Meet Linda Ferrell-Brooksbank | Nanny & Craft Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Linda Ferrell-Brooksbank and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Linda, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
The most difficult decision I’ve ever made, in general, was deciding to leave my 13-year career at Cincinnati Public Schools. That was 3.5 years ago. I had planned to stay until my retirement; however, I ultimately chose to leave while I was only in my mid-40’s.

Even though I do consider that my most difficult decision (so far), I must say that my pain or loss was temporary. Less than a year later, I became happier than I had imagined. I can’t picture my life without those who are now such a big part of it and I only met them due to changing careers.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love to paint, sew, and create general crafts such as gnomes and fairy gardens, etc.

Since painting and sewing are my main two mediums, I brainstormed on how to convey both in a business name. I am a fan of alliteration, so eventually I settled upon Bobbins N’ Brushstrokes! I worked with professionals to create a logo that incorporated various art supplies. There’s a visually busy version and a simpler version. I tend to use the ‘busy’ version the most because it’s my favorite.

I have an online Etsy store and I also advertise my handmade items for sale on Facebook Marketplace locally. I participate as a vendor in local handmade markets and craft fairs. I do not own a physical storefront. Sometimes I rent a venue to host arts & crafts events, such as paint & sip parties, teacup fairy garden classes, or gnome-making workshops. Those can be a lot of fun! My favorite part is seeing how different each person’s creation turns out, despite all of us beginning with the same supplies.

For my paintings, I use acrylics in a whimsical, cartoon-like style. I’m self-taught, apart from attending a few paint and sip classes, which gave me the confidence to buy starter supplies and keep trying at home! I’ve heard feedback from some people that my painting style is unique. I’m not sure which painting that I would be most proud of, but there are five that I painted for my Dad. They hung on the walls in his apartment when he was alive. Now that he has passed away, I do feel especially drawn to those paintings. I painted some hanging plants recently, which turned out pretty cool. And I always love my cheeky paintings of Humpty Dumpty carrying a coffee and looking happy with the caption of, “Humpty had a great fall!”

For my sewing projects, it’s a similar story: I took a handful of classes to learn to use a sewing machine and the rest has been all self-taught, trial-and-error at home. I don’t typically sew clothing. I sew smaller items that can make great gifts for yourself or others! Some of my most common sewing projects are microwave-safe bowl cozies, throw pillows, hair accessories, chapstick holder keychains, hot/cold rice packs, fidgets, and security blankets for babies aka a “lovey” with features for sensory input, such as loops of ribbon.

My most unique sewn item is a foot/toe cover for people who are wearing a cast or medical walking boot! It’s such a very specific need. We live in Cincinnati where the fall, winter, and even spring can be quite cold or chilly. Even the summers are cold, if you’re inside in the air conditioning!

My husband had a freak accident and badly broke his ankle in October 2020. While in a cast and eventually a walking boot, his toes were exposed. Inside the hospital, we were in a cool, air-conditioned environment and outside it was chilly, crisp fall weather (which also became harsh winter weather). On one of my earliest trips home from the hospital, I cut the bottom off of the right leg of a pair of sweatpants so that my husband could fit his swollen, broken ankle through the opening, plus accommodate the size of his cast. I took a look at the piece of sweatpants that I had cut off. It was the kind with elastic that scrunches up around the ankle. I had an idea!

I sat down at my sewing machine and made a cover for his toes using that cut off piece of sweatpants! I simply sewed it closed where I had made the cut and we used the elastic cuff to slide over the top of his foot, covering his exposed toes. It worked wonders! His doctors (both orthopedic surgeon and plastic surgeon) had never seen anything like it on any of their patients before!

Once the dust settled a little from such a traumatic injury, I eventually began making toe/foot covers and selling them on my Etsy shop. I’ve had people from all over the country order them for themselves or a friend who were preparing to have surgery. I don’t make them from cut-off sweatpants, though. I basically make the equivalent of a hair scrunchie to be the elastic part. Last I checked, there were only a few of us selling an item like this on Etsy and mine was unique because of the elastic. A few others use a strap that goes around the back of the ankle to secure it. So, I’m very proud of that item because of how unique it is and it’s also quite helpful for people with their physical comfort needs vs being something that is just for fun. (Although I do enjoy creating things that are just for fun, too!)

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Cincinnati and we have a thing called Cincinnati-style chili. The two biggest restaurants that serve this are Skyline Chili and Gold Star Chili, though there are also mom & pop restaurants that serve it as well. We typically don’t eat the chili by itself. Cincinnati chili is served over hot dogs on a bun, covered with finely shredded cheddar cheese. We call those cheese coneys. And there are “3-ways” which are spaghetti noodles covered in the Cincinnati chili, topped with the same shredded cheese. You can also order that as a 4-way or 5-way, which I know sounds weird. A 4-way would be onion or kidney beans added and a 5-way would be adding both! I would definitely take an out-of-town friend to one of our chili places. Honestly, if they were staying a week, we might even have that more than once so they could try different variations and give their opinion. A few local mom & pop places to try would be Pleasant Ridge Chili, Blue Ash Chili, and Camp Washington Chili. Although, I must admit that my favorite thing to order at Camp Washington Chili is actually their double decker sandwiches!

Cincinnati has a whole bunch of local breweries, so we would go to at least one of those. MadTree, Fifty West, and Dead Low Brewing would be at the top of my list. Dead Low might not be as well-known as the other two, but people should definitely give it a try!

No trip to Cincinnati would be complete without some ice cream! A local favorite is Graeter’s ice cream, which has yummy flavors and superb quality. I also love to visit my local creamy whip called The Dipper. They have big portions, low prices, and their customer service is great. They even serve two flavors of Dole Whip, which is vegan friendly. A handful of important people in my life are vegans, so I always pay special attention to that. I believe pineapple Dole Whip stays consistently and the second flavor rotates.

Moving on from food and drinks, I’d say we have a fantastic variety of parks! Alms Park is a hidden gem with a stone slide! Summit Park in Blue Ash has a cool playground, but also has a naturescape and zip lines that I didn’t know existed, even after going there many times. It was a pleasant surprise to discover those features! Highfield Discovery Garden is another really cool park to take children. For adults, they might enjoy Ault Park or Eden Park more than the others.

Of course we have our major sports team: Bengals football, Reds baseball, FC Cincinnati soccer, and Cincinnati Cyclones for ice hockey. But lesser known to people who aren’t from here would be Cincinnati Rollergirls. It’s a fun experience to go with some friends and watch our roller derby team in action! I also love to see the Cyclones play!

Our city is built along the Ohio River, which is the natural border between Ohio and Kentucky. Some people would be surprised to hear that I can drive to Northern Kentucky within 15 minutes, but it would take me 3.5 or 4 hours to drive to Cleveland. I may be in Ohio, but I’m in the southwest corner. Dipping into Kentucky is sometimes the way we take a short cut to get to another side of town in Cincinnati, believe it or not!

Downtown we have amazing arts venues like Contemporary Arts Center, Music Hall, Taft Theater, and Aronoff Center for the Arts. “The Aronoff” or simply “Aronoff” are the shortened versions we use locally to talk about the place where we go to see ballets or Broadway productions.

Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Krohn Conservatory are all located in Eden Park. Those are all excellent choices to visit. You can’t go wrong with any of them. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens is also an awesome place to spend a day!

If you’re into amusement parks, Kings Island has many huge rollercoasters and is only a 20 to 30 minute drive depending on traffic and where you’re located within Cincinnati. They also have a whole water park with a separate entrance (but it also connects to the amusement park). I don’t want to speak negatively of a major Cincinnati hot spot, but… I’m not a big fan of the water park at Kings Island. The largest pool is a wave pool and I just want a regular pool.

I’m still reeling from the sadness of losing Cincinnati’s Coney Island. 2024 is our first summer without Sunlite Pool, which was a community staple for over 100 years. I cry every time I see photos of the demolished pool, which just happened in the spring. It was the world’s largest recirculating pool for many years. And for me, personally, it was home away from home. I felt safe and happy there. I have so many memories of my kids growing up there in the summers, especially back when I worked for Cincinnati Public Schools and had the summers off to spend with my own children. Many local families had been going there for generations. There is a group of people called “Save Coney Islanders” who are working hard to try and get a “2.0” built, which would be a new version of our beloved former pool. It’s a major sore spot right now! The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) owns the group who bought Coney Island and they did not listen closely to the outcry of our community when we tried to get them to stop the demolition. Many families feel the same way I do about the loss of the pool: devastated.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There’s a really cool little non-profit store near me that sells a wide variety of arts and crafts supplies. The products are all donated (some new, some used) and the employees are volunteers. It’s called Scrap it Up and it’s an amazing little place.

I shop there for fabric unless I need something really specific that I can’t find at Scrap it Up. Their prices are surprisingly low! They also carry yarn, scrapbook paper, embroidery needles, faux floral accents, jewelry-making supplies, ribbon, thread, and stampers for ink pads, etc. Shopping there is like being on a treasure hunt! Not only am I able to stretch my dollars further there, but I’m upcycling by using items in my craft business that could have easily ended up in the landfill. Thank you to the people who donate their supplies to Scrap it Up and to the volunteers who work there!

My husband, Joseph, also contributes to my business in many ways. He sometimes accompanies me to craft fairs to keep me company and to help lug stuff in and out of the car. He and our kids also begrudgingly tolerate the large volume of craft supplies, which have accumulated in our finished basement over the years. I know it’s not easy living with a creative person who struggles with organization! I usually ask their opinions when I’m creating new paintings and new sewing projects. Recently two of my three kids accompanied me to a craft market, which was a new thing for us. It was fun!

Joseph also occasionally paints with acrylics. His focus is typically landscapes and his style is comparable to Bob Ross, (even though Bob used oil paints). I would like to give my husband credit for not only putting up with my wacky and zany ways, but also for carrying the majority of our family’s financial responsibilities. In addition to my crafty adventures, I work part-time as a nanny. I love both of those roles; they are both very important to me. I’m not sure that I could afford the flexibility of my current schedule if I were living on my own.

Most recently, my husband came home from work and found out that I had been having a really bad day. My sewing machine kept jamming over and over throughout the day, but nothing I tried was helping. I changed out the needle several times, changed the type of thread and the type of fabric I had been using. Of course, I rethreaded the machine over and over and over. On YouTube, I watched a video to troubleshoot the issue, yet none of those tips worked, either. I was beyond frustrated! I couldn’t sew even a few stitches before it would jam again. Within minutes of arriving home and seeing my distress, he told me to either go to a store or go online and buy a new machine– right away. And he handed me HIS credit card! He knew it would cost between two and three hundred dollars, and we normally don’t make an unplanned purchase of a big ticket item so quickly or so easily. I wasn’t going to argue with that, though, so I drove to JoAnn and bought my first Singer sewing machine. She’s a beauty and a tank at the same time. And relatively quiet compared to my previous ones. I absolutely love it!

Thank you to Joe & to our kids for supporting my small business in their own ways!

Website: https://bobbinsnbrushstrokes.etsy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbinsnbrushstrokes?igsh=cXNydWZtNnBzMmxz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobbinsNbrushstrokes?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Image Credits
N/A. My own photos.