About

Just Something I Made is a place where I share the ongoing ideas that generate constantly in my head.

I am Cathe Holden, wife of a wonderful man named Jeff and mother to three teenagers 15-17 years in age. Our family lives on one little acre on the quiet outskirts of Petaluma, California.

Born with the creativity of my mother, the ingenuity and artistic talents of my father, I was raised in Colorado Springs and Springfield, Missouri. I began my career in art two weeks before graduating high school at age 17, thanks to 2 years of Commercial Art classes in the Springfield school district’s vocational program. In 1987, at age 21, I had 4-1/2 years as an advertising agency art director and illustrator under my belt. Ready to make it big, I headed west where I imagined myself art directing in one of San Francisco’s finest ad agencies.

I landed in Sonoma, California, just north of San Francisco, met my best friend on the second day and 3 years later we were married.

Settled into the beautiful wine country, I opened my own design firm, Holden & Company, in Santa Rosa, specializing in wine and food packaging and promotion.

After enjoying several successful years of running my own business, Jeff and I started our family. Soon after my son’s birth, I became a stay-at-home mom, bringing us down to one income, and putting me on the fast track to thrifting. I bought and sold vintage goods at a sweet little collective in town. I learned to be creative on a dime using the skills honed from my old-school commercial art days and began crafting for my family, friends and home.As my children grew older, I went back to graphic designing from home on a smaller scale, focusing on primarily logo work. Ultimately, the blog world got its hold on me and gave me a wonderful outlet for sharing all the things that I enjoy creating, as well as opening up an entire new world of socializing outside of my little garage studio.

My blog focuses primarily on various techniques of craft and design, artistic inspiration and support, and it’s the best way I’ve ever found to freely share the gift of creativity God continues to bless me with in order to bless others.