Although Kathy Cano-Murillo (a.k.a. Crafty Chica) is known for her bright colors, sparkle and Latin flair, it wasn’t until a date with her future husband that she began to really embrace her heritage. “We’re both Mexican-American, but I took my culture for granted,” admits Cano-Murillo. “He grew up celebrating it. On our first date, he made me eat a chimichanga and took me out Latin dancing. It just came so naturally to me; it changed my whole life. I feel like I’ve spent every moment ever since making up for the first 21 years that I wasn’t into it.”

Another profound personal revelation was brought about by the death of Cano-Murillo’s paternal grandmother. “I realized what an influence she had on me. Growing up and going over to her house every week, [I’d find] she was always making something. Always sewing, painting, crocheting or embroidering. Total nana-style crafting,” she chuckles. “Back then I was like, ‘Thanks, Nana — another fluffy, lacy photo album.’ But after she passed, I really came to appreciate the quality and the love that she put into everything. I got that from her. I’m version 2.0.”

Making things she loves has been the key to Cano-Murillo’s success. “I make things that I want to show off and have in my house or wear on my body.” She first discovered that other people connected with her work when she sold some handmade jewelry at a reggae festival. “People just bought it up like crazy, and a store owner wanted to carry my things in his stores — I had goose bumps for, like, two hours. I knew I was onto something special,” she reminisces.

Happily, others agreed. During her stint as an entertainment reporter at an Arizona newspaper, Cano-Murillo was approached by the home-section editor to write an arts-and-crafts column. She was up for the challenge — and dreamed of reaching an even larger audience. “I wanted to put up a website where I could post my craft columns for people who didn’t get the newspaper in Arizona. I was really proud of the projects that I was making,” she recalls. And that now-famous moniker? “I was on deadline for another story, and ‘Crafty Chica’ just popped into my head,” she says. “Even though I was rushing to finish the story, I just couldn’t wait. That weekend I put up a website, and it just took off. As soon as people saw it, they got it. They understood it was all about celebrating easy things to make that were in really bright colors that had a clever hook to them. Ever since then it’s been growing.”

Even with her column running in 50 newspapers nationwide, regular television appearances, speaking engagements, books and, of course, CraftyChica.com, Cano-Murillo says her most satisfying venture is yet to come. Her national product line for Duncan Crafts, which features 108 of her favorite crafting supplies, debuts in March 2008 and provides a potential opportunity to give back. “There are a couple of products that I would love to earmark for charity,” she adds. “It’s such a blessing this happened.”

And Crafty Chica knows about counting her blessings. “My husband is a musician and an artist, and I’m a writer and an artist,” says the bubbly brunette. “We’ve worked every angle possible so that we could make a fruitful living and have two kids and be able to buy a house and travel. We do workshops and centerpieces for big fund-raisers and share projects online. We do all different kinds of things to make it work — that’s the craftiest thing of all.”