Show Notes
Hello … welcome to The Craft Room Podcast, and if this is your first time listening, a special welcome to you. A few weeks ago I attended The Artful Business Conference in Adelaide here in Australia. I love this conference … it is for people with creative businesses, and at any given time you can be sitting next to a writer, a jewellery maker, a yoga instructor, an accountant, a business coach, a graphic designer, a bridal accessory designer, a virtual assistant … it's just amazing! While I was there, surrounded by so many incredibly creative people, I thought I'd ask a few of them three simple questions. I had an idea of how this episode would go, but the answers that these incredible women gave me were not at all what I was expecting. In hindsight, I don't know why I was expecting run-of-the-mill answers … I should know by now that creative people are going to give me creative answers. They did not disappoint … they actually knocked me back on my heels, and this episode is going to be different, and so much deeper than I had intended! Craft is seen to be this frivolous thing that women do, faffing about with fabric, yarn and thread. But that's far from true. First of all, craft is not exclusively for women, and what crafters do is so much more than making pretty things to pass the time. Absolutely we make tangible things. We can give them as gifts, use them to keep warm, decorate our homes, sell them for some extra cash … and those are all fine reasons to engage in crafting activities. But the real reason we craft goes so much deeper than that. Today I want to introduce you to five wonderful ladies who were feeling game enough to answer my three quick questions. You'll hear me ask each of them … 1. What's your day job? 2. What is your craft / creative pursuit of choice? 3. What do you get from this? Some of them I have known for a few years, some for a few months, others I just met. Some are older than me, some younger, some about the same. Some enjoy the same crafts as me, others are into things that aren't quite my scene, or that are still on my to-do list. All of them are amazing at what they do professionally, and having seen some of their work in person, it's not surprising that they are great at what they do creatively as well. There will be a little bit of background noise … it's always buzzing with conversations during break times. I can honestly say that it was worth sacrificing my afternoon cup of tea to chat briefly to these wonderful ladies, and after each mini interview I'll go deeper into my takeaways from these conversations.
I would like to introduce you to Miranda.
1. What is your day job? I work in social media and marketing What is your craft / creative pursuit of choice? I do crochet, weaving and mixed media. What do you get from this? I've always been crafty, but especially in last couple of years it helps with my mental health. It's my relaxing time, and it's just fun. But it's a creative way that when people look at you and think you're one thing, and then you show them a quilt you've made or a crochet blanket, and they look at you differently … like OMG! I like putting colours together. Summary I absolutely loved Miranda's answer. Yes … science is catching up and starting to prove that craft and creativity is excellent for our mental health. We did talk about that in episode 8, which I'll link to in the show notes. Sometimes we can cruise along and just craft to keep our hands busy, to create a quick gift, or try something new. But sometimes our creative pursuits do more than just keep us occupied … they can seriously support our mental health. It may be that we work diligently on a project to pass the time whilst under stress or going through an unpleasant life event. It can help pass time quickly and serve as a great distraction to stop us obsessing over waiting for test results, to stop our mind wandering to dark thoughts or inject something beautiful into our lives when things ma
More from The Craft Room Podcast
Hello and welcome to The Craft Room Podcast. I'm so glad you're joining me today, as we are talking about forgotten gems. If you've been crafting for a long time, like me, then you likely have a LOT of amazing products and resources. Back in episode 40 I talked about The Craft Stash, and this is kind of an extension of that episode. Usually when people talk about forgotten gems, they're referring to old movies or television shows, paintings or travel destinations. But this is a craft podcast, so, of course, we are going to be talking about them in the context of crafting. In thinking about this for a few weeks, I've found that forgotten crafty gems tend to fall into one of three categories … 1. Physical (which falls into 3 sub-categories - Consumables, Tools, References/Resources) 2. Virtual/digital 3. Techniques/knowledge So … what can we do to uncover our forgotten crafting gems. Well, before we talk about that, I would like to remind you of one important thing. If you were out in Lightning Ridge mining for opals, not everything you dig up is going to be a beautiful gem. There's going to be a whole lot of rubble, and, let's be honest … there's going to be some dirt. The same applies when searching for forgotten crafting gems, in your stash, on the internet, on your computer, your phone or in your memory. Be prepared to find a few things that you look at and wonder 'Why did I keep this?', and I suspect there will be some dust, and potentially a dead bug in there somewhere. The easiest way to find anything is to look for it, and I'll walk you through from low effort / low time options, then we'll level up. 1. Look 2. Closer Look 3. Sort 4. Organise If there's anything I hope you take away from this episode, I hope it is this … * It's worth pressing pause on bringing new things into your home so you can take some time to look at what you have, decide what you love and curate a craft stash that is a true treasure chest. * Keep track of your virtual and digital gems so you can enjoy them before they disappear. Block out some time to watch that video, look at old bookmarked pages, work your way through that online course or print those checklists and templates and use them. * Sometimes we need to clear the rubble and the dirt (and the dead fly) so our gems can truly shine. One crafters rubble is another crafters treasure. Mostly I hope that you find great joy in your craft stash, and if you find a truly amazing treasure, please feel free to share it, maybe in the Craft with Dawn Lewis Facebook group (link in show notes and on the blog). Enjoy the gem hunt, and happy crafting!
Today on The Craft Room Podcast, let's talk about something that most crafters will probably consider at some point in their lives … a no spend year. Sometimes it's a month, a quarter, six months … but most commonly I see people setting this goal for a whole year. It might sound drastic, even unthinkable to some, but in this economy, especially with the rising prices of craft supplies, there are plenty of people doing a no-spend year. I'm not trying to talk anyone into such a dramatic situation, and, of course, there are some alternatives, so let's talk about the difference between a no spend, low spend and mindful spend year, the reasons you might consider them, and how you can succeed at such a challenge.
Hello and welcome to The Craft Room Podcast. I'm so glad you're joining me today, as we are talking about the benefits of swatching. Yes, I am on a swatching kick right now and it all started thanks to my friend Sally. I went to visit her last month and she showed me her beautifully organised craft supplies, but more importantly she showed me her ink pad swatches. I knew the second I saw it that this was the solution I had been looking for for years. It's not like I've never swatched before. My Copic markers are swatched out on a hex chart, I've swatched some pencils and a watercolour palette. But I didn't have what I have always wanted … a swatch folder with all the colours in one place. Until I saw Sally's I didn't know why I was baulking at it, and the reality is … I wanted more swatches to a page. It's not like a plastic sleeve with pockets is a revolutionary product, but I'd never seen coin collecting sleeves used for swatching before. I will link to the ones I used below.
Today on The Craft Room Podcast, let's talk about my Big Announcement and Product Longevity.