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An interview show for creative entrepreneurs.
Episodes
Monday Mar 21, 2022
Monday Mar 21, 2022
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a community through knitting with my guest Jewell Washington.
Jewell Washington is the Chicago-based maker and entrepreneurial designer of Northknits. She learned to knit in college and launched Northknits in 2014. Jewell pursues simple living through her passion for DIY, pattern design, stacking her yarn shelf, and providing business and entrepreneurial advice to fellow crafters. As the founder of Our Maker Life, a global maker movement, she has connected more than 120,000 fellow fiber creatives in the knit, crochet, and yarn industry via maker meetups, published books, and social media. She enjoys traveling and sweet cuddles with her kitten Dewey.
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This episode is sponsored by Bernet International. Have you outgrown your textile wholesale supplier or want more control in your supply chain? We provide art concept to delivery services with expert manufacturers. From textiles and fiber to notions, we've supported the quilt, home goods, garment, and craft industries for 40 years.
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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 Mar 07, 2022
Monday Mar 07, 2022
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about online learning with my guest Craig Swanson.
At the age of 18, Craig founded Swanson Tech Support and worked as a tech consultant for 6 years before founding CreativeTechs which lead to over a million dollars in sales.
Soon after Craig co-founded the creative online learning platform CreativeLive, an idea that was birthed from a failed video training program for his IT business. CreativeLive would grow from a small start-up team to 70+ employees offering workshops with top industry leaders like Tim Ferriss and Brené Brown.
Now Craig partners with creators, educators, and influencers by providing the missing piece that they need to get to the next stage of their business and is helping build $1 million dollar businesses one step at a time.
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This episode is sponsored by Divine Social. Divine Social is a marketing agency that helps eCommerce stores who sell to makers, creators, crafters, artists & DIY enthusiasts. They are behind some of the biggest brands in the creative industry, responsible for strategies to move your online traffic from prospects to buyers to raving fans. The team at Divine Social is offering a customized review of your shop to help you uncover what’s keeping you from selling more. Go to divinesocial.com/cia for more details.
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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 Feb 21, 2022
Monday Feb 21, 2022
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about blurring the lines between art, craft, design, and poetry with my guest e Bond.
e makes digital spaces by day, handmade books by night, hangs out with trees on weekends, and writes something close to poems in the spaces between. Under the studio name roughdrAftbooks—created in 2003—she makes one-of-a-kind artist books, printed pieces, and abstract drawings that merge and blur the boundaries of art, craft, design, and poetry. e holds a BFA in graphic design and art history from Moore College of Art & Design and an MFA in Creative Writing and Book Art from Mills College.
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This episode is sponsored by Craftsy. Whether you’re new to making, or looking to advance skills in a favorite hobby, Craftsy is the place to learn.
With over 1,500 classes, there’s something for everyone, from knitting and sewing, to baking and cooking, gardening, embroidery, quilting and more!
Visit CraftsyOffers.com today and get a full year of Craftsy Premium Membership for just $3! That’s 97% off the regular price! Start turning ideas into projects you can be proud of.
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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 Feb 07, 2022
Monday Feb 07, 2022
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about quilting as an art practice with my guest Heidi Parkes.
Heidi Parkes was born into this world the proud recipient of a collaborative family quilt, organized by her grandmother. Now, Heidi lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and works within the quilt world, the art world, and the maker's movement. Hand piecing and hand quilting imbue her work with the personal, and contribute to her themes of diary, self-help, materiality, and abstraction. Heidi recently completed a yearlong ARTservancy artist's residency, is a two-time Mary Nohl Fellowship finalist, and has received multiple awards from the Modern Quilt Guild.
Heidi lectures and teaches with a passion for the beginner, and her unique improvisational style promotes the qualities of allowing, savoring, hinting, manifesting, and documenting. Whether on-site or via a self-hosted workshop on her website, Heidi incorporates hand yoga and body care as an essential component of learning to sew.
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This episode is sponsored by Divine Social, a marketing agency for craft and DIY enthusiasts.
Divine Social is a marketing agency that helps eCommerce stores who sell to makers, creators, crafters, artists & DIY enthusiasts. They are behind some of the biggest brands in the creative industry, responsible for strategies to move your online traffic from prospects to buyers to raving fans. And now, the team at Divine Social is offering a customized review of your shop to help you uncover what’s keeping you from selling more. Go to divinesocial.com/cia for more details.
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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 Jan 17, 2022
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Today on the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a knitting business with my guest Safiyyah Talley.
Safiyyah is the creator of the popular blog thedrunkknitter.com. She has an independent Ravelry store, hosts a podcast, and her design work has been featured in online publications such as The Bobble Club, The Fiber Company, LoveKnitting, and Darn Good Yarn—and in Warm Hands, a book of knitting patterns. She teaches knitting classes virtually and at knitting shows including Vogue Knitting Live. Safiyyah's new book, 2 Socks in 1, comes out this year with Storey Publishing. Safiyyah lives in Indiana.
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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.
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Today we are replaying an episode that originally aired a few years ago.
We learned this evening about the passing of Melanie Ham. Melanie was truly a bright light in the craft world. Her warm, smile welcomed everyone to learn from her craft videos, whether it was crochet, sewing, or quilting. Melanie was also a wife and mother.
I was lucky enough to interview Melanie in February of 2018 and wanted to replay that interview today as a way to celebrate her life. Listeners may note that the podcast had its former name and theme music when this episode aired. Thank you for listening. I hope this interview is a small way to honor Melanie Ham’s legacy.
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about h+h americas, a brand new trade show for the crafts industry, with my guest Darrin Stern.
Darrin Stern has worked for Koelnmesse (Cologne International Trade Fairs) Inc for 18 years. In that time, he has supported hundreds of clients from more than ten unique industries to grow their business worldwide. One of the industries Darrin supports is fiber arts. Since 2015 Darrin has helped companies from North America exhibit and visit the h+h Cologne show in Germany. In Darrin’s role with Koelnmesse Inc, he services as the Director of Business Development, IT & Systems Manager, and the show Director for h+h Americas. Before Koelnmesse, Darrin was a University Professor, Service Consultant, and Business Owner. Darrin lives in the greater Chicago area with his two daughters and wife.
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This episode is sponsored by Divine Social. Divine Social is a marketing agency that helps eCommerce stores who sell to makers, creators, crafters, artists & DIY enthusiasts. They are behind some of the biggest brands in the creative industry, responsible for strategies to move your online traffic from prospects to buyers to raving fans. And now the team at Divine Social is offering a customized review of your shop to help you uncover what’s keeping you from selling more. Go to divinesocial.com/cia for more details.
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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 Dec 13, 2021
Monday Dec 13, 2021
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating craft studios for kids with my guest Nicola Day, owner of the kids' crafts studios, HipStitch.
Nicola has been sewing since she was 11 years old when she learned to sew at school. Sewing has always been part of her life. In college, sewing for people helped her to make money to support herself.
After college, she designed a line of pocketbooks and sold them all over the US in boutiques.
When her daughter was born, she wanted her to be as passionate about sewing but found there was no studio in my town and so she founded Hipstitch, a sewing and craft studio for children in Newton, Massachusetts.
HipStitch has been in business now for 12 years, opening its second location in Wellesley and a third location is due to open in January in Brookline. HipStitch has expanded its offerings to include knitting, crochet, and fiber arts as well as their own DIY hand and machine kits to create at home. In addition to offering classes at their studios, they offer the program offsite to 15 schools in Newton, Wellesley, Weston, Cambridge, and Brookline.
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This episode is sponsored by Divine Social. Divine Social is a marketing agency that helps eCommerce stores who sell to makers, creators, crafters, artists & DIY enthusiasts. They are behind some of the biggest brands in the creative industry, responsible for strategies to move your online traffic from prospects to buyers to raving fans. The team at Divine Social is offering a customized review of your shop to help you uncover what’s keeping you from selling more. Go to divinesocial.com/cia for more details.
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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 Nov 29, 2021
Monday Nov 29, 2021
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about beading with my guest Jill Wiseman.
Jill Wiseman lived a traditional, “8-to-5” corporate existence until a chance encounter with beads in 2001 changed everything. She was mesmerized. She found her local bead store and started taking every class offered to learn new skills, including stringing, wirework, and her later specialty, beadweaving.
Before long, Jill couldn’t contain her beady joy another moment and had to share the world of beads with others. She became a full-time beadweaving jewelry designer and teacher in 2004, and had the pleasure of teaching at national bead shows like Bead & Button and Bead Fest, as well as traveling to bead stores and bead societies all over the country for classes full of laughter and bead learning for over a decade. She is the author of Jill Wiseman’s Beautiful Beaded Ropes, and was honored to be chosen as one of Beadwork Magazine’s Designers of the Year for 2013.
In 2013, Jill started a YouTube Channel which now boasts more than 170,000 subscribers where she educates beaders around the world with videos showing techniques, tips, and projects. After the YouTube Channel launched, viewer demand for bead supplies influenced Jill to open an online bead store which has now grown into a 6,000 square foot warehouse facility with 4 employees.
Beading has taken her from coast to coast, and internationally to places like Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, and China. But the rest of the time Jill makes her home in Austin, Texas, with her mother (employee #1,) as well as two spoiled dogs who only occasionally eat the beads.
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This episode is sponsored by The Academy for Virtual Teaching.
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 Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about tech editing and mentoring with my guest Tian Connaughton.
Tian is a Massachusetts-based knit and crochet designer, a technical editor working with magazines and major brands, and a business coach for handmade and fiber artists. She lives by the motto, "a rising tide lifts all boats," and this is evident in all that she does, from writing books to creating online courses and coaching programs. Her work prioritizes helping women - particularly Black women and women of color - to create the life they want doing work that they love, which society doesn't always encourage.
Tian currently has a new free course out, Get Published, created in partnership with Knit Picks and We Crochet. Get Published is a 6-part video series for aspiring and experienced designers who are ready to take their designing to the next level by adding 3rd party publications. Each video takes you through the process from creating your proposal all the way to the publication going live. The course is available now to binge-watch on-demand. Tian also teaches classes on Creativebug.
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This episode is sponsored by goimagine. goimagine is a handmade marketplace donating 100% profits to charity. With a mission to help children in need, goimagine is a movement of makers & artists growing their own handmade businesses while supporting a marketplace focused on social good. Learn more about goimagine's new concept for a caring economy at goimagine.com
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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.