part-time. Her husband of nine years is very supportive of her and her creative ambitions. Like all of us Josephine struggles with finding a balance between life and work.

“Sometimes life is balanced, and when it gets out of balance I then go back to the drawing board to re-prioritize.

My husband comes first to me, so we're always touching base on what we will be spending our extra time on. I've found that I can actually do so much more when I am functioning in multiple areas of my life, rather than just focusing on one thing and shutting everything else out. When I get stressed, I start doing just that - so I just try to remember to breathe, take a step back, and focus on the multiple areas that will help me maintain balance.”

To stay motivated and inspired Josephine surrounds herself with color and inspiration on her walls and desk. Her workspaces need to be organized and cleared. Her "At-A-Glance" monthly calendar, to-do lists, Adobe Bridge and organized piles that get transferred into binders keeps Josephine on track.

“It's very difficult for me to work on a project in a mess, so I usually have to spend a few minutes cleaning up before I start.”

Like myself and other crafty chicks of “THE WASH” Josephine finds inspiration everywhere!

“I am an inspiration hoarder. I find a lot of inspiration in magazines and books, because part of my down-time with my husband is spent at Barnes & Noble, so it's a fun way to spend time with him and leisurely look for inspiration at the same time.

I also shop quite a bit, so I'm out and about seeing a lot of new fashions, etc. often. I find blogs quite inspiring as well, but unfortunately don't frequent them as much as I'd like. I like to find inspiration away from the computer sometimes, because I spend so much time on the computer working.”

Josephine’s hard work has paid off. Her work was published in the German book Exciting World of Pattern Design.

I always like to ask the crafty chicks that I interview what their biggest challenges are and what advice they have for all of us out there trying to make it. Josephine says:

“I think the biggest challenge for me is balancing a full time job and launching & growing my own business. The time restraint alone is a lot to handle. There's so many things I'd love to be able to do to grow my business and to connect with people in the industry (like for my fabric lines, I'd love to attend Quilt Markets, design my own patterns, etc.), but there's just not enough time in my day to be successful at everything. So I prioritize and let myself let go of the things I just can't take on. As a result, my process & business is really slow growing, and it's at a pace that I can manage with where I'm at today. To keep myself motivated and moving forward, I set goals & deadlines for myself - with grace, of course, so that when I get home from work I know what I need to work on next.”

“My advice for others starting their own businesses in my same boat would be to figure out what your passion and your vision is. Write down your goals for the year that will help you achieve your vision, and have a plan for how to balance your time with a full-time job and how to grow your part-time job. Then take action! You can't achieve your goals if you only daydream about them. If you need to learn a program, take the time to learn it. If you need to gain more skills in something, find the resources that will help you learn those skills. Remember it's not a race. Just put one foot in front of the other, stay focused, and don't give up. Your goals may have been overly ambitious, or not ambitious enough - and that's ok. Give yourself permission to have a learning curve, make sure you give yourself time to rest and recharge, hang around those you love, and enjoy life in the process.”

PHOTO CREDITS: © natalie g. | photography