My impulsive shop idea...

This is a story about childhood trauma, my Cricut, and my journey to advocate for others. I know that's a lot of random ingredients to the story soup I'm crafting here, but it's worth reading!

 

I got a Cricut for Christmas - I have wanted one for years but they're expensive, and other people need things more than I need a Cricut, and blah blah blah.

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As a graphic designer, in the Midwest, where I'm not really surrounded by a huge creative community, I have to find ways to include variety in my creative business. I'm slowly doing this, but building businesses take some time.

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Because I am a creative business, I have always wanted to make all the stuff that people can have and look at and be joyful. Joyful for the colors, the story, etc.

My issue is that I didn't really know how to do this without investing in lots of expensive equipment like printers, cutting machines, paper, and tools.

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Personal story has entered the chat...

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Now, to the Trauma part of the "LOL It's Trauma" line of mine...

I am an adult with childhood trauma. I grew up in an abusive home and I now make it my mission to be a voice for the voiceless. I love to empower people to set boundaries with toxic or unhealthy people in their lives. I LOVE when people tell me, "I thought I was crazy because everyone tells me I'm crazy but you made me feel seen and heard."

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So in October of 2024, I went no-contact with my father.

There are a lot of complex pieces with my relationship with him, but long story short, I had asked him to go to therapy with me over some issues in our relationship, and he told me, "I hope you find peace with your past."

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The complete disregard of my feelings brought a lot of hurt and anger.

Luckily, and I say luckily with a ton of sarcasm, but a little honesty...

I went no-contact with my Mother nine years ago, so I knew how to process everything. I called my therapist and set some appointments, I processed what happened, and I took some time for self care.

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Afterwards, I had a fire lit under my butt. Naturally, I took some action - I created an Instagram focusing on childhood trauma.

I cannot tell you the amount of messages I get from people, telling me that my content helps them see things more clearly. They tell me they needed to hear the message I was sending, or they needed affirmation that they're not "crazy" like their family may tell them.

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Now, beyond all of this, I am a goofy goober, and I love laughing at situations after they're complete, because, if I don't laugh I will cry. Comedic Relief is one of my favorite things. Laughing heals. It helps.

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So, back to my Cricut...

I got one for Christmas! I quickly learned that my machine was defective though, LOL.

So, while I am waiting for a new one to be shipped to me, I began building an SVG library to use, but then I thought, "I bet other people would have my sense of humor and use these designs for their projects too."

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And there you have the birth of my "LOL It's Trauma" SVG library.

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Soon I will have products to purchase like stickers, magnets, and other merch.

And I hope to dive into creating planners, calendars, and other fun things.

Stay tuned :)