Well folks! After several months of planning, our Let's Create LIVE! event is just about here! From 9-11 AM (Pacific Standard Time) we will be broadcasting LIVE from our iLoveToCreate® studios via our Ustream Channel!! Hop on over early and signup for a username and password so you can participate in the chat and enter all the wonderful Let's Create LIVE giveaways we are offering up (over a $300 value combined)!
Here's some final details about our lineup!
– PattieWack is our Let's Create LIVE! host and she is amped up and ready for the show! She will bring enthusiasm to the like no other!
– Our amazing in-house designers will be there too!! We'll be having live demos featuring Colette Trejo, Tar'Lese Rideaux, Allee Marderosian, and our Tie Dye Dudes Steve Ha and Matt McCort!
– Some of our other amazing in-house team members (and artists and DIYers on the side) will be there partyin' it up too!
– Mr. Tacky Glue will be adding his own comedic spin to the event, so be prepared for the LOLs!
If you've been a fan of iLoveToCreate for a while, you already know Kathy-Cano Murillo, a.k.a. Crafty Chica very well. Kathy is slated to appear this Thursday (9-11 AM PST) as a celebrity designer on our Let's Create LIVE webcast and we are so excited to see what colorful and vibrant craft she makes from the assortment of Designer Challenge goodies we sent her to play with!
Kathy has been inspiring online crafters of all backgrounds and skill levels for over 10 years. In May of 2011, she'll be celebrating her 10 year anniversary of her newly redesigned Craftychica.com! She shares all kinds of inspiring projects, articles, and products on her site. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, and NPR.
Kathy has worn many hats during her career, she's been a handmade artist selling her custom "Chicano Pop Art" in her Crafty Chica store and to retailers. She's also been a syndicated newspaper writer for the Arizona Republic newspaper. In 2008, iLoveToCreate launched her Crafty Chica® product line, spreading her love of color and glitter to the masses!
In addition to the 7 craft tutorial books Kathy has written, Kathy has recently taken on the role of novelist. Her "Crafty Chica Novel" series debuted in March 2010 with Waking Up in the Land of Glitter (Grand Central Publishing). Her next book, Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing was released in March, 2011.
Kathy also does exclusive projects for our blog and web site. Here's just a small sampling of the many crafts she makes!! Here's a link to more Crafty Chica projects!
We sat down with Kathy and asked her a few fun questions. Here's her interview!
1. You are about to hit your 10th anniversary of www.craftychica.com!That’s a huge milestone! How has your site changed over the past 10 years? Thank you! The time has passed very fast. It started as a late night hobby - and it still is a late night hobby, but on a much bigger scale. I love writing, blogging, sharing and posting ideas. Running my web site has helped me reach crazy goals and dreams. It has always been a place to "put it out there" - and then live up to it and follow through. In the early days, if you look through my posts, that's where I have the goofiest content. I shared *everything* that went on in my life, not thinking anyone would ever read it. I've grown as a person and am a little more private now. But I love looking back and reading stories about my kids and my failed craft attempts. I'm amazed at how much the online landscape has changed. I remember when I started my Diary of a Crafty Chica blog in 2003, I told an online editor at the newspaper where I worked that we should start them there - she told me that blogs were a fad and laughed it off. Look how far we've all come!
2. Is there anyone you’ve ever met that could rival your obsession with glitter? Oh there are plenty! We are all in the Secret Society of Sparklehood! I think it is important to remind people that glitter is a state of mind and it is good to carry it with you in some way, shape or form. If you don't like the tangible loose stuff, then think of being nice to a stranger as your personal glitter. :-) Spread it far and wide!
3. You are now a successful novelist! How is writing a novel and being an author different than being a designer? Thank you! It's actually more similar than you think! It's like one big cohesive art collection, with many small working parts that have to be embellished, make a statement, be memorable and polished. Lots of planning, yet spontaneity rules...the creative process takes over and sets you free! I compare it also to a big canvas. You have the theme, the background, the setting, color palette, focal point, the accents. However, it's very different because there are no art supplies in front of you. The Lazy Susan you spin for tool selection is in your head. The supplies are in your imagination and you have to hunt for them and sometimes be able to see and catch them when they float by in front of you. I love writing novels. I think it is a great exercise for artists to dabble in, it really exercises a new part of your creativity!
4. What words of wisdom did someone give you that you still follow and apply to your life today? Don't do it for the money, do it because you love it - and the money will come. Stay focused on why you started your business in the first place. Sometimes I really have to check myself on that one. I started all of this because I love to create and write. But being a one-woman operation, my time is often devoted to marketing, research, assignments, appearances - and I have have NO time to do what I originally wanted to do. It's times like that that I make myself stop and go back to square one, that is where the magic lives.
5. Do you have a current guilty pleasure? Reading books and traveling! I'm currently reading The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. I'm also excited to get going on my next novel. Another recent guilty pleasure is traveling. I just returned from Mexico on the 5th Annual Crafty Chica Art Cruise. I'm planning the 6th, as well as a Crafty London group tour too. I also just got invited to teach on a cruise ship going to the Caribbean this fall. I love that my passion for crafting has taken me on so many awesome adventures!
Angela really does do it all! She's a goddess of crafts and culinary challenges! On her blog, you can follow all her cooking and baking adventures as she aspires to domestic perfection! She shares all kinds of fun adventures in the kitchen with a twist of crafty inspiration!
As a Lead Fisk-a-teer for Fiskars®, Angela also has her own Fiskateer Crafting Ambassador blog where she shares with the Fiskars® community lots of fun projects, challenges, tips, and videos! Since Angela is a former 9-5 corporate trainer, it's only natural that she loves to educate and inspire others to achieve success in their creativity!
Here's just a sampling of some of the wonderful projects Angela has completed recently. Paper crafts, painting, jewelry, sewing...is there anything this lady can't do?
We wanted to get to know Angela more and find out where she gets her inspiration! Enjoy!
1. You aspire to be like the perfect 1950's housewife? What kind of success have you had with that and have you had any major FAILS along the way? Last year, I happened to catch the trailer for "Julie and Julia" and, while it seemed like exactly the kind of movie I generally don't go see (I'm more of a Fight Club/Pulp Fiction/Cohen Brothers kind of girl), the concept of cooking straight through a cookbook captured my imagination. Since I come from a long legacy of artistic women who eschewed the idea of spending time in the kitchen, I knew I had neither the talent or patience for someone of Julia Child's caliber but I did happen to have the funny, tongue-in-cheek cookbook by Amy Sedaris titled "Hospitality Under the Influence" which fit my personality (and lack of cooking skills) so much better. Amy also has a fondness for vintage style gowns as I do, so I thought donning a vintage prom dress or two and following along with her simple recipes would be a good spoof on all the food blogs out there that are meant for serious cooks who might actually like the challenge of, say, hiking through the Himalayas for obscure ingredients. I like the 1950's style of cooking when women were starting to have access to convenience food - they could cook dinner with canned ingredients and still have ample time for martinis with their girlfriends (at least according to the research I've done via "Nick at Night"). I also credit the gift of a pistachio colored KitchenAid as the big catalyst for me to embrace my retro cooking side. I love my KitchenAid and have named it "Miss Amy" in honor of the influence Amy Sedaris' had over getting me cooking- first as a spoof and now a little more seriously.
Have I had major fails? Oh my. Failure and "opportunities for creative adjustments" account for about 1/2 of what I attempt. I still keep up the legacy of the women in my family who are easily distracted which is really not the best quality in cooking. I like to run back and forth from baking to crafting and that invariably means that I forget crucial steps or leave out ingredients entirely. Yesterday, I tried a new banana muffin recipe and didn't realize the ingredient list included a crumb topping. I added it in to the batter and had to make another batch of cinnamon crumbs for the top. What I've learned from my journey toward becoming the 1950's domestic goddess is that, just like in crafting, it's okay to fail. The more experienced I've become in cooking, the more I've been able to be a little improvisational during the process (the banana muffins were delicious even after the topping fiasco, for example). And sometimes I just have to laugh at myself and throw away a whole batch of something I've ruined beyond edibility (is that a word)? 2 years ago, this would have been unthinkable for me- I was too focused on the idea that I couldn't cook at all (the same way I hear people insist that they're not creative at all). All creativity is a state of mind and sometimes you just have to relax and be open to failure.
Oh, and you may have noticed that I entirely ignore the household chores aspect of the 1950's ideal. In my defense, I find it very challenging to fold laundry while holding a martini. I do admire women who find a way, though.
2. You tackle lots of great recipes on your blog! Are there any favorite recipes that you revisit time and time again cause it's just that good? The recipe I'm most proud of came from my first weeks working through Amy Sedaris's book. It's The Rooster's Fillo-wrapped baked chicken. At the time (and, okay, still), it seemed CRAZY to even think about buying (no thought of homemade, mind you) fillo dough and working with it. It sounded way out of my league. But having a blog to record my successes has been such a great motivator for me, I decided to take a leap of faith and buy a pastry brush to butter layer after layer of fillo dough. Much to everyone's surprise in my family, we LOVED it. We're big Greek food fans and to be able to make something at home that was similar to what we'd like to eat in a restaurant was kind of a revelation that maybe my foray into cooking wouldn't be as much of a spoof as I thought it was going to be. I have since made the chicken several times and, even more exciting for me, I made it (successfully!) for company once. This is from a woman who up until now has almost exclusively served appetizers from Trader Joes when people have come over.
3. Your orange Fiskars color dress was amazing at CHA (and let me add one of the major hits of the show)! What is the best part about being a Fisk-a-Teer? Being a Fiskateer has been such a wonderful experience. I have been able to connect with over 7,000 creative people worldwide on a personal level that I don't think I would have found on my own. Fiskars has done a commendable job supporting our community and truly allowing me to pursue the one major line in my job description which is "share your passion for creativity with others." If the Fiskars executives get a little nervous about what crazy orange outfit I might show up wearing in their otherwise corporate booth (my orange vintage prom dress for example, see a picture here), they do a good job of not showing it. Being a Fiskateer has let me share my fun side, help others find their sometimes dormant creative sides through a job that encourages me to do all the other things I love- traveling and meeting new people and giving me a purpose to keep pushing myself artistically. When my term as Lead Fiskateer is over, there is no doubt that I will continue to be an enthusiastic Fiskateer and supporter of the community we have all built there.
4. Having been a corporate trainer in your previous life, you love challenging people to find their creativity! What do you say to people who insist they don't have a creative bone in their body? I have learned to let people insist that they are not creative in the same way I spent so many years insisting I couldn't cook. If people come to an event (usually dragged by a friend) and are nervous about creating something, I allow them that moment and then tell them they don't have to be creative at all- they can just copy what I'm doing. I think they key is getting people to relax and have fun and giving them a model to work from. Once a basic project has been started, I have yet to find someone who hasn't been open to adding just one more little embellishment to make their creation unique. That's the first step. With positive feedback and encouragement, I know that everyone is able to tap back into their kindergarten selves that loved doing art projects.
5. You scrap, sew, paint, cook and so much more! What crafting technique/skill is on the radar for you to try next? My one regret in crafting is that I always have so many projects in mind that I feel I don't always take time to focus and truly master one medium or another. I really don't see me changing though- a little bit of chaos and mess seem to be the usual state of affairs for most artists and crafters I know. That being said, I am currently working actively to bring all the creative people in my town together for a more collaborative community. Through this process of actively working to network with local crafters and artists, I have been inspired to do much more green crafting and upcycling. My goal for this year is to work toward mastering upcycled clothing. I have been shopping at thrift stores my whole life and fixing things I find but to truly create a whole new outfit out of pieces that would normally be relegated to the trash is one of the most satisfying accomplishments I've had in crafting.
Here's an adorable video that we just love where Angela shows how to make feather tights for her daughter. What a lucky gal to have a mom so cool!
We are super excited to have superstar blogger and designer Jen Hadfield join us for our Let's Create LIVE! event as a design challenger! We sent Jen and 5 other designers a bag full of fun iLoveToCreate products (learn all about our Designer Challenge here) to create a custom project with for the Let's Create LIVE! party!
Jen is the fabulous founder and blogger for TaterTots and Jello TaterTots and Jello features lots of fun projects (everything from recipes to fashion to home décor), as well as great giveaways and guest features from a host of other wonderful bloggers! Jen professes that she "loves making something beautiful out of nothing"! Her work has appeared on Apartment Therapy, OhDeeDoh, One Pretty Thing, and Babble's Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs! Here's just a few of her wonderful projects!
One of the hottest spots on Jen's site is her weekly link up part called "Weekend Wrapup Party". She gives other bloggers from all styles and skill levels the chance to post their blog project to her page. Over 800 bloggers post each week to the party! It's a great way to find inspiration in one spot!
We sat down with Jen and asked her to share a little bit more about herself and her site! Here's what she had to say!
1. How did your blog get your start...was it a hit right off or did it take a while to get established? My blog started off as a personal blog so it took me about a year to decide that I wanted to change my focus and primarily do crafts/decorating projects.
2. What are some of your other favorite blogs and sites where you draw your inspiration from? There are SO many!! I love to check out Ucreate and One Pretty Thing for round ups of great projects, also Apartment Therapy and Ohdedoh are really fun for design and project inspiration.
3. Do you have an all-time favorite project that you’ve created? I think my current projects are always my favorite until I make something new. Some things I am loving right now are making Chevron projects -- Chevron Pennant Tutorial, Chevron Rug, Chevron Subway Art.
4. Being a busy mom and all, do you have any tips for streamlining your blog and social media efforts? I am working really hard on balancing my blog and family life this year. One thing I do with social media is I have connected my TTJ facebook page and twitter so I can post one thing and it hits two social media outlets. Another idea is using Hootsuite to schedule facebook and twitter updates.
5. OK, I’ll admit it, this is really 2 questions! First off, when was the last time you ate tater tots and have you ever made one of those classic jello molds and served it at a party? My husband travels a lot and my kids actually do enjoy tatertots, so I will make them every once in a while. And I do like jello. I was actually joking with a friend of mine this weekend that I was going to make layered jello and serve it at her wedding - LOL!
Here's a recent appearance of Jen on CreaTV using our Tulip® Soft® Fabric Paints to make an pretty bird-inspired lamp!
In addition to TaterTots and Jello, Jen is a blogger for Crafterminds, a craft blogging education site, and one of the inspiring voices behind the CSI project, a weekly themed craft challenge link party! Jen is one busy lady!
Yesterday, we announced the exciting news that we were going to have an awesome design challenge with some of the hottest designers in blogland and the industry! Today we are so happy to announce the lineup...they are:
All this week and next we'll be sharing more indepth blog posts on each of these artists so you can learn more about them and what they love to create!
