Craftcation or BUST!

I'm headed to Ventura in less than a week and there's so much to do and I'm so excited I almost wanna start packing now (aw, who am I kidding? Packing will be done at the eleventh hour next Tuesday evening). 

Craftcation is a makers + creative business owners conference where you can not only get up to speed on your taxes (another thing burning on my list), but also sew a dress in an afternoon (which I'm totally signed up for)!

The conference is sold out, but you can still volunteer (they still have some spots available!!), check out the details here: 

https://dearhandmadelife.com/craftcation-2019-assistant-application-final-4/?fbclid=IwAR0MiS9bkU0AM1B45Oj9adcPwx1wRceDfx7XIGw2ba2jzp2o_DFYQbaueWI

This is my fourth year at Craftcation, and I have the privilege of teaching folks once again this year. 

On the docket is smaller group classes on creating your very own editorial calendar and drafting newsletter content, and we're actually going to DO the work in those sessions! It's so easy to come home from a conference with your brain chock full of ideas, only to be overwhelmed by said ideas and then you spin your wheels for a year trying to make everything happen, all at once. These smaller "Think Tanks" are made to learn, and do the work at the same time. 

I'm also teaching a larger group on introducing them to Shopify. If you're not familiar with Shopify, it's an ecommerce website platform (my website is hosted on it currently!), and it's amazing. My day job at Aeolidia works with creative business owners on their very own custom websites, all using Shopify as the platform. I'm super excited to share my knowledge with folks on this!

Fun things happen there, too! I'm co-hosting a fun craft competition called Iron Craft, a competition that originated as a Wanderings* room, and blossomed into a Friday night Happy Hour event. Mark Montano will be my co-host once again this year!

*Wanderings is an art walk that takes place in attendees hotel rooms! Rooms can be a pop-up shop, an art experience, tarot card readings, or even, an insane crafting competition that I was crazy enough to pull of a few years ago! I'm stoked to see what attendees come up with this year.

I'm also leading a fun run to the park- for runners, walkers, and in-betweeners. I even designed a rad shirt where proceeds benefit RAKlife.org, and I'm so excited to lead the first Slow Runners Club this year!

The conference has SO many things going on that it can be tough to narrow down, but I find that I get what I put into it, and I receive from the conference just what I need at that point in my life.

The first year, I took my husband because we both needed a break from our kids! Haha. The second year was my first year teaching, which gave me a huge boost of confidence that yes, I can teach, and yes, I should share my knowledge with the world (something I've struggled with for some time). The third year, I needed connections to real people, not just online, and Craftcation filled my cup to last the entire year. I'm ready to connect and hug familiar folks and meet new friends this year!

If you're going to the conference, and whether it's your first year or your gazillionth, a good rule of thumb is to choose THREE actionable things to focus on when you get home. Once you accomplish those three things, make three more goals. I keep a master "Craftcation action ideas" list to work off of, and many of those ideas get rolled into my overall goal planning for the year!

I'll post a recap of the conference in a few weeks once I'm back. Bye for now!