On becoming your own creative lighthouse

Thoughts on how we can become our own creative lighthouse through the act of making.

Ever wonder how a new project happens? Here’s some insight into my newest project, the Digital Joy Bunting Project - a project exploring joy and what makes you feel it.

In this episode artist Shanalee Hampton and I talk about her work, including a shift from pieces that people often called “clever” to work that saw increased engagement and people crying at her tables at craft fairs due to the vulnerability and authenticity it encouraged and celebrated as well as what happened when she started called herself an artist vs. a crafter. We also talk about how stapling pieces of fabric she'd hand stitched with messages about love, strength and social justice changed, well, a whole heck of a lot. (Spoiler alert: It led to a lot of amazing things, surprises and growth!)  You can find out more about Shanalee at her website shanaleehampton.com and find out more about Dear Textiles, including how to subscribe to the newsletter and share your story in a future episode, at deartextiles.com. 

Episode 4 is here! I’m speaking with Austin Rivers, the founder of Knit the Rainbow, a non-profit which collects handknit and crochet items for homeless LGBTQ+ youth in New York City.  We talk about starting a non-profit during a pandemic, why LGBTQ+ youth of New York City need your handmade items, the growing problem of houseless LGBTQ+, where Knit the Rainbow hopes to go in the future, how you can help their growing mission and why handmade goods can feel like a hug when someone made them. To learn about future episodes, which will come out every other week, you can sign up for my newsletter at deartextiles.com.

In this interview, I talk with fashion designer, consultant and entrepreneur Thao Phoung, who runs textile impact retreats in Vietnam with her company TextileSeekers! We talk about how she became a designer, why she left the corporate world to start these retreats and what sustainability in textiles looks like. 

In this interview, I talk to Sigrún Bragaddóttir a teacher, artist, crafter and craftivist from Reykjavik, Iceland. We talk about using craft as way to heal and connect and about Sigrún's own work and journey.  You can connect with Sigrún at her website, https://sigruncraftivist.com/ and on Instagram @sigruncraftivist and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sigruncraftivist/. To learn about future episodes, which will come out every other week, you can sign up for my newsletter at deartextiles.com. 

Here's a look at why I'm starting an audio component to Dear Textiles, for people that might prefer to hear about how textiles and stitching and acts of making can help us grow.  To find out more, you can go to deartextiles.com.  To sign up for my newsletter where you can learn about future episodes, please click here!  Dear Textiles logo by Clarisse Hassan.

It’s not perfect, but that’s okay. This project is about how textiles make our lives better, make us better people, about how secretly, textiles are magic.