Homespun E23 | Kim Christopherson

hi everyone welcome to Homespun where creativity and Community come together I am your host Misty Don and today I'm joined by Kim Christopherson of kimberbell designs she shares her journey of building her business and reminds us all to stay curious Kim thank you so much for being here today I really appreciate it oh you're welcome I'm excited uh me too I'm so glad you're here in town and I I just want you to start off by telling everyone a little bit about yourself and how you got started with kimberbell yeah you bet so yeah my name is Kim kristopherson and I'm the proud lucky owner of kimberbell and you know often people will ask you know where did you give the name kimberbell and it actually was a nickname my dad gave me growing up love that yeah but uh I used to be a fourth grade school teacher way back when oh my gosh yeah love those nine and 10 year old kids and after a few years of doing that I actually decided to stay home and and raise my kids but I still needed that little creative Outlet sure and so I found myself being drawn to applique and fabrics of course right and so I would put together these little what I called a personalized name pillow okay and I would you know find out what people's uh children's bedroom colors were and of course that what their name was and then I would design these pillows to sell on eBay of all places gosh how fun and after a while of doing that I got really tired yeah you know I'm in this new mom I've got really young kids I I was sitting at a sewing machine desk that was about this wide and it was right next to the baby's crib and so there were some very long days of sewing these pillows and sending them out wow so my husband comes home from work one day and he says you know Kim like have you ever thought about instead of selling the finished product what about actually teaching other people how to make what you're selling and at first I told him that was a crazy idea I said oh no one would ever buy something like that it's really simple to me it just was easy came naturally yeah and I didn't think that there would be you know a market for that but indeed there was um to make a long story short I uh went ahead and each time I did a step in this process I would take a picture write a little bit of instruction and then go on with the next step and take a picture and write the instruction and I finally put that into a PDF pattern which wasn't a huge thing back then um but I put that out there to the world and sure enough people were buying it and saying yeah I really like your way of instructing they felt like I was their best friend sitting right next to them telling them what to do next in the process just guiding them through it yeah exactly so that eventually turned into this business all of a sudden that I had and and uh which eventually grew I mean I'm I'm skipping a whole lot of parts here but to make a a long story short That Grew into this brand that we've built over the years so it started I would say yes it started in 2006 with just very little dabbling into it uh trying to bring in a little extra income for my my small family but then in 2011 I went uh quite a bit bigger with it we ended up hiring some people and you know pretty soon that company became to what it is today which is uh a machine embroidery company in many respects but we also do sewing quilting tools uh and Fiber Arts and of course now getting into more of like the punch needle and hand work so I love that so much thank you was there ever a point in that whole process where you said to yourself I think this is really going to work like what was it that just set that off for you yeah I just I think the feedback that we would get from uh people that were trying out the patterns and having success and now they're making things for their homes and families and that was really rewarding to see that something that started out so very small was now making a difference in people's lives so as we grew this team I realized one thing Kim you do what you do best and you hire out the rest right there's no way I personally could grow a company like kimberbell to what it is today without amazing people behind the scenes and I know you and I have talked about that very thing that really yes we are big parts of our companies certainly but there's a whole team of people behind the scenes that make it possible absolutely and that's what truly uh made the company successful over the years I love that what was your first hire oh my goodness it was well it was probably the the hire for can you answer phone calls and send out invoices and package the the stuff and you know I mean and run the stuff to the local post office it literally was everyone putting on every hat right I mean even cleaning the bathrooms that was your kids or you you know So eventually my husband left his corporate job and he became full-time into the business which was really nice and it was really Key to Our Success because he could focus on the business side which that was his background in business and marketing while I could focus more on the creative and that's really uh what helped as well yeah and what you love I imagine absolutely but yeah those early days we were wearing all the hats and I think that's how it goes and I think um being able to trust yourself in not having all the answers while you're figuring out how to grow it so true um because I think early on it can feel like this is never going to work this is never going to work I don't know what I'm doing it's overwhelming right yes and just being able to say you know what I can learn with everybody else absolutely and uh and just reminding ourselves that we're capable of tackling these hard things and it's such a testament to that that you've been able to grow it from you know selling pillows on eBay to what is a very recognizable brand I think that's incredible thank you I appreciate that it has been a whole lot of work Blood Sweat and Tears as they say but it's been so rewarding along the way as well yeah is there anything specifically you would say to someone who is maybe trying to carve out their own own niche in this industry you know I know it sounds cliche but find something that you're passionate about you know and once you find that your enthusiasm will just set everyone else on fire too it will inspire not only the the people that you work with but also the people that are purchasing your product and working right along to you know learn these new things as well so find that passion and just run with it but when you get a chance to hire out and to grow a team certainly don't try to keep it all to yourself because if you did you're going to burn out really fast it's so true that's such great advice yeah it really is so where do you find inspiration like if you're in a creative rut what do you do to fill yourself back up well I tell my husband I need a vacation right I mean first things first can we go to Hawaii I need to think yes exactly everything is better on the beach that's somehow the waves and the wind just just bring the inspiration I agree right now so I don't know I think it is taking some time to and whether that's at the beach I wish all the time right or if that's just in the quiet of your own home and carving out that time to be creative I think that's really really important and just to give yourself some Grace as you're trying to be creative because sometimes we do get into these creative ruts right and you're going gosh I don't know I don't know what's next or what else to do certainly gather you know that team around you and bounce ideas off of each other I do a lot of brainstorming you know where I am just writing down every thought that comes into my mind as crazy as it may sound and from there you know magic can happen when you bring in the right people and you have this the time to think about it I think that's very true I've seen that in my own life you know you like I've gotten into some creative ruts that are so like they last so long that it's very disarming you and like I'm never going to have a good idea again and it's discouraging it can be it really can be and so just I think taking a breath and remembering to uh just I I guess honor that as a time of rest like I think it's our body and our mind's way of saying you just need to calm down for a second that's so true though yeah because I think as creatives we can just kind of go go go and really burn ourselves out right and so taking that moment to rest and like for me I I you know find inspiration in nature and I'm constantly you knowl doodling in my journals I'll go back and flip through them and then I'm like oh yeah I forgot I had that idea you know right that's what I've called myself for years is people say oh you're such an amazing artist and I'll say you know what I'm a doodler I just like to you know and that's where some of the best ideas come from I guess I love that so much so is there anything else you would say to maybe a new business person like is there some business advice specifically to um encourage them along the way you know don't give up it there are definitely going to be tough times and uh you know none of us were I mean for example for me I could have easily said you know I'm I'm just a mom or I was just a school teacher you know I don't know how to grow a business but I think it's important uh like with anything whether it's business or learning a new hobby to be curious be curious all the time have this curiosity build inside you that you just go I want to learn more so if you don't know how to do something again whether it's business or that craft or quilting the perfect you know quarter inch or whatever elusive coordin exactly you you go after learning it you read books you follow YouTube you know you really strive to you know learn all you can and then uh give your yourself time and great people to surround yourself with to to build that company or to build that hobby I love that is there a project in all these years that you've been designing and doing things that you just still absolutely love wow okay that's a good question um you know I would think I think that I would go back to something we call the bench pillow okay yes I know exactly what you're talking about I'm talking about it's a 16 by 38 inch size pillow that goes across a bench or a couch of course or a table runner or a wall hanging but we call it the bench pillow but the funny thing about that and why maybe I I'm so endeared to it when I when I talk about it is that that actually started out the very first one started out as a quilt really yes so what had happened is I was doing two different colorways of a quilt pattern that I designed and it was for winter and when it was a one of those like row by row quots so I first did one in kind of a bright winter color way it was pinks and blues and such and then I thought okay now I want to do it in a more dark color way a little more muted and and such so I brought in some blacks and tans and you know Plum colors a little more Rich right so I thought okay I'm going to I'm going to make this quilt again I don't know how you do it Misty because I know you guys make several of every quilt but I'm kind of like a one quilt person I get it done and I'm ready to move on right I have to say like it's it's the same for us like we you work on that design and then people are always like oh what about this quilt and I'm like I don't even remember what it looks like I have to go look at the tutorial you know because we're just on to the next thing it's true so I went to make this second quilt in the new colorway and I got one row done and I was like I'm so tired I'm done I'm done but when I looked at that one row it was it had two snowman and a penguin in the middle and I went oh that is actually really cute on its own yeah I wonder if it would look cute as a bench pillow I wonder if because I had this black bench in my home and I thought I'm going to put it up to the bench and see how well it fits yeah and that's how it started it literally I put it up on the bench and I looked at it and I said okay check I'm done I was going to say talk about making do right that's right I was like I am not making a second quilt yeah so um then I finished it off into a pillow and there were no pillow forms that size I I Googled it and I thought well there's got to be a bench pillow no there was nothing so I just stuffed it stuffed that whole thing with polyfill sewed it up put it on the bench and before I knew it the bench pillow was born and since then boy we've at kimberbell we've created dozen I was going to say so many for every holiday and season every reason or SE is what I say and there's plenty of them and they just become really fun for people whether they sew machine and border and of course quilt there's some piecing in there and uh people have made them into other things besides VCH pills but that's where it certainly started that's really fun I I had no idea that was the origin so how cool is that so the other thing that I love about your designs is how you incorporate all these different textures and details so can you talk a little bit about that it's the embellishments we call them Kimber embellishments right and it's just that little bit of extra that just sets a project apart from anything else when I want when I see people look at a kimberbell project I love to watch their faces because they'll go oh look at that and oh look at here and you know if we can teach new techniques along the way um that create that texture then they've learned a whole lot more than just having sewn the project itself but then you add on like specialty buttons and Little Gems and jewels and ribbons and you name it just to give it that extra Dimension it's the wow factor it really is right and I think that's kind of what has set kimberbell apart is that people look at a quilt now and if there's all the extra little stuff not all of them have it but plenty of them do they know right away Ah that's a kimberbell quilt because of all the extra little embellishments that just make it special I think so it's a little bit of Whimsy and wonder that is really unique to what you do I love it so much it's really really sweet thanks you know there's a funny saying we have at kimberbell and it's this who cares how long cute takes and it's true like you know it might take a little extra time to put on those things but how cute is that right absolutely you who cares how long cute takes that's a good philosophy for life I love that that's so great I'm going to tell my husband that when I'm running late put it across there you go who cares how long cute takes honey that's right you know that's hilarious but it's so true and and honestly it's something that I try to remind people across the board in quilting even when it doesn't come to all the embellishments we're supposed to be having fun oh my goodness I couldn't have said that better myself it's all about the fun it's about the journey it's about learning as you go along and it does not have to be perfect and we know that what Jenny says you know done is better than perfect right and so just enjoy the process enjoy the experience of learning those things but also I think as you know creators and Quilters in particular we're always thinking about not only the joy it brings to our life but who are we making this for exactly whether that's our own home or whether it's you know a loved one or a friend and we think about them as we're sewing or quilting or machine embroidering and that alone also brings a lot of joy it really does it really does and it helps kind of guide the project too and I think if you can remember who it's for remember what it's about then a lot of the stress just sort of melts away isn't that the truth and we don't have to just get you know too fussy with every little Stitch and just remember um that you know these are our our own hands and our own time that we're putting into making these wonderful things and how special yeah and there are things that can be looked upon for years to come I hope that you know one day my children when they're looking at their quilts that mom made them and the seams weren't just perfect and lined up and and such that I'm not going oh but look at this over here they don't care no they will remember that they got that from Mom and it will mean the world to them I think that's so true it's such a good reminder to all of us because when you receive a gift that someone's making you never notice you never notice you're just so honored and so when we pick apart our own work it's just why why do we do that to the you yeah it's completely counterproductive to why we do it in the first place which is to fill us up and make us happy I totally age I love that so you spent a long time doing machine embroidery designs and you've kind of made the leap into punch needle so can you share a little bit about why and how that came to be that is a very good question and I think a lot of people would probably go yeah why is that Kim um I'm really excited about it first of all and certainly we love embroidery at kimberbell and we will continue to do a whole lot of it that is definitely our you know one of our core focuses at kimberbell is the machine embroidery side and so there's no doubt that's still going to be there but as a machine embroiderer there's something else I love and that is handwork right and I think all of us could say you know maybe at one time or another we said oh I don't need another hobby but then you learn the other Hobby and you're like well where was this all my life right so funny story uh just to give you a little background on punch needle um in this case is that last Christmas my sister she said Kim what do you want for Christmas and you know I don't know and I I'm just thinking about it and I said you know what I really want to learn how to do punch needle I I've seen it out there before it looks maybe a little more primitive than than what was my natural taste you know but still beautiful and I love yarn and I love working with yarn and so I said you know what that's what I want to learn is how to do punch needles so that's she says okay I'm going to give you the gift of of learning punch needle right so she bought me a kit and I got it and I I let it sit there for a while it was a little intimidating and it was in another language and so I really wasn't catching on to what I needed to do and so I let it sit there for a couple months a couple couple months later in February um my mom had had knee surgery and we talked about this during our tutorial but I was with her and I needed a little handwork to do and so I got out that project that my sister had given me and started punching but I still wanted the the fun and unique textures that fabric could also give this punch needle so then I thought wait a minute what if we could bring in fabric with the yarn Marry The Two Worlds and now we could create these really phenomenal punch needle projects have both so cute well extra embellishments too well that's what I was going to say it's such a testament to your creative brain where you can pull in all these fun textures and embellishments and not be afraid to try why not right I I often say give it a whirl you know just give it a whirl so that's what I did I instead of finishing that punch Nero project all in yarn that's when I said wait a minute I've got some fabric kimberbell has a line of fabric of course many lines of fabric and so I brought that in and then brought those together so I'm really excited that Missouri Star is is uh you know uh carrying those exactly so anyway but then so how this got into like the kimberbell world is you know this last year I've been thinking more and more along with our leadership team at kimberbell we said what is the future of kimberbell where do we want to go um with this and we're always looking ahead you know three years 10 years and such down the road and so the thought dawned on me you know yes I still love machine embroidery and sewing and quilting but the tagline of kimberbell is kimberbell experience the joy of creativity it's not experienc the joy of machine embroidery or quilting like do love but it's creativity and that can Encompass so many things right absolutely so I went to our leadership team with this idea and I said what if now kimberbell becomes more than just those things but it it brings in all of our creative interests and hobbies and especially handwork um I love a good hand embroidery project even though I like to machine embroider and I certainly love punch needle now so we decided to start with punch needle and that has just launched recently and I could not be more excited the response has been been overwhelming and it's been really fun to see and I'm a little addicted now I am doing punch needle in the car on the airplane even here coming out to Missouri I was punching away you know I love it and I mean getting to see all of the designs that you have coming up I just got more and more excited because they're so cute and so clever just really really well done and I think it's a wonderful thing that you've done to take another art that has been around for a long time but maybe hasn't had a Resurgence in quite some time and to remind people that like just because the one you've seen looked maybe a little more primitive than you like or just not your style doesn't mean that it's not something that can be for you yeah and so bringing that and giving it new legs and a new life is really fun yeah it's exciting I'm really excited about it and I think you know even those like myself who machine embroider boy I'm G to get my machine humming and then I'm going to punch while I'm at it and I'll get two things done at once you know so true and it really creates this beautiful almost like an ecosystem of of projects that correlate with each other and coordinate with each other in your home to create this beautiful setting so you might have a coordinating quilt on the wall and then you have a punch needle pillow on the bench right below it and then you have you know some other hanging items on the wall that are punch needle there's just a lot of possibilities to bring all of our worlds together I agree and um make something really beautiful I agree so is there anything else that's on the horizon or that you want to try in the future my goodness yeah I'm sure there are you know I I want to be a better piecer you know so maybe I could learn a few things from you Misty hang I love it I you know I need to work with my punch needle yeah ex well no you you got it you got it but I am going to teach you machine embroidery right we could to get that module out for you yes I would love that much I don't know there's always something new to learn right and just as I said earlier about becoming curious in business do the same thing in life you know and whether that be a a Hands-On hobby or say you know gosh I want to learn how to make sourdough bread or something just always be curious and be willing to learn something new and that's probably going to mean doing some searches on YouTube and finding Missouri Star tutorials right or you know doing your research with books and such but just try it you know give it a whirl as I say I love that so much Kim thank you so much for spending time with me this week it's been so fun sharing your talents with all of us and and hopefully people have learned a lot I hope so and I certainly enjoyed learning more about your story and how you built kimberbell so I appreciate that thank you so much it's been so fun it has I'll see you soon okay [Music]