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We talk with designers and makers about what it really takes to build a creative business. Then we recommend great stuff we're loving right now.
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LATEST EPISODE

PodcastEpisode #274: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about making and teaching art with my guest Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.

Based outside of Boston, Julie is a painter, printmaker, and collage artist who constructs vibrant compositions. Her artwork investigates the interplay of identity and perception, inviting viewers to take a longer look.  Julie works in layers, both physically and metaphorically, exploring what is visible and what is concealed.

Passionate about connecting with and inspiring other artists, she shares her expertise through in-person workshops and her online classroom at MyArtPractice.com. Julie’s achievements include high-profile clients, multiple publications – including her book, “Carve Stamp Play” – and exhibits in New York City and Greater Boston.  She is a graduate of Brown University.

I was thrilled to visit Julie’s studio in Watertown, Massachusetts to record this conversation in person.

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THE HOST

Find out what it takes to build a business in the crafts industry. In each episode host, and Craft Industry Alliance co-founder, Abby Glassenberg, interviews a creative entrepreneur to learn about their journey to success. Hear their stories and find out how to earn a living through a love of craft.

FEATURED EPISODES

BROWSE ALL EPISODES

Please note that this show was previously called the While She Naps podcast. On October 1, 2019, it was renamed the Craft Industry Alliance podcast. The name has changed, but the mission of the show, the host, and the style are the same.

Podcast Episode #227: Amy Small

Podcast Episode #227: Amy Small

In this podcast interview, Amy Small talks about how she came to found Knit Collage, her artisan yarn brand. From being a sweater designer for Free People traveling all over Asia, to creating unique chunky yarns that incorporate her love of “trinkets,” this is truly an inspiring entrepreneurial journey!

Podcast Episode #226: Simon Hurley

Podcast Episode #226: Simon Hurley

In this podcast episode, designer and influencer Simon Hurley traces the genesis and growth of his cardmaking business from creating YouTube videos in his parent’s basement when he was 14-years-old, to full-time crafts entrepreneur in his early 20’s.

Podcast Episode #225: Cynthia Treen

Podcast Episode #225: Cynthia Treen

In this podcast interview, artist and designer Cynthia Treen discuss the value of writing a book once you’ve built a business that aligns with it.

Podcast Episode #224: Julie Robinson

Podcast Episode #224: Julie Robinson

In this podcast episode, fashion designer and knitwear designer Julie Robinson talks about her creative journey from going to Parsons, to working in the fashion industry, to branching off on her own teaching pattern grading to knitwear designers.

Podcast Episode #223: Sandra Chandler

Podcast Episode #223: Sandra Chandler

In this podcast interview, quilt artist and teacher Sandra Lee Chandler talks about how she came to specialize in transforming denim into gorgeous contemporary quilts and explains her unique take on quilt clothes.

Podcast Episode #218: Nicole Snow of Darn Good Yarn

Podcast Episode #218: Nicole Snow of Darn Good Yarn

In this podcast interview, Nicole Snow, the founder of Darn Good yarn, explains how she came to run an import business of cast-off silk yarns from India and how she’s expanded the business over the years to include women’s garments.

Podcast Episode #216: Whitney Manney

Podcast Episode #216: Whitney Manney

In this podcast episode, Kansas City fashion designer Whitney Manney talks about how she developed and launched her independent fashion brand.

Podcast Episode #215: London Kaye

Podcast Episode #215: London Kaye

In this podcast episode, crochet artist London Kaye talks about how she went from being a dancer to working at the Apple Store to creating yarn installations for major brands all over the US.

Podcast Episode #214: Anne Merrow

Podcast Episode #214: Anne Merrow

In this podcast episode, Anne Merrow discusses her long career in craft publishing from Interweave to co-founding Long Thread Media.

Podcast Episode #212: Craig Swanson

Podcast Episode #212: Craig Swanson

In this podcast interview, Craig Swanson talks about his journey building a tech support business that included video training sessions and how that led him to co-found CreativeLive.

Podcast Episode #211: e Bond

Podcast Episode #211: e Bond

In this podcast interview, artist and graphic designer e Bond talks about how she fell in love with making artist books, the combination of type and images, and her new fabric line with Free Spirit called Glyphs.

Podcast Episode #210: Heidi Parkes

Podcast Episode #210: Heidi Parkes

In this podcast interview, artist Heidi Parkes talks about her career as an art teacher and how she transitioned to an art practice creating quilts and teaching quilting.

Podcast Episode #209: Safiyyah Talley

Podcast Episode #209: Safiyyah Talley

In this podcast interview, knitwear designer and podcaster Safiyyah Talley talks about the development of her multi-faceted craft business. Safiyyah’s interests in writing, marketing, and fashion design came together when she realized she could make a business of designing knitwear patterns.

Episode #206: Jill Wiseman

Episode #206: Jill Wiseman

In this podcast episode, Jill Wiseman traces the development of her career as a beading teacher both in-person and on YouTube, as well as the growth of her online bead store.

Podcast Episode #205: Tian Connaughton

Podcast Episode #205: Tian Connaughton

In this podcast episode, designer and tech editor Tian Connaughton traces the development of her career from learning to crochet from a co-worker while at her corporate job, to designing and publishing patterns in magazines, to teaching others how to get published.

Podcast Episode #204: Zak Foster

Podcast Episode #204: Zak Foster

In this podcast episode, improvisational quilter Zak Foster talks about building a community of creativity online, creating memorial and burial quilts, and his commission for the Met Gala.

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower

Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower

In this limited series of the Craft Industry Alliance called Powering the Creative Economy with Spoonflower, we’re talking with five artists about how they propelled their business forward using Spoonflower’s print-on-demand capabilities. In the sixth episode, we go behind the scenes at this fast-growing business.

Podcast Episode #203: Jenny Doan

Podcast Episode #203: Jenny Doan

In this podcast interview, Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co. discusses how she and her family built one of the largest retailers for quilting fabrics and pre-cuts in the US through the power of YouTube.

Podcast Episode #202: Wendy Ward

Podcast Episode #202: Wendy Ward

In this podcast episode, sewing pattern designer and teacher Wendy Ward talks about her career path from working for a fast fashion brand to learning about sustainable sewing practices to teaching and authoring sewing books.

Podcast Episode #201: Schacht Spindle

Podcast Episode #201: Schacht Spindle

In this podcast interview, Jane Patrick and Barry Schacht of Schacht Spindle Company talk about how they created this successful, family-owned business that’s a leading supplier of looms and spindles in the US.

Podcast Episode #200: Karen Barbé

Podcast Episode #200: Karen Barbé

In this podcast interview, artist Karen Barbé talks about the development of her career in embroidery. Raised in Santiago, Karen’s popular blog, Instagram account, and book have inspired thousands of people to learn about color and thread.

Podcast Episode #197: Kristi Schroeder Larson

Podcast Episode #197: Kristi Schroeder Larson

In this podcast episode, artist Kristi Schroeder Larson talks about her career as a graphic designer and how she pivoted to become a quilter and quilting pattern designer, and then pivoted again to designing needlepoint canvases.

Podcast Episode #196: Leigh Metcalf of Topstitch Studio

Podcast Episode #196: Leigh Metcalf of Topstitch Studio

In this podcast interview, Leigh Metcalf talks about how she opened her fabric and yarn shop, Topstitch Studio. After writing a book covering craft shops all over London, Leigh opened one of her own with the intent of building community and curating a beautiful selection of special goods.

Podcast Episode #195: Make Modern Magazine

Podcast Episode #195: Make Modern Magazine

In this podcast episode, the creators of Make Modern Magazine discuss how they’ve created an independent digital quilting magazine with an international following.

Podcast Episode #194: Tisa Jackson

Podcast Episode #194: Tisa Jackson

In this podcast interview, Tisa Jackson talks about how she has secured multiple brand collaborations within the crafts industry, designing creative projects to share with her audience.

Podcast Episode #193: Christi Johnson

Podcast Episode #193: Christi Johnson

In this podcast episode, artist Christi Johnson talks about her journey from working in the fashion industry to starting her own clothing brand, creating embroidery patterns and classes, and writing a book with Storey Publishing.

Podcast Episode #191: Cecilia Nelson-Hurt

Podcast Episode #191: Cecilia Nelson-Hurt

In this podcast episode, Cecilia Neslon-Hurt talks about the development of her career working in diversity, equity, and inclusion both for national corporations and in the fiber arts community.

Episode #190: Making Stories

Episode #190: Making Stories

In this podcast episode, Hanna Lisa Haferkamp and Claire Walls explain how they create and publish Making Stories, an independent knitting magazine with a focus on sustainability.

Podcast Episode #189: Mou Saha

Podcast Episode #189: Mou Saha

In this podcast episode, mixed media artist Mou Saha talks about her life as an artist first as a child growing up in India where she took a variety of art training courses, but studied psychology and then in the US where she encountered frustration with the inability to complete her PhD and, instead, pivoted her career to pursue mixed media art.

Podcast Episode #188: Tricia Brancolini-Foley of Handmade Arcade

Podcast Episode #188: Tricia Brancolini-Foley of Handmade Arcade

In this podcast interview, Tricia Brancolini-Foley, the Executive Director of Handmade Arcade in Pittsburgh, talks about the evolution of that indie craft show including becoming a non-profit, working with the Pittsburgh arts community, and pivoting to a virtual show during COVID.

Podcast Episode #187: Shelley Brander

Podcast Episode #187: Shelley Brander

In this podcast episode, Shelley Brander talks about her career founding Loops Yarn Shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Knit Stars as well as writing her new memoir.

Podcast Episode #186: Azzari Jarrett

Podcast Episode #186: Azzari Jarrett

In this podcast episode, photographer and memory keeper Azzari Jarrett talks about how she came to develop a creative career for herself, discovering a love of film photography and scrapbooking when she became a mother and turning her talent for design into a small business.

Podcast Episode #185: Anne Butera

Podcast Episode #185: Anne Butera

In this podcast episode, watercolor artist Anne Butera traces her creative journey learning to become an artist, teaching on Skillshare, blogging, and building a following through her newsletter.

Podcast Episode #184: Polly Leonard of Selvedge Magazine

Podcast Episode #184: Polly Leonard of Selvedge Magazine

In this podcast episode, Polly Leonard, the founder and publisher of Selvedge Magazine, talks about how she created this premier publication devoted to textiles, how she expanded the business to include a shop and events, and her future plans for the magazine.

Podcast Episode #183: Kathy Elkins of WEBS

Podcast Episode #183: Kathy Elkins of WEBS

In this podcast episode, Kathy Elkins, the owner of WEBS, talks about how her husband’s family founded the business and how she and her husband took it over and built it into what it is today – one of the largest online retailers of yarn in the industry.

Podcast Episode #182: Alexis Bailey

Podcast Episode #182: Alexis Bailey

In this podcast interview, sewing blogger Alexis Bailey traces her journey learning to sew, finding her voice online, and starting a successful small business selling hand-sewing kits.

Podcast Episode #181: Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace

Podcast Episode #181: Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace

In this podcast episode, Anne Oliver of Lolli and Grace talks about how she built her embroidery pattern and kit business. Anne’s English degree, experience working in a retail craft store, and love of photography all contributed to her success.

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