When I Grow Up: Owner and Artist Behind Blome's Paperie

I came across Sarah Blome in a Facebook group the other day. She mentioned that she made paper flowers for large backdrops and I was intrigued! So I reached out to her to find out more. Without further ado, allow me introduce you to Sarah of Blome's Paperie.

As a child, I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up.

How close (or far) is your current career from that dream? Pretty far? I did write my own contracts but it's pretty much the opposite side of the spectrum.

What is your official job title? Small Business Owner/ Entrepreneur/ Artist

Ok, now what does that really mean? I have no idea lol. It means I spend a lot of time as an artist making paper flowers, part of my time as an engineer figuring out how to hang and ship paper flowers, part of my time as a website builder, part of my time responding to emails, and the rest of the time trying to be more organized so I can do everything better.

What is a typical day like? I generally make flowers in the morning and respond to my emails at night, every once and a while I will take a day off to work on the website and I am trying to start up a blog. I've had to make a rule that I only reply to emails once a day or else I get sucked into the computer for half the day and hardly get any flowers done. On weekend I tend to pick up a uhaul at 10:00 in the morning, then spend 1 to 1&1/2 hours packing the uhaul up for an event then drive there, set up, drive home and hang out with my husband until midnight, then drive back and tear down. I tend to try and take Sundays off, but it usually turns into my catch up on emails day.

How did you end up in this career? I started by making flowers for my own wedding and fell in love with it, I love the creativity it allows me to have, and getting to dream up not only new flowers but installations and designs for brides. I honestly got tarted by building my own website and filling a niche no one else did. Large wedding backdrop rentals. I of course also try and make my flowers unique and spend a lot of time on each piece. I take the time to hand paint almost every flower, then some flowers get the special treatment of a hint of glitter, accent paper or some other intricate detail that gives your paper flower backdrop that little bit of extra oomph. This allows my flowers to shimmer and shine when light is directed towards them. I also don't make all my flowers out of the same stock of white paper. You would never buy an arrangement where every single flower was the same flat white with no depth or subtle shift between flowers. and I tried to take that lesson into my art, and so my flowers are made of all types and textures of papers, all in a very subtle range of colors to give our backdrops a depth that you won’t find anywhere else. 

What kind of education or training did you complete for this career? That would be a big fat goose egg. All my flowers, and the arranging of them is completely self taught. I did major in Business with a concentration in marketing and that has given me a lot of help is the business side of the business. I actually work with my mom, and she has always been extremely artistic in all facets, where I am pretty good at just this one. Having her encourage me and help me with designs is a huge blessing.

What advice would you give to someone who wants a similar career? My big motto now is if Keane could do it why can't I? It's all about finding a dream and following it, my mom said to always leave doors open but don't let it halt your path, so I am just heading forward and seeing what happens. I would also say that it is surprising how much of artistry is actually founded on business.

Any last thoughts or encouragement for others trying to decide what they want to do “when they grow up”? Don't let "I can't" or "I don't know how" hold you back, there is no reason you can't start small in then grow. And who knows what your path will develop into.

Thank you again, Sarah, for being a part of this series! If you want to find out more about Sarah and what she does, head over to BlomesPaperie.com.

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

New York, Here We Come!

It's really happening y'all. Flights are booked, bags are packed, and we are ready to go!

And I want to say thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen. We've had so much support as we threw this trip together. The GoFundMe campaign blew me away! And we are still receiving financial donations from some of you, which is amazing. We could not have made this happen without your help, truly.

I will, of course, be taking a ton of pictures on this trip, and I will share them with you wonderful people when we get back! Our itinerary isn't set in stone (nothing ever is where James is concerned!) so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. We are for sure attending a pre-climb meet up at the Blind Pig on Sunday (where they will be fundraising for the charities involved in the climb) and going to the 9/11 Museum on Monday before the climb. I also have some 30 Before Thirty items to check off the list (breakfast at Tiffanys!) and I would love to go to a UCB show.

So bring on the suggestions! What do we have to do in our short visit to NYC? I've had lots of different feedback on the major landmarks like the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and Rockefeller Center, but what do you think? I'd love to know!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

When I Grow Up: Becoming a Flight Attendant

What does the word flight attendant make you think of? I must confess, I tend to think of that silly movie, View From the Top! Pretty sure that is not what life is like for a flight attendant these day, but why don't we find out now? Stephanie Rhynes is a flight attendant, and I'm so glad she agreed to be featured today!

As a child, I wanted to be a ____ when I grew up. I wanted to be a singer when I grew up... Really thought seriously of becoming a flight attendant in high school

How close (or far) is your current career from that dream? You could say I'm living the dream! Haha sort of, I do say, "Welcome aboard" in my best sing-song voice

What is your official job title?

Official job title: Flight Attendant

Unofficial job title: Babysitter, trash collector, nurse, fireman, therapist, lavatory and exit director and evacuator... We wear a lot of hats.

What is a typical day like? Haha a typical day. If it's not atypical, then something automatically seems askew. Generally, I fly between 2-4 legs a day in a 3 day trip and about 5-6 trips a month. The flexibility of this career is the reason many people stay and fly up through their 70's (no, really, some flight attendants have 40+ years under their belts - aka "senior mamas". I fly mostly domestic (because only senior mamas get the highly coveted international trips). However, the best perk is the ability to hop on a plane to see friends and family across the country or going someplace fun overseas when time off and vacation allows. My last venture was Germany, but I have a long list of places to see. It's tough to balance work and downtime. Sometimes the last place I want to be after a stretch of 6 days on duty is the airport. Only those of us in the biz understand this dilemma...

How did you end up in this career? After college, I worked in customer service (ticketing, check-in, boarding, etc.) and on the ramp (loading bags/cargo) at a smaller airline. When I tell people I worked on the ramp they usually laugh. Rightfully so - here comes prancing along a cheery, scrawny blonde chick ready to load your mother's meat locker. To this day I wonder, what on earth do people pack?!?!? Loved the people I worked with in OKC and it taught me so much more than I expected. After a year of "ground work" I got hired as a flight attendant. Hello, culture shock. Moved to Denver and started my dream journey. Sadly, that airline had a lot of politics and terrible work rules. Straight reserve (on call 24 hrs with only a set amount of days off) and feast or famine flying = a total stressed out frenzy. Then finally, the big dogs called (the majors; i.e. legacy carriers). Funny enough, it happened at a time when I was most content, hiking with friends and loving Colorado. No joke, got the voicemail after a fun hike with friends. Climb every mountain...

In retrospect, that removed the creeping giant of interview nerves. On the one hand I was happy where I was, but on the other, this is where I always wanted to be from the get-go. I went in with that attitude of fearless, positive optimism and bam! Welcome to the big leagues!!!

What advice would you give to someone who wants a similar career? To those who aspire to a life in the skies, I would definitely encourage them to go for it! It's an amazing way to see the world, not only through your own eyes, but through others. Just don't go into the interview saying, "I love to travel and I love people!" You have to have interpersonal savvy when it comes to customer service. It's tough up there, and you gotta have true grit along with poise and unfettered grace when a grown man is chewing you out over "HIS" overhead bin space...

Do you have any other career dreams? What do you want to be when you grow up? As far as growing up goes, that never stops. I always want to learn/do/see more. My advice - Do what YOU want to do. At the end of the day, it's your choice and no one else's. Looking back, I can see how everything fell into place. God knows what He's doing. I'm always on the lookout for new opportunities and will follow through as He leads me, but it's important to enjoy the season you're in now, even when it seems like you're in a valley. Keep climbing that mountain!

Thank you so much for telling us about your career as a flight attendant, Stephanie! Keep climbing that mountain :)

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...