Playing with Colors... & Chemicals

From an early age I loved playing with artistic mediums. I had Play-doh and absolutely loved it. I loved the smell, the texture of it, how many colors it came in. I didn't have enough for my liking. I wanted all the colors. I don't even remember much of what I did with Play-doh, but I really loved it. I know that I had a pasta contraption for it and used that often and also played "restaurant" with it. Modeling little burgers and other food stuffs with it.

Another artistic medium that was abundant in the house was acrylic paint. My parents used to make decorative wooden cutouts and sell them at yard sales - my dad the wood worker & my mom handling the painting. So not only did the house often smell like fresh cut wood (which I loved the smell of) but we had a bunch of acrylic craft paints in the house. At some point they stopped making them and I was allowed to use the paints that were left. 

Oh. My. God.

Suddenly my favorite thing to do when I was home was making paintings. I didn't draw or paint any scenes with them. No, my favorite thing was just swirling them. I would put various acrylic paints on a paper, then lay another paper over top & press down... and spin the top paper before pulling them apart. I was mesmerized by how the colors mixed & swirled. I would make dozens of these in a day and they'd be left drying all over the house. I absolutely loved it. I have no idea how many of them my mom kept but I know she kept some. I of course wanted to keep them all and I probably did for a while.

You know those plastic beads you could arrange on a little spiked plate and then iron them so they stick together? Yeah that was my other colorful arts & crafts obsession. Oh my gosh I absolutely loved making those. Thankfully I was a careful enough kid that I was allowed to be trusted with the iron on my own so I didn't have to wait for my mom to want to work on them with me. I made sooooo many of those and gave them to my cousins and friends and anybody who would take them. The colors, I absolutely loved all the vibrant colors. It was the time when Lisa Frank was EVERYWHERE and I'm pretty sure I had a kit of these beads that was Lisa Frank themed. I remember a very colorful unicorn was my favorite pattern to make. I loved horses so much.

Pre-teen years hit and homework took a hell of a lot more of my time. Music, video games, clothing design, and horseback riding lessons took over my interests. The paints, beads, and my painting station - a card table all my own in the foyer - were packed up. Around this same time though I decided I wanted to learn how to crochet again. I knew how to crochet at 4 years old, but expecting a 4 year old with undiagnosed ADHD to sit and crochet was just maniacal. So the skill faded. But my maternal grandmother crocheted (and my dad knew how to as well from his mom) so I asked my gram to teach me again. I go through phases where all I want to do is crochet and other times where I don't touch the yarn at all - But I do still know how and enjoy it. At one point in my 20's I tried to start a business for my crocheted items, but I don't crochet enough and didn't want to pressure myself to make stuff when I didn't feel like crocheting. I didn't want to grow to hate the craft. 

I don't remember when exactly I was first introduced to resin, but I remember what the introduction was. My mom got a bouquet of fake roses in a vase & put it in the foyer. I saw them and noticed she had sprayed water on the petals. I asked her why she would spray water on fake flowers, and why she had them in water to begin with. She told me it wasn't water at all, that it was fake too. I touched one of the droplets on a petal & sure enough it was not water but rather something solid. I looked at the "water" in the vase and moved the vase, but the "water" didn't move. I was mesmerized. What in the world substance was this and how did they do that?! I wanted to work with resin from that day. If I had known it was something that could be made colorful I would've had my next obsession immediately. But knowing it looks like water was enough to make me love it. I wanted to work with it for so long but had nobody in my life to teach me - not to mention when I learned it's something you need to wear a respirator for I was a bit afraid of it.

I don't know why I am so drawn to colorful things. Maybe it's that I dream in color. Maybe one of my past lives was surrounded by muted tones and drab clothing options - or the opposite and I held onto the love of the colors. But whatever the reason, I absolutely fucking love colorful crafts. It's one of my favorite things about my favorite season - Summer. Beautiful flowers everywhere, sparkling aqua blue pools, rich & vibrant greenery, colorful pool toys & flip flops. I love summer, I love water & swimming, I love flip flops (because I hate foot prisons - aka socks & shoes), and I love colors. 

So Hi! I'm Julie, owner of Battle Born Clothing. This blog will not be aesthetic with perfectly curated photos. It will not be G-Rated because I cuss like a sailor. It will not be grammatically perfect. The blog posts might take left turns & detours because ADHD is like that and I often write how I speak. But if you're cool with chaos, cussing, cats, & colorful things you might like it here. I am an AuDHD cat mom who loves rock & metal music. I call everything "dude" as if I grew up in California & frequently use "y'all" as if I grew up in the south. I am married, I have tattoos, I am childfree, & I've lived in Pennsylvania my whole life. I believe in human rights, civil rights, women's rights, & LGBTQ+ rights. I have an Accounting Degree, a gaming YouTube channel I no longer post on, and hope to grow Battle Born into a business where I design my own clothing from scratch. If you love Romantic Goth, Boho, & Rockabilly styles, stick around for my journey 😉But until then I hope you check out my sassy & snarky graphic tees - and of course my beautiful resin jewelry 🤗