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Welcome to episode 026 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Alyce Blyth of Blossom Heart Quilts about the first thing she made, co-hosting a very popular quilt bee, and having a blog sponsor. She is currently living in Japan and enjoying the wonderful fabric that is available there.

Alyce has great tutorials on her site such as the Bee Hive block series, and the Sew the Rainbow series that just started. She also designed an alphabet quilt and I really like these blocks because they are rotary cut instead of paper pieced. So if you are nervous about paper piecing, definitely look at these blocks. I love paper piecing but having another option is always nice.

If you are interested in having a blog sponsor, you need to read the series of posts on Alyce’s website that start with a discussion on valuing yourself as a creative blogger. Alyce writes about her own story with blog sponsors, she gives tips on what a blog sponsor is looking for, and even what it is like when the time comes to end a relationship with a sponsor. I appreciate that she tackled the sometimes difficult subject of what happens when the relationship is over.

Every experience of looking for and having a blog sponsor is unique, but it helps to see what other people have done. It’s helpful to see that you aren’t the only one out there nervous to ask for a sponsor, or excited when your favorite shops say yes. And it’s also nice to see that others also struggle with the realization that it just isn’t working out. When you want to make the switch from having a hobby to running a business, there are certain things you need to do and to become comfortable with, okay maybe it always makes someone a little nervous to end a working relationship, but knowing how to handle that transition is a good thing.

Where you can find Alyce – Blossom Heart Quilts on facebook – Blossom Heart Quilts on instagram – Alyce on flickr

Listen to episode 026 and let me know what your experience with sponsors has been, do you have sponsors, do you want sponsors?

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

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 025 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Elizabeth Dackson of Don’t Call Me Betsy about her choice to start sewing (and what a great choice she made!) and her journey to becoming a quilt designer, teacher and author. We talk a lot about the design process for quilts – the length of time it takes her to design a quilt, finding pattern testers, and maybe most importantly: knowing your design process. We all design differently and we also need to know which computer programs we want to use to complete our files.

Elizabeth co-taught the paper piecing class that I took at the Sewing Summit (along with Lee Heinrich) and definitely made paper piecing an easy thing to learn to do. I’ve made several paper pieced projects since that class so yay me! Thanks again for being on the show Elizabeth!

I love the story that Elizabeth shares when she talks about deciding to find a hobby. I think this is a common thing for young people and also for new parents. We want something to do, something extra to stay busy or express ourselves creatively. I am glad she found sewing because I love it so much. I think everyone should learn to sew – at least the basics! Learning to sew, buying a sewing machine that day she went looking for a hobby, that changed her creative life.

Elizabeth has a lot of really great quilt patterns available in the Don’t Call Me Betsy pattern shop and her book, Becoming a Confident Quilter, came out in 2013. She is also a Craftsy instructor with two classes  Start Free-Motion Quilting and Start Foundation Paper Piecing. The foundation paper piecing class was just released a couple of months ago so definitely check that out if you are looking to learn how to do this. I admit it – I bought the paper piecing class just because it also comes with seven block patterns. If you take away the class, that is a really inexpensive price to pay for those patterns.

Have you tried paper piecing or made one of Elizabeth’s quilts? Do you have a favorite that she designed? I love the Lucky Stars BOM and encourage you to stop by her shop today.

Where you can find Elizabeth – Elizabeth on instagram – Don’t Call Me Betsy on facebook – Elizabeth on flickr - Becoming a Confident Quilter on amazon

Listen to episode 025 and let me know about a pattern that you designed!

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m working on my bullet journal to be sure I didn’t forget anything. I have a lot going on with the podcast and the kids and of course my own sewing! I also have a baby quilt to finish.

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 024 of the Me Being Crafty podcast, where we explore creativity in your life.

In this episode I talk to Lisa Jacobs of Market Your Creativity about her start online with an etsy shop and what led her to start sharing business advice at the Market Your Creativity site. I love the planner she redesigned from 2014 for 2015, the Creative Business Planner, and as I’ve previously mentioned I did buy the PDF version because I was too impatient to wait for it to be shipped to me here.

Thanks again for being on the show Lisa!

I love hearing how people started out online. Lisa took a chance and started her jewelry business with little money because she wanted to figure out how to make money while staying at home. She really wanted to have a retreat and in the early days of her business, she organized one. She talks about the lessons learned from that early attempt at holding a retreat, something she organized when she was brand new to being online and didn’t have an audience. Through her years of working online, she was able to figure out what didn’t work and change the way she approached working online and has now organized the Movers and Makers Summit. This retreat will be held February 27-March 1 in Charleston, SC. If you are a long time reader, you’ll know that we lived in Charleston for a couple of years several years ago and we loved our time there.

I have been using the Creativity Workbook to help plan this year and I love it. It is important to look at what is working for you and keep going, what isn’t working for you and either change that or toss it to the side, and to keep moving forward with your plans. Last summer I had the brief through of wanting to have a podcast again, I had one years ago and after about a year I quit producing it. This was way before the popularity of podcasts and several that started back then are not around anymore. I jumped back into working online after being away for a few (or maybe it’s several) years away, and it’s been awesome. I went full force into producing the podcast and launched at the very end of October. I love being able to talk to my friends about what they are working on, how they are creative in their lives, what a creative business means to them and so much more.

Where you can find Lisa – Market Your Creativity shop –Lisa on twitter – Lisa on Pinterest – Market Your Creativity on facebook

Listen to episode 025 and let me know if you are on track with your 2015 plans! Do you make monthly or quarterly goals? This year I have planned far into the fall and I am right on track.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you were creative today. Me, I’m working on a couple of bee quilt blocks.