E79: City Mouse Art: Kristen Chamberlain's Creative Path

In this guest episode Delores sits down with Kristen Chamberlain—the creative behind City Mouse Art—to explore what it really looks like to build a thriving art practice while working a full‑time factory job. 

Raised by “creative women” in a small Midwestern town, Kristen’s heart was always pulled toward the energy of the city. Her work now blends modern florals with crisp geometric design—a blend she describes as a digital mosaic—and each piece is intentionally hand‑drawn rather than AI‑generated. 

During the conversation they discuss how a pandemic lay‑off nudged Kristen to turn her hobby into a sustainable business, how the Five Cards and Five Days challenge and Thrive community provided clarity and confidence, and why discipline and community matter when you’re juggling creativity, family and a day job. 

If you’re curious about building a creative business on your own terms, this episode will leave you inspired and motivated to take steady, intentional steps.

Ready to be inspired by Kristen’s story?

Listen to the full episode to hear how she bridges art and business one steady decision at a time. 

If you love what we’re creating at Creative Juggle Joy, support the show by sharing it with a friend, leaving a review on your favourite podcast app, or visiting our listener support page.

Kristen Chamberlain - City Mouse Art:

Website: Discover Unique Digital Art Designs In Our Studio | City Mouse Art

Kristen's Pinterest

Instagram:(@citymouse_art) • Instagram photos and videos

City Mouse Art Newsletter

Transcript

Delores Naskrent: [00:00:00] Hi friends and welcome back to the Creative Juggle Joy podcast. Today's conversation is one I've really been looking forward to because it's a really grounded example of what it looks like to build a creative business quietly, consistently, and with intention.

I'm joined by Kristen Chamberlain, the artist behind City Mouse Art. Kristen's work blends modern florals. Really cool geometric design and a thoughtful balance between creativity and technical precision. In this episode, we'll talk about her art, how city Mouse came to be, and what it looks like to grow a business alongside a full-time job.

Wow. And how community and steady support can shape both your confidence and clarity over time. Kristen, I'm so glad you're here. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Thank you for having me. It really means a [00:01:00] lot that you asked to have me on your show. 

Delores Naskrent: Well, let's start with a quick in introduction. I would love you to describe yourself and your creative life right now if you could.

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, I'm just a small town girl who grew up, surrounded by very creative women. They created everything. But I always wanted to be a big city girl. So I did that for many years, and right now my life is pretty full. But no matter what, I'm still always making time for my art. 

Delores Naskrent: Where you are now, where you're based, what does that look like for you outside of your art?

What do you do? I just love to hear about it. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, I'm based in Southern Michigan and I work full-time at a factory, and I help my dad out a lot. Most evenings I am spending time working on my art or my website, and when I'm leading up to a launch or something like that, I'm even getting up early in the morning before I have to go to work on top of stain.

Right., 

Delores Naskrent: You know what? That's really a familiar story with a lot of artists. I can [00:02:00] relate a hundred percent. 'cause that's exactly how my life went for many, many years. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Yeah. 

Delores Naskrent: So tell me about the name City Mouse Art. I always thought that was so cute. Where did that come from? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Again, it comes from me being a little Midwestern girl who lived in the city for a long time, for a very long time.

Now I'm back in rural southern Michigan, and my art kind of reflects that contrast of, it has the edge of the city, but it's softened by modern florals in nature. And when I thought of the name City Mouse Art, it just kind of hit me like a light bulb and it perfectly captured my story. 

Delores Naskrent: So for anyone new to your work, Kristen, I would love you to tell all the listeners exactly how you would describe the kind of art that you create.

Kristen Chamberlain: I don't really work in one certain style. I primarily do like a flat art, floral artwork type of thing with by adding texture depth and shading to give it more interest. But I also love working with geometric designs, which [00:03:00] mostly are high poly and low poly styles, and they can achieve a photorealistic look.

Delores Naskrent: High poly art is the one that I'm thinking about. You were explaining this, and I know that this can feel really mysterious to people. How do you explain it? 

Kristen Chamberlain: I describe it as a digital mosaic, basically, the more polygons you use to fill the image, the smoother and more photorealistic the final image is.

And when I started doing it, it was a really bad experience. I was kind of doing high poly and low poly art mixed together, but I've got it refined down to one or the other now. 

Delores Naskrent: That's really cool. I love the way it looks. And what do you love most about making work this way? 

Kristen Chamberlain: I feel like, the contrast between work, the actual process and the result, the process is very meditative for me.

And after working a really hard day at work mm-hmm. And coming home and working on, it's kind of like meditation so I can completely immerse myself [00:04:00] and let the world just fade away. But it comes out technically precise and infinitely, infinitely scalable vector image. In the end, that still looks like a photograph.

Delores Naskrent: I really love the way they look. What kind of things inspire you the most? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Nature. Honestly, it's just nature. I've always loved flowers and things like that, so, everything starts there and I like taking something that's organic, like a flower and using digital tools to transform it into something that's structured clean and very intentional.

Delores Naskrent: Clearly you've been creative for a long time and I know that you have had a lot of different things that you've done. When did art first really show up in your life? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, after I stopped chewing on the crayons probably, but I do remember every Christmas as a child, I was excited to get a new box of crayons.

But I also would sit down with my brother and we'd compete drawing cars and semi-truck on paper. And then eventually in high school I doodled all over [00:05:00] my notebook covers and needed more of those. You know, it's always just been a part of my life. 

Delores Naskrent: That sounds like a lot of artists that I know now. You've had some big things that have gone on this past year.

I have been lucky enough to be on the sidelines here. What do you think made this year feel like the moment to take your art more Seriously 

Kristen Chamberlain: Just being a creative to going professional. I just knew I had to do something. So I structured my website and the domain and started thinking seriously long term about an income rather than just a landing page or something.

So I wanted to build something that was sustainable so that eventually I could step away from my full-time job and focus on the work that I really love. 

Delores Naskrent: Isn't that always the nicest? Feeling. Just thinking ahead as to what this could lead to. Now you just recently, you were laid off right from your main job.

Kristen Chamberlain: Yeah. 

Delores Naskrent: That change things. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, it made me think [00:06:00] really hard about it. It pushed me into action, so, I already had a basic website and my zazzle shop, but suddenly I had more time and I just stopped treating the website like a place holder, and I started to improve it. That's when I, started building my online store and began selling the printable card files on my website.

It gives me control over the pricing, the sales, and it's a scalable business. 

Delores Naskrent: What was the moment where that really clicked to you? Like when did it become more than just your hobby? 

Kristen Chamberlain: I think the layoff did a lot of the pushing for me because it was like, oh wow, how I'm gonna make money? You know? So everything aligned. I had the time, I had the motivation to secure my future, by doing something that I love. And that's when I stopped treating my art like a hobby, and I started treating it like a business. 

Delores Naskrent: I love that. And we had that coaching session together and I [00:07:00] can remember you talking about it like it was so far in the future.

Here you are. You're doing it now 

Kristen Chamberlain: less than a year. 

Delores Naskrent: It sure is. Tell us what currently selling and where people can find your work. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Again, I sell the printable card files on my website. I also have Zazzle, a Zazzle store where there products like mugs, ornaments cards, scarves and art. Prints are just a few of the things that are on there.

Delores Naskrent: Yeah. 

Kristen Chamberlain: All of the links can be found on citymouseart.com. I also have Pinterest, and I recently started a TikTok, which has been an adventure. 

Delores Naskrent: I bet. Now you also sell, you mentioned Zazzle, right? And Spoonflower, yeah. Are they both? Mm-hmm. Other city mouses art too, 

Kristen Chamberlain: correct. I'm sorry. I did not mention that, but yes, they are.

Delores Naskrent: So when you're at that point where you're having to. Consider what you're going to be selling. How do you decide what is [00:08:00] gonna be included in, say that first line of cards? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, at first I took your five cards and five days challenge, and I kind of just threw some cards onto Card Isle. So there were a few holiday cards for Christmas and some Valentine's.

But this year when I got serious and I launched the web store on the website, I chose to stop experimenting and start building a catalog. So now I focus on rolling out collections intentionally by starting this year. I started with the 10 card holiday collection, and I have many more already added on there after that.

Because we were off for the holiday. 

Delores Naskrent: That's fantastic. I love hearing that because you know , this is your dream coming true. Really is what it is. 

Kristen Chamberlain: It is. 

Delores Naskrent: Do you have personal favorites when you do your art? What would you say is your personal favorite? I 

Kristen Chamberlain: have a lot of them, but I would definitely say the High Poly, the Ponisetta that I did, the roses I have, and let's not [00:09:00] forget the peony, the pink peony.

That one's really nice. And those are my biggest favorites. But I'm also falling in love with this mixed media style that I'm doing of the Wildflower and the Desert Blooms are just a few that I've done with so far and I have a few others, but those are my biggest favorites. 

Delores Naskrent: The Poinsetta and the rose. Oh my gosh.

The rose is so gorgeous. That's the one you kind of use, is it? Or is it the one that you use for your masthead on your website? 

Kristen Chamberlain: No,

that's the pink peony. 

Delores Naskrent: It's absolutely gorgeous. Let me ask you, you've been part of the Thrive community for a while now. You show up at the meetings.

What first brought you in? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Again, I found your community through the five cards and five Days challenge, which I absolutely loved, and at that time I was kind of in a low place. I wasn't just knowing what I needed to do or anything, I just needed to connect with other artists and quickly it just became a great place for me to go, for emotional support as well as for, [00:10:00] learning more skills and strategy as far as my business goes.

Delores Naskrent: Yeah, I get that sometimes. We're a little isolated as artists. A lot of us work from home. We're on our own. It's really nice when we can get together and just talk business. And you know what? There's so many different types of businesses that are represented with the people that come into the Thrive meetings.

I'm always blown away by what ends up being discussed. So it's been a really great experience for me too. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Yeah. 

Delores Naskrent: When you think about it and you know now that you have been showing up. What has that showing up consistently done for you? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Being there consistently is huge because you're surrounded by other artists.

And for me personally, it's given me clarity and confidence. It's helped me to find what my business City Mouse Art actually is and how to sell it and how to develop it further. 

Delores Naskrent: Have there been moments where [00:11:00] things really clicked for you at the meetings? Like with anything that really stood out? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, I usually quiet on the calls, you know that I do.

I'm over in the corner really quiet, but I am always listening closely and I'm probably flipping through some links that somebody mentioned or something, and usually saving it in a file on my bookmarks bar. I'll check it out, and that's when the clicks for me really happen. When I go back and I look over those things and decide if they're great for my business or if they're not something that I wanna pursue.

Delores Naskrent: Yeah, that's a really good way to do it. I still do that, Kristen. It's something that I think we commonly do in our businesses is we constantly look for ideas that we could possibly apply to our businesses. Sometimes it doesn't. You know, makes sense for our own business, but sometimes it does. So it's always nice to just kind of listen, keep your ear to the ground.

Kristen Chamberlain: I also find that if I'm listening to something and somebody talks about it. I might [00:12:00] not apply it the way they did, but I might find a way that I can apply it for me that works for my business. So there's always something there. 

Delores Naskrent: I agree. And our businesses can be so very different just because of where we live or what's happening in our lives.

I care for my mother who is living with us, and she's. Getting close to 90. She doesn't like to be reminded, but she is. And you know, I have a grandson that lives across the street, so we do before and after school care for him. And it's been, let's just say, interesting, you know, there's, always room for, change, but there's also that feeling of continuity with the routine that we have.

 find it helps me get through a lot of tough things just to have that routine in my life. What was the toughest part of this season? I know this would've been a crazy one for you. With all of the stuff going on with your business, all the new stuff happening, [00:13:00] what has been the toughest part of this season?

Kristen Chamberlain: Yeah. For me, it's still balancing the full-time job with building the business. The late nights, the long days. That's definitely been the hardest part. As well as taking care of my dad. Helping my dad. 

Delores Naskrent: Yes. Well, that's what I like to say too. My mum is very independent, very healthy. Yes. Uh, very smart, very with it.

But it's, it's just different than just being with my husband alone, you know? So it has exactly. Had it's, um, wonderful moments. We're lucky. I, I consider myself really blessed that there are four generations of us living on this one corner here. So what would you say has surprised you the most along the way?

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, I think I've been mostly surprised by how strong, my business instincts seem to be. I always knew I had creative, great creative instincts, but I've learned that I can also build a system, price it out, and strategize the business. It's the same discipline basically, that I bring to art that I'm bringing to business.

Delores Naskrent: Are there moments that [00:14:00] you're especially proud of that you'd like to share? 

Kristen Chamberlain: it was, goes back to that layoff, taking that, layoff as an opportunity to build the e-commerce store from the ground up and taking full control of the business model. Yeah, that's something I'm really proud of. 

Delores Naskrent: You've been doing a won wonderful job of.

Promoting and marketing your work too. That's something you should be really proud of considering the fact that you're working full time, that you're finding the time to cover all aspects of your business is very impressive. Scheduling, getting, especially videos on social media. You schedule it ahead of time.

Yeah, for sure. What do you think you've learned most about yourself through this process? 

Kristen Chamberlain: I'm learning basically the value of discipline and trusting myself, and apparently I'm a workaholic. 

Delores Naskrent: You must be. You must be. 

Kristen Chamberlain: I am. I am. I'm horrible. 

Delores Naskrent: Well, you know what? It's paying off and that's one of the things you [00:15:00] always have to put in front of you.

When you're thinking about the fact that you spend so much time working, you also have to put that in perspective and say to yourself, I'm finally doing this, this thing that I've been wanting to do for such a long time. Being a workaholic is not the worst thing in the world. You know?

Your, your balance will come eventually. I know it will. 

Kristen Chamberlain: I'm looking for it. 

Delores Naskrent: Yeah, you're on the right path. All these systems that you put in place are things that will start to become faster and faster, and you're gonna be able to get a lot more done in less time. That's something that will come as you go through the processes.

Kristen Chamberlain: Mm-hmm. 

Delores Naskrent: So before we wrap up, what's something that you wish more people understood about your work? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Even though my art is digital, it's fully handmade. There's no AI involved. Every piece that I CREATE's intentional and it blends my story and my skills together. 

Delores Naskrent: I agree with your style.[00:16:00] 

With what you do. It's very hands-on. you can't let a machine do what you do. I love that. Is there anything else that you'd love to leave listeners with today, Kristen? 

Kristen Chamberlain: Well, all of my life, people have always asked me what my favorite color is, and I've always said white, even though they say that's not a color.

They ask me what my favorite ice cream is, and it's like it's vanilla. Why? Well, because they go with everything. You can add almost anything to vanilla ice cream. It's awesome. Except Brussels sprouts. Yeah. Now that's where we need to draw a line 

Delores Naskrent: sure. Oh my gosh. Kristen, thank you so much for sharing your story with me today.

Your journey is such a clear reminder to creative businesses, to everybody out there who's trying to build a creative business. Businesses like this are built one steady decision at a time. 

Kristen Chamberlain: Yeah. 

Delores Naskrent: I'm so grateful that you joined us. I'm so grateful that you shared all of this. I'm so proud [00:17:00] of what you've done since the time we first met.

You have just outdone yourself. It's been an amazing thing to watch 

Kristen Chamberlain: well, a lot of that's, thanks to you. I've learned a lot from you. 

Delores Naskrent: Oh, you're so welcome. I love having people like you around me because it makes me feel good about myself and to everyone listening, keep creating, keep juggling, and most importantly, keep finding joy in the process.