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via wtva.com

Whether it’s letter-pressed greeting cards or confetti to help celebrate big moments, Thimblepress’ studio and shop is filled with color.

Founder and owner Kristen Ley turned her hobby into this business in 2012.

“Truly getting to do this is getting to live a life dream, which I feel like a lot of people don’t get to do,” said Ley.

Ley, a �������� State graphic design graduate, started a business in Charleston, S.C., with her friend after graduation. They were doing branding and marketing for other businesses.

She later moved back to Jackson and took a marketing job, and art was her after-work hobby. By 2012, she was ready to venture out and start her own business doing what she loves.

Fast forward to today, and those dreams are becoming reality faster than she ever prayed for.

“When I started Thimblepress, I wrote down kind of some big dreams that I had for Thimblepress,” explained Ley. “One of them was to have a collection at Target, and then one of them was to work with Hallmark.”

Both of those companies have since contacted her out of the blue.

Thimblepress’ logo now sits alongside the Hallmark crown on two collections, while Target launched the Mother’s Day collection just two weeks ago.

“The idea of happiness and color, which is all that Thimblepress stands for, to be out in the world and be seen by so many people,” noted Ley. “It has made me cry for the past two weeks.”

The “Thimble team” beams with pride just talking about it.

“I went to Target just by myself, and I saw Thimblepress,” recalled inventory and assembly team manager Mary Kathryn Sharp. “It really is incredible. I mean, that’s a big deal.”

Ley is a big believer in promoting other “makers”. She’s unapologetic in the fact that her faith is the key factor in watching her dreams come true.

“I feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” she said.