Hello!
Welcome, and thank you for supporting my small business! My name is Kristin and I am the Owner and Chief Creative Officer at Set Sail By Kristin.
Origin Story
I am truly inspired by the ocean as it has been a fixture in my whole life as a place of fun, opportunity, and discovery. I have never strayed far from the water, as I was born in Orange County, California and then I moved to Hawaii for college and ended up staying until I met my husband Sam 8 years later. His career in the Navy has moved us around a lot since (San Diego,CA; Monterey, CA; Panama City, FL; Yokosuka, Japan; and Rota, Spain), but we’ve always been stationed by the water.
I also was bitten by the crafting bug when I was pretty young, first learning how to sew my own designs, and draw and paint. As I grew, I expanded my areas of interest into creating clothes and jewelry for myself, eventually making so much that my mom suggested I start selling my work on Etsy, and have been a small business owner ever since.
Beach by Design
The constant input of ocean experiences throughout my life has shaped the overarching nautical theme of my designs, and my hope that everyone can take a piece of that inspiration I get from the beach with them when they view or purchase one of my designs.
My interest in trying new mediums is simultaneously one of my biggest blessings and my biggest struggles. Trying new things keeps me inspired and helps me overcome creative roadblocks, but there is always a risk of the time and monetary investment not paying off. Each new craft and business venture has a different set of supplies and its own learning curve so it becomes an investment in money and education that doesn’t always play out the way I envisioned. And even when I end up loving the new pieces and process, sometimes the market is not there so I have to make the tough decision to maintain that new skill as a hobby, rather integrating it into my business. That being said, I am always going to keep trying new things, because even when I have invested into the new craft and it doesn’t work out, I still find immense value in new inspirations and the constant expansion of my creative process.
What I’m most proud of is my growth as an artist and business owner over the past 20+ years. The process of discovering my inspiration, and focusing it in on a specific business niche, mastering my processes, and maintaining resilience despite encountering multiple roadblocks has been a life-long journey. I am proud that I have not given up on my childhood dreams, but instead have adapted and grown my business plan to meet my ever-changing personal and family needs as we make our way through life. I have learned to not be disappointed by failure because I can just apply that lesson to a new idea. What sets me apart from others is my willingness to always take the risk to learn something new, perfect my craft or change it when I need to. I have made a lot of small business and art friends through craft shows and online, even some close friends that I’ve never met in-person before. I love the recent shift where artists are being supportive of their peers, instead of competitive. I am all about not gatekeeping success but instead, explaining ideas, and building relationships.
Current Focus
At the moment, I am focused on pattern design and digital art products as it is hard to move a whole small business with physical inventory every few years when my husband's duty station changes. Simultaneously I am working on my Mail Clubs and YouTube Channels as a means to share my art and photography with a broader audience and in a new medium.