Crafty Ass Female

Lauren Hooper starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about her early years of creativity, what her first creative business was, and how once she hosted her first art retreat, she was hooked! Lauren talks about the trying times we’re living in right now, and how her full-time travel based business was effected by it. Lauren answers the question WHY ART JOURNALLING? in the grand scheme of her busine...

Tina Aszmus starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about her early foray into design, her background with Studio Calico, and how she’s inspired by flowers, plants, and the illustrations & textures of vintage children’s books. Tina & the girls then go into how much scrapbooking trends have changed, and how years ago it was all about adding more, more, more while now, it’s more of an attitude of LES...

Tracey Clark starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about her early creativity, how she got into photography, and how the next stepping stone in her creative lifestyle always seemed to present itself. She explains explains how blogging was like journalling on steroids Tracey then goes into how the current state of affairs didn’t disrupt her family’s routine all that much, but how it got her wonder...

Heather Spooner starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about how a decision to try to sell a few handmade Halloween cards on Instagram sparked her creative career and embarked on the journey of how to make a hobby into a business. Heather’s then goes into the heart of her story that centers around how she broke out of this box-checking lifestyle and ended up accepting a life of happiness for herse...

find out more at craftyassfemale.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

Joy Frame jumps right into telling Amanda + Kristin about her idea for a collective kid-friendly space for adults where women could come together: Cabin Fever Coffee and Play House. Joy is very much in the beginning stages of making this idea come to life, and it’s so intriguing to listen to her talk about it in the light of recent COVID outbreak. Joy also explains her role as a social worker and...

After 3 successful wedding seasons and the 2020 election on the horizon, MK was itching to chat about her political interests again. In a matter of months during the "off season" for weddings in Chicago, MK created First Hundred Days, a podcast inspired by the 'first 100 days of a presidency' ideology. She speaks with politicians and recent college grads alike and new episodes are out every Tuesda...

Picking up right where Season 5 left off, SEASON 6 is HERE and the theme for this season of Crafty Ass Female is RESILIENCE - something we could all use right now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

Adriana Picker starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about coming from a creative family of women who were always cooking, gardening, or making something. She then goes into how she pursued journalism & design in college before realizing that her illustrations were in high demand and that she could make a living from her artwork. Adriana also explains how sticking to her niche of botanical illust...

Amber Kemp Gerstel starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about how she went from a child psychologist to starting up Damask Love and making it her full time gig. Amber also explains the newest edition to the Damask Love family: YayDay Paper Company - a digital subscription service offering delightfully designed stationery, craft projects and planner goodies that you can print from home. She discu...

Heather Kell starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about how she got into planning in 2015 and why she decided to start her @kellofplan account. She discusses how she was able to quit her day job and make planning and creating her full time gig! Heather explains how not getting asked to return to The Happy Planner® Squad was a blow to her identity in a way - but absolutely kicked her business as...

In this episode, Kristin talks about her Awesome Ladies Live creative retreat, how she makes it happen, why you should come, what to expect, and the logistics that goes into hosting a live event like this in case you want to too! Creativity through Connection is this year’s theme of the retreat, and Amanda can’t gush enough about the emotional accessibility of Awesome Ladies Live. This is a public...

Color is infused in most of the creative choices we make, whether for our crafty projects, our homes, or our clothes. Color effects our mood, is a form of self-expression, and can help convey the story we want to tell. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

A +K discuss their plans and exactly how excited they are for Ali Edwards' Pieces of Us challenge (spoiler alert: it is very excited). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

Sara McNally gives us her creative backstory from going to school for graphic design, designing greeting cards from home, working “terrible ad-agency jobs”, doing a letterpress printing internship, to ‘falling ass-backwards’ into owning her business. She talks about trying to figure out how to blend her love of making things, working with her hands, and writing. Sara feels like her superpower is b...

In this episode, A + K talk about establishing and creating routines, both in their crafty and personal lives. Kristin talks about some of her challenges and how she adapts her days to them, and Amanda finds ways to make creative time work inside of an increasingly busy life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.r...

Lisa Congdon starts off by telling A + K about her “early mid-life crisis” and what her really intense desire to be creative manifested into. Lisa then goes into the greatest lesson writing her first book Art, Inc. taught her. Teaching is also a big part of Lisa Congdon’s creative life. She goes into what she loves about teaching and letting go of the preciousness of her work when teaching student...

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of three illustrated books: Steal Like An Artist, Newspaper Blackout, and Show Your Work! His next book is Keep Going, a guide to staying creative in good times and bad. His books have over a million copies in print and have been translated into over two dozen languages. He speaks about creativity in the digital age for organizations such as Pi...

Elise Joy starts off by jumping right into her first book Big Dreams, Daily Joys and tells A + K how the idea for it came about. She also talks about a bit about her blog, and why Instagram is her main jam now. Elise goes into how she prioritizes her multiple business and creative ventures, and how she defines HAVING SUCCESS WITH HOBBIES. We also hear Elise talk about goal-setting in such a pragma...

In this episode, A + K talk about scrapbooking as an amazing tool for personal growth since it causes you to be reflective, and how the craft of memory keeping blends the past, present, and future all at once. The girls discuss supplies and not treating them so preciously. Also, A + K make a point that choosing supplies is not the only choice you need to make for a project. Crafters don’t realize...

SUMMARY // Cathy Zielske (pronounced simply as Zil-ski) gives us the backstory of how she got to where she is today, from her job as an assistant editor for a magazine to having a baby and freelancing to her foray into scrapbooking and how she ‘got hooked’. Amanda + Kristin also talk with Cathy about finding your ‘thing’ and staying afloat in the creative industry by pivoting when needed and alway...

How is it that time of year again, crafty ass females?! It’s time to choose a guiding word for the upcoming new year based on some aspect of your existence you want to explore. We’ve had this awesome conversation last year & the year before, and it’s fun to see how A & K have grown! // Listen to Ali’s one little word® interview with us here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this...

We have gotten some listener requests for another PLANNER-THEMED episode, so here it is! A + K have done this before almost 100 episodes ago (!!!), but so much has changed since then…and PEOPLE, WE ARE ENTERING YEAR 2020! OMG! Let’s go! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe

Vanessa Oliver-Lloyd shares with Amanda & Kristin how she ended up in Shanghai, got back into art journaling with '“nothing books”, and finally embraced the word ‘artist’ while creating a second career as one out of necessity. The girls also discuss how women’s art has been seen as pastimes and perceived with some degree of condescension - as “just hobbies” and therefore without much value. Vaness...

In this episode, A + K talk about people pleasing. Why do we do it? How can we become more aware of it? How can we set up appropriate boundaries? The girls share their versions on this phenomenon, and discuss the answers to these questions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rukristin.com/subscribe