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An interview show for creative entrepreneurs.
Episodes
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Monday Aug 05, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking with two more of the winners of the Golden Scissors Awards. These new awards recognize excellence in the crafts industry and are given out annually at h+h americas. Nominations were open to everyone and the winners were determined by an independent panel of judges made up of craft industry professionals.
In this second episode, we'll hear the stories of our Innovation Award, Masey Kaplan and Jen Simonic of The Loose Ends Project. These two co-founders have come up with an organization that eases grief, creates community, and inspires generosity. The Loose Ends Project matches volunteer handwork finishers with projects people have left unfinished due to death or disability and now has more than 20,000 volunteers globally who have completed 2,000 projects.
We'll also hear the story of our Social Impact Award winner, Allyson Allen. Allyson is the organizer of the Piece-ful Protest Quilt Exhibit which features 36 quilted textiles of protest art. Recognized by the State of California as an award-winning Master African American textile artist and culture bearer, she organized this exhibit to be shown in Laguna Beach California where it had a significant impact in furthering the understanding of open-minded diversity and inclusivity.
We hope you are inspired by both Masey and Jen's and Allyson's stories! Nominations for the 2025 Golden Scissors Awards will open early in the year and we encourage you to nominate yourself or someone else, and to attend the awards ceremony at h+h americas in Chicago May 7-9, 2025.
Monday Jul 01, 2024
Monday Jul 01, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building an audience with my guest Amber Kemp-Gersel of Damask Love. Amber was the keynote speaker at h+h americas 2024 in Chicago and this is a recording of her presentation. It was inspiring, smart, and funny and I think you’re going to love it.
Amber Kemp-Gerstel is a television host and founder and creative director of Damask Love, a creative lifestyle blog all about doable DIY. Amber has partnered with brands like Martha Stewart, Home Depot, The Container Store, Coca-Cola, and Canon and is the social media face of JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores. She has been featured on Huffington Post and Buzzfeed and in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine just to name a few. Amber Kemp-Gerstel was a finalist in Season #1 of NBC’s Making It - a crafting competition show hosted by SNL’s Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman – otherwise known as Ron Swanson from Park’s and Recreation. Amber has a bachelor’s degree from Duke and PhD from Vanderbilt. You can also find Amber on Disney+ as the host of their original family crafting show Disney Family Sundays.
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This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.
Calling all crafters! Are you ready to dive deep into your favorite crafting projects and learn new techniques along the way? Then it's time to join Craftsy Premium Membership. Take advantage of this special promotion! For ONLY $1.49, you'll receive a full year of access to expert-led tutorials, patterns, and projects in every category you can imagine. With a massive library of resources at your fingertips, you'll be able to create your best work yet and bring your crafting dreams to life. Don't wait – sign up now at CraftsyOffers.com and discover the endless possibilities of Craftsy Premium Membership!
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To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.
Monday Jul 01, 2024
Monday Jul 01, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking with two of the winners of the Golden Scissors Awards. These new awards recognize excellence in the crafts industry and are given out annually at h+h americas. Nominations were open to everyone and the winners were determined by an independent panel of judges made up of craft industry professionals.
In this first episode, we'll hear the stories of our Emerging Leader Award, Elizabeth Okeyele. Elizabeth works to spread the love of knitting and crochet to children throughout her home country of Nigeria, and in neighboring countries in Africa, through her business Tunizze Creation.
We'll also hear the story of our Sustainability Award winner, Ali Pate. Ali is an indie yarn dyer in Colorado who has made her company, Road Trip Sock Yarn, a model of sustainable business practices from water reuse to packaging to planting trees in her home state.
We hope you are inspired by both Elizabeth's and Ali's stories! Nominations for the 2025 Golden Scissors Awards will open early in the year and we encourage you to nominate yourself or someone else, and to attend the awards ceremony at h+h americas in Chicago May 7-9, 2025.
Monday Jun 17, 2024
Monday Jun 17, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about folk embroidery with my guest Krista West.
Krista delights in bringing ancient beauty to the modern world with embroidery designs inspired by traditional Mediterranean folk textiles. Introduced to traditional folk embroidery in Greece, she fell in love with the vibrant colors and historic motifs and began stitching textiles for her own home. She quickly realized there was still much interest in this historic craft and opened Avlea Folk Embroidery to share the beauty of folk embroidery with others.
She happily spends her days in the workshop of her 1923 home in Salem, Oregon, designing patterns and making kits for customers and shops around the world.
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To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.
Monday Jun 03, 2024
Monday Jun 03, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a craft tool company with my guest Kelly Brooks.
Kelly and her husband, Scott Gardiner, are the team behind knitbrooks, where they create unique wooden crochet hooks.
Kelly started knitbrooks in 2013 while she was working as a reporter/photographer at a small community newspaper in Alberta, Canada. She opened an Etsy shop to sell online, and participated in local handmade markets over the next few years. In 2017 she tried carving her very first crochet hook out of a branch she found in the forest, which was the beginning of something special.
Kelly and Scott moved to Nova Scotia in 2019 and, despite graduating from an Ocean Fisheries and Aquaculture program, Scott joined the knitbrooks venture - they both decided to pursue crochet-hook-making full-time by the end of 2020. They now live on a small homestead (which includes a small flock of fiber sheep) in rural Nova Scotia with their one-year-old son, where they continue to live their best hook-making life in their garage-turned-woodworking shop.
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Today's episode is sponsored by Craftsy.
Calling all crafters! Are you ready to dive deep into your favorite crafting projects and learn new techniques along the way? Then it's time to join Craftsy Premium Membership.
Take advantage of this special promotion! For ONLY $1.49, you'll receive a full year of access to expert-led tutorials, patterns, and projects in every category you can imagine. With a massive library of resources at your fingertips, you'll be able to create your best work yet and bring your crafting dreams to life. Don't wait – sign up now at CraftsyOffers.com and discover the endless possibilities of Craftsy Premium Membership!
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To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.
Monday May 20, 2024
Monday May 20, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about growing a sewing pattern business with my guest Heather Lou.
Heather has been passionately making her own clothes since 2010, and discovered she loved sewing so much she left a career in interior design to start Closet Core Patterns. Over the years, the company has grown and evolved and now offers standalone sewing patterns, online sewing classes, and an inspiring pattern membership and private community called Crew, where new sewing patterns and tutorials are released each month based on a changing annual design concept. This year, they also acquired the French pattern company Deer&Doe, and they plan to release future patterns through this new sister brand. Heather also started Core Fabrics with her business partner Tereska Gesing in 2021, an online fabric store that focuses on sustainable, eco-friendly, and artisanal textiles and supplies for garment sewing. She is proudly based in Montreal, Canada.
To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.
Sunday May 12, 2024
Sunday May 12, 2024
We’re so pleased to bring you this special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast. This is a recording of the State of the Industry panel discussion which took place live on stage on May 1 at h+h americas 2024 in Chicago. With about 800 people in the audience, our panelists dove into the biggest issues and ideas the crafts industry is wrestling with right now. It was an exciting conversation among four industry professionals each of whom has a unique vantage point and perspective.
Our panelists included Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts, Gina Pantastico of Cloud9 Fabrics, Virginia Johnson of Gather Here, and Scott Stone of Gemporia Craft. We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation and we invite you to join us at h+h americas 2025 which will be held May 7-9 in Chicago.
Monday May 06, 2024
Monday May 06, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about marketing, retail, and stationery with my guest Lauren Tilden.
Lauren is a marketing coach for small business owners struggling to consistently market their businesses. Also a maker, retail shop owner, and podcast host, she’s on a mission to help small businesses do better marketing so they can make a bigger impact on the world. An ex-corporate marketer, Lauren fell in love with small business through her first small business, the plant-inspired stationery business Good Sheila. A couple of years after starting Good Sheila, she took the reins of her mom's Seattle retail shop, Station 7. As of 2020, she hosts Making Good, a podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
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This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.
Calling all crafters! Are you ready to dive deep into your favorite crafting projects and learn new techniques along the way? Then it's time to join Craftsy Premium Membership. March is National Craft Month. Take advantage of this special promotion! For ONLY $1.49, you'll receive a full year of access to expert-led tutorials, patterns, and projects in every category you can imagine. With a massive library of resources at your fingertips, you'll be able to create your best work yet and bring your crafting dreams to life. Don't wait – sign up now at CraftsyOffers.com and discover the endless possibilities of Craftsy Premium Membership!
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To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about embroidery and illustration with my guest Sara Barnes.
Sara is an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, an embroidery studio stitching pet portraits and other beloved creatures. Her work has been recognized in American Illustration, Embroidery Magazine, and Uppercase. Sara chronicles the creativity of others through her blog Brown Paper Bag and weekly newsletter, Orts. Her newest book is Threads of Treasure: How to make, mend, and find meaning through thread. When she’s not stitching or writing, she enjoys planning things that bring people together, including Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops.
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Today's episode is sponsored by the Show Up Society. If you are ready to overcome perfectionism and overthinking so you can grow your creative business, join the show up society today. This supportive community helps you build confidence in your craft, in yourself, and in promoting your work. You’ll get a perfect mix of practical tips and mindset hacks to grow your business without feeling salesy and without burnout. You’ll have fun and feel supported while taking your creative business to new heights. Go to showupsociety.com/join today.
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To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.
Monday Apr 01, 2024
Monday Apr 01, 2024
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about buttons with my guest Beau McCall.
Proclaimed by American Craft magazine as “The Button Man,” Beau McCall creates wearable and visual art by applying clothing buttons onto mostly upcycled fabrics, materials, and objects. His artworks offer commentary on topics such as pop culture and social justice. On March 30th his first-ever retrospective exhibition debuts at Fuller Craft Museum titled, Beau McCall: Buttons On!
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Calling all crafters! Are you ready to dive deep into your favorite crafting projects and learn new techniques along the way? Then it's time to join Craftsy Premium Membership. March is National Craft Month. Take advantage of this special promotion! For ONLY $1.49, you'll receive a full year of access to expert-led tutorials, patterns, and projects in every category you can imagine. With a massive library of resources at your fingertips, you'll be able to create your best work yet and bring your crafting dreams to life. Don't wait – sign up now at CraftsyOffers.com and discover the endless possibilities of Craftsy Premium Membership!
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To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.