But I need your help.

I set up a Pinterest board for Biz Planning ideas and tools. And I would LOVE it if you pinned your genius! Just follow the board (or all of them – I’m a good little Pinner) and leave me a comment on the FB page and I will add you as a contributor.

I would adore you forever if you shared…

• Tools you want to know more about before implementing into your biz.
• Tools you use in your biz and LOVE.
• Books/Apps/Sites/’Guru’s you know, love or are curios about.
• Words of advice and quotes that have helped you (need lots of those).
• Upcoming events geared toward creative biz.

I plan on loading up the site with your links and events to test out its integrity and functionality.

If you have not yet played on Pinterest, I highly recommend the site. It’s very much like stalking people on Facebook EXCEPT after 30 minutes you will have learned how to make mason jar candles, planned dinner for a week, become inspired to use free weights, and have 3 new fantasy vacation spots. If you need an invite, drop me a note here or on the FB page.

(P.S. Contributors get early access to the new site.)

(P.P.S. I am building an interview/feature a Fiber Artist tool into the site and will be sending out invites to all the lovely artists who are interested just as soon as I can.)

At age 5, my mom taught me how to sew on the sewing machine. At age 6, I learned how to knit. Since that time period, I fell in love with all kinds of fiber arts. I did embroidery, needlepoint and latch hook rugs at a very early age, in addition to my sewing and knitting. About 12 years ago, I learned how to felt. I started spinning yarn in 2002. I took a class in beadwork in 2003. I have since been working with all of these techniques.

What technique(s) offers the most challenge? Probably creating nearly 2 dozen wild hats/headdresses for my graduate thesis show in 2002. I really challenged myself to use unorthodox materials and make very unique pieces. It took me about a year to make all the hats, in addition to writing a long thesis paper where I researched many different artists.

I’m inspired by many artists, including Nick Cave, Annette Messager, plus numerous bloggers and fiberartists from around the world in Ravelry and Etsy. I also am really inspired by the textile art I’ve seen in Iceland (I did an artist residency there in 2005) and other Nordic countries. I would say that certain aspects of others’ work show up in my own work.

I do what I do because I am passionate about it. To me, creating art is one of the most fulfilling things

for me ever. I feel like I live a much richer life by making art. I tackle various problems and challenges with it, capture bits of life that I want preserved (such as travel) and use it as a form of therapy.

It’s hard to know for sure but I see a major movement coming in reusing or upcycling materials that had

previous uses to make new artwork. In this day and age where so much is wasted, I think artists are becoming more interested and passionate about making “green” art or art that addresses some of our problems with wastefulness. I also see other trends: shabby chic is very big right now. So is organic and natural things. I also see some very interesting things coming out in the political sphere and “craftivism” or people using crafts in ways to better the community and the world.

I would like to see more emphasis on how to find jobs and get careers with fiber. I went to graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was disappointed because I was hoping to get a job

afterwards as a result of the degree. However, this did not happen and I feel frustrated about this. On another subject, I would like to see what Etsy people call “resellers” or people who sell cheap crafts made in third world countries banned from Etsy, a site that places a lot of emphasis on “handmade.” I feel these particular individuals harm the other sellers who really do make unique handmade art that has to be priced more steeply. I also wish that people didn’t underprice their art work (particularly knitting) on sites like Etsy. I feel that they are undervaluing their time and work and it gives people the wrong idea about the value of handmade.

a knitted vacation diary.

Rachel was born in Rochester, NY and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Ceramics at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 2000. In 2002, Rachel received a Master’s Degree in Textile Design with a Minor in Papermaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She creates hats, scarves, jewelry and sculptures with fiber and mixed media. Felting, knitting and beadwork are techniques that appear frequently in her work.

Rachel draws much of her inspiration from nature; organic forms, landscapes, plants and animals all influence her designs. She also finds inspiration by the arts and crafts of various ethnic groups and world cultures. Her travels create strong themes in her art. In 2004, she was an artist in residence at the Red Cinder Creativity Center on Hawaii’s Big Island. In May and June of 2005, she was the visiting artist at Hafnarborg Cultural Center in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland. In June 2007, she returned to Iceland and also visited Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. These three trips have had a significant impact on her artwork.

shop: http://www.coolclimates.etsy.com

 blog: http://www.rsuntop.blog.com

 personal website: http://www.rsuntop.com

I fell in love with fiber art at the cabinet door under the kitchen sink, when I was a pre-schooler. The door had an eyelet mesh screen. My mother would take pieces of different colors of yarn (from knitting she was currently doing) and melted a wax tip from a tapered candle onto the end of the yarn. This made it easier to thread through the holes. My very first lacing card. Playing with the colors and feeling the textures…I was in love.

What is your most astounding fiber victory to date? What technique(s) offers the most challenge?

Just recently I spun some wool and knitted a handbag that required felting. Needless to say the felted handbag is a beautiful basket with a pheasant feather (I found by the mailbox) used as a stickpin. Felting in general, I find a challenge. It isn’t that it is hard, it has a lot of little nuances to master to get good results. My basket is a happy accident.

Who inspires you? Does that inspiration present in your fiber work?

Denise, a friend at the weaving studio. She is prolific in her fiber arts. Denise also stretches my learning. She introduces me to new things.

Why do you do what you do? What drives you?

I love the sense of touch and color. Growing up kids were taught not to touch. The exception was, the yarn shop and a garden center. As long as you were respectful, no one bothered you.
What drives me…learning. I love learning new things. The library before computers was a regular stop.

Where do you see the fiber community headed? What trends do you see coming (or going)? {Gaze into that crystal ball.}

I see the fiber community still on its upward trend.
I see fingerless gloves here for awhile. As spring and summer approach, the fingerless gloves will morph into a cuff. Tajarutit, wrist warmers with beads, part of the Greenlandic woman’s national costume as well as frilly lacey cuffs, will become the next fingerless glove.

What would you like to see more of in the fiber community?

I would like to see the fiber community heading in the direction of bringing in the younger generation. Maybe a fiber magazine that is geared to tweens and teens, exposing them to the fiber community.

If you only had 200 yards of sock yarn to create something amazing – what would it be?

Yoga socks…with a wonderful twisted stitch pattern. I enjoy yoga, but in the winter, my feet can get cold. When you do a yoga dive and end up looking at your feet, handmade socks put you in a wonderful state.

1.  Favorite color: burnt orange
2.  Favorite color combinations: eclectic
3.  Favorite shape: parallelogram
4.  Favorite food: coffee and a brownie
5.  Most fiberista friendly spot ever visited: Rheinback Fair
6.  Favorite fiber to work with: silk
7.  Most important quality when buying fiber: feel
8.  Favorite film/show to craft to: I listen to NPR and music
9.  Craziest place you have crafte: Middle of the Pacific Ocean, on a Matson cargo ship.
10.Dream fiber destination: British Isles

Paula Moliver specialty is all things relating to fiber. She spins and dyes her own yarn and is skilled in weaving and needle arts. She has been widely published in noted magazines including Arts & Crafts, Better Homes & Gardens and the Decorative Painter. Paula is a regular educator at New Pond Farm, and a freelance writer as the Hartford Knitting Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/knitting-in-hartford/paula-moliver , her web molivermade.com.

You need to get in on this!

I don’t want to give too much away – and there are still more bugs to fix than I’d like to think about – but very very soon it will be ready. A small community site for creativepreneurs to come together, build strong businesses with online courses, and expand horizons with new tools and tricks.  Like I said…

You need to get in on this!

Oh, and we’ll have badges for your gamification types. All free in Alpha – I may ask for sponsors when we get into beta. LOL

Sign up! Tell your friends! I’ll be in touch soon!

Please tell us how you became the amazing fiberista you are today. How did you fall in love with fiber arts?

I can’t remember I time I was ever NOT in love with fiber!  I learned to knit as a kid, and ever since then have been knitting (and crocheting, tatting, weaving…) more or less nonstop. I even knit in most of my college classes! When I first started I sold handspun yarn- that was right about the time Etsy was starting up. Then I moved on to natural dyeing and selling hand dyed yarns and batts in addition to yarn. Now I mostly sell knitting patterns.

There are so many!  I have had the chance to design rugs, intern with an amazing natural dye company called Earthues in Seattle, and worked in a yarn store. The most challenging part of what I do is tech editing- but how cool that other people also think I am awesome enough to have me edit their patterns!

I am really inspired by the small house movement- people who choose to live really simply in small places. I am far from a minimalist- you will never see me owning just 100 items- but do try and keep the idea of simplicity in mind. I like designing projects with simple but interesting details that don’t take tons of time, patience, or yarn to knit. Though I love a good complex shawl pattern as much as the next person!

I am a process knitter. I like making things, but the finished item is almost secondary. It is that unusual technique that keeps me up at night, that new yarn in the perfect shade that makes me drop everything for (another) new project. I more or less always have calluses across my fingers from where the yarn and needles rub.

I think we are finally reaching a point where technology will really help with knitting pattern sales. Now that more and more people have smart phones, Kindles, Ipads (or just getting more comfortable with the idea of finding patterns online)…  they can look up and buy patterns (and yarn) wherever they are. There is a great opportunity out there now yarn shops and yarnies- online or off- to be able to really leverage digital patterns to sell yarn. It is getting so much easier for stores to carry the latest and greatest patterns, to help customers find patterns to fit their yarn, and to get patterns from indie designers.

I really, really want to see more yarn companies and shops leverage the increasing popularity of weaving and crochet. With weaving especially there is a great opportunity to showcase the many uses of novelty and specialty yarns in new ways- some people might be tired of fun fur hats, but it takes on a whole other level of interest when used in a scarf.  Both weaving and crochet offer a great opportunity for classes and getting both old and new customers to the shop.

Lacy wrist warmers. My hands are always cold! I would knit them with a thumb gusset but totally open at the top no short fingers- since I like my hands to be totally moveable when I type. And I hate weaving in all those finger ends just for wrist warmers!

Jenn Wisbeck

Midnightsky Fibers 

Great Knitting Patterns

Blog/Newsletter/@Mnsfibers/Google+

Connections can help us to grow.

• What support will nurture your goals for this year? Who has the sage advice you need to succeed?
• Growth happens at the end of our comfort zone. Who will you connect with that you may have been shy about reaching out too in the past?
• Joint ventures can create exponential growth. Who do you want to work with this year?
• Lofty ambitions can distance us from our home base. Who do you need to reconnect with? Are you in touch with you?

Connections are made in many different ways.

• What methods can foster stronger ties?
• Stronger bonds are often made the low-tech style. Consider breaking out of your online social network and building an offline social network. How did your parents or grandparents connect?
• 2012 is the year for video. How can you use video to connect with your tribe?
• What old technologies can be used in new ways to forge connections?
• Think of the many who are not online or don’t choose to be. How can you connect with them? Are your products or services accessible to those in some way? Disconnect to connect.

Connections allow us to contribute.

• Be a guru to another and offer your expertise. Inspire others and watch your tribe grow.
• Create connections by offering to swap services for products (or visa versa). Who can you help reach new customers?
• Volunteer expertise and grow your niche.
• Share your mistakes and help other avoid replicating them.
• Share a (private) passion or cause and ask others to join the fight.

Use this little Connect list to brainstorm your 2012 connections.

Today I want you to take a long hard look at your heroes. Who are your gurus? Who would you just love to have on your board of directors? (Imaginary persons and things are perfectly acceptable.) Who do you strive to be like?

Now take that list and make notes of the traits in those individuals that inspire you. Is it their business savvy? Their endless charm? Those size 2 jeans they can always wear no matter how many french fries they eat and you swear they don’t workout cause, I mean really, how could they have the time – and while we’re at it, isn’t she a celebrity chef? I don’t trust skinny chef’s!…..But I digress.

Drill down to what it is about that person you would like to integrate into your business or daily life. We get to ‘salad-bar’ it. You don’t need to admire everything about the person. It is probably more telling and helpful to narrow down your list to 5 or less traits per ‘guru’.

Next, bundle up all this inspiration and brainstorm ways to add or enhance these aspects in your life or business. Maybe your guru is a wellness expert. How can you add more wellness to your life? Perhaps one is a best-selling author. Take time to examine their path and take what lessons you can.

Dig really deep.

Continually ask why and what is it about that trait that I feel is missing from my life or business? Dig all the way through until you come out the other side with a fuller understanding of what it is you are striving for.

You may surprise yourself with the realization that you are your own guru.

With all this groovy realization on paper, start making plans to enhance your own life by adding the lessons from your gurus.

Here is a silly extra groovilicious Guru list for your printing fun.

She shared some excellent ideas – but the one that stuck with me can help you kick off your blogging new year.

Write out 101 blog post titles/article ideas NOW.

Do it now. Before you run out of steam. Before you hit the wall. Before writer’s block sets in. Do it now. Go on. We’ll wait.

Ok. Now you have a couple of options. You can duct tape it your workspace and start knocking those posts out. AND/or you can look over the list. Find common threads. Organize them into pretty piles of genres. If you have twelve of one genre of post – make it a monthly feature. Perhaps a few of the piles are lonely with just one post idea. Ask yourself if those fit into your blog’s platform. Do they need to be scrapped? Are these ideas spurning on new ideas (that I hope you are writing down)? Play.

One more brainstorm to weather. Look over your beautiful new list of blog post ideas. Then look at your blog. Do they work together? Are you posts all about technical writing practices of the common garden nerd but your blog screams My Little Pony? This is a great time of the year for overhauls and reimaginings are almost expected.

Harmonize your visual and written message for greater resonance.

Here is you really boring super inspiring Shout Out list for 2012!

It doesn’t need to be huge honking boulder, like disarming small nuclear warheads (but it could be). Maybe you ROCK! at grammar, mixing colors, or scone making. It may seem insignificant to you, but I guarantee another person envies that ROCK!.

I bow before anyone with a good handle on grammar and spelling. Most of my conversations are with a delayed little boy. I lost all concept of correct grammar years ago. LOL But I know that I make a mean pizza dough and read faster than anyone I know - except perhaps my parents. (But I’m gaining on them. hee hee)

Celebrate all ROCK!s, even the pebbles.

Some days Teh Suck™ blinds us to our own incrediblitude. The only way to battle that flavor of Teh Suck™ is to keep track of your awesomeness. Grab this bag of ROCK!s and pelt Teh Suck™ when it comes around.

So go on. I double dog dare you. Jot down what you ROCK!

And to make it easy for you, here is a non-flashy reliable I Rock 101 list list!

Take a minute to list out your big life experiences. They need not be front-page news worthy, just so long as they hold great value to you.

Why bother? It’s important to remember the wonders of where we have been to appreciate the power of where we have been when charting out a new course.

(And it makes for awesome ‘About Me’ page fodder for those of you looking to start a new online biz this year.)

Snag my little Experiences 101 page!