We recently connected with Kelly Huskins and have shared our conversation below.
Kelly, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Finding Purpose in the Messy Middle: How Creativity Became My Compass
Purpose isn’t something I found neatly wrapped in clarity. It wasn’t a lightning-bolt moment or a perfectly aligned plan. It arrived slowly, quietly, through messy beginnings, heartbreaking detours, and the stubborn whisper that creativity was the only place I ever truly felt like me.
My love affair with creating started when I was little, and my grandma handed me a paintbrush and let me paint my bedroom door Pepto-Bismol pink. Most adults would have said no, but not her. She believed in the wildness of imagination. She believed in letting children create without apology and fostering an atmosphere of creative exploration. She was so amazing that once I drew a quirky little monster and she sewed him into a life-sized stuffed creature almost as tall as I was. In that moment, I learned something I didn’t have words for yet: what we imagine can become real.
I didn’t know then that creativity would become my lifeline.
As life unfolded, I stepped into roles that required responsibility and resilience as a mother, partner, business owner, and caretaker. Creativity shifted in form over the years: from stained glass to faux-finished walls, upholstery, furniture art, interior décor, and, finally, decoupage paper and digital design. I didn’t realize it then, but every medium I touched was preparing me for something larger than art. It was teaching me how to navigate grief, reinvention, and the raw, unglamorous middle chapters of life.
There came a time when everything I thought was stable fell apart. I found myself standing in the ruins of what I expected my life to be, unsure of who I was without the roles I had built my identity around. I remember staring at a piece of furniture, brush in hand, tears on my face, thinking, “What now?”
And something inside me whispered back:
Create anyway.
That moment didn’t solve everything, but it changed everything. Creativity stopped being a hobby and became a lifeline; an anchor I could hold onto when everything else felt like open water. I realized I wasn’t just painting furniture. I wasn’t just designing products. I was uncovering my purpose.
Whimsykel Designs was born not out of strategy, but out of a need to express the things I didn’t know how to feel or express with words. I created because creating gave me a safe space for expressing whatever emotion needed expressing without judgment. Along the way, something incredible happened: people started connecting. They told me my designs made them feel something: joy, freedom, hope, courage, magic. They told me my work inspired them to create again.
That’s when I understood my purpose.
My purpose is to help others remember their creativity, their aliveness, their wild imagination; the parts we lose when life asks us to be practical instead of magical.
My purpose is to inspire and empower others to create boldly, to follow their arrow, to trust their gifts, to make beauty out of broken things. Magic doesn’t always arrive with a parade and fireworks; sometimes it comes quietly, through the gentle echo of your own heartbeat, saying, “Keep creating.”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
What I Do & What Makes It Special At Whimsykel Designs, I create digital artwork and products that are more than artful images. They are reflections of stories, emotions, memories, and sparks of imagination. They are born in the space where curiosity meets possibility, where the quiet question “What if?” becomes something real. My digital designs combine bold colors, unexpected textures, and whimsical storytelling, offering artists and DIY creators a way to transform furniture, décor, and craft projects into meaningful pieces infused with both my soul and theirs.
What excites me most about what I do is not just the art itself. It is what happens when someone else makes it their own. A sheet of tissue paper becomes a dresser that shifts a room’s energy. A digital design becomes a canvas for someone to rediscover their creative voice. I get to witness people light up again, especially those who once believed they were not creative. That is where the real magic lives.
Whimsykel is built on the belief that creativity connects us. It heals. It transforms. It reminds us that we are capable of turning broken pieces into something beautiful. My brand is rooted in imagination, storytelling, and the permission to play. It encourages reconnection with the child inside who believed anything was possible.
What Is Special About Whimsykel
* Every design carries a piece of my story and is created to inspire and evoke emotions.
* My digital art is meant to spark confidence, joy, and creative freedom.
* I am community-centered. Together we rise, create, and empower one another.
* I celebrate imagination over perfection and authenticity over comparison.
Whimsykel continues to build community through our SKOOL Group, Creative AF Club, where collaboration, tutorials, creativity challenges, and shared inspiration bring artists together.
Perhaps most meaningfully, I create from the heart, knowing that every design holds the potential to speak to someone’s story, spark courage, ignite creativity, and remind them that they are never alone.
Creativity changed my life, and now I get to help others awaken theirs.
And truly… I can’t wait to see what you create.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three Qualities That Shaped My Journey When I look back on my creative and entrepreneurial path, three qualities stand out as the most impactful. They were not things I mastered all at once. They were things I learned through experience, trial and error, and much grace.
1. Curiosity
Curiosity has always been my quiet guide. It is the reason I love to paint, explore stained glass and faux finishes, and create digital art. Curiosity asks, “What if this works?” while fear is busy asking, “What if it doesn’t?”
Advice for others:
Nurture your curiosity by staying open to exploration. Try new mediums, ideas, and approaches before deciding whether they are for you. Give yourself permission to play without needing everything to turn into a finished masterpiece. Creativity grows in spaces where you are allowed to explore.
2. Resilience
My journey has been shaped as much by heartbreak and challenges as by inspiration. Resilience was not something I knew I had until life required it. It taught me to create even on the days when everything felt heavy. It showed me that starting again is not failure. It is a strength.
Advice for others:
Resilience develops when you keep going, not when everything is easy. When setbacks happen, pause, breathe, and choose one small next step. Progress often looks like tiny movements forward, not giant leaps. Trust that your strength will reveal itself as you move.
3. Emotional Awareness
Art is deeply personal. Learning to listen to my emotions and express them creatively helped me grow as both a digital artist and a human. Emotional awareness allowed me to understand which stories needed expression, which ideas were aligned, and which parts of myself were asking for healing.
Advice for others:
Pay attention to what moves you. Notice what inspires you, what upsets you, and what brings you peace. These emotions often point toward your next creative direction. Journaling, quiet reflection, or simply asking yourself, “What am I feeling right now?” can open pathways in your art you did not know were there.
Closing Thought
These qualities did not arrive perfectly wrapped. They developed slowly and unevenly, often in moments when I did not feel ready. But they shaped everything I create and how I show up in my work. Wherever you are in your journey, trust that you are building these same qualities every time you create, try, try again, and choose to honor the voice inside you that says, “Keep going.”
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
Who Is My Ideal Client? My ideal client is someone who feels a spark when they see art that tells a story. They may be a furniture artist, a crafter, a DIY dreamer, or a creative soul who wants to bring more beauty into their space. What they all share is a desire to create something meaningful. They are drawn to pieces with personality, emotion, and imagination. They do not just want to decorate. They want to express.
The ideal Whimsykel client believes in possibility. They might be seasoned in their craft or just beginning, but they are open to experimentation and love the feeling of transforming “ordinary” into “extraordinary.” They appreciate bold colors, whimsical details, and designs that evoke emotion. They like art with heart. They want to infuse their projects with their own stories.
Most importantly, my ideal client values connection. They enjoy learning, being inspired, and sharing their own creations and experiences. They care about community, encouragement, and growth. They want to be part of something bigger than a product purchase. They want to belong to a creative tribe.
Whimsykel’s ideal clients have a few key characteristics:
* They are imaginative and curious, even if they do not always feel confident.
* They appreciate quality and originality and enjoy supporting independent artists.
* They love storytelling, symbolism, and art that carries more profound meaning.
* They value community, kindness, and collaboration.
* They create from the heart and enjoy adding their own magic to what they make.
They are not driven by perfection. They are driven by expression. They are the people who take a sheet of tissue paper and turn it into a memory, a conversation piece, or a work of art that changes the room’s feeling.
These are the creatives I feel honored to serve. They are my people. My community. My reason. And with every design I release, I hope to inspire them to create boldly and follow their own artistic voice. I can’t wait to see what you create!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://whimsykel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whimsykel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whimsykel
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com@whimsykeldesigns
- Other: Community: https://www.skool.com/creative-af
Image Credits
Whimsykel Designs
