Craft Industry Alliance

Episode #221: Ana Campos

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about owning a local yarn shop with my guest, Ana Campos. Ana is a Brazilian knitting instructor, fiber witch, and designer with over 20 years of knitting experience. She currently makes her home by the sea in Salem, Massachusetts, known as the Witch City. As a Latina and an immigrant, she values the opportunities for connection, community, and common ground that knitting creates. Ana’s love for the knitting community ...

Special Episode: State the Industry Panel Discussion at h+h americas 2022

Today we’re excited to bring you the State of the Industry Panel discussion that took place at h+h americas, a new trade show for crafts industry that took place in Chicago June 22-24, 2022. h+h americas is presented by Koelnmesse Inc., one of the world’s largest trade show organizations, as you’ll hear me mention in the opening remarks. For the first time, this show came to North America and Craft Industry Alliance was the strategic partner.   What you’re about to listen to was the kickof...

Episode #220: Stephanie Carswell of Hawthorn Handmade

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a craft kit business with my guest Stephanie Carswell. Stephanie is the Founder and Creative Director of Hawthorn Handmade, a textile craft kit design company based in Dorset in Southern England. Hawthorn Handmade began in 2013 with a small range of needle felting kits, and over the last 9 years has developed from a small side business started in the back room of Stephanie’s previous business, a gallery ...

Episode #219: Rachel Bratcher of Ritual Dyes

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about owning a local yarn shop with my guest Rachel Bratcher, owner of Ritual Dyes. Ritual Dyes was created in 2017, by Rachel Bratcher an avid maker and true Libra. Ritual Dyes was born in Rachel’s kitchen out of a love (obsession) with knitting and creative control over all the things. Later Rachel and team moved out of the kitchen and established a neighborhood LYS and dye studio in Southeast Portland.  Drawing insp...

Episode #218: Nicole Snow of Darn Good Yarn

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a yarn company with my guest Nicole Snow of Darn Good Yarn. United States Air Force Veteran, Entrepreneur,  Mom to a five-year-old, Wife, Founder & CEO, Nicole Snow is the ‘Jane of all trades. In 2008, out of the desire to create a business focused on social consciousness through crafting and design, Nicole founded Darn Good Yarn. Over the past 13 years, Darn Good Yarn has saved over 2,000,000 pounds of ...

Episode #217: Kristina Burkey of Calliope Paperie

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about running a brick-and-mortar stationery store with my guest Kristina Burkey of Calliope Paperie in Natick, Massachusetts. Kristina owns Calliope, a fun and quirky stationery and gift shop in Natick, MA. Calliope started as an online shop in 2014, opened as a brick-and-mortar location in 2016, and just recently moved into a new and bigger location in downtown Natick. Kristina has loved paper and pens and stickers fo...

Episode #216: Whitney Manney

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about fashion design with my guest Whitney Manney. A Kansas City, Missouri native, Whitney Manney graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2012 with a BFA in Fibers. With a desire to create art in a wearable format, Manney creates garments and textile designs under her independent label WHITNEYMANNEY. Manney's work has been featured in major press outlets and numerous art and fashion blogs. She is featured in th...

Episode #215: London Kaye

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about yarn bombing with my guest London Kaye. Born in Los Angeles, California, London received her BFA in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating London realized that her love for crochet, and unexpected joy, came together harmoniously when she began using crochet to interact with the environment and surrounding community. She began installing art daily on the streets of Brooklyn and...

Special Episode: Interview with One of the Founders of the Etsy Strike, Kristi Cassidy

In this special episode of the podcast, we are focusing on the Etsy strike. I sit down with Kristi Cassidy, one of the organizers, in order to learn how it came to be and the impact it might have. If you haven’t heard about the Etsy strike yet, it’s a petition created by a group of Etsy sellers with a list of demands they want Etsy to meet. These include canceling the latest fee increase which brought transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%. Other demands include cracking down on resellers, improv...

Episode #214: Anne Merrow

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating craft media with my guest Anne Merrow. Anne Merrow started off as a book editor but has turned a series of hobbies—knitting, spinning, and weaving—into a beloved career. She is a founder and partner of Long Thread Media, which publishes Handwoven, Spin Off, PieceWork, Little Looms, and other content related to fiber arts. She serves as the company’s editorial director and host of the Long Thread Podcast....

Episode #213: Jewell Washington

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 Ou...

Episode #212: Craig Swanson

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 sm...

Episode #211: e Bond

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,...

Episode #210: Heidi Parkes

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, mater...

Episode #209: Safiyyah Talley

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 in...

Special Episode: Celebrating the Life of Melanie Ham

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 p...

Episode #208: h+h americas with Darrin Stern

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 ...

Episode #207: Starting a Children‘s Craft Studio with Nicola Day of HipStitch

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 daught...

Episode #206: Jill Wiseman

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 ...

Episode #205: Tian Connaughton

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 prioritize...

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower: Behind-the-Scenes

In our final episode, we talk with three key players at Spoonflower to find out how they do their jobs. First up is Sarah Ward, Senior Vice President of Marketing. Then, we chat with Alyssa McNamara, a research and development engineer at Spoonflower. And finally, we talk to Anitha Kothandaraman, the Sewing Operations Manager. These three interviews together shine a light on different aspects of Spoonflower as a business. + To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry ...

Episode #204: Zak Foster

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about quilting as creative expression with my guest Zak Foster. Raised in rural North Carolina and now living in Brooklyn, New York, Zak is a self-taught artist whose work draws on Southern textile traditions while incorporating found fabrics and natural dyes with an eye for sustainability. He practices an approach to design that is intuitive and improvisational and he is drawn to preserving the stories of quilts and sp...

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower:Andrea Geer

In this conversation, we’re taking a deep dive into clothing design with our guest, Andrea Greer. Andrea is a Rochester, New York-based fashion and clothing designer. She creates original artwork through painting, photography, and digital drawing then has those designs printed on a large scale. She and her team take those fabrics and create a line of women’s clothing that is carried by boutiques all over the country. + To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Allian...

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower: Robert Mahar

In this conversation, we’re taking a deep dive into creative embroidery with our guest, Robert Mahar. Robert Mahar is an artist and designer who teaches imaginative do-it-yourself projects through high-quality video tutorials. Robert is also a proud season one alumni of NBC’s crafting competition show Making It! Co-hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman. + To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supp...

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower: Melissa Quaal

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower: Jo Kalute

In this conversation, we’re taking a deep dive into surface design with our guest, Jo Kalute. Jo works lives and plays in Clovelly, a small idyllic coastal suburb of Sydney, Australia. She is a surface pattern designer and illustrator and her work is inspired by her Kenyan heritage. + 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 da...

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower: Nancy Mac

In this interview, we’re taking a deep dive into creative embroidery with our guest, Nancy Mac. Nancy is the founder and owner of Freon Collective, an eco-conscious, minimalistic beauty and lifestyle brand. “Freon” comes from old English, meaning “friends or friendship and she’s incorporated all facets of her interests in beauty, design, and art into this label. + To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of o...

Episode #203: Jenny Doan

Today on the show we’re talking about building a quilting empire with my guest Jenny Doan. Jenny Doan is the smiling face of Missouri Star Quilt Company. Stitching together simplified quilts full of love and laughter, she makes quilting easier, more accessible, and friendlier than ever before. Watching her tutorials feels like coming home again. With over 750,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 230 million views to date, Jenny has sparked enthusiasm for quilting and warmed her viewer’s he...

Episode #202: Wendy Ward

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about sustainability and sewing with my guest Wendy Ward. Wendy is a writer, designer, maker, and educator. She has worked as a designer in fast fashion and for a small sustainable brand. For her master’s degree in 2004, she explored novel ways to recycle textiles and in 2007 she moved into education and has taught numerous garment-making, textile recycling, and garment alterations classes with adults. Wendy has her ow...

Podcast Episode #201: Schacht Spindle

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a weaving loom and spindle company with my guests Jane Patrick and Barry Schacht of Schacht Spindle Company. Jane Patrick has been in the weaving and the textile arts field for over 40 years. Between 1981 and 1992 she was an editor at Interweave Press where she edited HANDWOVEN magazine, books, and Design Collections. Jane is an ardent enthusiast of both the art and craft of the textile arts, with interes...

Episode #200: Karen Barbé

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking embroidery and design with my guest Karen Barbé. Karen is a designer, embroiderer, and author from Santiago, Chile now living in Chicago. Since 2007 she’s been inspiring and teaching thousands of makers through her blog and Instagram account, with in-person and online classes, and with her book Colour Confident Stitching. Noticing how her students felt frustrated about their color choices, Karen set out to teach about ...

Podcast Episode #199: Meg and Patrick McElwee of Sew Liberated

On today's Craft Industry Alliance podcast episode, we’re talking about building a values-based business with my guests Meg and Patrick McElwee. Meg started sewing after finishing an undergraduate degree in philosophy and a graduate degree in education. While living and teaching in rural Mexico for three years, she studied pattern drafting and made her own clothes - first out of necessity, then because of the sense of empowerment and joy it brought to her life. The meditative act of stitchi...

Episode #198: Mark Hyland and Ursula Morgan of Premier Needle Arts

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a group of craft brands with my guests Mark Hyland and Ursula Morgan. Mark Hyland is the CEO of Premier Needle Arts. He's a seasoned marketing, sales, and corporate executive with 30+ years of experience building brands and successful organizations. Mark’s hands-on leadership style found him in various leadership positions implementing strategic direction and execution guidance at multi-million to billio...

Episode #197: Kristi Schroeder Larson

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about business pivots with my guest Kristi Schroeder Larson. Texas native Kristi Schroeder Larson is the creator of Initial K Studio, offering modern quilt patterns and needlepoint designs to the market. Her designs are inspired by travel as well as by putting her modern twist on classic quilt blocks. Kristi’s book Southwest Modern was published by Lucky Spool Media in 2017, blending a quilting book with a travelogue ...

Episode #196: Leigh Metcalf of Topstitch Studio on opening a brick-and-mortar shop

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast​, we’re talking about creating a community space for crafters with my guest Leigh Metcalf. Leigh is the owner of Topstitch Studio and Lounge in Atlanta, GA, a fabric and sewing studio (formerly an in-person physical space at Ponce City Market), author of London Stitch and Knit, A craft lover's guide to London's fabric, knitting and haberdashery shops, and she's also the host of the online sewcial community, Topstitch Makers. +++++ ...

Episode #195: Creating an Indie Digital Magazine with Make Modern

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating a digital magazine with the founders of Make Modern Magazine. Make Modern is Australia's only modern quilt magazine. It began in 2014 when a group of passionate quilters had a dream of producing a magazine for quilters, by quilters, filled with beautiful patterns and articles to inspire quilters to make more modern quilts! Six years on and Make Modern magazine is read by thousands of quilters in over 70 ...

Episode #194: Tisa Jackson

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about brand collaborations with my guest Tisa Jackson.   Tisa Jackson is the colorful brains behind This Is Tisa.  Tisa is a stationery designer and DIY craft content creator and workshop instructor. She’s inspired by color and has a passion for bright, colorful, happy designs and DIY projects.  Tisa has collaborated with brands such as HP, Michaels, Cricut, Beacon, and Silhouette. Visit her blog and you will come awa...

Episode #193: Textiles as a Spiritual Practice with Christi Johnson

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about textiles as a spiritual practice with my guest Christ Johnson. Christi Johnson's art combines cosmic visions and botanical beauties, a hypnotic dance of symbols stitched slowly and methodically into fabric. She is the woman behind Mixed Color, a textile studio providing functional pieces that are thoughtfully made. Christi also shares her skills so that others may do so themselves. Christi creates kits and bookle...

Episode #192: Sustainable Fashion with Katrina Rodabaugh

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about sustainable fashion with my guest Katrina Rodabaugh. Katrina Rodabaugh is an artist, author, and slow fashion advocate. Her work examines social and environmental issues through craft techniques like hand-stitching. Since 2013, she's focused on sustainable fashion by using mending, natural dyes, and redesign in her fiber arts studio. She teaches classes, designs and makes goods for her online shop, and writes boo...

Episode #191: Cecilia Nelson-Hurt on Creating a More Inclusive Fiber Community

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating an inclusive craft community with my guest Cecilia Nelson-Hurt. Cecilia is a proud Afro Latina who was taught to crochet as a child by her Grandma Sophie and learned to knit many years later. Known to many in the fiber community as ‘Creative Ceci,’ she is a global knitting and crochet enthusiast. Ceci is a Diversity & Inclusion practitioner for global brand L’Oreal and has over 15 years’ experience devel...

Episode#190: Making Stories Magazine

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about creating a knitting magazine with my guest Hanna Lisa Haferkamp and Claire Walls. Hanna Lisa is the CEO and owner of Making Stories, an independent, knitwear design publisher focusing on the intersection of sustainability and knitting. The cornerstone of her work at Making Stories is the biannual Making Stories Magazine, filled with modern knitwear patterns and sustainable yarns, which is complemented by the Maki...

Episode #189: Mou Saha

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a business as a mixed media artist with my guest Mou Saha. Mou Saha is a mixed media artist and teacher. She has been published over 700 times in print media, appeared on PBS TV shows and created several coloring books of her own. Her academic background in clinical psychology fuels her ongoing quest for wellness through creativity. Mou is a mom of three and lives in New Jersey with her family. She can b...

Episode #188: Tricia Brancolini-Foley of Handmade Arcade

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about running an indie craft show with my guest Tricia Brancolini-Foley, the Executive Director of Handmade Arcade. Tricia believes in the power of making things by hand. She has been a maker and crafter her entire life. She started at Handmade Arcade in 2010 as a volunteer and in 2014, she spearheaded the organization’s transition from a volunteer-run LLC to an official 501(c)3 and became its Executive Director. Since...

Episode #187: Shelley Brander

 On this episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about building a career bringing people together through yarn with my guest Shelley Brander. After a successful career as a copywriter and broadcast producer, creating campaigns for brands like AT&T and Hard Rock, Shelley Brander followed her passion and started an improbable "side hustle"—she opened a local yarn store. She and her team of Loops Troops have since grown Loops into a global brand that's on the forefront of...

Episode #186: Azzari Jarrett

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about building a business in scrapbooking and photography with my guest Azzari Jarrett. Azzari is a photographer and designer who is inspired by simple, everyday moments. You can usually find her chasing natural light with one too many (film) cameras. She enjoys a good morning run, a daily cup of coffee, and evenings on the beach. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the North Carolina Coast. +++++ This ...

Episode #185: Anne Butera

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a business as a watercolor artist with my guest Anne Butera. Anne Butera is a self-taught artist who finds inspiration in the beauty of her garden and the magic of nature. She works primarily in watercolor but also loves challenging herself to try new things. She strives to seek out and celebrate life’s little joys and daily graces. Anne writes the blog My Giant Strawberry; teaches in person and online;...

Episode #184: Polly Leonard of Selvedge Magazine

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating a textile magazine with my guest Polly Leonard. Polly Leonard is the Founder of Selvedge, an internationally renowned textile magazine that was launched in 2003 and now has almost one hundred issues to its name. From its modest beginning on Polly’s kitchen table, the magazine revolutionized the way textiles are presented and quickly became the world’s leading textile publication. It now has a readership...

Episode #183: Kathy Elkins of WEBS

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a yarn shop, both online and brick-and-mortar, with my guest Kathy Elkins. Along with her husband Steve, Kathy is the owner of WEBS – America’s Yarn Store located in Northampton, MA.  WEBS was founded in 1974 by Steve’s mother and in 2002 Kathy & Steve assumed ownership.  Kathy holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of New Hampshire and an M.B.A. from Suffolk University.  She has extensive mar...

Episode #182: Alexis Bailey

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about building an audience as a sewing blogger with my guest Alexis Bailey. Alexis is a DIY sewing blogger, sewist, and recently handsewist. She is passionate about sustainability, intentional making, and natural fibers. Entering the online sewing scene in 2017, Alexis has built a truly impressive audience in a short time and created a blossoming business out of her passion as well. +++++ This episode is sponsored by...

Episode #181: Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking with Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace.   For Anne, drawing, painting, and crafts have been a part of her life since almost the very beginning. She spent several years out of college working at a small independent craft store (a dream job, for sure), then started her own business hand-painting clothing, custom murals and furniture. For her, color has all always been a source of inspiration, and years later serendipity le...