Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Sarles.
Samantha, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After 10 years in the corporate marketing world for a Fortune 500 owned company, my colorful projects all began when my son, my muse, was born in 2011. One of my very first craft projects was an alphabet wall I put together for my son’s playroom. It was compromised of a collection of letters I collected from flea markets, antique stores as well as many I crafted myself.
As my craft projects continued, I decided that I wanted to document them as well as stay up to date on social media and marketing trends so I started an Instagram account and a blog. My very first blog post was about my alphabet wall and it just so happened that the blog post went viral after being shared by a larger blog. From there, I was hooked.
My most popular posts in the early days were all about the painted rocks I made my son. I used painted rocks to teach him his colors, numbers, and letters. Later on, I painted story stones for creative storytelling, and from there, the rock ideas just kept coming and my creativity kept growing.
Eventually, I opened an Etsy shop and started selling my painted rocks after numerous requests. While I loved getting happy notes from customers who loved sharing my painted treasures with their children, I missed crafting just for myself. That’s when I decided to rebrand myself and start a new blog called Color Made Happy!
I wanted a place where I could share not only my creative ideas, but I wanted to show others how to make what I was making and the exact products I was using. A few months after the launch of my new blog, I received a call from a publisher asking if I had any interest in writing a book all about how to craft with rocks. Today, I’m excited to say that I’m now a published author of the Rock Art Handbook. It’s 160 pages of tutorials and techniques for decorating rocks.
It’s amazing where the path takes you sometimes. If you told me 7 years ago that I’d have a successful blog, significant social media presence and a published book that’s all about rocks, I never would have believed you.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My best advice is to just dive right in! I really didn’t know much about blogging or Instagram in 2011 but I learned by just doing! I think too often people think they have to figure it all out before they even start, but really the best way to learn is by just taking action. I learned by watching what successful bloggers and instagrammers were doing. I even reached out to many women bloggers and IG accounts and asked for advice. It’s amazing how willing to help these women were. These days, I try to pay it forward whenever I can and help others who are just starting off by sharing the knowledge I’ve gained over the years.
Please tell us about Color Made Happy.
Most of the people who know me, know I LOVE color… especially rainbows. I really could paint rainbows and unicorns all day if you let. What’s most important to me is that my crafts are fun and happy! I also hope that my crafts inspire, especially for those who don’t think they are artists. I like to teach others that everyone is an artist inside and that a project doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. The key is to enjoy the process and make it fun.
Over the years it has been fun to have my art featured by large companies on Instagram and Facebook like: The Huffington Post, Michaels Craft Stores, Bored Panda, Faber-Castell USA, Tombow USA, Crayola, and Stabilo Deutschland. Most memorable was in 2015, I was one of five red cup design winners chosen and featured by Starbucks from over 100,000 entrants.
The project I’m most proud of though is my book, The Rock Art Handbook. I never thought I’d be able to say I was an author. I put over a year of hard work into creating my book and now that it’s published it’s amazing to look at and see what it took to create it.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
Don’t think you have to have a certain path set in stone (no pun intended). For the first 10 years of my career, I was gaining the knowledge I needed to get me to where I am today even though I had no idea where the initial path would lead.
Soak up as much knowledge as you can by watching others. Reach out to other women and continue to share the knowledge you gain. Pay it forward!
Find inspiration everywhere. It surrounds you and you never know how something as simple as picking up a stone and painting it may lead to great things!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://colormadehappy.com
- Email: colormadehappy@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colormadehappy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colormadehappy/
- Other: Book – https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Art-Handbook-Step-Step/dp/1565239458/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1535487640&sr=8-2&keywords=rock+art+handbook
Image Credit:
Color Made Happy
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