Meet The Maker: Katie Clark of Clarks Condensed

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Meet Katie

Katie is a family lifestyle blogger and busy mom to two energetic boys. Sharing crafts and tutorials is an important part of maintaining her blog, but until recently, she was struggling to keep track of the many tools and supplies needed for her projects. The boxes and bins were piling up and even creating simple crafts was becoming overly frustrating and time consuming.

Getting organized with the WorkBox has changed all of that! Now she knows exactly what she has and where to find it.

Q: Have you always considered yourself to be a creative person?

A: I have always loved to create - whether or not other people have found those creations beautiful is up for debate, but I've always loved creating since I was a child. I loved drawing, learning new crafting hobbies like sewing and crocheting, and making things rather than buying. There's definitely a very homemade quality to everything I do. My mind is always going a million directions with what I want to do next, which I suppose is a quality of a creative mind!

Q: Why did you decide to start a blog? Has the focus changed overtime?

A: Well, my history with blogging goes back to when I was in 7th grade. I started a "Xanga" which was an online journal. I loved writing, and it was a fun thing for me. As I got older, my sisters got into blogging, and right before I went to college, I decided to start a "real" one that I kept through college. I got a degree in communications with an emphasis in print journalism at BYU, and I had to do an internship to graduate. Because I had just had a baby, I decided to do an online internship, which was with a blogger. Although the topic didn't particularly excite me, it really opened my eyes to the world of blogging, and I learned a lot.

Shortly before my husband and I graduated from BYU, Clarks Condensed was born! Part of my focus for Clarks Condensed stemmed from a desire to bring positivity to the Internet about family life - while I was pregnant, I suffered from depression, and I believe a lot of the negativity on the Internet fueled that. We threw ourselves into growing it, and Clarks Condensed has been our sole income for several years now. It has certainly evolved over the years. As we've discovered topics people are really interested in, we try to focus on those. For instance, when I started writing about Cricut at the end of 2016, we gained a huge audience almost immediately, so we've added Cricut crafting as one of our big areas (though we have lots of tutorials for other things, too!)

Q: What will people find at Clarks Condensed?

A: Everything! I always say that I like to ignore the advice of experts when it comes to blogging, and instead of "nicheing" down, I write about everything. I guess that goes back to my thoughts always going a million miles a minute. Anyways, we write about everything from pregnancy and parenting, easy recipes, travel, and, of course, crafts! We really avoid anything negative and just want our blog to be a place where people can feel uplifted and encouraged - no matter where they are in life!

Q: What is your favorite project you've ever completed?

A: I did this one year ago, but I was so proud of it!

Q: How do you find new inspiration?

A: Everywhere - sometimes I walk up and down the aisles at Joann's and see different products and think, "I could make something like that!" I also often come up with ideas out of necessity. I love being given a canvas or material and being told to create with it. I will tell you - my office is FULL of half finished projects. Although I write about crafting and try to write in depth tutorials, I never want anyone to think I'm perfect at what I do and never mess up. I get so frustrated most of the time when I"m working on something - my motto outta be "if something can go wrong, it will!" However, I push through because I do love it.

Q: What was your first exposure to The Original ScrapBox?

A: I saw it on Facebook, and I thought it seemed cool. A few months later, my mom tagged me in it and said, "YOU NEED THIS!" She has tried to help me organize my crafts and office, but it never really worked. She was right - I DID need it!

Q: How did you organize before the WorkBox?

A: My floor with boxes. HA. So, not at all. We tried to keep some things in tubs, but that quickly become not an option. I literally would dig through boxes trying to find things.

Q: How has the WorkBox improved your life?

A: Oh man, I just don't feel like a hot mess all the time! I know where things are. They aren't on the ground. I can pretend like I'm organized at least one place in my life!