Conversations with the Inspiring Norine Borys

Today we’d like to introduce you to Norine Borys.

Norine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am probably the world’s least qualified artist-teacher. And yet, here I am. To get to this point, I have dabbled. Every new and interesting crafty endeavor that sailed past my door came with an invitation to leap on that bandwagon too. As a result, I have tried all manner of fabric and fiber arts, calligraphy, wood crafting, floral design, basket weaving, (literally!), painting, and lately cookie and cake decorating. My grandmother always said, “no day is wasted if I’ve made something by hand” and I adhere to the same credo. Beyond the joy that it gives me to create something with my own hands is the corresponding joy of giving gifts to others, that I have made.

I took art throughout high school. Then, I married young and started a family. Art in the form of needle and thread creations was something I could do while babies played at my feet. It provided me with a creative outlet that saved my sanity when long days spent wiping noses and serving up yet another pot of mac and cheese strained it to the breaking point. My husband has always been my loudest cheerleader and staunchest supporter and he suggested I try to sell my wares at craft fairs throughout my home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It seemed like a great idea – only requiring my working away from home for a few weeks out of the year. Never content to continue doing the same thing over and over, I expanded my product line to include hand made home decor items, home sewn, and items created with wilderness and junkyard sourced materials, and eventually, original primitive wood folk art. Gradually, my home-based craft business (in the days before Etsy) grew to encompass a farmer’s market booth, larger and larger fairs, and festivals. Ultimately, I continued to run that business for about 17 years.

During this time, I also taught art to middle-school children. Our own children attended a French Immersion School where they could choose between music and art for one optional class. When there was no art teacher available, I was approached by the school administrators about teaching a small class of the children who had not opted for the music program. I had no qualifications beyond having children of my own that age and a keen interest in, and love for sharing art. I was given the freedom to develop my own curriculum and as a result, we explored many more styles and mediums of art that students of that age are usually introduced to. The greatest benefit to me from that experience was in giving adolescents the tools and techniques to turn statements such as “I can’t draw” and “I’m not an artist” into “wow, I didn’t even know I knew how to do this!”

Ten years ago, my husband’s company moved us to the US and rather than start my business again in a new market, I took the opportunity to retire from making-for-sales, to explore new and different arts, solely for my own pleasure, turning my interest to paper crafting and painting. Whenever I can, I love to take classes, both locally and afar, traveling back to Canada, as well as to California, Minnesota, Texas, and Florida, in pursuit of teachers who are instructing new and interesting mediums. When I can’t find teachers for something specific that I’m drawn to, I turn to YouTube. There is nothing you cannot learn to do/create/make on YouTube.

In recent years, I’ve returned to knitting and crocheting, art quilting, macrame and cake and cookie decorating for personal enjoyment, and have been pursuing a casual role as a teacher and brand ambassador for card-making and scrapbooking companies. I continue to teach in Canada when we return each summer for two months, and I instruct card-making and scrapbooking techniques via my blog, The Velvet Lemon, on Instagram and by making YouTube tutorials. But there is so much more yet to learn and try! Pinterest provides me with a continual source of exciting inspiration and motivation while also causing me a tiny bit of distress, knowing that I can’t do it all. But I will continue to try!

Has it been a smooth road?
No one’s road is ever smooth, but the struggles I most often faced along the way were about balance and guilt. Any work-from-home-mother will understand. Being a single-owner and entrepreneur required constant time and attention that often felt like it was exacting a toll from my husband and children that they hadn’t signed up for. It was seasonal work as well, which meant that even though part of the year was quiet and I could give myself 98% to the needs of my family, the other part of the year, the insanely busy and overwhelming part of the year, often meant cereal for supper. It was by involving my children in some of the simple tasks that I could assign to them, that I could slay the Guilt Tiger and feel like this was a family effort. And in the end, it was the profits from my business that afforded us vacations to Disney Land and other fun “stuff” like that.

What made the bumps in the road manageable was doing what I loved. By doing something that was so much a part of what made me, me. If I had been pursuing something that didn’t excite and consume me, I would have quit early. Surrounding myself with people who encouraged me to do what I loved was also a huge part of quieting the voices of self-doubt and criticism.

My chosen path and efforts have never been about “retiring rich.” I was a wife and stay-at-home mom first, and my business was what I could do alongside my traditional role without taking anything away from it.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
My main working role now is as a brand ambassador for various paper crafting companies, including the locally based Spellbinders, as well as Altenew, WPlus9, Technique Tuesday, Jane’s Doodles, PinkFresh Studios, etc. They are predominantly stamped and die companies, who create products for the paper crafting community. With their products, I produce samples that inspire customers to create and get more from their purchases than they might think of on their own. I break down processes and teach new techniques via my blog and YouTube videos, and share community-wide encouragement of creativity on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I firmly believe that creativity is a muscle and the more it is used, the better it works! As well, I preach COPYING. Every artist alive has copied something or someone as part of their learning process and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

My 7500 Instagram followers and blog commenters would tell you that they recognize my work straightaway when I make cards with watercolored florals. It is the thing I most love to do, and as a result, the thing I’ve become most accomplished at. That is not to say I’m an expert! Watercolor painting is one of the most difficult art forms I’ve tried and I still have much to learn.

It would be great to hear about any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve used and would recommend to others.
My #1 favorite app is Instagram, for both the creative inspiration and the supportive community it provides. I started an Instagram account that is solely for sharing my creativity and keep it separate from my personal IG account.

I also love and use a couple of photography apps – PicTapGo for editing photographs of both my grandchildren (for scrapbooking) and my work for online posting. It has intuitive presets that help you turn iPhone photography into something far more professional. The 2nd photography app is called Waterlogue, and it turns any photograph into a watercolor painting. This app has also helped me grow my painting skills.

Besides the unrelated, but riveting, true-crime and human interest podcasts like CaseFile, Criminal, Stuff You Should Know and Reply All, I love 2 podcasts about growing businesses. How I Built This is about the big companies and where they started, but Elise Gets Crafty drills down to the nitty-gritty of setting goals and achieving them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thevelvetlemon.blogspot.com
• Email: norine.borys@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norinehope/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norine.borys
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nborys
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYjs3YC3VP6LWFRyM29pjvw?view_as=subscriber

Image Credit:
Paul Borys, Norine Borys

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