Meet our December Made to Make Maker Alissa Thomson from IndieGrow Flower Farm! hey design, plant, and maintain beautiful floral and vegetable gardens. We practice no spray, organic gardening methods.
Alissa is a mother, wife, gardener, floral designer, herbalist and entrepreneur that loves to bake, kayak, hike, design, craft, brew, camp, swim, paint, travel and is always up for an adventure! She tries to eat organically, recycle, and do her part in taking care of our earth. She loves coffee, brunch, going to concerts, eating foody foods, and locally brewed beverages. She’s been in the garden her entire life, and picked flowers and arranging them for others for as long as she can remember.
Heather and I recently wrapped up a wonderful trip to Spain. We visited Barcelona, where Pablo Picasso spent much of his life, and the small coastal town of Cadaques, where Salvador Dali called home.
You can’t help but stumble upon a great deal of their art while in Spain. What struck us, in particular, was the evolution of their work. Picasso, for example, was classically trained, and much of his early work was done in a true-to-life, realist style. Only later did he explore a range of other styles, including his revolutionary take on modernism. Also notable was the artists’ breadth of expertise. Dali was not only one of the world’s foremost surrealist painters, but he also successfully branched out to sculpture, printmaking, fashion, advertising, writing, and filmmaking.
At their core, they were creatives, and their art evolved with them. They gained mastery of their respective crafts, but rather than remaining in their comfort zones, they pushed the boundaries and developed styles all their own. Their approaches required patience—they perpetually experimented, explored, and examined. But also a sense of urgency—their insatiable creative appetites led them to produce prolific amounts of work.
As a result, they created indelible art for the ages, perhaps admired more—certainly valued more—than at any point during their lifetimes.
Meet our first Made to Make Maker Gwen Lidan of Bella Filato Studio! Gwen lives in Traverse City and has a true love for handmade items. She loves sitting with a good cup of tea and making beautiful, cozy creations out of "Bella Filato" (beautiful yarn). She is am a mom of two beautiful boys! She enjoys the simple things in life… taking her dog for a walk in the woods with her family, sharing a good cup of brew with friends, going for a quiet drive along the water, cuddling in a warm cozy blanket with a basket full of yarn.
These are some of the most important questions to consider if you want to lead a purposeful, rewarding life, but few of us take the time to give them critical thought. Instead, it’s easy to retreat to default mode and surrender dreams to the idea that there’s simply not enough time in the day.
If you’re someone who’s of the belief that there’s not enough time in a day to accomplish something big—be it starting a business, writing a book, or learning a new skill—then you’re correct. There’s not enough time in a day to accomplish something big! These types of things take a long time—many days—to accomplish.
The problem is that many people get overwhelmed by the enormity of a task and never get started. They overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the impact of making small improvements on a daily basis. Big success doesn’t require massive effort within a short period of time. It requires a clear objective and daily, incremental action.
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