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Dayna Edwards makes the best walnut bath caddy I have ever seen.

Dayna has an artisanal approach; she is a skilled craftswoman, using traditional methods with a focus on high quality and attention to detail. All her creations are handmade and involve specialized techniques or expertise. She is an amazing artist who uses her creative expression to create practical things for the home.

I met Dayna at Art Crawl and was super impressed with her humility, gentleness, simplicity, and innocence. I told her what I was looking for, sent her a few pics and I was blown away by the bath caddy she made for us.

A bath caddy, also known as a bathtub caddy or bathtub tray, is a practical and convenient accessory designed to enhance the bathing experience. It is a flat, usually rectangular, tray or platform that spans the width of a bathtub. Bath caddies are typically made of waterproof materials like bamboo, wood, plastic, or metal. The primary purpose of a bath caddy is to hold various items and keep them within reach while you relax in the bathtub. It usually features multiple compartments and slots to hold items like books, tablets, beverages, toiletries, candles, loofahs, and mobile phones. Bath caddies are adjustable to fit various bathtub sizes, and they often have extendable arms or adjustable sides. This adaptability ensures that they can fit securely across the width of your bathtub, providing a stable surface for your items. Bath caddies are not only functional but can also add a touch of luxury and organization to your bathing routine. They offer a convenient way to keep everything you need within easy reach, so you can fully relax and enjoy your bath without worrying about accidentally dropping or splashing your belongings in the tub.

Dayna made a bespoke bath caddy from walnut wood. She measured the width of the bathtub to determine how long the caddy should be. She got the wood, sanded it, stained it, prepared the resin, added pigments, poured the resin, remove air bubbles, added decorations, and cured the resin. applied a waterproof finish and gave it to us with a candle. What a true consummate professional. I was fascinated with her approach and sat down to talk to her.

I really like your resin art on wood. Talk to me about it and what drew you to it.

During 2022 I had to take time off from work due to illness. Between doctor’s appointments and learning how to care more for my health, I found myself needing an outlet much like during the 2020 lockdown. I originally did acrylic pour work back then, but while watching some videos for inspiration, I found resin. Being a person who loves trying new techniques, I loved how versatile and beautiful resin was, and it wasn’t long before I found videos of resin on wood and fell in love with the idea. It’s just a gorgeous combination!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I get a lot of inspiration from watching videos online, but even more inspiration simply from my friends! They’ll say: “Have you tried…?” and then just think up how I can really make that idea pop during the creation process.

On social media you talk about being diagnosed with EDS, help me understand it.

Last year I was diagnosed with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD), which may soon just be categorized back into the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) category. HSD and EDS are a group of connective tissue disorders that can affect all parts of the body. Very basically, the glue that holds my body together doesn’t work as well as regular people. My joints and tendons can sublux (partial dislocation) or sometimes fully dislocate. This disorder also implies many other chronic health conditions are present and can affect daily life. Once again, this is just a very basic explanation, but I highly encourage people to research it! The more awareness we have, the more diagnoses will be made, and more doctors will be looking into better treatment options.

You have been through so many challenges. I find you joyful and innocent. Walk me through how you manage to achieve this state of mind.

I’m glad you find me joyful! It wasn’t always this way, especially because the vast majority of my life I had no idea what was wrong with me. Even when I finally figured out what was wrong, I had to wait two years on a waitlist for a doctor to confirm it. Health conditions kept piling up, and there was a lot of “why?” I was asking. But, I’m extremely lucky to have very supportive friends and family to help me through. My artwork actually is what has helped keep joy in my life. I also got deep into meditation and spiritual work, and I found that it really helped me see things from a different perspective. I discovered that I didn’t want to be this miserable person who brought people down. Instead, I strived to be someone who brought others up. There’s more than enough negativity in this world, and it’s time to change that!

I love your charcuterie boards, acrylic pours, coasters, and bath caddies. Are you open to a unique order from a client?

I am always open to a unique order from a client! I would never just want to do the same things over and over again, hence why I named my business “Mix It Up Artistry”!

Some people might say your work is expensive. Tell my audience the work that is involved when you make a bath caddie compared to buying one from Walmart.

Yes, the work is expensive, but so much more goes into it than one may think! Especially when the wood is involved. So much time goes into just sanding, filling in any flaws, and even more sanding to ensure everything is flat before I even think about laying down my outline. You also need to time layers of resin properly so paint doesn’t float up from the wood, make sure it doesn’t leak into what you’ve routed out and really know your chemicals! I also need to have the proper PPE for the resin, sanding, and when applying the finish. It can get very complicated! And if someone has requested a very specific design, I have to make sure that all of these things work together properly in order to achieve that. I’m not sure if the bath caddies you find at Wal-Mart go through the same process!

Talk to me about your city and what is so unique about it.

I’ve only been living in Hamilton for three years now, but I can honestly say I love it a lot more than I did living in Toronto! There’s a lot more nature and trails that are accessible here, and my dog definitely loves that! There’s almost more of a sense of community here, and I think that’s also what’s going to keep me here for a long time

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In a world that often celebrates perfection and conformity, the most profound strength lies in embracing your true self. “Just Be You” is a gentle reminder that authenticity is not only enough—it’s everything.

This post delves into the transformative power of self-acceptance, encouraging you to shed the masks and expectations that society places upon you. By embracing your unique qualities and quirks, you unlock a life of genuine connection, inner peace, and fulfillment.

Join us as we explore the beauty of living authentically and the profound impact it can have on your well-being and relationships.

Please tell me what is Debs Decorative Life all about? Who is the audience? Why should we visit it?

Deb’s Decorative Life is about helping busy moms to be less stressed by offering household and life hacks so they can spend more time with their families.  Deb’s Decorative Life inspires and encourages you to “Just Be You, Your Own Unique Self”. I want my busy moms to lead their own decorative life whether it is trying a new recipe or DIYing their own party decorations.

My audience is mainly busy moms with kids.  The single, millennial working woman also follows Deb’s Decorative Life for fast, practical, easy, simple ideas to help get her in and out of the kitchen faster.

You should visit Deb’s Decorative Life if you want to be less stressed in the kitchen and in life.  Anyone can lead their own decorative life if they apply my tips, tricks for DIY, recipes, gift ideas, and family fun. 

How did the blog come about? How is everything going so far?

After years of everyone asking for my household advice, I decided to share my expertise with the world.  If I can lead a decorative life, then, you can too!  People are too stressed and I want to lessen the stress of running a household.

I am happily experimenting with ideas and projects to help run your household in a simpler effective way.  I love it when I get an email from my readers asking me for help.  I am so happy to support them. 

Explain to me the challenges of blogging?

The challenge of blogging is coming up with more new, easy, simple, innovative ideas to keep your household running smoothly.

I am also working on a book or two while I am blogging.

I am also a busy mom and my family depends on me.

I am also a VIP Juice Crew Brand Ambassador for Old Orchard Brands so I always trying to come up with new ideas and recipes to share with my audience.

My website loves to give me tech problems that started over the last 4-6 months.  Updates can cause images to disappear.  There are days when I can barely work on my website and it jumps all over the place when I hit the enter key.

I am determined not to let that challenge get to me!  Somehow, I always manage to get posts on my website.

What does women empowerment mean to you?

When I think about women’s empowerment, I think about strong, confident, determined women who are willing to learn how to run a business.  These women offer help and support to other women in business so that they can both succeed.  Women’s empowerment is about women putting themselves out there so that they can lead, achieve and thrive in business and in life.

We all go through challenges in life. Name a specific life challenge you have been through and how you dealt with it?

I remember, last summer, when our college son got severely sick with migraines that made him sick to his stomach every day for a little over a month.

He was in and out of urgent care about 3 or 4 times a month.

I also had to re-schedule his graduation party because he was so sick.  He even almost missed his 2nd graduation party because he was still sick.  He refused to let me cancel his party and re-schedule again.

My blog suffered!  I was barely paying any attention to my blog.

My son needed me and I wanted to be there for him.  He was miserable, in pain and vomiting every day.

After he got better, I refused to look at my blog stats and my social media followers.

I just concentrated on getting myself back on my feet with the blog and social media.  I wrote blog posts, social media posts and concentrated on getting followers.

I was super focused for a month and wore myself out trying to play catch up.  After a month, I finally went back to my usual schedule.

How do you come up with ideas for your blog?

I picked 4 areas of concentration for my blog DIY, Recipes, Holidays/Events, and Family.  I give household and life hacks for these topics in my blog posts.  I also share my experiments, hints, tricks, and tips in a blog post to help lessen my audience’s stress of running a household.

I want you to give yourself some advice on 26 36 and 46?

At age 26, I would say that if you are living with your parents, follow their rules but go after your dream now.  The risk isn’t as risky because your parents are providing you with a roof over your head and will always have food for you.

At age 36, I would say that you shouldn’t let your kids or family life hold you back from doing something for you.  In the long run you loose yourself and end up feeling empty with regret and anger.

At age 46, I would say that it’s never too late to just jump in and do what you want to do in life.  Go after it!

I want you to give 5 pieces of advice to women under 35?

The sooner you follow your dream, the better.  Don’t wait so you don’t regret it.

You have a lot of time ahead of you.  If you fail, get up and keep trying until you get it right.

Don’t overspend. It only hurts you in the long run and the challenge of paying off debt weighs on you until it is paid off.

You are going to attract or repel people, either way, there is nothing you can do about it. Accept it.

Practice getting out of your comfort zone. That is the key to a more fulfilled and successful life.

How has food, faith, finance, and family made an impact on your life?

I find myself taking pictures of what I eat or make for social media or the blog.

I have a lot of faith and I believe you are on the path that you are meant to be on in life.

My family survived when my husband was unemployed 3 times in 2 years.  It was extremely rough but we got through it.  My household hacks, couponing, DIY, and budgeting really helped.

Family time is important to me and I enjoy coming up with lots of ideas for family fun.

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