I have a daughter I love deeply, as I am sure many of you do (or a niece, or a grand-daughter)!  And, I believe one of my responsibilities to her, is to present, in any way I possibly can, what I consider to be Life Truths.  One Truth, is that girls can be anything they want to be.  Long gone are the days of girls can only be teachers, nurses, etc.  But….regardless of her career choice, what I REALLY want to instill in her is the importance of the quality of her character.  Grace, Kindness, Bravery, Faith, Love….those are the qualities that matter and endure!  And if you agree, then you are going to LOVE meeting the creative force behind The Art and Soul Shop, Allie Rogosich!

Recently, I shared with you how delightful it is to “make new friends” via Social Media.  Allie is one such new friend, and her amazing Faith-infused art is simply adorable!  Allie has been creating hand-crafted signs, mixed-media art, and now greeting cards, for over 14 years.  Her Etsy site, The Art and Soul Shop, is FULL of the most colorful, created, whimsical, and EMPOWERING creations I have ever seen!

Allie’s journey is fascinating!  There’s almost no educational or professional part of her background that would inform what she is doing today…she studied Broadcasting and Journalism in college and became a professional hip hop dancer in her early twenties.  However, one theme that connected all her varied life experiences is her Faith.  She worked in the Missions Field for a period of time, and with her local church as well, and always knew that she was fearfully and wonderfully made by God, and she simply needed to find the best use of her God-given creative talent.

Allie created for herself a successful Etsy business, making large reclaimed wood signs for home decor, and then one day, her business came to a screeching halt.  Literally overnight, her business dried up, and despite her many desperate attempts to discover why, no answer emerged.  Alrighty…what to do now?

Thinking back to her youth, Allie recalled her love for fashion design, particulalry old fashion sketches that were so intriguing to her, as well as her love for telling stories.  And then something just clicked….why not tell stories through her art?  And why not tell stories that will encourage, uplift, and delight others.  And so, Brave Girls was born.

Allie’s Brave Girls Series represent her own personal journey…each girl is whimsically represented in happy vibrant colors, and then, tucked away in each piece are strips of paper taken from Hymnals, Faith-based books, and other sources, with words and sentences that illustrate those qualities I mentioned at the beginning of the Blog:  Grace, Hope, Faith, Love, Bravery….all the qualities we want to see in our girls, and really ourselves, are woven throughout each mixed media piece.

A month before I sent my daughter to college, I was looking for something for her dorm room, that would be a fun surprise, but would also be a message of what I wanted her to remember every day.  My daughter dreams of becoming a professional dancer, and that road is long and hard, and she will need to learn to dig deep and remember how fearfully and wonderfully God made her, in the face of a profession that is steeped in consistant rejection.  I purchased one of Allie’s Brave Girls, who holds a suitcase covered in travel stickers (a nod to my Curious Cowgirl logo) and included the phrase “Big Dreams….Bigger God.”  I placed that original art piece in her dorm room, in the hopes that every time she sees it, she will be encouraged to keep dreaming BIG, and to use all the amazing gifts and talents she has been given by God.

Allie’s latest project is the Send Joy Club….y’all are going to LOVE this!!!! Each month, subscribers will receive a set of notecards and envelopes in all the fun colors so that you can SEND JOY in the mail to friends and family!!  Everyone loves REAL mail, right?  For under $15 dollars a month, you can send Joy…OR….you can sit down with your child and help them think about who they would like to send Joy to (talk about a GREAT life lesson!!)….Or….you could subscribe on behalf of your college age kiddo, so THEY can send Joy to their new friends at college.  Talk about an encouraging and empowering activity!  Pretty sure we ALL need to do this, ’cause this world needs so much more Joy!!!!

I encourage y’all to check out The Art and Soul Shop!  Allie’s vision and talent is amazing, and worth supporting as we are all thinking about unique and meaningful gifts to give this Holiday Season.

PC:  The Art and Soul Shop

The fine print:  This posts contain affiliate links to Etsy, which means I make a small commission from a retailer if you make a purchase.  Your price will not be affected, but I will make a small commission which helps support my Blog.  Thanks so much!!!