Craftcation Contacts

One of the many great things about Craftcation was all the super awesome people I got to meet. Everywhere I turned there was a new friend, someone interested in learning about what I make and willing to share their own story. My notebook pockets were jam-packed with business cards and I thought I'd share some with you. 

I had the pleasure of having dinner with Lauren and Susan of Creative Outlet Studios one night. They are an awesome mother-daughter team with a new studio and workshop facility in Orange County. I can't wait for a good excuse to head down there and see the space (and maybe even teach a workshop or two!)

Trudy of The Quilters Studio was one of my eager students and she even let me test one of the Bernina sewing machines for it's paper sewing abilities (I later bought one!). Tiffany Han is an amazing life coach. If you're a crafter and in need direction/motivation, she's the person for you!

Matthew William was the photographer extraordinaire for the conference. Check out all his great shots of the event at matthewwilliamphotography.com. Marlo, of I Make Cute Stuff, was fun and knows her stuff when it comes to business planning and Etsy.

These lovely ladies were all involved in my first workshop. Annelies works at Attune Foods, my sponsor and an event sponsor. She is also a darn good food poet. Dawn of Thrilly Frills and Michelle E. Black ended up being folks I hung out with throughout the entire event. They're talented and I hope we stay in touch!

Kaitlin, or Stunningly Strange, stuck with me through many a panel discussion and the 80s Dance Party. She makes mixed media pieces and gorgeous dolls. She and her husband also recently opened a gallery in Edmonds, Washington. Anne of Crafty Diversions is super fun and even formed an impromptu knitting club with me a few other ladies one night. 

A lady with 2 business cards, now that's my kinda gal! These are from none other than Steph Cortes, of NerdJerk. Making geeks cool one by one, she's also got great ideas to help your Etsy shop flourish.

And now for these two charming folks! Julie, over at Rotten Cupcakes, is an enthusiastic and energetic graphic designer and knitter of brightly colored 'floppy berets'. Maggie Hannon is a fun, bookish person into crafting and many other things.

This collection of business cards is just a sampling of what I came home with and the folks I met. I'm sorry if you didn't make it into the post, I still love you, and feel free to contact me so I can include you in a future post. 

Homemade Holiday

Because Christmas is on a weekend this year, I have extra days off from work which means that I was able to put a little more homemade love into things this time around. 

Stockings:

Since we're staying in San Francisco this year, my in-laws mailed us our gifts. We each got a lot of stocking stuffers...but no stockings. For our wedding I was gifted a sewing machine but, being extremely accident prone, I have been afraid to use it. The need for stockings made me overcome my fears. I found a free pattern online, figured out how to thread the machine (thank goodness for the automatic threader) and set to work.

Charlie's stocking

my stocking

Wrapping paper:

Every year Charlie goes all out on some crazy and creative gift wrapping. I was having trouble coming up with creative ways to wrap but, since we have to much paper around the house, it seemed silly to buy wrapping paper; so I busted out the rubber stamps and some plain drawing paper and set to work making patterns and then wrapping gifts.

Charlie loves cooking so most of his gifts are for the kitchen; this stamp seemed like the perfect thing to use