I’d like to introduce you to the Brann Family.  A.J. and Jessica were married on May 19, 2007 and reside in Holland, Michigan. Together, they have four beautiful little boys: Taylor, Sebastian, Edison and Baxter.

I do not personally know the Brann family, but they are from my community. The children’s hospital where their sons have been/are being treated is a place my family knows well. We have a son who has been seen there many times over the last 13 years.

I have a very close personal friend who has three adult children. I’ve known her and her children for 14 years and consider them to be an extension of my own family. Her sons were childhood friends with A.J. Brann. My friend’s sons met A.J. through a mutual friend when they were about 10 years old. They were on a Rocketry Team together, and A.J. also played football with one of the boys on a homeschool team. They were good friends for many years. They have shared the Brann family’s story with me, and I am sharing it with you.

The Brann family has been on a heartbreaking journey with FSGS. FSGS is a rare disease that attacks the kidney’s filtering units (glomeruli) causing serious scarring which leads to permanent kidney damage and even failure. FSGS is one of the causes of a serious condition known as Nephrotic Syndrome.

More detailed info on FSGS can be found here: http://nephcure.org/

It's pretty darn common in the handmade world for small businesses (especially online) to come second to a "day job". Well, my "day job" is actually a night job, and it happens to take a back burner to this here wacky world of whimsical delights. A few times a month I head into a salon downtown at which I cut, color and install extensions into clients' hair.  While I really enjoy that part of my job, I put the majority of my efforts into creating my form of art here in the home studio and maintaining the business online. The amount of hours I work unpaid is immense.  All of my marketing, web design and maintenance, email-answering, design consulting, social networking, etc. is done by me, personally, and off the clock. During studio hours (of which I typically get between 5 - 25 hours per week), I am working mostly on creations, and usually on dreads.  Any profit from my designs goes directly into our rent and my student loan from cosmetology school. There is rarely anything left after that, but when there is, it always goes back into the business for things like business cards, printer ink, a new steamer after I've violently run mine right into the ground, or materials to work on pre-made designs or new prototypes. 

Getting lost in that world of color and texture is my ultimate happy place. Music blaring, rainbows swirling, ideas burning holes in my brain...  that's my everything.  That's why I go through life with decade old underwear. I'm not even kidding. I totally wish I was kidding! 

My ultimate goal for Imp And Petal is to put enough in, and build it up to the point where I can give another creative wonderful person or two a job working with me, and being able to add more readily available merchandise to adorn the bodies and hearts and souls of all these amazing people that keep coming back to tell me how I've helped them to find themselves somehow. Helped them to feel empowered, beautiful, strong. I want to do that for every single person that would like me to, forever. I want to be able to hold HUGE charity events. Offer pay-what-you-can dread sets every once in a while. Spread my art and my love as far as it will possibly go. 

You know, typical stuff.  

If there is any way to make me love you instantly, it is with a bath bomb extended in my direction. "Please, go peacefully enjoy this magical experience." Yup, a bath bomb for sure.  Or a bubble bar. Or a massage bar. Or a shampoo bar. Or perfume stick. Or face scrub. Or... or.. or... 

Seriously though, never in my life have I been so madly in love with a product line. I would marry LUSH. For real. 
(That ain't no affiliate link yo, I just really love Lush, dammit). 

Some of you probably know this already, but I'm married to a blacksmith (Day Job: Produce manager at our local grocery) and we have a little boy, Lo, who is two parts terror and one part perfection.  I'm allowed to say that. I'm his mom.  
He's 3. Sometimes he says really hilarious stuff which I try to keep a running tab of via twitter. Most of the time I want to lock him in the basement. I'm stopped of course by the fact that we don't have a basement. There are days, though, when I'm pretty sure I just want to go ahead and make one to put him in. Dig it out. With my bare hands. 

What you should be taking away from this is that I hate every three year old in existence. Don't get yours near me, thanks, I have had quite enough. Also, the next time you're quick to judge some lady that looks like she hasn't showered in days, shaved in months, has a coffee stain running right over her left tit, a twitching eye, and is trying like hell to reason with a young child with absolutely no patience in the world remaining, you should switch off the judgeblinders and go offer her a (very large) cup of coffee and a kind word. 

(Seriously though, I love my kid. Mostly. Ask me again in about 6 months).

This one's hard to write about. I am undiagnosed. I can't even bring myself to see a specialist.  #1, because phones freak me out.  Driving there, if I don't specifically already know the route to get there, freaks me out. Walking into an unfamiliar office, really freaks me out. Having to talk to anyone other than those I have talked myself into talking to (ie: receptionist, doctor) totally freaks me out. How much it will cost sends me over the edge.  

We're getting invited to children's birthday parties now, (which are hell for anyone, anxiety or not... unless I throw them, in which case fun is had by all and I'm not even sorry for bragging about it) and just... God help me. 

Anti-anxiety medications are always bound together with depression medications... and while I also struggle with depression, much of it stems from my problems with anxiety. I don't really fancy the thought of tackling them in reverse order. Also, I don't want to mess with my creativity.

 So this is all a battle I am smack in the middle of and scared, all the time. Not sure where that's headed. For now, as long as I can make beautiful things, I'm okay. 

My strongest asset in my writing is my ability to be descriptive. I loooove reviewing things. To the point it's like a weird guilty pleasure. I savor that moment of going online to give my new mascara a thorough review like it's a piece of pie I'm waiting until after both a workout and getting all the house cleaning done, to devour in sweet sweet bliss. 

It's possibly a little unhealthy. 

So, if anyone has anything they'd like a detailed and brutally honest review on, get in touch!?  >.<

Speaking of writing... 
Someday I want to write horrible YA Novels. You know, the ones that are so bad they're great.  and possibly trash airport romance, as well. Because, satire! Maybe something real. Maybe. 

♥ Kristina