Create A Smile
It all came unexpected...
Christine Drogt
Hey, I'm Christine - creative mind, idea collector and the founder of Create A Smile. That's a fun story, by the way....
A cluttered desk with hundreds of pens, dozens of types of paper and boxes full of stamps - this is what my favorite place looked like in 2013, where I spent every free minute. From here I was able (at least on a small scale) to help color the world.
When I wasn't sitting at my desk, I was active as a cultural educator in a youth center, where I was active, for example, in theater projects and the creative workshop with "my teenagers". "Creative together" was my motto back then.
But let's get back to the desk... At Christmas 2013, something happened that I never expected to have such an impact: I was given a drawing tablet.
I'd always loved to draw, but I had no experience with the technical devices, had no real experience in illustration, and had always been mediocre in art.
I still remember exactly how I didn't care about all that at the time and thought: "Cool, now I can draw all the motifs that my friends and I are missing!". I didn't know that this would one day become my passion and a small company , which makes so many people happy.
So I drew my first images back then and shared them digitally with my craft friends all over the world.
Until one of them, Linda, said, "Christine, you have to sell them! A lot of people would like that!”
Sure, that was fluttering, but I didn't really believe in it... and then there would have been the tiresome topic of paperwork.
But when the owner of one of my favorite stamp companies at the time saw my drawings and asked me if I wanted to illustrate for her, a dream came to life in me.
My dream was to design fun themes and sayings that cover all occasions for the stamper community that I love so much.
A short time later, Create A Smile was born.
The first release went online in July 2014. Those were the 2 stamp sets that started it all. The thought "If a few people like my stamps, I'll continue with them in my spare time" makes me giggle in retrospect.
To this day, the thought that so many people like something I draw gives me goosebumps sometimes...
Spreading a smile should be easy!
I believe that we creative people make the world happier with our colorful projects. I wanted to contribute to this with Create A Smile. To do this, I worked my way (sometimes day and night) into the necessary technology, imporoved my drawing skills and fought wild conflicts with my computer and various applications - not only to make my customers smile, but also those who use them their wonderful cards, packaging and co. to be gifted.
A lot has happened since 2014:
Almost 400 stamp sets have been created that put a smile on the face of crafters all over the world. Dies and stencils were also added to the range over time - all designed with a passion for papercrafting, always with the question "How can we stampers use it in a variety of ways?"
The team is growing too. While in the first few years as a "one-woman-show" I organized and sent almost everything from my craft room by myself, we now work in a fabulous, small team in our wonderful Create A Smile Studio in the heart of Duisburg.
To this day I still can't believe how it all came about. When I look at what an amazing community has grown around Create A Smile, I can't believe my luck...
Thank you for being part of this journey too!
Get some more ...
Find more info on Youtube
check out the bi-weekly challenges
