fbpx
Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • My Cart
  • My Account
Menu
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • My Cart
  • My Account
Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Envelope Phone-alt
Search
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Craftcation Conference
    • Craftcation 2023
    • Get Involved
  • The Club
    • Member Login
  • Shop
    • Shop Tees & Pins
    • Shopping Cart
    • Order Status
  • Patchwork Show
    • Upcoming Shows
    • Application + Vendor Info
  • Online Learning
Menu
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Craftcation Conference
    • Craftcation 2023
    • Get Involved
  • The Club
    • Member Login
  • Shop
    • Shop Tees & Pins
    • Shopping Cart
    • Order Status
  • Patchwork Show
    • Upcoming Shows
    • Application + Vendor Info
  • Online Learning
How to take your business to the next level with a mastermind group
Business Tips

How to take your business to the next level with a mastermind group

ByRebecca Pitts June 12, 2015August 1, 2015

Editor’s Note: We are so excited to welcome our newest Dear Handmade Life contributor Rebecca Pitts the founder and owner of Hudson + Daughter. Her first topic, taking your business to the next level with a mastermind group is right…

Read More How to take your business to the next level with a mastermind groupContinue

10 WAYS TO ASSESS IF AN OPPORTUNITY IS RIGHT FOR YOU + YOUR BUSINESS
Business Tips

10 WAYS TO ASSESS IF AN OPPORTUNITY IS RIGHT FOR YOU + YOUR BUSINESS

ByNicole Stevenson November 7, 2014

“I’m pretty sure my eyeball is about to fall out,” my husband said last week. It was our day off and we were shuttling between Costco, the grocery store and the hardware shop, prepping up for the week, like real…

Read More 10 WAYS TO ASSESS IF AN OPPORTUNITY IS RIGHT FOR YOU + YOUR BUSINESSContinue

The Best of Seattle
Adventures

The Best of Seattle

ByNicole Stevenson October 29, 2014October 30, 2014

Welcome to Part Three of our Pacific Northwest tour – The Best of Seattle. Delilah and I had so much fun in Portland, as you know, if you’ve been keeping up with our posts about the trip. Here’s the best…

Read More The Best of SeattleContinue

The Best of Portland, Oregon – Part One
Adventures

The Best of Portland, Oregon – Part One

ByNicole Stevenson October 10, 2014October 14, 2014

It’s a pretty awesome feeling to be on a road trip with someone you’ve known since the day you were born and realize that after 10 hours of driving you haven’t even thought about putting on music or one of…

Read More The Best of Portland, Oregon – Part OneContinue

The Truth About Vision Boards
Business Tips

The Truth About Vision Boards

ByNicole Stevenson September 12, 2014September 12, 2014

If I hadn’t gotten a really bad case of the flu five years ago I probably wouldn’t have heard the term vision board until a few years later. I’d been living out of my parent’s house for well over a…

Read More The Truth About Vision BoardsContinue

Printing the perfect business card + an Oubly giveaway
Business Tips

Printing the perfect business card + an Oubly giveaway

ByNicole Stevenson September 5, 2014September 11, 2014

I remember my mother sitting at the kitchen table clipping coupons for hours when I was a kid. I’d be in the living room half-watching one of my favorite shows like Three’s Company or Punky Brewster while I agonized over…

Read More Printing the perfect business card + an Oubly giveawayContinue

how to make an embroidered wood circle necklace
DIY Projects

how to make an embroidered wood circle necklace

ByNicole Stevenson May 21, 2014July 17, 2014

Wood is one of my all-time favorite materials to use in my diy craft projects. My love affair with wood started with the little side table my dad made in wood shop when he was in high school. This obsession…

Read More how to make an embroidered wood circle necklaceContinue

the benefits of having an accountability partner
Business Tips

the benefits of having an accountability partner

ByKari Chapin February 12, 2014July 22, 2014

My long held desire for complete freedom has served me well. I’ll be the first person to admit that taking the less chosen road almost every single time, left me with some, um… bad habits. I’m the kind of girl…

Read More the benefits of having an accountability partnerContinue

how to set intentions and accomplish your goals
Business Tips

how to set intentions and accomplish your goals

ByKari Chapin January 15, 2014January 2, 2015

Editor’s note: We are so happy to welcome Kari Chapin to Dear Handmade Life. I read Kari’s book: The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally and On-line after I’d already been running my crafty business Random Nicole…

Read More how to set intentions and accomplish your goalsContinue

january diy and business book club + book giveaway
Book Club

january diy and business book club + book giveaway

ByNicole Stevenson January 10, 2014July 28, 2014

I am an avid list maker. The first thing I do in the morning is make a list of all the things I hope to accomplish that day. It’s rare I get them all done but while I’m writing the…

Read More january diy and business book club + book giveawayContinue

Page navigation

1 2 Next PageNext
Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Envelope Phone-alt

get started

  • Craftcation Conference
  • Patchwork Show
  • Podcast
  • About Us
  • MEDIA
  • Shop Online

BLOG posts

  • CRAFT & DIY
  • BUSINESS
  • RECIPES
  • ADVENTURES
  • INSPIRATION

instagram

Relatable? Drop an emoji! 📣BTW: 🗓Today is th Relatable? Drop an emoji! 📣BTW: 🗓Today is the last day to apply for our fall @thepatchworkshow season! Apply via our bio 🔗. 

Our fall Patchwork Show schedule:
🏖 Long Beach @marinestadium 10.29
☀️ Ventura @downtownventura 11.5
🌆 Tustin @oldtowntustin 11.12
🌉 Oakland @jacklondonsq 11.18
🌳 Redwood City @cityofredwoodcity 11.26
🎨 Sebastopol @sebastopolarts 12.2
🛳 San Pedro @craftedportla 12.10

#shopsmall #shopsmallbusiness #smallbiz #craftshow #patchworkshow #craftfair #craftmarket #makerfaire #makermarket #communityovercompetition #communityevent #longbeach #sebastopol #oldtowntustin #sanpedro #oakland #jacklondonsquare #marinestadium #redwoodcity
Rather be getting crafty than making content for I Rather be getting crafty than making content for Instagram? READ THIS ⤵⤵⤵

Same friend, same. I used to spend HOURS searching for trending audio, scripting & shooting reels and writing captions for Instagram. After lots of trial and error I now I have a real strategy I use to plan, create and post here on Instagram. I’m able to conceptualize and create a month’s worth of posts in a day and I love never having to wonder...

What should I post today? 

I’ve got it planned out and my posts support my business goals. 

I’m ready to share it all with you in our new course debuting next month,
📱 Instagram for Creatives 🎨 where you’ll learn to confidently create and plan on-brand content that builds your community and business on Instagram.

Join the waiting list via our bio 🔗. 

This course is years in the making and I can’t wait to show you the behind the scenes of how I manage two accounts and over 30k followers.
Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

If it’s not obvious, I choose the later. 

Here’s to my 47th year on this planet and every beautiful, sad, funny or confusing moment. Thank you to all the people who have loved and supported me and made life more interesting. Ever grateful for it all. 

P.S. - Last year I started this birthday tradition of making a slideshow of myself through the years. The idea behind it is to destigmatize self-celebration. Why shouldn’t we toot our own horn? The answer is, we should!

Birthdays are the ideal time to look at yourself with the eyes of someone who adores you. YES, you can (and should) adore yourself! We’re taught that self-love makes us conceited & that it’s a bad thing but loving yourself is actually pretty selfless.

Hear me out! If you love yourself, you’ll embrace the best parts of you & share them. When you share those parts with the world, you make it a better place!

It’s scary to put yourself out there but you can’t let that little voice hold you back.

Think about the artists, musicians, actors, chefs, writers etc. who inspired you, made you see things from a new perspective, caused you to swell with emotion or made you feel less alone.

I bet every single one of them wrestled with their inner critic. How much less magic & beauty would be in the world if they gave in to that voice saying, “what makes you think you’re so special?” etc.

If you want to get me a birthday present, it won’t cost you a dime.

Comment below with something you love about yourself. It can be a talent, accomplishment, natural gift etc.

It can be BIG or tiny (if you’re proud of yourself for getting out of bed today despite feeling anxious/depressed, that’s something to be proud of & love about yourself and it isn’t tiny). Sometimes the smallest things can feel like mountains.

Get to it! I can’t wait to celebrate YOU today!

#innerwork #innercriticbegone #impostersyndrome #movingforward #keeponkeepingon #birthdaywishes #smallbizsupport #smallbusinesssupport
What can you expect at Craftcation 2024? ✨Five What can you expect at Craftcation 2024?

✨Five life-changing days at the beach in California.
🎨💻Over 200 craft and business classes taught by industry experts.
😍Lots of social gatherings to connect, educate and foster community.

As multi-year alum @marshmueller said...
“Craftcation has this effect… when you walk through the door it’s almost like a magical transformation.”

Holly and all the other alums and newbies... we can’t wait to see you next April!

Discounted early bird registration is open now! 

#craftcation #craftconference #smallbusinesssupport #smallbizlife #artconvention #craftconvention #makersformakers
Which emoji best describes how you cope with appli Which emoji best describes how you cope with application anxiety? 

🍷 📓 📚 📺 🎧 👯‍♀️ 🌮 👟 or something else? 

Application anxiety is real! Remember, one craft fair won’t make or break or break your business.

BTW: Our @thepatchworkshow applications close next week on 9.27. Apply via our bio 🔗. 

We have SEVEN awesome locations in California this fall.

🏖 Long Beach @marinestadium 10.29
☀️ Ventura @downtownventura 11.5
🌆 Tustin @oldtowntustin 11.12
🌉 Oakland @jacklondonsq 11.18
🌳 Redwood City @cityofredwoodcity 11.26
🎨 Sebastopol @sebastopolarts 12.2
🛳 San Pedro @craftedportla 12.10

#craftshow #craftshowprep #smallbizowner #smallbiztips #smallbusinessowner #smallbusiness #makerfaire
Ready for the last one? You have to tell yoursel Ready for the last one? 

You have to tell yourself the new story over and over until you believe in its truth. You may not believe your new story at first, you probably didn’t believe the negative story that you’ve been telling yourself all these years at first either but you kept telling yourself and eventually it felt like the truth. You can do that with the positive story...

📣Tell it to yourself again and again until it becomes the truth. 

This process sounds simple but it isn’t. You’re basically trying to change the way your brain works, the way you think and that isn’t easy. 

⛷Imagine if you skied down the same mountain every day, several times a day. Your skies would make a path in the snow. Imagine you did this for years, like 20 or more years. That path would be deep. 

❄️Then, one day you decide there’s a better way to ski down the mountain. You point your skis in this new direction but after a few feet, you’re back in that old path. 

🗻Every time you go down the mountain, you may be able to go a few more feet on this new path, heck, some days, you may hit a stride and go for 10 or 20 feet on this new path but it takes patience, determination and resilience. 

🧠This is what it’s like to adjust your mindset in your brain. You’re basically carving new neural pathways in your brain for your thoughts to move from, you can’t do this to yeah, we’ve got this! 

Now that you have all this information, what are you supposed to do with it? I want you to take action! I want to help you bridge the gap between understanding and doing.

Join the waiting list for our course Goals Getters Academy where you’ll figure out what you really want and craft a doable plan to make it happen. Just DM me goals and your email address and I’ll add you to the list or join via our bio link. 

#innercriticbegone #innercritic #craftbizlife #craftershelpingcrafters #craftersgonnacraft #smallbizowner #smallbusinessowner

© DEAR HANDMADE LIFE 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS SITE USES AFFILIATE LINKS. WE DISCLOSE ALL SPONSORED POSTS BY NAMING THE SPONSOR IN THE POST.

Scroll to top

from our studio... to yours

Get our mostly monthly emails featuring event updates, secret deals, pep talks and inspiration to make every day awesome.