Crafty Ass Female

In this episode, A + K talk about Kristin’s upcoming six-week storytelling workshop entitled FIND YOUR VOICE starting next Monday, May 25th. Amanda + Kristin talks about what was Kristin’s inspiration behind the workshop, the format and pacing, the six different modules the class is broken up into, and why NOW is the perfect time to spend time finding and reflecting on your voice.

Lauren Hooper starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about her early years of creativity, what her first creative business was, and how once she hosted her first art retreat, she was hooked! Lauren talks about the trying times we’re living in right now, and how her full-time travel based business was effected by it. Lauren answers the question WHY ART JOURNALLING? in the grand scheme of her business and creative practice. She also discusses her favorite mediums, and a bit about the process. Lauren talks to A + K about how she diversifies, The Flight of the Hummingbird, the Marco Polo app, and how RESILIENCE - this season’s theme - is a core life value of hers!

Tina Aszmus starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about her early foray into design, her background with Studio Calico, and how she’s inspired by flowers, plants, and the illustrations & textures of vintage children’s books. Tina & the girls then go into how much scrapbooking trends have changed, and how years ago it was all about adding more, more, more while now, it’s more of an attitude of LESS.

Tracey Clark starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about her early creativity, how she got into photography, and how the next stepping stone in her creative lifestyle always seemed to present itself. She explains explains how blogging was like journalling on steroids Tracey then goes into how the current state of affairs didn’t disrupt her family’s routine all that much, but how it got her wondering how she could help get people through this. Using her superpower of simplicity, the idea of PICTURE HOME was born!

Heather Spooner starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about how a decision to try to sell a few handmade Halloween cards on Instagram sparked her creative career and embarked on the journey of how to make a hobby into a business. Heather’s then goes into the heart of her story that centers around how she broke out of this box-checking lifestyle and ended up accepting a life of happiness for herself and nobody else. Heather also talks to A + K about how and why she left her career as a teacher, how she ended her engagement to her college boyfriend, made a serendipitous ‘airplane friend’ who ended up becoming her wife, and flipped the table on the script others and society had written for her life.

find out more at craftyassfemale.com

Joy Frame jumps right into telling Amanda + Kristin about her idea for a collective kid-friendly space for adults where women could come together: Cabin Fever Coffee and Play House. Joy is very much in the beginning stages of making this idea come to life, and it’s so intriguing to listen to her talk about it in the light of recent COVID outbreak. Joy also explains her role as a social worker and dealing with complex emotions. The girls talk about how structure and routine can be a healthy way cope and combat anxiety, but it’s also important to sit without judgement if you need to be idle.

After 3 successful wedding seasons and the 2020 election on the horizon, MK was itching to chat about her political interests again. In a matter of months during the "off season" for weddings in Chicago, MK created First Hundred Days, a podcast inspired by the 'first 100 days of a presidency' ideology. She speaks with politicians and recent college grads alike and new episodes are out every Tuesday!

Picking up right where Season 5 left off, SEASON 6 is HERE and the theme for this season of Crafty Ass Female is RESILIENCE - something we could all use right now.

Adriana Picker starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about coming from a creative family of women who were always cooking, gardening, or making something. She then goes into how she pursued journalism & design in college before realizing that her illustrations were in high demand and that she could make a living from her artwork. Adriana also explains how sticking to her niche of botanical illustration has allowed her to work with a variety of brands in numerous ways. She takes what she’s known for and broadens it in ways that work for her. Adriana also talks to A + K about how she keeps her take on ‘botanical’ modern and relevant with COLOR and COMPOSITION, and the tools and techniques she used to create her new book, Petal.

Amber Kemp Gerstel starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about how she went from a child psychologist to starting up Damask Love and making it her full time gig. Amber also explains the newest edition to the Damask Love family: YayDay Paper Company - a digital subscription service offering delightfully designed stationery, craft projects and planner goodies that you can print from home. She discusses how YayDay allows her to have flexibility and fun when it comes to creating diversity in paper products. Amber also talks to A + K about how she keeps to her brand’s story, knows when to add people to her team, and how she spends the few minutes before she falls asleep every night to dream as hard as she can!

Heather Kell starts off talking to Amanda + Kristin about how she got into planning in 2015 and why she decided to start her @kellofplan account. She discusses how she was able to quit her day job and make planning and creating her full time gig! Heather explains how not getting asked to return to The Happy Planner® Squad was a blow to her identity in a way - but absolutely kicked her business as Kell of a Plan into a new gear! Heather gives us an idea of what a week in her life is like, talks to A + K about how YouTube works to bring in revenue, shares her view on what her role is in the planner community, and discusses how she handles negative feedback.

In this episode, Kristin talks about her Awesome Ladies Live creative retreat, how she makes it happen, why you should come, what to expect, and the logistics that goes into hosting a live event like this in case you want to too! Creativity through Connection is this year’s theme of the retreat, and Amanda can’t gush enough about the emotional accessibility of Awesome Ladies Live.

Color is infused in most of the creative choices we make, whether for our crafty projects, our homes, or our clothes. Color effects our mood, is a form of self-expression, and can help convey the story we want to tell.

A +K discuss their plans and exactly how excited they are for Ali Edwards' Pieces of Us challenge (spoiler alert: it is very excited).

Sara McNally gives us her creative backstory from going to school for graphic design, designing greeting cards from home, working “terrible ad-agency jobs”, doing a letterpress printing internship, to ‘falling ass-backwards’ into owning her business. She talks about trying to figure out how to blend her love of making things, working with her hands, and writing. Sara feels like her superpower is brevity + efficiency, and talks about the complexity of her designs is in their simplicity. Brilliant! She also talks about the abundance mindset vs. the scarcity mindset, ‘pruning back’ different aspects of her business, needing to learn how to delegate tasks to her team, + standing behind her business decisions.

In this episode, A + K talk about establishing and creating routines, both in their crafty and personal lives. Kristin talks about some of her challenges and how she adapts her days to them, and Amanda finds ways to make creative time work inside of an increasingly busy life.

Lisa Congdon starts off by telling A + K about her “early mid-life crisis” and what her really intense desire to be creative manifested into. Lisa then goes into the greatest lesson writing her first book Art, Inc. taught her. Teaching is also a big part of Lisa Congdon’s creative life. She goes into what she loves about teaching and letting go of the preciousness of her work when teaching students how to “art” using her techniques. Lisa and the girls discuss copying vs. ‘being influenced by’, and how to embrace your own voice, ideas, and “wonkiness”. Amanda + Kristin pick Lisa’s brain about being personal & political, and using her voice/platform to talk about topics she cares about. The girls discuss putting out messages of self-love, worthiness, self-care and being an influencer vs. being an impacter.

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of three illustrated books: Steal Like An Artist, Newspaper Blackout, and Show Your Work! His next book is Keep Going, a guide to staying creative in good times and bad. His books have over a million copies in print and have been translated into over two dozen languages. He speaks about creativity in the digital age for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. In previous lives, he worked as a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. He grew up in the cornfields of Ohio, but now he lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons.

Elise Joy starts off by jumping right into her first book Big Dreams, Daily Joys and tells A + K how the idea for it came about. She also talks about a bit about her blog, and why Instagram is her main jam now. Elise goes into how she prioritizes her multiple business and creative ventures, and how she defines HAVING SUCCESS WITH HOBBIES. We also hear Elise talk about goal-setting in such a pragmatic way!