“The three of us laugh a bunch, share a lot with each other, and just enjoy being together,” Al began. “The wreath for momma was coming along quite well, and I jokingly said that we should do this as a business.”
Michelle continued, “I told them you’re not going to believe this, but I was just talking to a nursing co-worker about how amazing it would be to work with the two of you because we all have the same work ethic. Stephanie said it had been on her mind as well.”

Stephanie owns Duncan’s Insurance, started by their mother in 1987. She and Michelle had been doing bows and florals for years, and had a booth at the county fair, but Al never thought of trying anything like that.

Until the fall of 2023,” Al added. “I’m a pharmacist, and we were redecorating the store, and really needed some new wreaths for our big double doors. I couldn’t find anything I liked, so on a whim I thought, maybe I could make them. I did, and customers started asking me if I could make some for them, and I did. By the time Mother’s Day came around the next year, I was hooked, and all three of us were ready to launch 3CRE8.”

They each bring their own expertise and style; Stephanie’s custom designs are more traditional and minimal, Al’s are big and bold, and Michelle specializes in painting signs, door hangers and all the things that round out their offerings. They begin each project by understanding the customer’s expectations and vision, and they all say that seeing the joy on the customer’s face when they’ve exceeded them, is why they love what they do.

“We’re very self-critical, and have high expectations for our work,” Stephanie said. “It’s the best feeling when I’ve done something that people really like. There’s a little piece of us in everything we do, we’re very intentional – our slogan is ‘Art with Heart’.”

“Yes,” Al agreed. “A regular customer of mine normally gives me suggestions for what she wants, but last Christmas she said just do what you do. What I came up with included three cardinals, and her daughter picked it up and brought it to her. She called me and said, ‘you couldn’t have had any idea about the significance of those three cardinals, but I wanted to thank you, it’s very special’. I just love when that happens.”