Meet The Team

Nancy grew up around Nashville, TN and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2007 with a BS in Biology. She then served in the United States Army for four years, which included two deployments to Afghanistan. Nancy and her family have lived in many places including Virginia, Georgia, Hawaii, and here in Leavenworth, Kansas.
​Nancy has been moved by art throughout her life. She started painting and drawing at a very young age. At thirteen she took an oil painting class at Volunteer State Community College with her mother and fell in love with the medium. In 2015, she started doing commissioned work. In 2019, she started working with resin casting and resin and wood projects. In 2022, she started selling at art and craft shows around Honolulu, Hi. In 2022, Life In The Moment Art became an official LLC.
​Her travels and experiences have played a large role in the development of her painting style, subject, and expression. She loves a good hike with her family, working in her garden, or a gathering with friends. She will never turn down a good cup of coffee or tea and can often be found in a local coffee shop with a watercolor close at hand.

Attorney by day, a crafter by night, Sherri has been trying new crafts and honing her crafting skills since she was a girl growing up in rural Iowa.  She has been stamping, scrapbooking, and paper crafting since the 90s and loves mixing and matching colors, patterns, and textures to get everything just right.  She enjoys documenting the special as well as the ordinary everyday events in life and putting together the perfect card to brighten someone’s day.  She especially delights in making handcrafted décor items that you can display at home and show off your crafting skills!  When not lawyering or crafting, Sherri is a mom of two, girlfriend extraordinaire, and caretaker of a menagerie of furry and feathery critters.

A Kansas native, born and raised; Jillian graduated from Kansas State University in 2013 with a BS in Wildlife Biology. Though her degree is science-based, she has been doing art since she could hold a pencil. Drawing cartoon animals, both traditionally and digitally, is her specialty. Cosplay has also been a passion in her life, and it drove her to make her very first fursuit in 2011. She has been perfecting her skills and learning new techniques ever since, and took home 1st place in the Hallway Cosplay Contest Master’s Category at Naka-Kon ‘22. Another hobby of Jillian’s is shaking her tail (literally) in the dance competitions at furry conventions. Dressed as her fursona, Shy the sharkyeen (a shark/hyena hybrid), she mixes her own music/choreographs her own moves and placed 1st in the dance competition at Tails and Tornadoes ’22. She lives in a 149 year old house with her husband and cat, Beans. When she’s not drawing, sewing fur, or moving her paws to the beat you can find her catching bugs in her backyard.

Hi! I’m Whitney Pearce. I have lived in Leavenworth for five years now. I love all things creative and love to help foster others’ needs to create, as well! I’m excited to be having the opportunity to teach classes! I have sewn for all of my life, and love to continue to grow in my knowledge of the art!

After growing up in Western Colorado, Anna has lived on both coasts of the US and in various spots between with her husband and two kids. She enjoys many different craft mediums including wire, jewelry, sewing (just don’t ask her to follow a pattern), painting, photography, and anything else that comes up that needs making or fixing, or altering. A new project is always an exciting excuse to get fun tools and learn different techniques. Making things has always been Anna’s happy place and she looks forward to sharing the skills she has acquired over the years.

Katie Richardson is a life-long lover of all things creative and crafty. In her perfect world, she would stay up late crafting every night and sleep in all morning.  Her 4 young children have uprooted her nocturnal ways for now so she crafts and decorates during naptime and in between referring toddler disagreements.

Katie received her M.A. in Art Therapy from Lesley University and is a firm believer that everyone can create despite their own doubts. She is excited to bring her passion for cookie decorating to Leavenworth.

Katie is the owner of Craft + Confection, a cottage bakery offering custom-decorated sugar cookies and cookie decorating classes. 

Haley Shaw is the owner and lead farmer florist at Birdsong Blooms, a small family-operated cut flower farm nestled in the heartland. 

Along with her young son, she grows organic cut flowers in the historic district of the First City in Kansas.  Steeped in history, she specializes in expressive, original, and timeless seasonal flowers cared for using simple organic principles. 

From foliage to fine art florals, Birdsong Blooms is dedicated to growing exceptional designer-quality heirloom and specialty varieties. With a mission to provide local wholesale, wedding, and special event customers with the freshest blooms, she is honored to be part of a growing movement aimed at elevating the everlasting benefits of sustainably grown local flowers.

https://www.birdsongblooms.com

Emily Bartlett is busy playing all the many roles in her life. Currently a stay-at-home-mom with her daughter, Locksley, she is also a wife, professional actor, educator, therapist, and so much else. She received her BSE from Emporia State University and her Masters degree in Drama Therapy from Kansas State University. She is a Registered Drama Therapist, working with many different populations in private practice. Emily  is passionate about educating others and still learning things herself.  She gets her rebellious edge from her mom and her humor from her dad. She loves naps, live theatre, Shakespeare, animals, large bodies of water, reading, Moulin Rouge, and most importantly her husband and her daughter.

Cari Payer is the founder of First City Creatives. Prior to moving to Kansas in August 2020, Cari worked as a travel magazine photographer while leading photography workshops across the globe, including Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, and Germany. She now teaches both beginner and advanced photography classes, as well the after-school art classes. As an avid supporter of the arts, she is passionate about giving every person the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from art, be it from teaching or learning. Cari loves animals, helping others, traveling, her two daughters, and any and all forms of art.

She is the friendly face of First City Creatives!