This Fall's School House Craft Conference

Hey guys! Guess what? We will be teaching not one--but TWO--classes in the upcoming School House Craft Conference! Coming up on Saturday and Sunday, the 14th and 15th of September, we will be on hand to give you our knowledge and answer any questions you may have. The conference will be held at the Sunset Hill Community Club in Ballard, and Early Bird tickets are on sale now until September 1st. (After that they become a bit more expensive.)


The Fall 2012 SHC Conference
For this season, Andie will be teaching an Absolute Beginners Course (AB) & Established Businesses Course (EB) called Establishing a Unique Brand: Learn how to brand your creative, small business for maximum success online and and in-person. We will cover design, social media and customer loyalty. This class starts on September 15th at 10:15am. (This one will be a bit like a section of my Go Mighty class, but more in-depth).

Then, a little bit later in the day, we will both be teaching an Established Business (EB) class on Creating a Successful Kickstarter Campaign! Learn how to get your idea funded! We will walk through the pros/cons and steps to creating a successful Kickstarter campaign for your project.

Plus, there are a lot of other fun classes to choose from and amazing people to connect with, including Kristen Rask of Schmancy fame and Danae Horst (and many more!)

Click here to register!

Photo via School House Craft

Wish You Were Here! School House Craft's Summer Blogging Camp

Despite the absence of Emily (vacation to meet a new baby!) I had a great time at the School House Craft Summer Blogging Camp. Emily is the calm and articulate public speaker of our partnership, so it was time for me to face my fears of public speaking and join some pals to spread great tips and tricks of the trade to fellow bloggers.


On the roster was a “Balancing Life and Blogging Panel” with old friend Blair Stocker of Wisecraft, and new friends Megan Reardon of Not Martha and Arianne Foulks of Aeolidia. It is so interesting to listen to other bloggers/business ladies chat about their processes, challenges and ideas. I learned so much from the three of them.

Then, onto my roundtable discussion with a delightful group of new friends on “Styling your Blog Photographs” and a delicious gluten-free lunch of strawberries, snap peas, tomatoes, carrots and Fritos (yes!). I’ll put up some of the tips that we talked about next week, along with some helpful HTML hints.


After our lunch roundtables, it was on to the next panel. This was the one that I took notes for: “Monetizing Your Blog.” Phew! Marie LeBaron from Make and Takes, Melanie Biehle from Inward Facing Girl and Moorea Seal were all experts in something that I consider daunting and sometimes a big, old drag. Interesting that a whole new world to your blogging method can open up to you in just one hour.


All in all, it was a lovely, educational and eye-opening experience for all, and we forget how important it is to surround ourselves with like-minded, creative people more, instead of sitting behind our computer screen and shouting out into cyber-space.

A special thank you to Marlo Miyashiro and Andrea Porter for their amazing work getting the entire event up and running (and oh so adorable). I had a blast! We’ll see you in September!

Check out more School House Craft Blogger's Summer Camp blog posts here.

All images via our Instagram

School House Craft Blogger Summer Camp Giveaway Winner!

Hi guys--sorry for the delay. We've drawn a winner!

Congratulations to Melissa aka mellzahbot[at]gmail! You've won our complimentary ticket to the School House Craft Blogger's Summer Camp! We will be in touch for how to sign up.

And don't worry! We drew a second and third place just in case Melissa can't make it. Thanks!

Giveaway! Win a Free Ticket to School House Craft Blogger's Summer Camp

Hey guys! So School House Craft's Blogger Summer Camp is just a few weeks away (Friday, June 14th, 2013). And guess what--we're giving away a free ticket! Win a free ticket to attend the entire School House Craft Blogger Summer Camp event in Seattle, Washington!


Here are the details:

• One participant will win a 100% discount to the event.
• If you're already registered, that's okay! You'll get a full refund courtesy of Assemble. (I hear tickets are going fast--so be sure to snag one soon).
• To win the ticket, comment below with your name, an email address (if your name doesn't link directly back to you), and why you'd like to win the ticket!

Easy as pie. We will announce the winner on Monday evening (that's June 3rd). Now who wants to win?

Drawing by Mr. Powers

Class Is In Session! // 3 Warm-Weather Workshops

Get your pencils and your books! A bunch of our friends are hosting some fun classes for the spring and summer that will help you get up the courage to focus on what you really want out of your career and life. We are even participating in a few of them.

First up, some self promotion--there's only a few more days to sign up for my From Scratch to Success: Starting Your Own Creative Small Business class, which starts next Monday, the 6th. Work at your own pace, plus one student will win a $500 grant from Go Mighty + a free business consultation from me. **Use the code "MIGHTY" to get 20% off of the regular $20 price.


Also, starting on May 6th, be sure to check out our good friend Melanie's brand new online workshop: Start Your Spark//Creative Writing! This one is $75 for a six week program, and looks like a great way to initiate your writing brain power to wake up and get that pen moving!


And for all you bloggers out there, don't miss the School House Craft's Summer Blogging Camp! On June 14th, we'll be speaking on a panel with other bloggers like Megan Reardon of Not Martha, Blair Stocker of Wisecraft, and Arianne Foulks of Aeolidia. For $45, the camp includes two panels with Q&A roundtables, plus a healthy lunch buffet that will include vegan, omni, and gluten-free options. Yipee!!


See you at school, kids!

Imposter Syndrome: Don't Overshadow Your Own Successes

This past weekend, I spoke on a panel about the Do's and Don'ts of Approaching Shops & Galleries at this year's School House Craft Conference. If you haven't taken a look at the SHC conference and are in the the craft/design business field, I highly recommend taking a look for next year. You would be hard-pressed to find a more supportive and encouraging group of like-minded and genuinely knowledgeable folks to help you along on your journey to small business success.

Part of me always wonders when I speak at these types of conferences, "why the heck do they want to hear me speak? I'm just Andie." Obviously I'm qualified to give these sorts of lectures, but what is it that holds any of us back from believing this fact? That's when I found this article in The Seattle Times, originally from The Washington Post: "Feel Like a Fake? Imposter Syndrome Common at Work."



"The term, created by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978, refers to the idea that competent people find it hard to believe in their own capabilities or internalize their own accomplishments. They see evidence of their competence as mere luck and sometimes feel they are not actually qualified for the position they hold." -Joyce E.A. Russell, Washington Post

Sound familiar? I definitely start to feel this way sometimes, even though my career on paper would definitely impress myself! It's difficult in this creative field, especially, where others' work is so available to admire on blogs and Pinterest.

So what can we do to avoid these feelings of self doubt in our career field? Read more at the actual article page, but see below for their bulleted points:

• Surround yourself with supporters.
• Get a mentor or coach.
• Be a mentor or coach.
• Stay positive and focus on your accomplishments rather than focusing on everything you don’t know or have to improve upon.
• Set goals and keep track of what you have accomplished.
• Acknowledge your mistakes, but treat them as learning opportunities instead of fatal flaws.
• No one is perfect. Recognize that others do not have everything all figured out.
• Remember that people are not paying that much attention to you.


Have you felt like this in our creative field? In any other areas of life such as motherhood or school?

This Weekend: Craft, Design & Business at the School House Craft Conference

Do you guys have your tickets for School House Craft yet? It starts today!! Hurry up! I'll be speaking this Sunday with Shalene Lundgren and Andrea Porter about the Do's and Don'ts of Approaching Shops and Galleries at 1:00pm. Don't miss it!



NOTE: Assemble will be CLOSED on Sunday for our Panel at School House Craft. We hope you will visit us there!!