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Welcome to episode 006 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Andrea Rennick, of Quilti.com. She is making amazing quilts, selling on etsy, drafting clothing patterns, and planning free motion quilting video tutorials. You need to go to her site and check out the Mariner’s Compass quilt that she recently made. It is stunning. And even more impressive – she does all of her free motion quilting on her domestic machine!

Andrea and I talk about her creative journey from learning how to sew from her Grandmother, to refashioning clothing as a teenager, and making clothes for her own children. She still has a few of the things she made, and she’s coming back to working on clothing patterns now. She was struck by the work Angela Walters has done, and really related to her as well since Andrea also learned to sew from a grandparent, and says that the modern quilt movement was like, “a breath of fresh air, like a stuffy old door suddenly opened and the windows flew up into sunshine, rainbows, butterflies, puppies.” Close your eyes and picture the modern quilt movement – what do you see?

For many of us, taking the time to be creative is something that we need to schedule into our day. Andrea schedules time in to quilt and sew, and her husband Ron also recognizes that she needs this creative outlet so he will tell her, “go sew for 20 minutes.” I appreciate when our partners recognize this about us! Being creative gives us so much – it makes us happy, it brings joy to our lives, it helps us be calm, it encourages us to share our gift of creativity with others – and we need to take the time for ourselves. There should be no guilt about taking time for yourself. Mom’s often have a hard time being individuals and doing something creative can help us find who we are after we have our babies. Do not be afraid to take time for yourself, schedule that into your day, we all use calendars so block out some time to do something creative.

Andrea and I have known each other for years and years, we were thinking that we met back when my big kids were little and I was homeschooling. Andrea is also amazing with wordpress, her day job is in wordpress support, and her quilting is awesome. Thanks again for being on the show Andrea!

Where you can find Andrea – AndreaRennick.com – Etsy Shop – Andrea on twitter – Andrea on instagram

Listen to episode 006 and let me know how you take time for yourself. Use your calendar to take 20 minutes every morning to do something just for you. I’ve mentioned that I like having multiple projects in various stages of completion and this is exactly why – if I only have 20 minutes on a busy day, I can still take the time to get something done.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I finally figured out the design for my beadwork project!

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Welcome to the 005 episode of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Rachael Gander, owner of Imagine Gnats, the Imagine Gnats shop, and designer of several Imagine Gnats patterns. Rachael and I talk about her “I can make that” moment, the blog and tutorials she offers, the Imagine Gnats shop, and her patterns. I loved talking to Rachael because she has the attitude of knowing she can do something and just going out and doing it. She sews often and she recently added her paper patterns to what she offers in the shop and wholesale. It takes a lot to really, fully believe that what you are doing is the right thing for you to do, it’s going to be so great for you creatively, and you are going to have a great time if you just keep going in the same direction.

Rachael worked in the financial industry for over ten years and a couple of years ago she started working at a fabric shop. She was then able to transition to working at home and focusing on Imagine Gnats. Rachael quickly realized that selling fabric was a great addition to the shop, she was already offering embroidery patterns and had several other patterns in the works. Just this summer Rachael began offering several of her patterns on paper and we talk about the thrill and excitement mix with the nervousness of offering paper patterns. When we take that next step in our business, the next step that is often both scary and exciting! But we have to say yes, we have to go for it so the next thing that comes our way is that much easier to say yes to.

Rachael’s website is full of really great tutorials and things for you to make. And she does offer gift certificates so send her an email if you are interested in buying one. I loved talking with Rachael and we are going to be talking again about doing business online. Thanks again Rachael!

Where you can find Rachael – Imagine Gnats on facebook – Imagine Gnats on twitter – Imagine Gnats on instagram – Imagine Gnats Etsy shop

Listen to episode five and let me know which of the Imagine Gnats patterns you’ve made, something you’ve said yes to, and how your business is going for you.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m working on recording some video tutorials.

Head over to iTunes and subscribe to Me Being Crafty so you don’t miss an episode! You can also subscribe on stitcher.

Welcome to episode 004 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Heather Mann, owner of the Dollar Store Crafts, Craft Fail, and author of CraftFail the book. Heather and I visit about crafting using supplies from the dollar store, the importance of crafting with your kids, and trying something even if in the end you fail because that is how we learn. Heather also publishes videos showing what she has bought at the dollar store for her crafting and these are great because like Heather said, buying stuff is fun, but it’s the next step that is important. The supplies that you have may be fun to have on your shelf, but if you never make anything – what’s the point of having it all?

Dollar Store Crafts shows us that we don’t have to buy the latest and greatest thing to still make beautiful things for our kids, our friends, and our homes. There are times when you need to spend money to save money, she doesn’t recommend you buy the cheapest scissors for example, and the website has a wide variety of tutorials for anything you are interested in making.

Heather and I have known each other for several years now, we probably met on a forum at some point years ago. The Dollar Store Crafts website is so full of fun ideas, I am planning a few events here and look forward to going to the website for some inspiration. And I am excited for Heather’s Craft Fail book that is coming out because we all know what it is like to make something and have it just not work out. Thanks for being on the show Heather!

Where you can find Heather – Dollar Store Crafts on Facebook – Heather on twitter – Heather on instagram – the Dollar Store Crafts board on pinterest – CraftFail

Listen to episode 004 and let me know the supplies you have purchased from the dollar store, and what you made with them. And I know we all have some craft fail’s so share those too! I mentioned decorating cakes for my kids when they were younger and I’ll get the pictures up and share them this week. It was a lot of fun for me and I’m not sure why I stopped making them.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m finishing a quilt top.

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Welcome to the episode three of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Anne Sullivan of Play-Crafts.com. We had a great conversation about the art and crafts that Anne creates, the Quilt Design a Day group on facebook that she created, how Play Crafts came to be, and a lot about how Anne has created a community because of being a creative person. She talks about the time in her life when she took a break from crafting, and how once she came back into crafting, she won’t take a break again. Anne is also writing a book, which is exciting!

Anne’s story includes building her own community and how she and her partner Eli set up a day to get together with people and just make stuff. She called it “Fear Crafting,” which is such a great term because we are often scared to take the first step. Or we’ve taken the first few steps and don’t think we can go any farther. Once we have that group of people with us creating our art becomes a lot easier.

Don’t be afraid to take the first step in creating your community. Your creative journey will have so much more added to it because you have surrounded yourself with people who are quick to teach you something, to show you a trick to something you’ve been working on, to hold that quilt so you can get a picture, to smile in the picture with you, to be there to lean on when making art is the last thing you want to do because it is so frustrating. Anne shows that even if it is scary, you can get over being scared and the results will be really great.

I met Anne at a Modern Quilt Guild meeting when we were living in California, and I also am in the QDAD group on facebook. I love how active the group is, several people post their designs daily. Thanks for being on the show Anne!

Where you can find Anne –Anne on Flickr – Quilt Design A Day on facebook – Play Crafts on twitter – Play Crafts on facebook – Anne on instagram – and be sure to read this article that Anne wrote for the Anita Borg Institute Community. Sometimes in the community that we are a part of because of who we are – computer scientists, teachers, parents, college students – it can feel like we are alone in something that we love, or that it wouldn’t be okay for us to share this part about ourselves.

Listen to episode 003 and let me know how you create a community, or about the community you are in. I love being a part of the online quilting community, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet several of my friends over the years. I am thankful for the online community since we move so often. I always have that group of people there.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m starting an epic beadwork project! I calculated it will take 160 hours, and I really hope I did the math wrong.

Welcome to the second episode of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Julie Dueck, owner of The Intrepid Thread. Julie learned to sew at the age of six and sewed clothing all throughout her middle and high school years. We talk about how she came to own a fabric shop, the new apparal classes she’s going to be offering, and what it would be like to not have a sewing community in her life.

I met Julie at a Modern Quilt Guild meeting when we were living in California. She is so nice and I am very appreciative of her being my first guest on the show! Thanks again Julie!

Where you can find The Intrepid Thread – facebook – twitter – instagram

Head on over to itunes and subscribe to Me Being Crafty so you don’t miss a show! You can also listen and subscribe to Me Being Crafty on Stitcher.

Listen to episode two and let me know what your life would be like if you didn’t have the community you have surrounded yourself with, this is going to be something I talk to other guests about as well. It’s hard for us to guess at what our lives would be like, to guess at what just isn’t there, but it’s an interesting conversation to have.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m working on the wallflowers quilt along, I’ll be posting about that tomorrow!