Craft Industry Alliance

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about art retreats with my guest, Elizabeth Duvivier. Elizabeth is the founder and director of Squam Art Workshops. Elizabeth founded Squam in 2008 as a way to bring a similar experience to the one she had at Artfest to the East Coast. Attendees of Squam Art Workshop describe it as a magical experience in which they can let go...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about what it takes to run a successful brick-and-mortar crafts shop with my guests Jaime Jennings and Amber Corcoran of Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver, Colorado, and Virginia Johnson of Gather Here in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Please note that this show used to be called the While She Naps podcast. The name has changed, but the...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a handmade doll business with Christina Platt, the owner of Bamboletta Dolls. Christina is a wife and mother of two little boys. Her company makes one-of-a-kind handcrafted dolls using all natural materials. With a team of 48 women and her husband, who makes the heads, they create over 80 dolls per week that fin...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I talk with Kelly Wilkinson, Editorial Director at Creativbug, and Liana Allday, Senior Editor at Creativebug, about online learning. Hear the story of how this innovative online learning platform got it's start and learn about what the Creativebug team looks for in a new class or teacher. Is video the new frontier in craft publishing? We e...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about craft publishing with my guest, Melanie Falick. Melanie has the been the publishing director of STC Craft, an imprint of Abrams, for nearly 12 years. She is proud to be publishing the works of many wonderfully creative authors, including Heather Ross, Denyse Schmidt, Clara Parkes, Natalie Goldberg, Kaffe Fasset, Lotta Ya...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about producing craft conferences and shows with my guests, Nicole Stevenson and Delilah Snell. Nicole and Delilah are the co-founders of Patchwork Show, a series of indie craft fairs in California, and Craftcation, a yearly craft and business conference. In this conversation we talk about how these two shows came about and wh...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm talking about YouTube with Vanessa Vargas Wilson. Vanessa is best known as The Crafty Gemini. She makes weekly instructional videos about sewing, quilting, organic gardening, woodworking, and more. Her YouTube channel has 162,000+ subscribers and over 15 million views. Vanessa and her husband are raising their two young children on a fi...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about having a polished web presence for your blog and online store with my guests, Alicia Paulson and Arianne Foulkes. Alicia Paulson's blog, Posy Gets Cozy, has a large and devoted following. After eight years using a Typepad template and PayPal buttons to run her blog and business, Alicia hired Aeolidia to do a complete red...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm chatting with Robert Mahar. Robert teaches imaginative do-it-yourself projects through high-quality video tutorials on YouTube, CreativeLive and in-person workshops.  The crafty content he develops and presents is often rooted in nostalgia, and his talent for reinventing old-school crafts with a decidedly modern twist has gained him a l...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast my guest, Deepika Prakash, founded PatternReview.com in 2000 because she loved to sew, but didn't have any friends who did. Today 375,000 people use the site to review sewing patterns, sewing machines, and notions, take online classes, and chat with fellow sewists all over the world. Deepika explains the story of the site and it's growth ov...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with Jess Brown. Jess has been making dolls for 16 years. She’s carefully developed a line of signature handmade ragdolls. Each doll is cut to order in her Northern California studio and always made using the finest materials. Jess also collaborates with several designers, creating limited edition dolls for each season. Although orig...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm talking with two leaders in the online sewing world: Kathy Mack and Kristin Link. Kathy Mack is the owner of Pink Chalk Fabrics. She designs and publishes sewing patterns as Pink Chalk Studio and she's recently made a sharp right turn in her creative business journey. We hear more about that during our chat. Kristin Link is the owner of...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm talking about designing and sewing and creativity with two long-time bloggers, Amy Karol and Ellen Luckett Baker. Amy is the author of Bend-the-Rules Sewing and Bend the Rules with Fabric, both from Potter Craft. She teaches video classes on CreativeBug and sells artwork and a natural skincare line in her Etsy shop. Amy's blog is http:/...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with Chelsea Bloxsom who's business is Love and a Sandwich. She makes incredibly cute furry plush monsters. She also makes embroidery hoops based on her favorite comics characters. Her first book, Adventure Time Crafts, will soon by released by Potter Craft in cooperation with Cartoon Network. Phil Barbato is a plush maker who sells...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I talk with Ame Verso, Content Director for F+W, the world's largest publishing group. Amy has over 10 years of experience editing and commissioning craft books. We discuss what a winning craft book proposal looks like, how much audience size matters for potential authors, how royalty structures work, whether you need an agent, who owns the...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with Amie Plumley who is the co-author of Sewing School and Sewing School 2. Both books are excellent resources for teaching children to sew. Jean Van't Hul is the author of the blog and book, The Artful Parent. She is passionate about helping people find inspiration and encouragement in making art with children, whether at home or i...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I talk to illustration agent Lilla Rogers and artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon. What does it take to make a living as an artist? We discuss how to develop a viable career making and selling your artwork. Lilla and Lisa also recommend great stuff their loving right now. Connect with Lilla Rogers at: http://lillarogers.com Connect with Lis...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with Diane Gilleland and Haley Pierson-Cox who both have established careers as freelance craft designers. Hear how they balance their work days between pursuing new opportunities, marketing current projects, and completing work on deadline. Diane and Haley also have experience doing in-booth demonstrations for craft companies at ind...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I talk with sewing pattern makers Cal Patch and Jen Beeman about how they got their start, how their careers have developed, and where they see the future of home sewing heading. Cal, Jen, and I recommend great stuff we're loving right now including tools, books, subscriptions, apps, and more. Please note that this show used to be called th...

On today’s special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with Stanford Smith. About six months ago, in an effort to learn about how to blog more effectively, I began reading Pushing Social, a blog about blogging. The author of Pushing Social, Stan Smith, is an internet marketing and social media expert. Stan shares practical exercises and tips on how to write blog posts that attrac...

On today’s special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm rebroadcasting an interview I conducted with Jonathan Marcus, CEO of Goodsie, in November of 2012. Goodsie provides anyone with easy drag-and-drop tools that allow you to create a beautiful, customizable online storefront in an easy and affordable way. Jonathan founded Goodsie in 2011 as a way of bringing ecommerce to the masses...

On today’s special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I'm publishing the audio version of a video interview I conducted on January 29, 2013, with Jon Crawford, the CEO of Storenvy. If you're interested in ecommerce and small business, you'll enjoy Jon's story of founding this exciting platform. Hear about: How Storenvy differs from Etsy. How the social aspect of Storenvy works. Why Sto...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with Cynthia Treen whose threadfollower felt animal kits are carried in over 100 shops nationwide and Alison Kaplan, the founder and owner of Kata Golda a company that creates handmade items using letterpress, ceramics, wool felt, and fabrics. We hear about Cynthia's and Alison's creative lives and then get their recommendations for...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with artist Ann Wood.   Ann works with found and salvaged materials, many of them vintage or antique garments. She’s interested in transformation, turning cardboard boxes from the fancy grocery store on her block into turreted castles and ruined old petticoats and gowns into seas for paper mache boats. She loves to give the most comm...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast I chat with two indie brands in the baby and children's market. My guests are Jahje Bath Ives, owner of the handmade nursery mobile company BabyJives, and Mimi Tsang, owner of the girls hairclip company, hello shiso. We talk about what it's like to start and run a successful creative business and then we recommend great stuff we're enjoying...