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All Life

my why and my heart!

hand lettered graphic, joy graphic, emily steffen, oh yay studio why, the reason behind the business, hand lettering, learn how to hand letter
Every business owner gets asked the question WHY! Why are you making the product you are making? Why are you hustling to get your message or voice or idea or process out there? What is the heart behind your message? And what do you think that you are TRULY solving??? 

Today I am going to share with you my WHY and my heart and the reason I pour myself into this little business of mine! 🙂

First of all, I believe that this world is full of junk and hard stuff. Life is hard, people can be mean and icky things can happen to great people. It can suck. It does suck sometimes. BUT I believe that I have been made on this planet to bring joy. To show you (and myself) that even when things are hard, and they will be, that there’s hope in the hurting! To see the little moments that, even in the midst of sucky, can make things even the tiniest of better. To know that, even when it seems like life is punching you square in the face, that at you still have two strong legs to stand on. And to help you to know that, if even for a second, you are loved beyond your wildest dreams. Because the truth is that joy is not the lack of these icky or terrible things happening to us in life. Joy is the way we choose to handle these things!

I also believe that when people feel loved, they are their best selves and can move ANY set of mountains. Love is strong like that.

I grew up in a home that was creative and fun and full of nature and family dinners with loads of board game playing at night. I had a Mom that sewed every ounce of clothing I ever asked for (until I was too cool to wear handmade items in Middle school, but then I eventually came around). She encouraged me and loved me and built me up towards every dream that I ever spoke out loud to her. She taught me to be myself and that I matter SO DEEPLY to this world, and to her! 🙂 And I grew up with a Dad that never once made me doubt his endless and proud love for me. He taught me to never be afraid of hard things and that once I start something, I MUST complete it (oy, still working on that one Dad).

A short 11 months after my husband and I got married, my happy, easy, fun little world got rocked. My Mom died of cancer. And then 20 months later it got shaken again with a phone call that my Dad took his own life. I am an only child and was all alone. OY! My happy, solid, loving, safe, supportive, build-me-up family was gone. It sucked. A LOT! I felt robbed. I grieved. And I grieved hard. I got angry (VERY angry). But through A LOT of counseling, my husband’s unwavering love, MANY cry-sessions to friends and family and anyone who would listen and lots of Hallmark movies, I am where I am today, 10 years later! 🙂

This isn’t a message about me saying that hard things are ok, because they aren’t. And this isn’t a message about how we all move on and pick ourselves back up again, because sure, we do that. This business and blog and shop and ME is a living, breathing response to say that hard things happen, BUT JOY! My heart is what I said above:
JOY IS NOT THE LACK OF JUNK HAPPENING IN LIFE. JOY IS THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO HANDLE IT!

And trust me, I didn’t choose to handle my junk and grief in a neat and tidy box with any sort of fast timeline. Nope, not even close. It took a few years. But I eventually saw how loved I was and I let that love help me dream again. Dream up something that could spread love and share color and a small bit of what my Mom taught me in her sewing room and to undoubtedly prove that JOY CHANGES THINGS!

It just does.
JOY CHANGES THINGS!

My heart is that you will see hope through the colorful doodles or hand-lettering. And fun in the recipes or baking adventures. That you will find inspiration in the big, small, or obscure holiday celebrations (and hopefully adopt some for your own home)! That you will see legacy in the creativity, DIY’s, patterns or tutorials that I play with. That you would see joy in ALLLL of the products and ideas! AND, most of all that you would find a small glimpse of wholehearted LOVE in everything that OH YAY STUDIO is!

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« Week Four :: Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream sandwich
Week five : 4th of July tie-dye ice cream sammie! »

Comments

  1. Laura lee says

    June 26, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    Wow Emily!!! Great explanation of your why!!! So honest and real! Thank you for being you because you are really fantastic at it!!! Your mom and dad would and are so proud of you!!! Continue to spread the joy!!!

    Reply
  2. Dawn says

    June 26, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    You are loved, amazingly loved. Thank you for, well, being you. 😍

    Reply
  3. Pam says

    June 27, 2018 at 1:33 am

    This!!! This I have been waiting for you to post!!! You are an unbelievably strong woman and inspiration to many of us that have dreams, aspirations and JUNK!! Thank you for sharing your story so truthfully and I hope you never forget your why Emily!!!!!! Keep it up.

    Reply
  4. Net says

    November 23, 2020 at 11:14 am

    Emily, thank you for sharing your heartfelt story, and the love you have for life. I am so very glad I came upon your craft and sewing ideas. You speak volumes with your honesty, and I for one love that. I look forward to following your site and Joy.

    Reply
  5. Sandi Queen says

    December 4, 2020 at 12:27 am

    Like Emily, I too, have stumbled onto your website and as I go through it, find that you are an amazing woman with an over-the-top attitude. I was similarly stricken with a dad who passed on 60 years ago, when I was 7. Mom was a stay-at-home mom who could either be found in the sewing room ar volunteering or at the stables. She passed away 15 years ago and I still miss her; so in some ways we are sisters (I’m the older one!). I just added you to my email so I don’t miss a thing. I will keep snooping around your website and also look forward to the newsletters. Keep it going, kid! You are loved more than you know…

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. On Seeking Joy, and #TheDailyJoyProject Instagram Challenge - Elle Croft says:
    January 3, 2019 at 11:18 am

    […] image accompanies an amazing post about choosing joy by Oh Yay […]

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oh hi there, i’m Emily!

I am a believer, dreamer, photographer and maker! I use almond extract in all of my baking, have a problem hitting the snooze button and I truly believe that smiling can change the world!

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This spring weather calls for a springy color pale This spring weather calls for a springy color palette for a new mini-mural! 😍 All of these colors will be turned into happy florals for the amazingly wonderful @farmtofist fresh flower farm stand sign (I mean, a flower stand!?!!???? How does it get any better)! 🌷🌸🌼❤️🎉
And that watermelon color!? It’s just perfectly punchy isn’t it!?
Esther’s color-filled, floral mural is done but Esther’s color-filled, floral mural is done but I can’t promise that photos are back on the walls or laundry isn’t spewing out of the hampers behind me 🤷‍♀️ I guess it’s what we call balance. 
But yay for florals. I’m slightly in love with this wall and can’t wait to write up a blog post with details and more pics. 🌿❤️🌸
Adding color and life into every corner of this we Adding color and life into every corner of this weekend. Because today is ALLLLL about how love wins, evil is overcome and death is conquered. 🎉❤️
Also, I’m clearly still on this floral kick and I have no plans to stop. Three cheers for my @officialcricut that helped turn these doodles into egg stencils. 🎉🌿🥚
A few weeks ago I snuck into my amazing sister in A few weeks ago I snuck into my amazing sister in laws house and painted a beachy, wavy, tropical-esque, happy mural in their bedroom! If you know ANYTHING about @lanaesteffen then you know how much she loves the color turquoise, the @mnstatefair the Bachelor annnnd anything and everything beachy! (And I wasn’t going to paint every food on a stick from the state fair on her walls) 😂😂😂😂 
I just put up a big ‘ol blog post with how I painted this wave mural on their bedroom wall with 2 paint markers and 1 white paint sample all for under $7 🌊 🌴
Of course when I live with a 5 year old bunny enth Of course when I live with a 5 year old bunny enthusiast, my latest zipper pouch pattern hassssssss to be a carrot. Duh! Did you catch the live event on @therealcraftsy + @nationalsewing today!? (Don’t worry, if you missed it, the video will be up for a bit complete with the whole PDF pattern to download!) 🥕🥕
Zipper pouches are a *must* in this household to make sure all of these pre-schooler “collections” are gathered and kept together. 
And if you can’t tell, Esther is 100% pretending to nibble on the carrot in this photo! I’m telling you, BUNNY ENTHUSIAST 🥕😂🥰
Apparently Norman pug has taken the role of qualit Apparently Norman pug has taken the role of quality control supervisor while I start putting the finishing florals + details on Esther’s wall mural today. 😂 😂 apparently he’s not aware that I have tubs of paint instead of tubs of treats. 🤷‍♀️
Also, who knew I would love painting on a dark background so much!? I may have turned a new leaf with this “Russian Olive” color. It’s just the right amount of color with it’s dark and bold quality, I looovvveee! 🌿
I finallllly got a blog post together sharing the I finallllly got a blog post together sharing the full scoop of the color palette, some tips + tricks and allllll of the behind-the-scenes for this oversized floral mural in the playroom for @katiedfredrickson kiddos! :) And surprise, I used not just one but TWO colors of yellow in this mural! ⁣
Welp, I guess I'm predictable! :)
Doing my best to spread color and light these days Doing my best to spread color and light these days. And also following through with allll the painting requests of a certain 5 year old that I live with, including how I can incorporate a jumping bunny with glasses in the mural for her room (specifically a pink jumping bunny, obvi). 👓 🐰 🌸 🌼🌿
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This spring weather calls for a springy color pale This spring weather calls for a springy color palette for a new mini-mural! 😍 All of these colors will be turned into happy florals for the amazingly wonderful @farmtofist fresh flower farm stand sign (I mean, a flower stand!?!!???? How does it get any better)! 🌷🌸🌼❤️🎉
And that watermelon color!? It’s just perfectly punchy isn’t it!?
Esther’s color-filled, floral mural is done but Esther’s color-filled, floral mural is done but I can’t promise that photos are back on the walls or laundry isn’t spewing out of the hampers behind me 🤷‍♀️ I guess it’s what we call balance. 
But yay for florals. I’m slightly in love with this wall and can’t wait to write up a blog post with details and more pics. 🌿❤️🌸
Adding color and life into every corner of this we Adding color and life into every corner of this weekend. Because today is ALLLLL about how love wins, evil is overcome and death is conquered. 🎉❤️
Also, I’m clearly still on this floral kick and I have no plans to stop. Three cheers for my @officialcricut that helped turn these doodles into egg stencils. 🎉🌿🥚
A few weeks ago I snuck into my amazing sister in A few weeks ago I snuck into my amazing sister in laws house and painted a beachy, wavy, tropical-esque, happy mural in their bedroom! If you know ANYTHING about @lanaesteffen then you know how much she loves the color turquoise, the @mnstatefair the Bachelor annnnd anything and everything beachy! (And I wasn’t going to paint every food on a stick from the state fair on her walls) 😂😂😂😂 
I just put up a big ‘ol blog post with how I painted this wave mural on their bedroom wall with 2 paint markers and 1 white paint sample all for under $7 🌊 🌴
Of course when I live with a 5 year old bunny enth Of course when I live with a 5 year old bunny enthusiast, my latest zipper pouch pattern hassssssss to be a carrot. Duh! Did you catch the live event on @therealcraftsy + @nationalsewing today!? (Don’t worry, if you missed it, the video will be up for a bit complete with the whole PDF pattern to download!) 🥕🥕
Zipper pouches are a *must* in this household to make sure all of these pre-schooler “collections” are gathered and kept together. 
And if you can’t tell, Esther is 100% pretending to nibble on the carrot in this photo! I’m telling you, BUNNY ENTHUSIAST 🥕😂🥰
Apparently Norman pug has taken the role of qualit Apparently Norman pug has taken the role of quality control supervisor while I start putting the finishing florals + details on Esther’s wall mural today. 😂 😂 apparently he’s not aware that I have tubs of paint instead of tubs of treats. 🤷‍♀️
Also, who knew I would love painting on a dark background so much!? I may have turned a new leaf with this “Russian Olive” color. It’s just the right amount of color with it’s dark and bold quality, I looovvveee! 🌿
I finallllly got a blog post together sharing the I finallllly got a blog post together sharing the full scoop of the color palette, some tips + tricks and allllll of the behind-the-scenes for this oversized floral mural in the playroom for @katiedfredrickson kiddos! :) And surprise, I used not just one but TWO colors of yellow in this mural! ⁣
Welp, I guess I'm predictable! :)
Doing my best to spread color and light these days Doing my best to spread color and light these days. And also following through with allll the painting requests of a certain 5 year old that I live with, including how I can incorporate a jumping bunny with glasses in the mural for her room (specifically a pink jumping bunny, obvi). 👓 🐰 🌸 🌼🌿
Follow Emily on Insta

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