We were lucky to catch up with Valerie Scheiber recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Valerie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved drawing, art, movies and creating things. I remember when I was a junior in high school seeing a behind the scenes video for Veggie Tales of all things, and they showed some animators working. Before that, it had never occurred to me that I could have an artistic job. When I saw that little behind the scenes special, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in animation and the arts. I did become an animator and have worked on a wide variety of feature films for over a decade (Hotel Transylvania 2, Rio 2, Hop, X-Men Days of Future Past, etc.) and then games after that.

Art and crafting has always been a big part of my life and when I had my daughter, I wanted to make a baby mobile for her room but I had a very specific vision in mind. I loved the look of felt flowers and decided to learn how to make them. Once I started, I found that I really loved it and began making more. I loved seeing how everything came together and I also love the feeling of working with felt. I had a good response to my creations and decided to open up Sabal + Rose to make them available to others!

Valerie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As I mentioned earlier, I got into making felt flowers when my daughter was a baby. After I made her felt flower mobile, I made some headbands for her. I really loved making them and it was a nice creative outlet for me as well– using my skills in new and different way from my animation career. I had a good response to my creations and it was then that I got the idea to turn Sabal + Rose into a business.

Sabal + Rose is a one woman show! I make a variety of felt flower products. Hair clips have always been a crowd favorite. I also make headbands, garlands, wands, and macrame wall hangings. In addition to creating the products, I made my website www.sabalandrose.com and maintain that. I photograph everything, edit the photos, write the descriptions. I package and ship my orders as well. And I keep up with my social media accounts as well. I’ve found a great creative community on Instagram and that’s been fun.

In addition to seasonal inventory, I do some custom orders which I really enjoy. I like talking to people and figuring out what they are envisioning and then bringing that to life.

I am a mom of two energetic toddlers who definitely keep me busy! I love creating and creating with them. I’ve been posting DIY craft ideas monthly on my instagram– some ideas with my toddlers and some without. I love sharing these experiences with my kids and also trying out different mediums than what I normally work in. And I get to share that all with my online followers!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Through my creative journey, I’ve learned a lot. One of the most important things though is to stay true to myself and tune out the stuff that doesn’t help me. When I decided I wanted to pursue animation, I actually had a lot of people try to discourage me because they thought it wasn’t reasonable or thought the work was too hard. In high school, I remember talking to my guidance counselor and telling him that I wanted to apply to some art schools. He said I shouldn’t go that route because I didn’t have any formal high school art classes even though art was something I’ve always done on my own. I listened and didn’t apply to art schools but I did major in animation at my university. In my college program, I had a teacher who also discouraged me from pursuing animation but I didn’t listen that time. I kept working toward my goal because I knew that was what I wanted to do. I’ve also had friends along the way who thought I was working too hard and said I should pivot and do something different but I was laser focused and kept going. Shortly after I graduated from my online animation program at Animation Mentor after graduation, I got my first job in feature film. I think listening to yourself and keeping your goals in mind despite what other people say is really important.

When I started Sabal + Rose, I knew it was something I really wanted to do – even though there was no guarantee it would take off. Just like becoming an animator, it was in my heart to pursue starting my own business and I’m so glad I followed my own inner voice and made it a reality.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of my favorite things about being an artist – whether creating felt flowers or bringing characters to life as a motion picture animator– is seeing it how it all takes shape and comes to life in its own unique way. It might look messy in the middle of the process and sometimes that can feel discouraging. But figuring out creative solutions and pushing through can feel so rewarding. Sometimes things turn out even better than I imagined!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sabalandrose.com
• Instagram: sabalandrose
• Facebook: sabalandrose
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valscheiber/