Lisa Congdon credits her now-defunct crafting blogs for launching her art career. Before that, she was happy to craft gifts for her friends and family, and post her ideas online.

"I never in my life considered myself artistic or an artist, at all," she said recently from her home in San Francisco.

Today, Congdon, 41, co-owns Rare Device, a home decor and housewares store with a "modern and quirky" aesthetic, according to its Web site. Attached is a gallery, where Congdon and co-owner Rena Tom, 35, exhibit emerging artists' works.

Congdon also sells her own work. She works primarily in three mediums: painting with gouache, ink drawings and collage. Her art, mainly her illustrations, have appeared on cards, magnets and journals. Pottery Barn hired her to design fabric panels for a recent collection.

She gets her inspiration from nature, appreciating its patterns and repetitions. She gravitates toward old photographs, and antique lace and paper, for use in her collages.

Started in 2005, her two blogs — first Bird in the Hand, then Lisa Congdon Art+Craft — made her something of an online crafting superstar, eventually attracting 4,000 readers a day to her latter site. (The "Bird in the Hand" name now is used by several blogs worldwide.)

Her blog caught the attention of a Seattle shop owner who asked if Congdon wanted to show her work, and Congdon was on her way. She's had 13 solo shows in three years.

"Because I started a blog and because the Internet makes the world so small, I literally went from 'Oh, I'm making things in my free time. It's fun,' to being a fine artist in less than five years."

Congdon ended her first blog in 2006, and took down her second one last summer.