Crafty Ass Female

Amanda + Kristin chat about clutter-busting, organizing their space, cleaning the eff up, & how it all contributes to a better state of mind + your craftiest self! Cheers to that!
A + K CALL YOU TO THINK ABOUT:
• What do you display VS. what do you hide?
• STORAGE STORAGE STORAGE!
• Tossing what you haven't 'touched' in 6-months
• What belongs where?
• How you can alleviate environmental 'roadblocks'
• Thinking 'outside the box' for creative storage
• Repurposing cardboard boxes for storage
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

More about Nicole Stevenson:
Nicole Stevenson is a multi-passionate creative, middle-aged first-time mama, impostor syndrome warrior, cake and Korean BBQ connoisseur, confessional journaler, second-hand shop scavenger, deep dive conversationalist and the CEO and creative director at Dear Handmade Life.
She can't recall a time in her life when she wasn't making something.
At 24, she turned my passion into my profession when she started selling Random Nicole, her handcrafted clothing line at flea markets and backyard craft fairs, which she grew into a thriving retail and wholesale six-figure business that was carried at over 250 shops around the world.
Nicole's desire to help other creatives pursue their dream business and discover the joy of making led her away from her own handmade business and into teaching, consulting, running her own workshop studio and eventually co-founding Dear Handmade Life in 2007. Now, she connects, educates and shortens the learning curve for other creatives by sharing what she's learned through the Dear Handmade Life events, blog and podcast. She has a BA and an MA in English from San Francisco State University and a dual “PhD” in crafting to keep your sanity and badass business skills from the School of Life.
When she takes off her Dear Handmade Life “boss hat”, you’ll find her squeezing in time to write or draw, trying her damndest to make her baby laugh or hold still long enough for her to change his diaper, devouring one of the dozens of self-help books on her nightstand, trying to find something interesting to take a photo of on her morning walk in her mundane suburban neighborhood, watching Below Deck and eating the best sausage and orecchiette courtesy of her husband or dreaming of living a stone’s throw from the beach.
You can find her at
https://dearhandmadelife.com/
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

find out more at craftyassfemale.com
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

What You’ll Get from This Episode

In this episode, we’re chatting about:

Why the blank page can feel so intimidating (and how to shift your mindset)

The easiest tricks to start creating when you’re feeling stuck

How to make creative decisions faster so you don’t get trapped in overthinking

Whether you’re a scrapbooker, journaler, painter, or anything in between—these tips work across every creative practice.

Big Takeaways

🖌 The blank page is only scary if you let it be.Instead of pressuring yourself to create something amazing, shift your mindset to just starting. One mark, one sticker, one sentence—that’s all it takes to get moving.

📖 Use small, repeatable tricks to jumpstart your creativity. A simple prompt, a tiny goal, or a familiar layout can take the guesswork out of where to begin. Looking at past pages for inspiration? Game changer.

🎨 Lower your expectations to open up creative freedom. Instead of worrying about wasting supplies, set a challenge: Make the ugliest page possible. Try using only stickers. Create with your non-dominant hand. Take the pressure off, and creativity will flow.

What We Talked About

We kicked things off by talking about why blank pages feel so overwhelming—too many choices, fear of messing up, decision fatigue (we’ve all been there!). The key? Making one small decision to anchor everything else.

Then, we explored quick tricks for getting unstuck:

Setting tiny goals (one mark, one sticker, one word—just start!)

Using prompts like Currently Lists or screenshots from your phone for inspiration

Copying a past page layout with small tweaks (colors, patterns, themes)

And of course, we dug into how expectations can block creativity—and why sometimes, making something terrible on purpose is the best way to move forward.

Take a moment today to notice where you feel stuck most in your creative process. Is it the first step? Overthinking your choices? Worrying about the end result?

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Celebrate 5 Years of Daily Pages with Us: https://www.rukristin.com/p/celebrate-5-years-of-daily-pageshare

Share your Daily Pages with the 5 Year Anniversary community: https://theawesomeladiesproject.com/inspiration/we-want-your-daily-pages-%f0%9f%93%b8/

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

In This Episode

I want to keep it simple: play is about curiosity, not perfection. It’s about scribbling in a notebook or messing around with stickers just because it feels good. Even if things look weird at first, you’re building the kind of momentum that leads to authentic ideas later on. So let’s hang out, share stories, and see what happens when we give ourselves space to roam creatively.

Big Takeaways

1) Play Boosts Creativity

Playful time is a chance to wander away from “serious” projects. You never know what random scraps or doodles might spark a new idea. Little moments of silliness can keep you inspired in a way that nothing else does.

2) Process Over Product

Letting yourself make mistakes can lead to unexpected discoveries. Each messy attempt becomes a lesson, a baby step toward figuring out your style. This approach is kinder to your creative spirit and makes the whole journey more fun.

3) Permission & Practice

Give yourself a dedicated space to just fool around. Maybe it’s a daily mini-journal or 10 minutes before bed. Consistency creates confidence, and before you know it, you’ve got a sustainable habit that fits your life.

What We Talked About

How to Make Room for Spontaneity

I mentioned how I used Daily Pages to shake myself out of a creative rut. One sentence to open: journaling with no rules saved me from that “stuck” feeling. Three sentences to build on that: it gave me a way to use the stickers that never made it onto my scrapbook pages. It encouraged me to doodle without worrying if the colors were “off.” It reminded me that creativity should feel like exploration, not a chore. One sentence to wrap it up: the freedom to play is often where our best ideas find us.

Embracing Mistakes and Odd Experiments

Sometimes, I love testing out random materials—like gluing magazine scraps on cheap card stock. It doesn’t always come out pretty, but I learn a ton. Treat mistakes like playful stepping stones, and you might stumble on a new style you’d never have tried otherwise.

Celebrating Every Little Win

It’s easy to obsess over grand finishes, but your everyday progress deserves a spotlight, too. A single doodle, a sticker in your journal, a color test on scrap paper—all of it counts. Over time, those small moves pile up into something powerful.

Take a minute to notice something ordinary on your desk. Maybe it’s a random sticky note or a mismatched pencil. Ask yourself if it can spark a tiny burst of play. One surprising scribble or collage might become the most meaningful thing you do all week.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe