Why my love for Grace & Serendipity runs deep.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully explain about how much this day means to me today.
I have felt this nestled into the deepest parts of my soul for years that Grace & Serendipity has always been something I would bring to life in an entirely different way than it originally began.
But before we get started on renewing this journey that’s been planted in my soul for so long, join me for a quick timeline walk down memory lane today, won’t you?
2013.
I can clearly remember a moment in the October of 2013 when I was at a conference, sitting in a pew during a worship session. The then brand new song Oceans by Hillsong United was being sung by women all around me, and I felt something shift in my soul.
I knew I was being called to do more with Grace & Serendipity than have it be known for wedding planning + stationery design.
But it was new and scary and different. So I buried that thought and just kept getting more invested in growing the wedding side of my business … because I didn’t know what it was supposed to become.
2015.
I attended the Society for Creative Founders Conference for the first time, and again, feeling that pull that I was being called to something more with Grace and Serendipity once more.
On that last day in Phoenix, I had a one-on-one session with two of the speakers where we chatted through ideas for my different product lines that I wanted to bring to life, and I honed in on the one main focus generated from that conversation: to encourage women through prints and cards.
But also on that last day, I held a sample planner in my hands from a friend I still keep up with, who I hope you’ll see here someday in the next year (hint hint, Ashley!) and it opened the door into a whole new world for me.
I still remember thinking “PEOPLE can design planners?! Not just big businesses in big offices with a staff of thousands of people?! PEOPLE can bring ideas like these to life?? What is THIS joyous life all about?!”
But even though I taught myself design more and more each day, I still kept that quiet, focusing on growing the wedding side of my business.
But in October of 2015, I launched the “Hey Mama” Collection as a way to lean in to that calling for the first time. Which included my first round of planning products, too. (if you’ve been here for a while, do you remember that collection too?)
(sidenote: for an added nostalgia moment, watch the video to the right that I shared with my sweet son making his hand model debut when he was only 6 months old. I was making Reels before Reels were cool. Ha!)
2016.
After one of the most fulfilling and best years in my wedding business, I said goodbye to everything other than designing wedding stationery throughout my days … because all of that hard work and years spent growing my business and becoming known for my work for weddings? It paid off.
I had become known for high end letterpress wedding stationery with a very specific type of wedding that I loved to design for, and I knew that in order for me to continue to grow, I had to niche down, closed everything that was not wedding related, and put all of my eggs into the letterpress loving wedding basket.
But even though I don’t regret for a minute that I decided to let all things non-wedding related go, my heart missed it. It grieved it. And I hoped someday I would be able to bring it back once more.
2017.
In a story that we’re saving for another day, in May of 2017 I was given the opportunity to purchase the Society for Creative Founders and become the new owner, “steering the ship” as Jennifer so lovingly called it.
The day that I signed the contract on that late August day, I knew that I was making the best decision for where I saw my path going …. because I was going to be able to encourage women as I had felt called to since all the way back to 2013.
But for the year that followed, balancing a very full wedding calendar + now learning how to step into a new role, I did not handle a lot of things well.
I cried a lot for months that followed because there was so much I was always trying to do and so many new things I was trying to learn… and was honestly exhausted all the time, and it was one of the hardest years in my journey as an entrepreneur.
I absolutely LOVED what I was building with the Society for Creative Founders, but I also knew deep in my bones that something needed to change.
And that something was going to have to be Grace & Serendipity, because I simply couldn’t keep “functioning” like I was day to day. My days were filled with pure overwhelm + exhaustion.
I didn’t know how to handle well balancing life, having two babies under the age of five, and doing everything that I had on my plate on every given day at all, so I just kept living my version of a “Groundhog Day” life … when asked, my robotic reply including the words I’m fine! were said more than I’d ever like to admit.
But I wasn’t fine.
I was far from it.
2018.
In early 2018, I felt my heart beginning to be okay with the idea of Grace and Serendipity potentially close. I had had a wedding “dream design list” of things I wanted to design before I closed the doors, and what do you know … my last couple was the perfect wedding for that design to pair with.
So I went all in with my final suite - a duplexed double thick letterpress beauty on the softest cotton paper with blind debossing, a velvet backing and of course, tied with a silk ribbon…something I had made one of my signature elements.
(sidenote: OH MY GOSH!!! You know what is absolutely WHOA about this whole thing??? Today when pulling this image from Instagram to share it here, I saw the date it was shared, the day after that wedding took place: October 29, 2018. OH MY GOSH, Y’ALL!!!!!! TODAY is October 28th!!! GO READ THE CAPTION ON THE POST!!! This is a full circle moment!!)
Following the Conference in the beginning of October of 2018, I made one of the hardest decisions I ever have when it came to Grace & Serendipity, and after a moment on the beach first thing in the morning the day after our Fall 2018 Conference came to a close that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
I knew it was time to close the doors to my then successful wedding business that was Grace & Serendipity in order to fully focus on the Society for Creative Founders. And that day was the first that I was 100% okay with it.
But still, I knew it was only for a season, and it would be back someday.
And that someday is today.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot more to this story …. because what took place between 2018 to 2021 with how Grace & Serendipity has turned into what it is as of today?
Wooooooo friend, that’s a story all it’s own, that I’ll have to save for another day.
But instead of TELLING you about it, I want you to see it, experience it, and learn about it right along with me day by day.
So instead of spending any more time looking back, let’s look ahead to what’s to come, shall we?
Here's to sprinkling new seeds of serendipity and grace, and to having FUN while we're doing it.
My days of wedding planning + designing letterpress wedding invitations are simply sweet memories now, but for the last couple of years, I've felt pulled back into the creative design community in an entirely different way.
So in the days ahead as this blank canvas becomes painted with words all it’s own, I hope that Grace & Serendipity will encourage you during the quiet (and not so quiet) moments of our every day, hoping what you learn here will help you to live a loved life, experience cherished moments, and of course, discover ways to plan out days that focus in on the things that matter the most in your season …even if said days don’t go the way you originally planned for on paper.
Because whether you prefer doodling through your days in a bullet journal
or using a discbound planner to customize things month to month,
have a spiral bound planner (or seven) that are your go-tos for everything,
or even prefer to use Google Calendar, Asana, or Trello for #allthethings,
no matter how you look at it,
planning things for your life should be fun, not overwhelming or stressful.
It’s about learning what works the best for you.
Because there may be a plethora of different ways to plan out our days, but there may be only a few ways that work amazingly well for you.
You simply have to choose to take the time to figure out what works the best … with a little (or a lot) of encouragement along the way.
This is how Grace & Serendipity is coming back to life, with a renewed sense of hope, certainty, and joy.
And that hope, certainty, and joy that you can find a planning style that works?
I’m certain you’ll find it sprinkled within these pages … because I wish for a life filled with grace and serendipity for you.
Talk to you again soon, my friend.
It feels really, really amazing to be back here and writing to you once more.
I’ll see you back here on the blog on November 1st, because the first planning collection will be launching (in very limited quantities) on Wednesday, November 3rd at 8:08pm CST.
But just in case you want to see a sneak preview before November 1st,
join me on Instagram Live at @kristinwilsoncreative on Friday, October 29th at 11:11am CST.
If you’re seeing this in real time, take it a step further and RSVP in my stories today letting me know you’d like to receive a reminder to join me before I go live too, if you’d like.
I am thrilled to get to begin this new chapter with you, and hope that you are, too.
Cheers to renewed beginnings. ♡