I'm Nikki, originally from Poughkeepsie, NY, and currently residing in Chicago. Creators and creating have fascinated me since as far back as I can remember, having craft projects at all my birthday parties growing up. (Special shout-out to my mom who introduced me to the wonderful world of crafting!) I have distinct memories of making shiny friendly plastic barrettes and pins, pin cushions, keepsake boxes covered in the most beautiful puffy paint a 9-year old has ever seen, and all sorts of Fimo critters. I collected cross-stitch and latch hook kits from yard sales, many of which I just used to make friendship bracelets with the embroidery floss. My entrepreneurial spirit was awakened in middle school, when I sold "Nikki's Nacks," which were barrettes that I painted with nail polish and strung beads from. They were hella hip in the 90s.

So when 16 hit and it was time to find a job, naturally the best fit was Michaels Arts and Crafts. Working there, I continued building my craft supply collection (because I pretty severely fail at throwing out anything that could be used for any creative purpose) with an employee discount, and tried to figure out a way that I could go to college and use my psych degree in a life-long Michaels career (yeah, I loved it that much). My love for making grew a tad more sophisticated in college, where I minored in studio art and surrounded myself with incredibly talented artists, writers, and musicians. Here I fell in love with both painting in acrylics and printmaking (specifically etching). To me, fluid painting is the perfect combination of working in a relatively easy medium to manage at home (I do not have the resources or space to have a negative pressure fume hood, a printing press, or the desire to deal with disposing of nitric acid) and the excitement I felt every time I printed a plate fresh out of the acid bath.

It's always been a dream of mine to sell my art on Etsy, but I never buckled down to do it. Exploring Instagram's treasure trove of artists re-inspired me to not only do, but to share what I love. So here I am. May my art supply closet only ever grow in size (unless it affects my relationships, at which point I will reconsider my supply hoarding behaviors). Thanks for checking out the shop! :)