By Ashley Morken, Owner, Unglued
Photos submitted by Unglued

It’s often difficult for a creative to meld all of their interests and multifaceted creative endeavors into a focused business. So, it’s extra inspiring to see someone locally like Kayla Duffney Creative so uniquely intertwine hers into a fulltime handcrafted business from flower crowns to wire art to custom portraits! Read on to hear about her crazy creativity and how she is using so many of her talents together.

Tell us a bit about yourself

Hi, I’m Kayla Hagen (Duffney), owner of Kayla Duffney Creative. I’m a multimedia designer and artist living in West Fargo. I’m originally from Minnesota and migrated to North Dakota where I received degrees in both graphic design and video production. Because of my ever-expanding desire to learn more and grow in the creative field, I moved to Burbank, CA, and lived there for two years before returning home to the Midwest.

Describe what type of products you make under Kayla Duffney Creative

Outside of being a designer, I have an Etsy shop and an online store under Duffney Sisters (a studio space I own in West Fargo) where I create designs to put on apparel, sell my photography prints, offer custom portrait paintings, create wire art, and even craft flower crowns!

Tell us how you got started with your business.

It first started with painting—something I’ve always loved doing since I was young. I worked for a startup company out of college that specializes in personalized dog products and I was asked if I wanted to paint custom dog portraits for customers. I was thrilled! I started taking commissions for this and wanted to expand working with my hands versus on a computer.

The summer of 2019 I went to a Midsummer Horror Festival in Long Beach, CA and I wanted to dress as Dani from the film that had just come out, Midsommar. I created my own flower crown for the event and received a lot of compliments so that led me to start making these crowns for others and list them on my Etsy shop. I couldn’t believe how many other fans were out there who wanted to purchase my crowns for their own Halloween costumes. In the summer of 2023, I decided to make the jump and go full-time as a freelancer and artist and created Duffney Sisters LLC. This is the studio space I use for photography and crafting. It is also the online platform where I created a shop to sell my artwork and crafts. Now I’m able to work as Kayla Duffney Creative full-time as a designer and artist and it’s been a dream.

What is your personal favorite item or piece you’ve created so far?

Just because it really launched my love for crafting and putting together an Etsy shop, my Midsommar Flower Crown is my favorite. It was the first flower crown I listed before offering other varieties to sell.

What is the most popular item you specifically sell?

It depends on the time of year, but my flower crowns are a hit around June and between August-October! People are getting ready for their own midsummer festivities as well as preparing their Halloween costumes.

You create a variety of products within your business—how do you decide what to focus on or dive into creating?

Now that I get to do this full-time, I take it day by day. I love staying busy and knowing I have a variety of things I can work on so I’m not doing the same thing over and over. I’m looking at more vendor shows and what their theme is and that usually pulls me towards designing new items to put on apparel or possibly new flower crown themes that go with it.

What’s something people would find surprising about one of your processes?

One thing with my flower crowns is that I use floral wire to attach the artificial flowers and greenery instead of hot glue. At the Midsummer Horror Festival I attended where I wanted to dress as Dani from the film Midsommar, I originally bought a crown off Etsy and when it arrived, the flowers had already fallen off. I noticed it was because they were only hot glued and with the shipping it must’ve rubbed against the crown which led to flowers falling apart. My friend was the one who encouraged me to make my own. So, when I did, I wanted to make sure these flowers weren’t going to fall off and taught myself how to properly “sew” them into the crown so that it could flex with my head and the silk flowers would stay attached.

What is something you've enjoyed the most about doing this handcrafted business?

The reviews I get from my customers. It's an absolute thrill when customers send me pictures of them wearing my crowns at their events and telling me how many compliments they've received.

What is the most challenging thing?

Time. Because I want to do so many things, I have to be very vigilant with how I spend my time so that I can keep up with the busier months and prepare more during the less busy months.

What is one craft or art medium you haven't really dabbled in yet that you want to try someday?

I actually have a list of things (I know, I'm nuts), but I want to get more into sewing and create my own pillow covers. Who doesn't like cute pillows?

What is a word that best describes you?

The first word that comes to mind is creative.

What advice would you have given yourself five years ago?

If you don’t try or put yourself out there, then you know what the outcome already is. Try it and if you fail, then you learn and grow from it. If you succeed, keep growing