Meet Kristen
Meet Kristen
Dressing up as an artist at her kindergarten career day was the first step Kristen took in the direction of being an artist as a profession. She knew at an early age what creating art and beautiful things meant. Both her grandmothers were avid seamstresses and craft gurus. She grew up loving hands-on projects and anything that involved paint. Her grandmothers will always be a huge part of why she is the way she is today and why she continues to honor them in her work.
After completing her high-school AP art class, Kristen went on to Mississippi State University where she did not even hesitate to choose her major. She went into college knowing she was going to be an art major with an emphasis in graphic design and minor in marketing. After graduation in 2007, Kristen opened up Cultigraphic Creative® with fellow MSU classmate Catherine Yerger. Both of them had a passion for art and design which translated nicely into design work for their long list of clients.
In 2011, curiosity got the best of Kristen and she purchased a 1925 10 x 15 Chandler + Price from Lexington, KY and hauled it all the way back to Mississippi on tiny trailer with just one other person as her letterpress-moving sidekick. With the press acquired she decided to open up Thimblepress®. The name was derived from her childhood, now continued on to adulthood, collection of thimbles from her travels. Every time she traveled to a new state she got a thimble to mark her visit. A few of them have broken from moving different places, but she still keeps her collection in old letterpress type drawers in her dining room.
Kristen hopes to make Thimblepress a reflection of her life, love of her family, and her favorite places in the world; one of them being Mississippi.
(Can’t Forget) Willow, Henry & Norman
Kristen has three amazing office helpers. One of them is Willow, a fluffy sometimes diva-like golden doodle who lets her know when she has been working too long. The newest addition is Henry Albert Ley, a mini merle patterned goldendoodle with a big spirit and sweet eyes! The other, a rescue cat named Norman who loves sleep, being lazy, purring, and eating his food out of his fancy ceramic food bowl. All three are an integral part of keeping Thimblepress® afloat and Kristen sane!
