Creating Vibrant Tumblers and Online Communities with Deana Tomas – S3 : E2
Is your fun hobby turning into a lucrative side hustle? Maybe you can’t wait to see how far your business can go. In this episode, Deana Tomas, founder of Tumbler Tutors, shares how she went from playing around in unknown territory to turning her business into a community of crafters who want to help each other learn and grow. If you’re like most tumbler crafters and started your business with a lot of excitement and little guidance, this episode is for you!
Deana is a Tumblr artist, teacher, content creator, and founder of the Tumblr Tutors Facebook group. In addition to her passion, she is a full-time flight attendant who travels across the globe every day. Deana has cultivated a community of over 30,000 like-minded crafters by sharing her struggles and victories.
Let’s jump right into our conversation with Deana!
- Getting started in crafting without guidance (2:23)
- The trials and errors in the early tumbler days (5:03)
- The birth of Tumbler Tutors (8:12)
- Keeping an online group vibrant and alive (17:25)
- Pivoting in your tumbler making passion (28:38)
- The power of using products that work (39:24)
- The appreciation of a custom gift (48:52)
Sarah Brown
Welcome back, friends. Today I have a special treat for you. We’re going to be chatting with my friend Deana Tomas. And for anyone who isn’t familiar with Deana she is a Tumblr artist, a teacher content creator and founder slash owner of the Tumblr Tutors Facebook group. That might sound like a lot. But would you believe that she does all of that, in addition to a full time job where she literally travels across the globe every day. Deanna is going to share her story about how she got into making tumblers years ago. Now she found her passion for teaching and turned it into a community of over 30,000 Like minded crafters. We’re going to talk about the challenges and the triumphs of growing and managing a crafting group that size through COVID and beyond. We’ll talk about what’s next for Deana as she looks to take her art and her influence into the next chapter. And we also have so much to discuss about how the Tumblr game has evolved over the last five years. I had so much fun chatting with Deana she is so much fun. She’s such a kind soul. I think you’re really going to enjoy what she has to share. So let’s dive in. Hi Deana. Welcome. I’m so happy you’re with us today.
Deana Tomas
Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.
Sarah Brown
Well, I am so excited you’re here. When I started planning this episode, I wanted to talk to someone who is an expert in groups and you were the very first person who came to mind.
Deana Tomas
You are so sweet. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you.
Sarah Brown
Before we dig into all about running a crafting group, let’s just hear from you an introduction. Like tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into crafting and tumblr making, then we’ll just go from there.
Deana Tomas
So my name is Deanna. I am 30 years old. I am a flight attendant in my everyday regular life. I have been crafting basically my entire life. My family is just full of crafters. My great grandmother, my grandmother, my mom, everybody is a crafter. My sister not so much. She’s more of a baker.
Sarah Brown
That’s a craft of its own though.
Deana Tomas
Yeah, it’s a craft. She’s not that great at it but you know, she gets it done.
Sarah Brown
We won’t tell her you said that .
Deana Tomas
We won’t, no. So I started playing around with my mom’s Silhouette. My mom got a Silhouette for Christmas from my grandmother. And I started using it when I needed to just help my friend start planning her wedding, she wanted a seating chart. So I used it to cut the vinyl to make a seating chart for her. And I was, this would be great to put on tumblrs. So I started cutting vinyl and I started putting them on tumblrs and I made my now fiance a tumblr with vinyl on it. And it started like slowly peeling up, you know, like vinyl, unsealed vinyl peels up. And I mentioned being a flight attendant because I got hurt a couple months into flying. And I was bored at home, I was out of work for eight months. I was bored at home and I was trying to figure out what to do. And I was like you know what, let me, let me look at this tumblr. Let me see how I can, what I can do to you know better lay down the vinyl. And I found, this was a long time ago, so I think the only person that I found that could give me some sort of an answer was Jennifer Maker. And she had like this super, super basic epoxy, like video and I was like, Oh, this is great. And I just kind of went out and bought some epoxy. And I started trying things. There wasn’t very many tutorials or anything out there and I just kind of ran with it and it was a crazy time. It was a crazy time trying to learn with with no real guidance.
Sarah Brown
How long ago was that?
Deana Tomas
Oh gosh. So I’ve been flying for five years and I wasn’t even, think I was about six months of flying, not even when I got injured. So about four and a half years ago now.
Sarah Brown
So right at the birth of when people started getting the idea that maybe you could do something with these tumblrs that was a little more funky.
Deana Tomas
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Sarah Brown
And I’ve talked to other people on the podcast who were getting into it more than about three years ago, when it really started to explode three to four years ago, and having to figure things out on their own, and the Tumblr world owes you guys a debt of gratitude for all the trial and error.
Deana Tomas
There was a lot of trial and error. I cannot tell you the craziness that me and my fiance went through. I mean, we had to, there was no tutorials on how to build a turner. I mean, there were, it was very, very lacking in regards to information. And so I went out with my first turner ever was the most expensive turner, I think, that I’ve ever bought or built, because I had to buy an entire like chicken rotisserie thing for the grill from Home Depot, spent like $70 on it, and we had to disassemble it and cut it off and my eye is twitching like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m cutting up this $70 purchase from Home Depot. I can’t even return it, like and we had to sit there and try to figure out how to get the ball to stay on, like I can’t tell you how much duct tape I went through. Trying to like duct tape something to go into the tumbler. I can’t tell you how many times my tumblr fell off the turner, and back then I didn’t know that you could strip a tumblr. So I can’t tell you how many tumblrs I threw away. And it was . . .
A Culture of Inspiration
Now my eyes twitching.
Deana Tomas
Right right. I’m just thinking about it. I’m like, Oh my gosh. But I mean, you know, all of these things that, you know, it was all trial and error for me. How do I strip a tumblr? Oh, well, I left a little bit too close to my heat lamp or you know my heater because I was working in my garage. And it kind of started to melt. So I was like, Okay, well, I didn’t know that you can do this. But this is cool to know now. And you know, just like little things like that. It was, it was crazy. I could say I think about it now. And I’m like, Oh man, I wish I would have started later on because somebody else would have been able to figure all this stuff out for me and I wouldn’t, I would have saved so much money. So much money.
Sarah Brown
Well, when I talked to Holly Mostella one day on the podcast, she talked about . . .
Deana Tomas
I love her. She’s so sweet.
Sarah Brown
Yes, I love her. She is a dear friend and a dear friend to the Tumblr and crafting community at large. And she talked about rigging up a turner and it was a manual turner with her laundry basket, and she . . .
Deana Tomas
Hand turning, oh my gosh, hand turning and epoxy method when it was just like the epoxy method, there wasn’t a way to apply your glitter. Epoxy method was like a way to apply your epoxy without having to turn it. It was like, believe me, I remember those days. I wish I could say they were the good old days. But we’ve come we’ve come a long way. It’s much better now.
Sarah Brown
Yeah, that’s good. Progress is good. And that kind of leads us to what got you to sharing some of this stuff with other people. So tell us how Tumblr Tutors was born, and what gave you that idea and how you got that started and off the ground.
Deana Tomas
Yeah, so when COVID first came around, and obviously like I said, I’m a flight attendant and things were really, we weren’t sure where we were going with the airline industry and my company did this thing to be able to stop people from being furloughed. We took volunteer leaves and volunteer retirement. And I opted to take a one year leave from being a flight attendant because I wanted to help out my company. I love my company. And so I also was like, Okay, well I’ve got you know, my my small business, I have Etsy, you know, I do well with that, you know, that can float me for the time being. And I was like, I’ll just really ramp it up. So I decided that everybody else is in quarantine and everybody’s home and everything. So I was like, I’m gonna go live on my personal Facebook page. I don’t know why I thought to do that. Because I’ve never done it before. I was like, You know what, everybody else is home. And I don’t want to be by myself here just making cups. So let me show people what goes into what I do. And because a lot of people didn’t know, and I went live on my personal Facebook page, and I had a ton of friends that were on there watching and I would go live every single day because I was spending time talking to my friends. And then I started getting a lot of orders from those people that were watching me that had never really known what went into making the tumblr and I was like, Ooh, this is, this is a lot. Like, I have to stop going live, like I just have to. And my mom was also trying to get into tumblrs at the time and she had joined this Facebook group. So I wouldn’t even call it a group. I think it’s more of like a somebody’s business page. It was, I don’t even, I don’t even know what their name is anymore. I wish I did. But they, they were the kind of business page that made the tumblrs on live and then would like auction them off. Sa they would like, hold up a number and be like, who wants it? And they’d write their name down. And they were selling so many tumblrs and she loved watching them. So she was like, Hey, if you’re bored when you’re making tumblrs, watch this person while you’re making and I was like, okay, that’s weird, but Okay, I’ll do it anyway. And so I followed them. And one of the recommended groups was Tumblr Hacks 101. And I was like, Oh, what is that? So I joined that group. And that was like, the first time I ever realized that there were groups for tumblr makers on Facebook. I had no idea. I had no idea. I was like, I wish I would have found this out years ago, because it would have helped me answer so many questions that I had along the way.
Sarah Brown
As you were building a chicken rotisserie turner.
Deana Tomas
Right. Exactly. It was insane. It was insane. But I joined, um, Tumblr Hacks. And I think that it was like maybe a day or two before I was like, You know what, I’m going to go live in here. Because other makers aren’t going to want to buy for me. So I can just hang out with people. I don’t know them, you know, but who cares, right. And so I started going live. And my first live ever I was shaking, I was so nervous. There was like 400 people watching me. And I was like, Oh my gosh, these people are gonna think I’m crazy, like, but I just went with the flow. And I just started going live, live every single day. And I made friends with people, I made a lot of friends. Alright, so the group that I had been going live in, there, there was some some things that I just, I wanted more, I wanted more. So when I joined Tumblr Hacks, there was only or it, there was only 30,000 members in that group. Now it’s over 100,000 members. But even back then it was a very large group. I mean, I didn’t know any other groups that had 30,000 members in them. And so I had been thinking for a while, I’d been going live for, I mean, almost every single day for probably four or five months at this point. And I knew I wanted to make my own group. But I was really stuck on a name, I wanted to pick a name that was really going to catch people’s attention, that people were going to know what they were getting into when they joined it. If they saw it, they’d be like, I need to be in that group. So it took me a very long time. And I sat there and I’d asked my fiancee, what do you think I should name my group? What do you think I should name my group and he would just like, give me the most ridiculous names. He was like Tumblr Talk with Tisha. And I was like, who is Tisha? Like, I don’t know. I’m just trying to give you a name. And I’m like, every time I thought of one, I’d like look it up. And somebody already had it. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, this is going to take me forever. And then because I was going live every day, I had, and I had made so many friends through the Tumblr community, I had a lot of people that were messaging me, I’d get hundreds of messages every single day asking me for advice on things or, Hey, what product did you use, or hey, what do you recommend? And there was one girl that I had gone to elementary school with, actually, that was in the group and she had asked me something and I answered her, and she called me her Tumblr guru. And I was like, huh, tumblr guru. Okay, the back she doesn’t really like flow very well. So I started looking up other words for guru. And one of them was tutor, and I was like, Tumblr Tutor. So that’s how lame ooh, I don’t know. Is that weird? I don’t know. No, you know what, I’m just gonna roll with it because I am sick and tired of waiting around. So I made Tumblr Tutors, and I wanted it to be a smaller group to be able to have, you know, more community and more like, like a close knit type, buying and happy space where we all just uplifted each other. And, you know, we all just have a really good time. There’s nobody fighting. The comments weren’t crazy. Like, I knew I wanted something that was nice and small and sweet. And the first hour that I had made Tumblr Tutors, I had 600 people in it. And I was like, what is happening? I was like, I’m by myself. I hadn’t even picked an admin team, likw nothing. I literally just typed in the name on Facebook. And that was it. And then the next thing I know, we had 1000 members in three days.
Sarah Brown
That’s incredible.
Deana Tomas
It was insane. It was absolutely insane. And then I knew that I wanted to have like a really strong admin team of like, just like super uplifting and powerful and beautiful. And you know, and when I say beautiful, I don’t just mean on the outside, but I mean, on the inside as well.
Sarah Brown
Beautiful souls.
Deana Tomas
Yes, beautiful souls, beautiful, amazing and helpful women. And I did that. I picked five of my of my favorite people and the people that were going live, you know, in in the community and active and we just rolled with it. We just we just went from there. And we’ve just, we’ve not stopped. I mean, we’ve kind of stopped growing right now. But we kind of just, we never stopped really going. We’re almost 40,000 members.
Sarah Brown
Yeah. 39.1. I checked today. So yeah, I I’d say you have not stopped growing.
Deana Tomas
We’ve come through a little bit of a stall at the moment. But I think a lot of people, I’ve noticed some people are destashing. So I think that a lot of people are kind of in like a limbo right now trying to figure out what they’re doing, if they’re going to keep doing it, if they’re not going to keep doing it, you know, since COVID. And a lot of people are back to work now. And so it’s been, it’s been interesting watching the numbers for sure.
Sarah Brown
Yeah, well. Yeah, well, and our group is kind of the same thing. We’ve been kind of, we went from growing massively week over week to still an increase, but and then you know, some people end up leaving, some of those people ended up being bots. You know! So they get deleted. So yeah, our group is kind of the same, because our group is just a little bit smaller than yours, our artists support group. So I think you’ve done such a good job of creating that really positive community. And that’s something that’s so important to us is that it’s uplifting and positive. There’s plenty of places on social media to find drama, there’s plenty of those groups.
Deana Tomas
Oh yeah, believe me, I know, I’ve left quite a few of them.
Sarah Brown
Yeah, yeah, sometimes you don’t even realize. You join a group and it seems like it’s gonna be great. And then you realize, after you’ve been in it a few weeks that it’s just a big gripe fest, or you know, drama fests. And hey, if you’re into that, that’s for you. Yeah, it’s not for me. But tell me about once you’ve got your admin team in place, and staff and as you have kind of grown week after week, and even as now it’s kind of leveled off a little bit. What do you do to keep that group vibrant and alive?
Deana Tomas
Okay, so when we first started, we were doing a lot of giveaways. I’m just gonna be, I’m gonna be honest, we were doing a ton of giveaways. But it was mostly because of the fact that I wanted to do giveaways at milestones, and we were hitting those milestones so fast. So it was like, every single month, we were doing another giveaway. And we just kept wanting to go, and I don’t know if this is like the New Yorker in me that like everything needs to be above and beyond. I don’t know, or maybe it’s the Italian or the Virgo. I don’t know what it is. But I had to keep outdoing myself amongst ourselves. I don’t even like to call it my group because I’m not the only person that built this, you know. I, I am just a small percentage of Tumblr Tutors. My admin team has been, I couldn’t have asked for better people on my admin team. And my, obviously the group members too, the group members are phenomenal. And our, you know, our vendors and you know, our companies that we work with, and you guys have been with us since almost day one. You guys have been with us since day one. We have built such a great, like I don’t even know how to, I, like I get emotional thinking about it, about what we’ve built together. I mean, it’s amazing. And we just kind of just kept outdoing ourselves. It was insane. You know, our first giveaway was the third day that we started with a thousand members. And then like a week later, we were at like 10,000 members and we got to the point where we were getting like over 200 new members every single day. And people just, just kept sharing, everybody just kept sharing it and sharing it and my, you know, my admin team because they were going live every day in other groups are you know, a lot of them came from Tumblr Hacks, my friendships that I made from there. They have their own following quote, unquote, I guess you could say, a following, sounds so weird to say it like that. But that’s, I mean, basically what it is, people that watch you every single day and they fall in love with the way that you work and the way that you talk and communicate. And we just kind of all invited everybody that watched us, individually, and they invited their friends. And then they invited their friends. And then it just kept going and going and going, it was absolutely insane. And our giveaways went from, you know, giving away like, Oh, here’s a $50 gift card to here’s 10 $50 gift cards. So here’s our Christmas giveaway, it was like insane. And you guys donated like 26 prizes. I’m not even kidding.
Sarah Brown
It’s kind of our thing.
Deana Tomas
Yeah, you guys are crazy. I love it.
Sarah Brown
We like giveaways too.
Deana Tomas
I love it. It was so fun. And everybody had such a great time doing all those giveaways. And then we, we started doing this, we called it a live marathon, where we were doing 24 hours. And every hour, there was another person going live teaching a different technique. So we would have like, I think we started at like 7am. And at 7am. Somebody taught hydro dipping. At 8am somebody taught ombre and we, we did one of those with every big giveaway that we did. So every milestone we did a live marathon and people loved it, everybody went crazy for it. And it kind of just became our thing. We would do our live marathons, we would do a big giveaway. And it would be like a party for that milestone. And everybody just, they loved it. And our last big milestone was 30,000. And we, I think that was our one year anniversary, we did a huge giveaway for our one year anniversary. And I think that that was our last really big milestone that we did a live marathon and all that. We’re going to do another one for 40,000, once we hit that.
Sarah Brown
So close.
Deana Tomas
Yeah, we’re so close. I know. Oh my gosh, it’s insane. It’s been a little bit rougher now because of the fact that I had an admin team that was so already in the spotlight, I guess you could say. Tutors helped even further project people out into that spotlight. And a lot of my admin team, I think that there’s only three of us from the original crew that I put together that are still with Tutors, and one of us isn’t even a Tumblr. My friend Samantha, she doesn’t even make tumblrs. She’s just there because I trust her with my entire life. she is my best friend. She’s my maid of honor. But like she doesn’t know anything about tumblrs and, but me and Anne are the only people that are still from the original team that are in, I mean we’re all in Tutors, but that are still on on the admin team. Everybody else has gone off to do bigger and better things. And Jerry and Jessica are both part of the admin team. Jerry was one of my original admins. She was the second admin I ever asked to be part of the team. They went on to make Misfit Makers and Misfit Makers Besties. Yep. So they, you know, they made their group, they made their Patreon. You know, they’re doing their own thing right now. We’re still the best of friends. I love them to death. They’re the best.
Sarah Brown
I really like them too.
Deana Tomas
You’re so sweet. I just saw Jerry the other day, they’re, they’re all absolutely amazing. I mean, there’s there’s so many people that have gone on to do bigger things, or they wanted to further their business and Tutors kind of helped them out. And, you know, now they’ve got that push, and they’re just, they’re gone. They’re running with it. And I’m so happy for them. Because that I mean, that’s amazing, right like that. . .
Sarah Brown
Yeah.
Deana Tomas
So it’s been a little bit hard because I’ve never asked my admin team to give 100% to Tutors because it’s an unpaid job, let’s be real. So we’re kind of all just kind of, I think we were so worked up in all the excitingness of constantly doing giveaways and constantly hitting another milestone and now that it’s kind of slowed down and people are like, okay, am I still making tumblrs. I’m not, you know, trying to figure it out. We’re kind of taking advantage of that on our own and kind of trying to do like our own thing, if that makes sense. I’m flying again. So I spend a lot of my time in the sky. My other admin is pregnant. One of my other admin team members has a like 500 cup order. So she’s focusing on that. Yeah, it’s insane. So we’re kind of all just taking the time right now to figure out where we’re going right now. So we’ve been kind of just doing not so much like giveaway and hypeness in the group as much as we’ve been doing, like, just kind of trying to interact with people, answering as many questions as we can, showing people as much love as we can. And you know, just commenting and liking people’s posts and giving them advice and helping them out. Another thing that I’m doing is on my layovers, I try to meet up with some group members that I’ve known for a long time. So I’ve met so many people in person on my layovers, and just connecting with people in different ways, has been really, really great. When they meet you in person, and they come back in the group and they just start talking, you know, they’re, they’re more, like, excited about being in the group. Yeah, that’s, that’s kind of where we’re at right now. It’s been taking, taking the month, taking the month to try to figure it out.
Sarah Brown
Yeah, well, and it’s true. You know, I think any kind of craft and craze like the Tumblr, I would say, Tumblr making has been a craze, you know, it exploded so quickly. And I think COVID really poured gas on that fire. It was, it had already taken off in a huge craze. And then, of course, COVID, people are stuck at home, they want to do something creative with themselves. You could only watch Tiger King so many times. And . . .
Deana Tomas
Oh Tiger King!
Sarah Brown
Oh, I know it, I know it. Free Joe, Free Joe.
Deana Tomas
Oh, I love it. I love it.
Sarah Brown
But then, just like you said it, it caused such a snowball effect with lots of groups, lots of people became well, like you said, acquired these followings because, you know, not only were we all at home and wanting to be creative, but we were looking for community and the only way we could get it was online, or the people in our household who we were sick of. And people who may have labored for years trying to build a following suddenly had a following overnight. And that really lasted a good year, and probably even right up until I would say the beginning of 2022. But then now most everybody’s back to work. And those who do this full time. You know, they were doing it full time before, they’re staying the course. But yeah, some people are like, yeah, I really like making tumblrs, but I have to do it on my free time. There’s not so much free time anymore. So there’s just a lot that has made the last two years a very unique point in history for the craft industry and the craft community. So, so many, well just like you said, like Misfit Makers was born out of your group, and your group was born out of Tumblr Hacks and . . .
Deana Tomas
Just kind of like the Russian dolls.
Sarah Brown
So yes, yes, the Russian dolls, yes that’s a good way to put it. So I think this is kind of a time of those who are really in it because it’s their passion, or people who were in it because they just wanted to try something. I think you’ll see kind of a division of that in the future where those members who maybe weren’t really active, they might have tried to make a Tumblr, and then they moved on. They were like, ah, I’m over it.
Deana Tomas
I’m over it, yeah! They realize that is one giant black hole. That was one glitter, and then all of a sudden you have 1000s of glitter and it shifts, ohhhh, I know, the Neverending Story. So no, I mean, it’s, I hate to call, I hate to say COVID crafters, but I mean that’s that’s what it is. I know so many people. I mean, so many people that have never picked up a craft before in their life until COVID happened. And their craft of choice was tumblr making because they love cups and they wanted to not have to pay for them. So why spend $40 on a tumblr when you can spend $400 to make your own. You know, you know, it was like that.
Sarah Brown
Mathematics.
Deana Tomas
Duh, you know, and that’s, that’s what you know it is and a lot of people that were watching me and on my lives every single day and spent months and months and maybe even a year or two years watching me every single day, finally decided, you know what, I’m going to pick up a tumblr and I’m gonna try it out and then they did it and they hated it and they gave up. And I’m like, and then they’re just gone. And I’m like, Hey, like what happened? What’s going on? Are you still making Tumblrs? And they’re like, no, I quit after trying it my first time. And I was like, You what? They’re like, yeah, I bought all this stuff. And, you know, I finally tried it after, you know, six months, and I decided I hated it. And I’m like, Oh, my gosh, can you try again? You don’t want to try again?
Sarah Brown
Yeah, I do think the epoxy, people think it’s easier to use than it actually is. Like, it’s not rocket science. But it’s not. It’s not just like using Elmers glue, like there’s a bit of a learning curve to using epoxy. And I think that intimidates, I think people don’t know what they’re getting into. Sometimes when they watch someone like you, or, you know, whoever, and they’re, they’re just like making this glossy, shiny tumbler like, Oh, I could do that. And then they get these like, two jugs of stuff. And they’re like, oh, no.
Deana Tomas
The fisheye.
Sarah Brown
Yeah.
Deana Tomas
And I always tell people, you know, what works for me isn’t always gonna work for you. And that’s why it was really great to have so many admin, you know, members that were constantly going live and constantly showing you their way to do it. It’s why Jessica and Jerry’s group works. So well, their Patreon works so well, because there’s two different teachers that show you two different ways of doing essentially the same thing, you know, how I teach is not going to be how you teach. And, you know, you may learn something from me that, for example, at Culture Con, I’ve made stuff with Culture Sculpt before, but I’ve never done it right, I guess, I don’t know, I just, it never worked well for me. And when I took Misty’s class, Misty described it so well, and what exactly she was doing. And the way that she taught was just it came across in like a completely different way, I learned so many things. And I was actually able to make something that looks like what it was supposed to look like, as opposed to something that was completely out of something from stranger thing. It looks like, and she was like, this is a donut, and I’m like, it is a donut. It’s not a ball. It’s a donut, you know, and it’s just, it just goes to show you that there’s so many different styles of teaching. And, you know, I always say, if you are watching me, and what I’m doing is not working for you, don’t take this in the wrong way, but watch somebody else. Like you could possibly benefit from watching, you know, Anne over watching me or watching, you know, Meg Epps and how she handles epoxy versus how I handle epoxy. I live in a completely different climate from you. You know, I live in Atlanta, you live in the Washington State, it’s the opposite side of this, of the country. You know, it’s maybe disgustingly humid here, and I may have to use a different kind of epoxy, versus, you know, it’s freezing cold up there. You know, we I don’t know, you know, so what’s working for me down here may not be working for you up there. Let’s try to figure it out like that.
Sarah Brown
Let’s troubleshoot. Yeah.
Deana Tomas
Yeah.
Sarah Brown
Well, and that’s a really good testimony, I think to why there are so many Facebook groups with epoxy and with tumblrs, and why we support so many different groups, and there’s so many different Patreon ‘s and a lot of people pay to be part of several different Patreon groups.
Deana Tomas
Yeah.
Sarah Brown
Because there are so many great teachers and yeah, like, you’re gonna learn something different from each one. And like your group, it’s Tumblr Tutors, not the Tumblr Tutor.
Deana Tomas
Yeah. Exactly, exactly, exactly. It’s, I couldn’t name it Tumblr Gurus, couldn’t do that. It’s not just me. You know, there’s so many of us, you know, I think that I had a heart attack the first time that I ever watched, Anne Wilson-Smith, who was one of my lovely admins. The first time I ever watched her live, I watched her take two FIFO bottles, and flip them upside down and squeeze them together into a measuring cup. And I was like, oh my god, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I could not believe it. She was like, This is good. And I was like, Oh, how do you know that they’re the right measurement? Like I, it blew my mind. I was like, Oh my gosh, I was having like, like, my heart was racing. I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s not going to cure, that’s, and then it workout perfectly. And I’m like, How did you do that? Because to this day, I still get anxiety thinking about how she pours her epoxy.
Sarah Brown
That kind of gives me anxiety too.
Deana Tomas
Right. I’m like, 15 mils of Part B 15 mils of part A, okay, perfect. This is exactly what is supposed to be, you know what I mean? And she’s just like, Whatever, let’s just go for it. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, but it works for her, you know, and so I’m sure that works for other people, too. I don’t know how, but you know, some people may not like to pour epoxy the way that I pour it, you know, I taught at a convention a couple of weeks ago where somebody poured in three separate measuring cups. And then they mixed their epoxy, you know, she, she had three separate ones, she poured Part A in one, Part B in the other and then poured them into the other one. And I’m like, Okay, well, I don’t do that. So I’ll teach how I pour my epoxy, I pour it on top of each other. So, uh, you know, just different teaching styles. It’s, it’s insane how many different ways there is to do the same thing. Essentially. I mean, it’s all, you’re all coming out looking the same, basically. And there’s 1000 different ways to get to that.
Sarah Brown
Yeah. And a 1000, a 1000 different types of teachers who might, who might even actually be teaching the exact same thing, but they explain it in a way that one person can understand over someone else’s explanation. So I think it’s great, you know, that you had that passion for that. And to put together that positive team. That’s just something that’s always super important to us. And we support so many different groups in the Tumblr community. And that is, the first thing we look for is just that positive sense of community, that kindness and generosity with sharing tips and skills. And like we talked about earlier, trying to keep the drama out of it. And that’s hard because it’s a bunch of women.
Deana Tomas
Don’t get me started. It is, yes, yes. The hormones run crazy. It’s, it’s, believe me, I know. But I mean, believe me, I know. It’s, I always say be a maker that supports other makers. Because I wish that I had somebody literally, literally anybody to help me get through some of the crazy times where I almost quit, because I didn’t know how to fix what I was doing wrong. And I spent, I can’t tell you how many tumblrs I threw away. before I found out that you can strip a tumblr and if there was somebody there that could have been like, oh, well if you just use a little bit of heat or some acetone in a bucket or any of the bajillion different ways there is to strip a tumblr, like literally one of them just give me one little piece of information. It could have saved me hundreds of dollars. And it I mean, that goes so far. You know how much glitter I could have bought with those cups that I threw away? I mean, it’s insane. So I never want somebody to struggle through. It’s, you know, it’s like you say when you have kids, you don’t want your kids to go through the struggles that you went through, when they were, when you were little. I don’t want my members or my friends or my people to go through and struggle in the ways that I struggled so I’m like, take it from me. This is how I do it. I learned it the hard way. Trust me and I can only hope that I’ve helped at least one person not have to throw a tumblr.
Sarah Brown
Like, if you’ve saved one stainless steel cup from the landfill.
Deana Tomas
Oh my god. The person digging through my dumpster is probably so happy to see all those tumblers, and say like I’m going to strip all these, tossing them, this is stupid. I hate it here. Yeah, and that stress, that stress.
Sarah Brown
Yeah, well yeah. And like I said, the whole Tumblr community owes you and all of those people who started more than about four years ago a huge debt of gratitude because you did, you did so much trial and error that people now just don’t even understand what, what a blessing they have.
Deana Tomas
Oh my gosh, the hand turning. I had a hand turner tumblr the other day because my power went out and I was like oh, the good old days.
Sarah Brown
Yeah.
Deana Tomas
Sitting there like oh.
Sarah Brown
You feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Deana Tomas
I will be churning my own butter. You know? What is this? But know, I mean it’s, we’ve come a long way as a community. I mean the stuff that we have now that we did not have before. It’s mind blowing. I mean even just quick coat. Okay, quick coat. Yes, like the second I, the moment I found quick coat, my entire life changed because I can’t tell you how much trouble I have with fisheyes over chunky glitter and I just had to sit there and like, I was sanding my chunky glitter and taking the color off of it because I was like, how the heck do I stop the fisheyes? Like, I don’t know what to do, and then quick coat changed my entire life. And people don’t realize, they don’t realize, they don’t get it. Like it’s, it’s the little things. It’s a little thing. Just people don’t realize, they don’t realize, it’s the little things, they just don’t, they just don’t understand.
Sarah Brown
Well, and it’s so funny, and I’ve talked about it on the podcast, and I’ve talked about it like in our Facebook group and stuff about how you know, our business started out with Barry being a countertop contractor. And it evolved into us developing and selling products to artists, a lot of them being . . .
Deana Tomas
Countertops?
Sarah Brown
Yeah, that’s how we started.
Deana Tomas
Oh my God, that’s crazy!
Sarah Brown
The counter, that’s where our name comes from, Counterculture. He did concrete and epoxy countertops and flooring and other stuff. But it just kind of evolved to where he was hearing from. I mean, who would have thought back when my husband was spending all of his time going house to house doing concrete countertops, that somehow he would become this guy that developed products to help ladies make glittery cups. But that was his fate.
Deana Tomas
Oh, I love it.
Sarah Brown
And, and yeah, and like quick coat was really what cemented his status in the community. It was like when quick coat started, like making the rounds and people started realizing what it could do, it was like, this Barry guy, he knows some stuff.
Deana Tomas
He’s a smart cookie, that one. Look, I love it. I love it. I mean, honestly, it really is. I can’t tell you how it has saved my butt so many times over the, I’m telling you, the chunky glitter. And then I do a lot of vinyl work. I love vinyl. I am like a crazy vinyl lady. And sometimes, well it was really the like washi tape is what really started me doing, washi tape repels epoxy. So crazy. So the quick coat over the vinyl. I mean, I one of my friends, my best friend Samantha who’s one of my admin team members. I’ve made more tumblrs for her than I think I’ve made for literally anybody else in my entire life. And she, I guess put a tumblr through the dishwasher, I don’t know, something. Tumblr that she’s had for years. And the seal broke. I don’t know what’s going on with it. But she was like, Hey, this is what’s happening. I was like, Okay, well, I’ll just remake it because it’s so old. It’s so old. It’s bad. But I got, I got the the tumblr back and I’m like, I cannot believe I gave this to her. This is, this is, like it’s horrible. The like epoxy repelled around the washi tape. And I’m like, if I could go back then because this would have this tumbler would have been beautiful. But like I gave her this tumblr because I couldn’t I guess I just couldn’t figure out how to get the epoxy to go over it. So I was like, Okay, this is just how it’s gonna be. And I just gave it to her. That was . . .
Sarah Brown
She loved it.
Deana Tomas
Forever. And she loved it. She had it all this time.
Sarah Brown
Don’t beat yourself up. She loved it.
Deana Tomas
My old label on the bottom of it that doesn’t even have like the correct website on it. I messed that up. It’s like, it’s the way wrong website. So but you know, since then I’ve upgraded a lot but it’s insane to see how that tumblr I made using like Hobby Lobby glitter. And there’s nothing wrong with Hobby Lobby glitter. I love me some Hobby Lobby glitter. But you can tell the difference between a Hobby Lobby glitter, and then like a quality glitter like a good quality glitter. And I look at that tumblr, I’m looking at it right now across the room. And it’s crazy to me to see that and look at it and say I used Hobby Lobby on that. That whole tumblr is Hobby Lobby. And it looks horrible. If I were to use the products that I use now that I’m going to remake that similar, I’m going to do a side by side picture, because it’s, it’s insane. And I mean, it could be from it being so long that you know so long ago that I made that tumblr and you know, it’s all scratched up and dented, you know that or it could just be that you know, I’ve gotten a lot better. I don’t know, it’s one of them.
Sarah Brown
You havel, everybody has gotten better and most people are using better products. I guess not everybody but I have some tumblrs from, I’m not going to name names because I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I don’t think it would but from some pretty famous tumblr makers.
Deana Tomas
Yeah.
Sarah Brown
And I have some that they’ve made me within the last year or two, and then I have some that came like four or five years ago, and there’s a very remarkable difference in their work. And these are people who are well known as like the cream of the crop tumblr makers. So, so it’s not just you, it’s everybody, everybody has improved so much. And not just because of the products, although that definitely helps. And I hope that we’re a part of that but
Deana Tomas
Oh my gosh, for sure, you guys are the biggest part of that.
Sarah Brown
But also just because of groups like yours, I think just to bring that all back, people sharing their skills, and one person figures something out, like, you know what, everybody that used washi tape had fish eyes on their tumblers until somebody showed them that they could fix it doing this with quick coat. And you know, the person who invented the Milky Way tumbler or the person who invented the V split or you know, the toppers, I mean, think about five years ago, would you have even thought about some of these tumblrr toppers that they use.
Deana Tomas
I could, look, I would have never. I mean, some of the designs that are going on right now are just absolutely mind blowing.
Sarah Brown
Yeah.
Deana Tomas
There are some of the most talented people I’ve ever seen in my life in the Tumblr community, it ‘s
Sarah Brown
Oh, absolutely.
Deana Tomas
insane. Absolutely insane. And I’m like, where did you come up with this stuff?
Sarah Brown
Yeah, but they’re just building. They’re just building on what other people have figured out. So you know, that
Deana Tomas
Everything is amazing.
Sarah Brown
That person that you know, whoever the first person in the world who decided to use epoxy and glitter on a tumblr and all they did was make a solid tumbler with purple glitter and epoxy, you know, that person gets the ball rolling. And then this next person decides they’re going to try ombre glitter, and then the next person is going to put washi tape on it, whatever. And suddenly, we’ve got these complete, like waffle cones with the triple scoop ice cream on top.
Deana Tomas
Insane. It’s insane. Look, there’s so many that I’ve seen that I’m just like, how, how are you doing this? Because I feel like I’m stuck on, I’m just, I’ve got so much vinyl that I feel like I look at Vinyl every day. And I’m like, let me see if I can figure out a different thing I could do with the vinyl. And all I do is vinyl tumblrs now but then there’s these people that are making like, the most insane like the most insane peekaboos and, and you know drips and 3D things. I’m just like, how? Where are you coming up with this, like, you guys are amazing, you have the most amazing minds. I just, I would have never thought to do that. And then it inspires me to want to go and try to make something that looks like that. Or you know, to try that out and the donut that Missy taught at Culture Con, I made a whole tumbler and made donut toppers that, and I learned how to make them from her. So I came home and I was like, I’m gonna try this again. And I sat there and I needed something that I’d seen that I wanted to make, or that I had been wanting to make. But I didn’t know how because it didn’t have that information. And I was able to use what I learned from her and then apply that to something that I’ve been wanting to make that I’ve seen and it’s just, I feel like it’s crazy. Just bouncing creative ideas off of people like, the like, it bouncing around, like I see something and like, oh, wow, that’s amazing. And then I see something over there and I’m like, Oh, wow, that’s amazing. I just sit there and they bounce back and forth. I’m like, wow. And I try all these different things. And that’s how I learned and I grow. And then I’m able to better help other people through my experiences, if that makes sense.
Sarah Brown
Yeah. That definitely makes sense. No, that makes total sense. I’ve said a million times I think the big attraction to tumblr making for artists is that artists and crafters love to share what they make with others. And when you paint a portrait, or you crochet a sweater or whatever, people get weary of that, like you can only give your family so many paintings that you’ve painted, and they run out of wall space, you know, but like the tumblrs, like it’s functional art. And so you can make that, you can make something so beautiful and pour yourself into it and then hand it to somebody. And not only will they be wowed by it, but they will literally have it in their hand and take it with them everywhere they go. And I don’t think there’s any better artwork than that.
Deana Tomas
Yeah, you’re not wrong.
Sarah Brown
And I know I’ve said that like a million times and I still think that part of the Tumblr craze that is still fully alive and well. We kind of talked about how you know you’d kind of tapered off in increasing numbers in your group. But truly, it’s still a huge
Deana Tomas
Oh, yeah.
Sarah Brown
huge craze. And I think it’s so much because you know that the person you give that to is going to use it. It’s not going to go in a closet and collect dust, it’s going to be used, it’s going to be in their hand every day. That’s why people will treasure it. And that is why it’s such a big thing.
Deana Tomas
Oh, yeah. I can’t tell you how many gifts I’ve made too like, for other people. I’ve made so many Teacher Appreciation gifts, people love to gift tumblrs. It’s like a big deal. It’s like special to get a tumblr, like a custom tumblr, you know, there’s a difference between going and getting a tumblr that’s like, off the shelf at your local Walmart versus getting something that’s made to, you know, with your name on it, or in your favorite color or your favorite pattern. And so I can’t tell you how many gifts I’ve made or tumblrs I’ve made for baby shower games, like giveaways that people do like when they play the games at baby showers, Teacher appreciation for the end of the year for people’s teachers. Just I mean birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, all all different kinds of gifts, but like that, right there, I feel like it’s it. Like you said, it’s a functional art. People love to have that. Like, my sister collects cups. She collects them, like all different kinds of cups. So I know that for the rest of her life, I could give her a cup for every holiday and birthday, like everything, and she’ll be so excited about it. And she’ll just have them forever. When you’re using good products they do last forever. You know, I still have my first cup I’ve ever made, it doesn’t look good anymore. But like, yellow now. I mean, it’s still kicking. It’s still over there. You know? And, I mean, I’ve got my own handful of cups that I’ve made. And I’m like, Oh, I kind of like this a little too much. And, you know, I mean I use them every day. You know, I take my own personal tumblrs to work and you know, they get tossed around on the airplane. But people love them. It’s insane. I can’t tell you how many people have been like, oh my gosh, like mind blown that I make tumblrs and they’re like how did you get into that? And then I’m like sitting there giving them my information. If you want to learn let me know. You know. It’s insane. Like I think it’s the glitter. Glitter catches people’s eyes.
Sarah Brown
Yeah. It does, glitter gets a bad rap. People gripe about glitter man, give me glitter all day. I love glitter.
Deana Tomas
I love glitter too, it’s everywhere. It’s everywhere. My fiance hates me because my kitchen floor is like permanently glitter. And I don’t mean like I’m I’m talking about just like loose glitter on the floor everywhere. And it just doesn’t come off no matter how many times you wash it, nothing.
Sarah Brown
It’s like quick coat.
Deana Tomas
Oh, yeah. Like, it’s embedded. It’s everywhere. And he’s like, how did glitter get in my beard today? I’m like, I don’t know. What are you sniffing my cups or something? Go away. Oh, like I can’t help where the glitter goes. But it makes life a whole lot more beautiful.
Sarah Brown
That’s right. Glitter goes where it will.
Deana Tomas
I love it. I love it.
Sarah Brown
Well, is there anything else that you’d like to share with everybody before we wrap up? I know we’ve covered everything in the world on this episode, so.
Deana Tomas
Sure have, we sure have. If you guys, if anybody is looking to learn how to make tumblrs or they just want to be involved in a really great community, please come join us over at Tumblr Tutors. We’d love to have you.
Sarah Brown
All right. And we will link to Tumblr Tutors and all of your personal links in the show notes so everyone can find you.
Deana Tomas
Thank you, yes and D Stories Boutique is my business where I sell tumblrs. But yeah, and I’m on Facebook, Instagram, all the things at D Stories Boutique.
Sarah Brown
And flying the friendly skies.
Deana Tomas
And flying the friendly skies, if you see me in the friendly skies. love meeting new people. So yeah.
Sarah Brown
Well thanks so much Deana. I’ve enjoyed talking with you and laughing with you so much today.
Deana Tomas
Thank you so much for having me. I can’t tell you guys enough how much I love you guys. You guys are the best.
Sarah Brown
We love you too. And you are such a bright light in the tumblr and crafting community. So it’s been a joy to have you too and everybody go find Deanna and Tumblr Tutors, and we will catch you all next week.
Deana Tomas
Wonderful. Thank you guys. Bye.
Sarah Brown
I know that you had fun with Deanna just like I did today and I have a quick story to share with you that happened after this interview was recorded. So we were talking about the big event that happens in Texas called Tumblr Con and I persuaded her to go to the 2022 Tumblr Con and it was a tough sell. But I finally convinced her to come, she had been thinking that she didn’t have time and it wasn’t going to work out, she managed to re route herself on a flight so that she could stop by and see me and the besties at Tumblr Con. And I was so glad she did just so that I could hug her neck and see her in person. But what is even better about this story is that when it was time to apply to be instructors for the 2023 Tumblr Con, Deana applied and was selected, so if you would love to learn from Deana, make sure that you are at Tumblr Con 2023 because our friend Deana is going to be there teaching classes. I’m so proud of you, Deana. And I can’t wait to see you at Tumblr Con 2023. And of course everyone make sure you go join her Tumblr Tutors group, she’s got a lot of fun stuff that goes on there. We do some giveaways with her over there. So there’s always that little chance that you might win some Counter Culture DIY stuff, and you’ll learn a lot and have a great time while you’re at it.
A Culture of Inspiration
Thanks for tuning in today to A Culture of Inspiration with me, Sarah Brown. I’d love to hear your feedback on ideas for the show. You can share that with me on any of our socials. We’re @CounterCultureDIY on Facebook, Insta, Tik Tok. And of course you can also find us at YouTube, Pinterest, and on our blog at www.counterculturediy.com. Don’t forget to follow the podcast wherever you get your podcasts and join me for a new episode next week. Until then, keep creating.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
I’ve said it a million times, the big attraction to tumbler making for artists is that artists and crafters love to share what they make with others and be able to share that knowledge and passion. Feel free to DM me on Instagram and let me know how this episode resonated with you. Keep creating!
Connect with Deana:
Put TumblerCon on your Christmas list, and come take my class!! 🎁
You can save 5% off your class ticket by using code DEANA2023TC at the check
Out!
Connect with Counter Culture:
Facebook community, Counter Culture DIY artists support group
Thanks for joining us on the A Culture of Inspiration podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on Apple and Spotify to help us reach even more creators who need a little inspiration. Keep creating!