My (All New!) Creative Collective

We all need a little help from our friends, and I’ve rounded up some of the best of the best to help you on your creative journey. The response to the Creative Collectives I assembled in the first edition of The Handmade Marketplace and Grow Your Handmade Business was wonderful.

I gather these amazing people just for you. I ask them questions that I know you think about, and I ask them for their stories, advice, and tips and tricks. These artisans, collaborators, organizers, shop owners, teachers, and general crafts-business experts are here to help you. I am so grateful for their guidance and willingness to be so open about their own experiences.

All of the people in this Creative Collective are special to me. I have followed their careers, ordered from their shops, attended their craft shows, and in some cases, hired them outright to help me in my own business. I asked them to be a part of this book, my darling book, because I knew you would like them.

It is so important to learn from one another. When we listen to each other’s stories and share our own experiences, we have the opportunity to learn more than just lessons or glean good advice. We have the chance to bond. To relate. To share. To create community. To strengthen our own ideas and change our businesses for the better.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce this Creative Collective to you. A compact list of their online homes can be found in the back of the book in the resource section (here). I’d love for you to check out their websites, their shops, and their social media links. If anything you read in this book from them helps you or inspires you, reach out and let them know The Handmade Marketplace sent you!

Without further ado . . .

Ami Lahoff

• www.amiandhergoats.tumblr.com
• I met Ami a while back when I went to visit the Etsy headquarters in Hudson, New York. Luckily, Ami gave me a guided tour, and we hit it off so well that we wound up chatting for hours after the tour was over. Turns out that Ami makes amazing soaps with milk from the goats she raises. I bought some and haven’t used any other soap since.

Amy Nieto

• www.amynieto.com 
• Amy is a maker from Puerto Rico who now lives in Portland, Oregon. I started following her blog almost 10 years ago when she was a film student in Georgia. We met in person at a conference a few years ago, and I felt like I was meeting a celebrity. She is so creative and interesting. She embroiders, sews, and takes wonderful photographs. I enjoy watching her business grow.

Bonnie Christine

• www.goinghometoroost.com
• Bonnie is a wonderful blogger, and her website is a feast for the eyes. I always make sure I have some time to really pay attention when I go to her website. I asked her to join us because I think she writes great features about creative businesses, I often find myself checking out what she recommends, and I even purchase a lot of what she features. She introduces new people to the world, and she does it with pretty style.

Brenda Lavell

• www.phydeaux-designs.com
• Brenda is a fantastic dyer of yarn and knitwear pattern designer. She was able to follow her dream of working with fiber to full-time creative employment. She does it all for her successful business, from photography to writing copy, and she is a great person to learn from. A friend forwarded an email to me that Brenda had written about her approach to marketing. It was so smart, and so good, that I asked for an introduction right away, knowing that I wanted her in this book.

Brittni Mehlhoff

• www.papernstitchblog.com
• I met Brittni at a conference for creative businesspeople, and we hit it off right away. She is supersmart, creative, and all-around amazing. She is a trendsetter for sure and can make something beautiful out of just about anything. Being featured on her blog would be a big boon for any crafter. Brittni is an amazing stylist: study her photographs! She is also the queen of excellent online DIY tutorials. She has a lot of wisdom to share, and I’m grateful she is a part of this book.

Cal Patch

• www.hodgepodgefarm.net
• Cal is a wonder! She can sew anything, design anything, and teach you how to do it, too, with style and ease. She is friendly, accessible, and a delight in every way. She is able to apply the same style and ease that she puts into her one-of-a-kind creations into her business. Cal is the kind of person that I could hang out with all day and never be bored.

Cathy Zwicker & Torie Nguyen

• craftywonderland.com
• I met both Cathy and Torie, the ladies behind Crafty Wonderland, years ago, right after the first edition of The Handmade Marketplace came out. I was lucky enough to see their famous craft show, Crafty Wonderland, in action, and I’ve been to their hometown of Portland, Oregon, to visit their store of the same name. They are true believers in our community and a great support for crafters everywhere. They are a wonderful example of teamwork and creativity.

Crystalyn Kae Brennan

• www.crystalynkae.com
• Crystalyn is a handbag architect obsessed with color, pattern, and texture. She’s been in business for over 10 years, and in that time has built a bona fide handbag empire. She is easy to talk to and fun to be around. After meeting her at several different craft shows and seeing her bags on a lot of stylish arms, I was excited to ask her to be a part of this book.

Flora Bowley

• www.braveintuitiveyou.com
• Flora is a force of nature, with not only her beautiful name but with her talents as a painter and teacher as well. She uses her painting talent to inspire thousands of people to try it themselves. She is open enough with her processes to share them completely in her online e-course and her creative retreats. She has mastered multiple revenue streams from one interest, and her business has exploded as a result of her bravery.

The Handmates

• www.handmates.de
• The Handmates are a group of ladies from Germany, and I found about them because they wrote me a letter! They show their work in a little studio space and design and knit hats and other accessories together. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I love the perspective they bring about working on a team and the support they offer one another. I am happy to introduce you to Caroline Just-Gassen, Barbara Lang-Prölß, and Christiane Scheumann.

Jessika Hepburn

• www.ohmyhandmade.com
• Do you read Oh My! Handmade Goodness? I hope so! It’s a wonderful community, curated and built just for people like you by Jessika. Her website is a valuable resource for makers of all kinds, and I’m happy to include her advice and experience for you to soak up. She has done so much in various creative worlds, and she is an excellent person to have in your corner, even a virtual one.

Kate Lemmon

• www.katelphotography.com
• Kate wrote to me before a book signing and asked a few questions. She then came to the signing, and we had an interaction that really stood out. I went to her website after we met and was blown away. She has a real talent for photography and has managed to create a successful business while in graduate school. In fact, she has had a successful business since she was 17 years old!

Kayte Terry

• www.thisisloveforever.com
• Kayte is a writer, designer, and all-around crafty lady. She has written some of my favorite craft books and is a real pro at everything she does, from styling a table to creating a mood board to choosing a color palette.
• I’ve read her blogs for ages, and I can never get enough. She is also a highly skilled stylist — if you’ve ever been to an Anthropologie store, you may have seen her work. She is chock-full of great ideas, and I’m thrilled she is here to share with all of us.

Lauren Falkowski

• www.lolafalk.com
• Lauren (Lola) is a designer who makes beautiful bags and accessories with the most amazing color combinations. She lives in Brooklyn and finds inspiration everywhere, and her expert eye is evident in her exquisitely crafted goods. I know a lot of crafters lean toward not only making their own goods but developing the designs as well; Lola is a pro at all of it. She is a wonderful resource.

Lauren Rudeck

• www.etsy.com/shop/laru
• Lauren is an artist and designer who makes clever things out of her illustrations: necklaces, belt buckles, T-shirts, and prints. I visited her booth at a craft show, and I was so impressed by her creativity. She also co-owns a shop where she sells her work and the work of other crafters in Seattle. She also works a full-time job not related to her craft work, which is something most of us can relate to as well.

Leah Cedar Tompkins

• www.leahcreates.com
• Leah is responsible for some of the best creative business websites that I know of. I’m sure you’ve seen her work; just check out her online portfolio to see her client list. She guides us all through the process of deciding what kind of site our business needs, branding, and design. A good website that is attractive to your customers and easy for you to manage is essential. We all can use someone with Leah’s eye and skills on our team.

Marcella Marsella

• www.seriousbusinessart.com
• Marcella calls herself “The Greatest Living Unknown American Artist™,” and I have to say I hope that changes soon! She was a student of my annual Fresh Start e-course, and I was impressed by her motivation and her work. She is wildly creative and uses upcycled materials to make her one-of-a-kind jewelry, but she also is a talented illustrator and artist. A quick browse through Marcella’s shop can show us all something about thinking outside of the box.

Marlo Miyashiro

• www.creativeartsconsulting.com
• www.smallobjectphotography.com
• Marlo is a pillar of our community. I cannot say enough nice things about her work, her style, or her ethics. She founded one of the biggest Etsy teams (Etsy RAIN in Seattle). She has a wealth of knowledge on almost any subject that would be relevant to a crafty business owner. From merchandising to wholesaling and every topic in between, Marlo can teach you something valuable.

Mary Kate McDevitt

• www.marykatemcdevitt.com
• Mary Kate is an illustrator and designer. I have several of her products on my desk, on my bookshelf, and hanging on my wall right now. I even have one of her bags! She has a true talent for lettering and runs a successful business from her studio. Mary Kate is a pro at selling her work herself, licensing her art for products, and working freelance art gigs. I was thrilled to get her perspective on owning and running a creative business.

Michael Wood

• www.tinymeat.com
• Michael “Tiny” Wood is the founder of the popular accessories company Tinymeat. He’s been in business for 10 years, and his company has sold over 200,000 items! Wow! He works alone in a tiny studio and gets a ton done for a one-man business. He is known for working with other artists and licenses their work to put on pouches, wallets, passport cases, and other useful items. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and a bunch of cute ducks.

Mimi Kirchner

• www.mimikirchner.com
• I first became aware of Mimi’s work years ago, and it blew me away. She is an incredibly talented fiber artist and has been working successfully since she was a teenager — and that was 40-plus years ago! Mimi works from a home studio in New England, and her blog is really a feast for the eyes. I love her in-process shots of projects. She has had an amazing adventure with her business, and I’m so glad that she shared some of it with us.

Rob Cartelli

• www.cartelliceramics.com
• I first saw Rob and his work in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was so beautiful. Rob keeps his business afloat while working a regular job and raising a family. He offers us some really good insights about creating in batches and running a business while still working another full-time job.

Rosalie Gale

• www.etsy.com/shop/uglybaby
• www.unanimouscraft.com
• I’ll be right up front here and tell you that Rosalie is my pen pal, and I adore her both as a crafty professional, peer, and as a person. She runs a store with another Creative Collective member, Lauren Rudeck, and she runs her company, Ugly Baby, with her husband, Douglas Gale. Together she and Doug invented something called Shower Art (look it up!). She is on a mission to organize the craft community through her website, Unanimous Craft. Rosalie’s perspective is interesting because there are so many facets to her business. She is a Web pro, an inventor, and an artist, as well as a brick-and-mortar shop owner.

Sara Delaney

• chickenbetty.wordpress.com
• Sara learned to crochet when she was a young girl and hasn’t looked back since. She has turned her love of crochet into a successful position as a pattern designer and teacher. You can see her work online at www.yarn.com, the website of the company she works for. There are many ways to earn a living doing what you love, and Sara has leveraged her talents into a career in which she works both independently and in a shop with others. I think it’s exciting when someone shows us that having a creative business can mean working with other companies as well as on our own.

Steph Cortés

• www.etsy.com/shop/NerdJerk
• nerdjerk.blogspot.com
• Steph tells people that she can help them discover their own awesomeness, and I believe her. She is talented at everything, it seems. She has a love of geek culture and craft, which is a pretty great combination. I met her at a conference where she was always surrounded by people seeking her opinions and her great advice. She cooks, works with fiber, designs, draws, blogs, cross-stitches, and creates popular kits for sale online. My point is, she doesn’t just stick to one thing and she manages to do everything well.

Tisa Jackson

• www.justmylittlemess.com
• Tisa is one of the friendliest people I’ve had the pleasure to meet in our community. She is a talented paper artist and sells the cutest things in her Etsy shop and at craft shows. She makes running a stationery business look fun and easy. Tisa is warm and open and great at using various social media channels to successfully promote her business.

With these fine folks on our side, let’s dig in and get you started on the adventure of a lifetime. Thank you for reading this book. I can’t wait to hear about the amazing things you do and create.