Back before I stopped podcasting, I had signed up to be part of the blog tour for Kathy Cano Murillo‘s new novel, Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing. So here’s a fun podcast interview with the Crafty Chica herself, all about the new book and her burgeoning career as an author of crafty fiction.

If you want a little more glimpse into the book, check out this video trailer Kathy put together!

(Usual disclosures: Grand Central Publishing sent me a review copy, and the title link above is an affiliate link.)

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

In this show:

• My Mom, Pam Harris, returns to the show to talk about planning for your holiday season.

• How can you fit more crafting, cooking, and fun into the holiday season? What’s the best way to plan activities, and make them happen?

• …And what do you do when Life messes with your plan?

Links:

• Have you read, Gingerbread Snowflakes, my Mom’s blog? There’s lots and lots of wonderful holiday-season stuff there.

• If you liked this show, you’ll love Mom’s Winter Holiday Survival Planning Guide. (Yup, it’s free.)

• Psssst: have you seen my Christmas pinboard on Pinterest?

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Cory Huff, an online business coach for artists and crafters, talks with me about that mysterious idea: Search Engine Optimization (or, SEO).

• What can SEO really do for your blog or website? How does it work? And how technically-skilled do you need to be to implement it?

• …More importantly, how does SEO apply to small artisan businesses?

Links:

• Cory’s website, The Abundant Artist, is an online learning community for artists and crafters. He also offers an Easy Artist Websites Course.

Want more detail on some of the things we discussed in the show?

• Here’s a good explanation of title tags. (And if you’re a WordPress user, there’s a plugin that lets you update yours.)

• Cory has a great blog post about why you should name your images more carefully as an SEO tactic. You might also find this post by Kayleen West interesting.

• Here’s a pair of great posts from Meylah on SEO: Justine Smith talks about Keywords, and she collects three good beginner’s tips for getting started with SEO.

• …Onward to Google tools. Cory recommends using Analytics to track what people are doing on your website. I have a video series to help you use it.

• Want to see how various search terms rank? Try the Google AdWords Keyword Tool.

• If you’re fairly technically-skilled, then you might also want to sign up for Google’s Webmaster Tools.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• I talk with Alexa Westerfield about what it’s like to work full-time for a craft company and then be personally crafty in her off hours.

• How do you combat burnout when you’re immersed in craft all the time?

• What’s it like to work for a craft-industry company?

Links:

Visit Alexa at all her personal homes on the web:
The Swell Life, her blog
On Twitter
On Facebook
On Flickr
On Tumblr

…And Alexa’s professional homes on the web:
She works for I Love to Create
Which can also be found on Twitter
And on Facebook

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

In this show:

• Kirsty Hall and I talk about what it means to be more authentic online – whether it’s in your blog posts, tweets, or Facebook updates.

• How does authenticity lead people to trust you – and when can it turn them away? What impact does it have on a small craft business?

• Is there anything you really shouldn’t share online? .

Please Note: Some of the content in this podcast may not be suitable for young listeners.

Links:

• Visit Kirsty at her blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Kirsty also mentioned these bloggers:

• Catherine Caine’s take on Why “Professional Does Not Mean “Corporate”

• Havi Brooks talks about your right people, and people throwing shoes.

• Kate Davis blogs about her experiences recovering from an unexpected stroke.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

In this show:

• I talk with Marisa Lynch about her current project: revamping one (rather hideous) $1.00 thrift-store dress into something cute and fashionable every day. She blogs about it at New Dress a Day.

• We discuss exactly what goes into a project like this – keeping inspired, managing time, and where one stores hundreds of new garments!

• …And we talk about Marisa’s simple-yet-effective approach to garment reconstruction. There are no advanced tailoring skills needed, and the results are gorgeous.

Links:

• Check out New Dress a Day, where you can see the over 300 (!!!) garment revamps Marisa’s completed already.

• Marisa’s fame with this project is growing – she’s been profiled on TIME’s Money blog, and ReadyMade, Green LA Girl, (and numerous other blogs), and The Nate Berkus Show.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Jena Coray, proprietress of Modish, shares her experiences and insights about running a successful ad program on a craft blog.

• How much work actually goes into selling and hosting ads? How much traffic do you need?

• …And we have some really interesting discussion about the kinds of “hidden responsibilities” you take on when you start offering ads. Passive income, this is not.

Links:

• Do visit Modish, which blends eye candy and indie with fun and quirky and does it gorgeously.

• Design*sponge offers a couple iconic posts about blog advertising – read this and this

• If you’re curious about how affiliate marketing works, this post on Copyblogger offers some good options for creating affiliate coverage. This post and this post from Chris Brogan offer additional insight.

• If you need to get more acquainted with your blog statistics, I highly recommend Google Analytics. I even have a little video tutorial series going for that program.

• …And if you’re asking, “How can I get more traffic to my blog?”, try checking out this video class, this podcast, and this ebook.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Bettie Newell, and attorney and a crafter, helps us understand legal business structures, including Sole Proprietorships, LLCs, Corporations, and Partnerships.

• We talk about why these structures are important, and which ones might be best for what kinds of craft businesses.

• …And we talk about what’s involved in getting your business set up as one of these structures.

Links:

• Bettie Newell blogs about crafts over at Handmade in Portland. You can also catch her on Twitter.

• If you’re in Oregon, Bettie recommends the Small Business Legal Clinic.

• Check to see if your community has a Mercy Corps office. Some of them offer small business classes.

• Another good resource is the Small Business Development Center, which exists in many states.

• Here’s how to apply for an Employer Identification (EIN) number

• Here’s a directory of state Secretary of State offices.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Tara Gentile and I talk about the power of personal stories – and why they’re such an important way to set your crafty business apart from the crowd.

• Where can you find the elements of story in your business? And how do you go about telling it?

• …And why can’t you just tell people about your product and be done with it?

Links:

• Check out Tara’s website to learn more about her web work and small-business consulting.

• If you don’t read Scoutiegirl already, I think you’d really enjoy it.

• …And here’s Tara’s ebook, Storytelling for Creative Biz Success.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• I talk with craft-business blogger Megan Auman about a number of interesting ideas – most notably, that Etsy.com is a “pro-am community,” where professional crafters sell alongside hobbyists.

• We talk about how this “pro-am” landscape affects businesses that are trying to earn a profit, and how it affects side businesses (that maybe aren’t). We also talk about how this landscape affects Etsy.

• …And we talk about where Etsy really fits into a long-term, sustainable craft business.

Links:

• Megan’s blog, Crafting an MBA is a very valuable read for craft entrepreneurs.

• Here are some links to learn more about Long Tail economies: this entry on Wikipedia, Chris Anderson’s book on the subject, and his blog, The Long Tail.

• If you want some really solid information about pricing, read this post series by Charlie Gilkey.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Scott Belsky and I talk about his new book, Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality. It’s a guide to productivity written especially for creative people.

• We talk about the “double-edged sword” of a creative mind – on the one hand, we come up with great ideas. On the other, our creative natures sometimes hinder us in bringing those ideas to life.

• Scott offers up some tools for overcoming our derailing tendencies, and for keeping an action-oriented focus that lets us grow professionally.

Links:

• Check out Scott’s book, Making Ideas Happen. (That’s an affiliate link. The publisher sent me a review copy.)

• You might also want to explore the Behance Network, which is an online sharing and productivity network for creatives of all kinds.

• The 99% is both an annual conference and a great blog produced by the Behance team. Loads of thought-provoking posts every week.

• You may also want to check out Action Method, which is an online productivity tool from Behance. (Though it should be said, there are unlimited methods for managing productivity. A stack of index cards, a legal pad, a fancy planner, an online tool – the “best” one is always the one you like using the most.)

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• I discuss Creative Commons licensing with attorney Martin Ertl and crafter/Creative Commons enthusiast Kim Werker.

• We talk about why Creative Commons is relevant not only to crafters, but to anyone who shares original work on the web.

• How do your license your work under Creative Commons? What kinds of work can you protect? And what do you do if someone violates your license? All these questions are answered.

Links:

• Visit LexPublica online to learn more about Martin’s work, and Kim’s blog to learn more about her work.

• Check out the Creative Commons website for more information, and to try the license picker.

• Kim mentioned Rayna Fahey of Radical Cross Stitch, who uses Creative Commons licensing on the work she sells.

• If you want to use another crafter’s Creative Commons-licensed work on your blog, this post explains how. (Thanks, Kim, for that link!)

• You might want to use Feedburner to attach a Creative Commons license to your blog feed.

• …And as a little parting food for thought, you might like this post I wrote about original ideas, influences, copycats, and cross-pollination, over on Make & Meaning.

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Marlo Miyashiro talks with me about building creative communities, and shares how she did it with Seattle’s EtsyRAIN.

• We discuss the most important elements of a thriving creative community.

• …And we talk about what a community leader can do when members express dislike for how a community is running.

Links:

• Visit EtsyRAIN online, learn about membership, and check out the Meetup group.

• Visit Marlo online, too!

• Learn more about the other members of the EtsyRAIN Leadership Team:

• Kayce Quevedo, Director of Treasury and Etsy New Member Liason
• Meghan Harrington, Director of Event Production and Planning
• Rosalie Gale, IT Director and Chief Web Designer/Webmaster
• Kelly Affleck, Director of Graphic Design and New Member Recruitment
• Heidi Kappes-Belinsky, Director of Miscellaneous Affairs, Research, and Records
• Marja Huhta, Director of Social Media/Online Marketing/Event Calendar
• Julia Jacques, Director of Charity Events and Message Board Moderator

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!

You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.

In this show:

• Kari Chapin, author of The Handmade Marketplace, answers your crafty business questions.

• The conversation ranges from one-of-a-kind products to business plans to multiple income streams to various venues for selling.

• …And we we talk about how all that stuff is different for microbusinesses than it may be for “crafty empires.”

Links:

• Here’s the book: The Handmade Marketplace – a very flexible guide for the many forms crafty businesses can take.

• A couple resources you might seek out in your local community for general business help: The Small Business Administration and SCORE.

• Kari also highly recommends The Switchboards, an online community of indie business owners who share resources and advice.

Goals were a recurring theme in this show. Here are some interesting posts about goal-setting:

• A guide to SMART goals, from Goal Setting Guide

• Why goal-setting makes you cringe, from Lifehacker

• A Goal-Setting Toolkit, from Success Begins Today

(Huge thanks to Nichole for those links!)

• Chris Brogan on setting micro-goals

• Dave Navarro on making goals easier to achieve

• Seth Godin on the goals you never hear about

• Chris Brogan on redrawing your goals

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!

Today, we’re taking a short break from the Archive-Along so I can participate in the blog tour for Totally Twisted, a new book from jewelry artist Kerry Bogert.

Totally Twisted combines really interesting wire-working techniques with beautiful handmade glass beads. The designs are whimsical and elegant, and the educational quality of the book is excellent. There are plenty of clear, step-by-step photos to teach you how to manipulate wire into amazing shapes.

Kerry did a little email interview with me about her work. Enjoy!

All jewelry images in this post by Kerry Bogert, and used with permission.

Kerry, what first attracted you to wirework?

The very first time I thought to pick up a spool of wire was in December of 2003. I had the idea in my head that I wanted to make a necklace, like the ones you see sometimes at street sales, with my daughter’s name. By the end of that first night, I had 23 pairs of earrings! (Though I never did make that necklace, ha!)

I was instantly smitten with beading, but didn’t really focus on wire until a couple of years later when I learned lampworking. Glass and wire really are a match made in heaven, and I love dimensionality that wire can give to jewelry.

What I love most about your work is that it manages to maintain a tricky balance of simplicity and complexity. How much design development, on average, goes into your pieces?

There are two kinds of designs for me, personally. The ones that just pop into my head as I am driving down the street or reading a book are one kind and the other is the kind that comes from experimenting with what is right in front of me. Once an idea pops into my head, as I am working on other pieces, I ,step by step, start to build the new one in my mind. I think about all the layers to it, what order I will lay colors down with the glass, I work out what colored wires will work best, I decide each twist and turn of the wire, and how it will all come together in the end.

I can spend a week or more working out details in my head before ever lighting my torch to make the beads. And it is all that mental planning that makes the finished piece only take a few hours to make (or minutes even if it turns out to be something easy!)

As for the second kind of design, really, I just take what I have in front of me and I start playing!

I am 100% impressed by the consistency of your wire loops and twists. How much practice does it take to get your hands working so confidently?

Oh my stars, the very first time I tried to make a wrapped loop it was horrible. I remember working it so much the wire snapped right off!! I thought for sure that it was impossible to make them consistently. I found that, when I was just starting out, making BIG loops at the back of the pliers was easier. There was less “wiggle” room for the wire to move on me.

You want to use a slightly heavier gauge wire too when practicing. Fine gauges bend way too easily and that can get frustrating. Also, take a permanent marker and put a little dash on your plier jaws. If you always wrap your wire around that same spot, the loop size will always be the same!!

Looking at all the wonderful handmade glass beads in your book, I was struck with this nerd question: how do you organize your bead stash so you can find just the right bead among all these unique choices?

This is such a good question! I have to very embarrassingly admit that my beads are horribly unorganized. I joke on my blog that I have an OCD inclined alter ego, that spells her name Carrie, who loves to clean and organize. Oh how she gets mad when she sees my bead desk!! I do have several small dishes that I sort beads into. I have my “good beads,” “so-so beads,” and “bad beads.”

Bad beads rarely ever see the light of day. They are ones that have cracked from compatibility issues with the glass, or ones that have ugly coloring. So-so beads almost always get used eventually, HA!. They just have to be patient until the right project for them comes along. Good beads, of course, are my favorite. And thankfully, most of the time I am making beads, I make them for a specific project. That way, I don’t have too too many laying around waiting to be used.

If someone wants to get into wirework, what are three essential tools they need?

All you need to get started is round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, and wire cutters. That is it!

You can check out the rest of the Totally Twisted Blog Tour here.

Interweave Press has generously donated a copy of Totally Twisted for me to give away! To enter to win, leave a comment here and tell me about your favorite jewelry-making experience.

I’ll draw a winner on Tuesday, April 6th, at noon PST. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Shannon, who won the book!

CraftyPod is a blog about making crafts and making media. If you're seeing this post on another website, I'd love to know. Thank you!