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about chicken scratch studio:
the studio + the family + the designer

how it all started...
ChicKen ScRatch Studio is solely owned and operated by Laura (Jane) Craig, previous owner of ChicKen ScRatch Slings. CSStudio came about after a rather complicated twist of events. To spare you all of the "Young and the Restless"-style details, (and I am terribly long winded) I really will try to keep the story short and sweet... I needed to redesign my website so I hired out and was taken for a ride on the looney bin express. My designer bailed on me and took my graphics and site with her. I was left with nothing of my online retail store. I was basically forced to make a decision: close down a business that I had worked my tail off on (and 2 years) to build ,or figure out a way to get my online store up and running immediately while Anita, my graphic designer, had jumped ship and was out sipping cocktails in Barbados. (names and locations have been changed to protect the identities, although don't fear, she is no longer allowed to go within 2 feet of a computer, legally.)

So, I cried. I wrote my husband long emails (poor thing was deployed at the time) about how this was going to be crazy and I didn't know what I was doing but I had prayed about it and God was going to provide and I was going to learn how to design my own website. How hard could it be?! Uh.... did you know that photoshop doesn't come with an instruction manual? I mean, everything comes with an instruction manual. My MICROWAVE comes with an instruction manual and everyone knows how to use a microwave. NO ONE knows how to use photoshop! Anyway, while I was slaving away trying to figure this crazy stupid program out, Barbara or Anita or whatever, was drinking her mojoitos and probably out surfing or something. Of course, God had His plan it all worked out and His timing was perfect. I went back to my old host, Michelle at Creo Communico, and explained the whole situ. She was more than helpful and got me back up and running like lightening fast!

I just continued working on the graphics and some of the code on my site as a side hobby just to tinker and figure things out. Before long, friends and colleagues were asking for my help with their graphics. I was grateful for the experience. Word of mouth got out and the snowball effect just happened. Eventually, the time came where I was again forced to make a decision. My time between the 2 businesses were taking over everything. I decided to sell the sling business and do this full time. It has been a great blessing to be able to just create and of course, be able to tell people that I color for a living.

about the designer and her fam:
So.... I am Laura Jane, the owner and designer of ChicKen ScRatch Studio. I am also a mother of 3 and wife to a loving and supportive husband, AKA "Stud". My and I family recently transferred to Fort Worth, TX where my husband is stationed. When I'm not working, I spend my days painting, dancing and singing with my kiddos, playing Suzie homemaker in my pearls and heels (let's get real... usually barefoot and looking for sock monkeys or homework), shuffling kids to and from soccer and football games, church, lunch dates and then eventually, I get to settle in for some snuggle time on the couch with Stud... for all of about 5 minutes before the snoring starts. (out of respect, I won't say who is snoring.)

It really has been a gift to stay at home with my children (and now homeschool the girls) and do what I love. Whether the job for the day is designing logos, sick websites, designing a new paint scheme for my Toms or even if it is designing a tattoo of "Toothless" (the dragon) for my 7 year old son... I am always designing. Always. It is a part of who I am. Creativity runs through my veins, not blood. I never forget where I came from and I don't ever forget to thank The Big Man upstairs for all that I have.

the deal with the birdcage and the name, "ChicKen ScRatch":
Ok, so if you have visited my site before, you prob notice the new look... again. Well here's the thing: I am a starving artist. I mean, not literally but figuratively. I am always under pressure to "be this, do that"; I get people asking me what I will be when "I grow up." Ugh, it can get discouraging. Society just has this thing with measuring a person's success by how many bones they make or in the internet world... google rankings. Look, money is important. You gotta pay your bills, after all, and being online, you get more biz the higher your google rankings... It's all important but it's not THE IMPORTANT thing. I haven't done a lot of SEO work on my site. I like my lil nook on the interwebz. Anyway, to me, just being happy is what it SHOULD be all about. I am doing what I love to do and even more than that, I am doing what I was made to do! So I was thinking about all of this like a week ago and just broke down into that ugly, uncontrollable sobbing about how I am not doing as a "traditional professional" does and then God really comforted me and reminded me to stay true to my passions and callings. Look, I am an artist, period. The medium doesn't matter. I love creating graphics, I love painting, I love decorating, doing hair, makeup, designing and creating works of art, period. That's me. So I came up with this whole super complex and very symbolic graphic: my birdcage. You see, I am the bird (duh), surrounded by all of the world's beautiful scenery, and then there is this birdcage that I am victoriously perched on top of, singing my song. The birdcage symbolizes society trying to cage me in. And if you notice, there is no door on the cage. I did it on purpose, to say, "You can't cage me in. You can't trap me and lock me away. I am never going to go in there. I am going to fly and be free." It may be cheesy to some, but it was like this epiphany and then this peace followed. Sweet!

And the name "ChicKen ScRatch"... well, that's just a funny story. A gabillion years ago, I began painting canvases and different pieces and selling them in a local store on consignment. I was at work (like a "real job") with one of my friends and showed her some of the pieces. She was like, "Dude... what the heck does your signature say?! It looks like chicken scratch", referring to my actual signed name on the artwork. I was like, "Ok, I will show you!" and I started from that moment on, signing my pieces with "ChicKen ScRatch". (no clue why the random caps though) Later in life, I started my babywearing endeavors and a friend was helping me get the web side of things rolling. She asked me for a business name and needed it like within 5 minutes because she was registering my domain name. Uhh.... talk about pressure! So I said, "ChicKen ScRatch?" and that was it. My business name for BABY SLINGS was ChicKen ScRatch. I just went with it and never expected it to ever be an actual BRAND. Well, as time went on and I began perusing graphic design, I did it along side the sling biz and even did it all through the same site at first. It just made sense to name it "ChicKen ScRatch Studio." I never thought for a second that it would actually overtake the sling biz, but it did. When I sold that business and focused solely on my graphics, I was already established and just couldn't imagine losing the name that really started it all. So I won't ever have a chicken in my logo... it isn't about poultry or anything, it's about my art.... and sloppy handwriting.

Thanks, Candi, for the super spectacular name (through your never-ending sarcasm). You will get royalties for it when I hit the million dollar mark!
Oh, and if you do ever get a painting from me, it now has my actual name on it now in a better looking signature. I've since learned how to write better than a 5 year old.