As 2011 came to a close, Hello Craft had a lot of awesome crafts, new friends and events to reminisce over. 2011 was one of Hello Craft’s busiest years, not only for our organization, but for the ever-evolving handmade community that continues to lead the way in creative innovation, as well as an economic powerhouse.

Between the Summit of Awesome, Crafty Bastards and partnerships with innovative projects and new creative-minded companies, there was never a dull moment with Hello Craft. And while we are already gearing up for a fun and crafty 2012, we wanted to take a step back in time to check out all the fun happenings that made up 2011…

We wrote a (super awesome!) business-of-craft book that will be out in July of this year…

Partnered with Mt. Pleasant Mainstreet to produce D.C.’s favorite handmade pop-up shop, The Temporium…

Added new blog content and more contests and giveaways than ever…

Got a DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Grant to bring our Make Something Awesome Area to events around the Nation’s Capitol…

Co-Produced the 8th annual Crafty Bastards Arts &  Crafts Fair with Washington City Paper and 0ur new friends at Roadside Food Projects…

Brought the 3rd annual Summit of Awesome with our Craftnote Speakers, Debbie Stroller + Laurie Henzel (Bust Magazine), and Jay McCarroll (Season 1 Project Runway winner), to Baltimore, Maryland…

Hosted a super fun night of printmaking and booze with the awesome Kyle Durrie and her Moveable Type truck.

So while 2011 is behind us, we look forward to a fabulous year of new partners, new crafts and new events in 2012. If you haven’t joined Hello Craft already, we welcome you to become a member or join our email list.

Scoutmob says:

It’s the holidays. You’re in gift-buying, festive party-planning, dining out with friends mode. So what better time of year to jump aboard the Scoutmob “shop indie”" bandwagon? Make a decision to support independent shops and restaurants, using the Scoutmob app as a compass to discover the best small businesses at a great price near you.

Plus, when you sign up, you’re entered to win one of three Etsy shopping sprees. Enter to win here.

What handmade sellers or independent businesses are you buying from this year? Let us know your favorites in the comments below.

On Day 3, there was a half day of programming followed by the annual class photo, as seen to the right. The Summit of Awesome ended with the Make Something Awesome Party, sponsored by MailChimp. The party concluded with an ultimate Crafty Throwdown competition where one of our amazing volunteers Matthew won the title and a $100 gift certificate to Etsy.

Wondering what others had to say about the Summit of Awesome? Read on:

• Baltimore Etsy Street Team: The Summit of Awesome
• Baltimore Examiner: Local summit for craftspeople teaches marketing and selling your work
• Craftzine: Summit of Awesome, Day 2
• Carrie J Keplinger: Everyone Needs Some Awesome
• Poor Robin: Summit of Awesome
• The Scientific Seamstress: The Summit Awesome!
• Stylist Home: Crafters Unite for Summit of Awesome 2011
• Unanimous Craft: All Summit of Awesome Posts
• Isaac B. Watson: What I Learned At The Summit of Awesome , Who I Met At The Summit of Awesome

Photos from the 2011 Summit of Awesome are on Flickr here. If you attended the Summit as an attendee, volunteer or speaker we invite you to add photos to the group pool.

Want to party with someone that had the awesome idea to convert a delivery truck into a mobile letterpress studio and has been touring the country in said studio for a good chunk of 2011? Yes? Us, too!

Hello Craft is excited to welcome Kyle Durrie and her mobile letterpress studio to the District of Columbia next week! Please join us Thursday, November 3rd for a Make Something Awesome party we’re throwing in her honor. You can RSVP via Facebook here.

Stop by American Ice Company (near the 9:30 Club) next Thursday between 5:30pm-8pm to check-out Kyle’s awesome studio, try your hand at letterpress and dive into other craft projects available at the Make Something Awesome area. In addition to our button maker, we’ll have everything you’ll need to knit a beer koozie, decorate a coaster or make envelopes from old 6-packs.

What: Make Something Awesome Party with Kyle Durrie & her mobile letterpress studio

When: Thursday, November 3rd 5:30pm-8pm

Where: American Ice Company, 917 V Street NW, Washington, D.C. (google map)

Cost: Free!

Want to know more about Kyle and her Movable Type project? Follow the links and educate yourself.

• Media
  The Truck
  Tour Dates
  Kyle’s Kickstarter Project
  Kyle’s Etsy Shop

The first morning sessions began including Letterpress with Baltimore Print Studio; Goals and Intentions with Kari Chapin; Pricing Your Work with Megan Auman & Tara Gentile and Craft Fair Booth Set Up and Display with Caitlin Phillips.

Next up was: Letterpress with Baltimore Print Studio; Wholesaling 101 with Kasey and Kelly Evick and Rhonda and Elijah Wyman; Storytelling in Marketing and Business Creation with Tina Seamonster; Craft Fair Applications with Rachel Bone and Andrea and Robert Tucker and Pitch Your Craft Book with Kate McKean.

Today’s lunch and Craftnote was with the amazing Jay McCarroll, as seen to the right. He painted a picture of how he got started in fashion and how he got to where he is today.

The first afternoon sessions were: How and When to Hire Help with Jon Wye, Rhonda and Elijah Wyman and Willo O’Brien; Best of Etsy Success with Danielle Maveal; Your Craft in Galleries with Jaime Zollars and Diane Koss and Crafty Throwdown with Kimberly Dorn and Christine Ernest.

The next afternoon sessions were: Brainstorming and Recording Stories with Tina Seamonster; Event Sponsorship with Kimberly Dorn and Christy Petterson; Copyright vs. Trademark with Diane Leigh Davison MLA; Email Marketing with Amy Ellis and Sharon Teng and Etsy Shop Critique with Danielle Maveal.

Finally the day ended with a Book Garland Workshop with Caitlin Phillips, Let’s Gocco Like It’s 2004! Workshop with Raina Hassan; The Importance of Photography with Miranda Lievers; What the Creative Business Owner Can Learn from Improv with Amanda Hirsh; Social Media 101 with Lish Dorset and Willo O’Brien and Etsy Shop Critique with Danielle Maveal.

Later tonight is also an Etsy Meetup in Baltimore which is open to the public. More information is available here.

To view more photos from the Summit of Awesome, please check out our Flickr pool here. And all attendees, volunteers and speakers are invited to add their photos as well!

One of the most inspiring, hardest working crafters I know is my business partner. She organizes the Indie Craft Experience with me and is an amazing crafter (duh, otherwise she wouldn’t be my business partner). Shannon Mulkey is a busy gal (understatement.) and we literally had this conversation while on our flight to the Summit of Awesome in Baltimore!

Hi Shannon, thanks for sitting next to me on the way to Baltimore! Tell us a little about your art and craft background.
I’ve been crafting my entire life. I studied psychology and art in college but I’ve always crafted. I started sewing and making clothes in 2004 and helped organize a fashion show in that year in Atlanta called Breaker Breaker. That’s when I knew I’d found what I’d be doing. There was a full page in the AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) of photos of my dresses and I felt like if I got that without even trying that I better keep it up.

Then I met you in October of 2004 at Kraftwork at Young Blood in Atlanta and also participated in Stitch in Austin that same month. We started organizing the Indie Craft Experience in January 2005 and participated in our first Renegade in Brooklyn in June of that year. The rest is history. I haven’t stopped or looked back since then.

It’s crazy how things snowball! Before you know it, you are busy with crafts all the time! What are you working on right now?
I’m an art educator at a Montessori elementary school and I teach a modern craft class at Savannah College of Art’s Atlanta campus. I’m also an art educator at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Also at the High, I’m creative director of Culture Shock, which is programming for 20 and 30 year olds. It’s exhibit specific so currently I’m working on our Masquerade Ball for Halloween weekend which ties in to the “Modern Masters, Picasso to Warhol” exhibit. For New Year’s Eve we are transforming the museum into Andy Warhol’s factory. I’m also working on the next Indie Craft Experience holiday show and our wedding show that’s in a few months and our holiday pop-up shop.

I’m the sole designer and seamstress for Patina. Right now is the busiest time of year. I just got back from doing Renegade in Chicago and Crafty Bastards in DC. I’m getting ready to restock stores that carry Patina for the holiday season. I also just joined the beehive in Atlanta and will start selling there in November. Patina is a small line of handmade clothes and accessories. I use mainly vintage and recycled materials, a lot of knits and wool. I make my own patterns inspired by vintage clothing but with a modern twist. I come out with two limited edition lines per year. Sometimes I’m inspired by the vintage fabric that I find and I’ll only make like 3 dresses of that particular design. I also make a lot of one-of-a-kind.

I sell at craft shows around the country and at small boutiques. I like combining textures and colors. When I started sewing I’d take a vintage dress apart to see how it was made. I also used old sheets and sewed them into dresses. It was economical and also made the pieces unique. I love finding a small run of vintage fabric, like 3-10 yards, and making something modern out of it. It’s satisfying because it is more one-of-a-kind and there is some history to it.

So what inspires you?
My friends inspire me. Seeing what they’re making as well as other crafters and members of the DIY community really inspires me.

Well you certainly are busy Shannon! Thanks for talking with me (and not ignoring me while I’m sitting next to you on the plane).

The morning began with registration and a chance to craft your own name badge or project in the Make Something Awesome Area.

We then started the first morning sessions: Branding and Identity with Jeffery Everett; Making the Not-So-Fun Stuff Easier So You Can Save Time and Sell More with Willo O’Brien; Screen Printing with Christy Petterson; Unblocking Your Creativity with Danielle Maveal and Community, Mafias, and Street Teams with Rachel Bone, Jen Menkhaus and Isaac Watson, as seen to the right.

Next was the lunch and Craftnote with BUST co-founders Debbie Stoller and Laurie Henzel on the topic of DIY or Die: How We Started and Maintained Our DIY Business for 18 Years and Counting, as seen below. They talked about the early days of BUST (when it was just a zine!) and Debbie’s first job at Nickelodeon (helping transcribe the script of Hey Dude).

Following that were the first afternoon sessions and workshops: Shameless Self-Promotion with Debbie Stoller and Laurie Henzel; Craft Fair Organizing with Rachel Bone and Andrea and Robert Tucker; Crafting Green with Becky Striepe and Shannon Mulkey; Licensing 101 with Jeffery Evertt and Jon Wye and Etsy Shop Critique with Danielle Maveal.

The next afternoon sessions followed with: Reverse Applique with Shannon Mulkey; Let’s Gocco Like It’s 2004! with Rania Hassan; Nerdy Tech: Understanding SEO and Analytics with Tara Gentile;  How to Use Light in Your Product Shots with Miranda Lievers; The Press: How to Get and Deal with Coverage with Kelly Rand and Christine Ernest and Pitch Your Craft Book with Kate McKean.

Finally, the last afternoon sessions were: Make Your Own Body Scrub with Kasey and Kelly Evick; Show Me the Money! with Caitlin Phillips; Blogs, Books and Magazines, Oh My! with Kate McKean, Lish Dorset and Kari Chapin; Legalities of Starting Your Business with Diane Leigh Davison MLA and Etsy Shop Critique with Danielle Maveal.

If you have photo from the Summit please add them to the Summit of Awesome Flickr group or to the Hello Craft Facebook page.

Also, if you couldn’t make it but want to follow along online on Twitter please follow the hashtag #summitofawesome for updates from the Hello Craft Directors and attendees.

Now excuse us while we continue last minute prep for all the awesomeness to come today.

Don’t worry. We’re here to help. This post includes suggested sessions that focus on one of the following areas:

Business Operations and Management
Sales, Revenue Streams and Profitability
Branding, Marketing and Promoting Your Business
Craft Shows
Handmade Community
Publishing for Handmade Businesses

First, consider where you could use improvement or what areas of focus might have the most impact on your business. Are your business operations in order or could they use some brushing up? Do you enjoy the creative side of your business, but cringe when it comes to sales? Or maybe you’re interested in connecting with and growing your local handmade community. Keep reading- we’ve got you covered.

More after the jump.

Want to focus on the nuts and bolts of your business and how it operates? Try these sessions:

>—— Thursday ——<
10:45am–Making the Not-So-Fun Stuff Easier So You Can Save Time and Sell More with Willo O’Brien

1:45pm–Crafting Green with Becky Striepe and Shannon Mulkey OR Licensing 101 with Jeffery Everett and Jon Wye

3:15pm–Nerdy Tech: Understanding SEO and Analytics with Tara Gentile OR The Press: How to Get and Deal with Coverage with Kelly Rand and Christine Ernest

4:45pm–Legalities of Starting your business with Diane Leigh Davison OR Show Me the Money! with Caitlin Phillips

>—— Friday ——<
10:15am Goals and Intentions with Kari Chapin OR Pricing your Work with Megan Auman and Tara Gentile

11:45am–Storytelling in Marketing and Business Creation with Tina Seamonster OR Wholesaling 101 with Kasey and Kelly Evick and Rhonda and Elijah Wyman

1:45pm–How and When to Hire Help with Jon Wye, Rhonda and Elijah Wyman and WIllo O’Brien OR Best of Etsy Success with Danielle Maveal

3:15pm–Copyright vs. Trademark with Diane Leigh Davison

4:45pm–The Importance of Photography with Miranda Lievers OR What the Creative Business Owner Can Learn from Improv with Amanda Hirsch

>—— Saturday ——<
9:30am–The Language of Successful Sales with Caitlin Phillips

11am–Leveling up Your Site with Video with Willo O’Brien OR Dress up your Products with Packaging with Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt

Looking to improve your sales or just want to understand and enjoy the process more? Check out these talks from speakers with a passion for sales that lead to profit.

>—— Thursday ——<
10:45am–Making the Not-So-Fun Stuff Easier So You Can Save Time and Sell More with Willo O’Brien

1:45pm– Shameless Self-Promotion with Debbie Stoller and Laurie Henzel OR Etsy Shop Critique One-on-ones with Danielle Maveal (pre-registration required, additional fee)

3:15pm–How to use Light in your Product Shots with Miranda Lievers OR Nerdy Tech: Understanding SEO and Analytics with Tara Gentile

4:45pm–Show Me the Money! with Caitlin Phillips OR Etsy Shop Critique One-on-ones with Danielle Maveal (pre-registration required, additional fee)

>—— Friday ——<
10:15am –Pricing your Work with Megan Auman and Tara Gentile

11:45am–Wholesaling 101 with Kasey and Kelly Evick and Rhonda and Elijah Wyman

1:45pm–Best of Etsy Success with Danielle Maveal OR Your Craft in Galleries with Jaime Zollars and Diane Koss

3:15pm–Email Marketing with Amy Ellis and Sharon Teng OR Etsy Shop Critique One-on-ones with Danielle Maveal (pre-registration required, additional fee)

4:45pm–The Importance of Photography with Miranda Lievers OR What the Creative Business Owner Can Learn from Improv with Amanda Hirsch OR Etsy Shop Critique One-on-ones with Danielle Maveal (pre-registration required, additional fee)

>—— Saturday ——<
9:30am–Popup Shops and Temporary Shows with Kim Dorn and Christy Petterson OR The Language of Successful Sales with Caitlin Phillips OR Etsy Shop Critique One-on-ones with Danielle Maveal (pre-registration required, additional fee)

11am–Dress up your Products with Packaging with Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt

Make awesome stuff and need help getting the word out? Need to be more consistent and efficient in your marketing? The experts leading these sessions will surely impress you with their depth of knowledge, inspire you with their creativity, and challenge you with their brazenness.

>—— Thursday ——<
10:45am–Branding and Identity with Jeffery Everett

1:45pm–Shameless Self-Promotion with Debbie Stoller and Laurie Henzel

3:15pm–The Press: How to Get and Deal with Coverage with Kelly Rand and Christine Ernest OR Nerdy Tech: Understanding SEO and Analytics with Tara Gentile

4:45pm–Blogs, Books and Magazines, Oh my! with Kate McKean, Lish Dorset and Kari Chapin

>—— Friday ——<
10:15–Booth Set up and Display with Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt

11:45am–Storytelling in Marketing and Business Creation with Tina Seamonster

1:45pm–Your Craft in Galleries with Jaime Zollars and Diane Koss OR Best of Etsy Success with Danielle Maveal

3:15pm–Email Marketing with Amy Ellis and Sharon Teng

4:45pm–Social Media 101 with Lish Dorset and Willo O’Brien

>—— Saturday ——<
9:30am–Podcasting 101 with Tina Seamonster and Jason Nelson

11am–Leveling up Your Site with Video with Willo O’Brien OR Dress up your Products with Packaging with Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt

Intimidated by craft show applications or the idea of setting up a booth? Maybe you want to organize your own.These sessions are for you:

>—— Thursday ——<
1:45pm–Craft fair Organizing with Rachel Bone, Andrea and Robert Tucker

4:45pm–Show Me the Money! with Caitlin Phillips

>—— Friday ——<
10:15–Booth Set up and Display with Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt

11:45am–Craft Fair Applications with Rachel Bone and Andrea and Robert Tucker

3:15pm–Event Sponsorship with Kim Dorn and Christy Petterson

4:45pm–What the Creative Business Owner Can Learn from Improv with Amanda Hirsch

>—— Saturday ——<
9:30am–Popup Shops and Temporary Shows with Kim Dorn and Christy Petterson

These sessions will help you make connections and learn about ways to grow the handmade community.

>—— Thursday ——<
10:45am–Community, Mafias, and Street Teams with Rachel Bone, Jen Menkhaus and Isaac Watson

1:45pm–Craft fair Organizing with Rachel Bone, Andrea and Robert Tucker

>—— Friday ——<
4:45pm–Social Media 101 with Lish Dorset and Willo O’Brien

>—— Saturday ——<
11am–Connecting to Your Community with Isaac Watson

Think publishing is the right avenue for your business? Explore the different platforms available or even pitch your craft book in one of the following sessions.

>—— Thursday ——<
3:15pm–Pitch Your Craft Book One-on-ones with Kate McKean (pre-registration required, additional fee)

4:45pm–Blogs, Books and Magazines, Oh my! with Kate McKean, Lish Dorset and Kari Chapin

>—— Friday ——<
11:45am–Storytelling in Marketing and Business Creation with Tina Seamonster OR Pitch Your Craft Book One-on-ones with Kate McKean (pre-registration required, additional fee)

3:15pm–Brainstorming and Recording Stories with Tina Seamonster

>—— Saturday ——<
9:30am–Podcasting 101 with Tina Seamonster and Jason Nelson

11am–Leveling up Your Site with Video with Willo O’Brien OR Pitch Your Craft Book One-on-ones with Kate McKean (pre-registration required, additional fee)

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Need a break from the business side and looking for some creative inspiration? Try any of the workshops, participate in the Crafty Throwdown and experiment with the projects and supplies in the Make Something Awesome area. More details about these hands-on, creative options at the summit will be posted next week.

So, who’s going to what? Still stuck deciding between two sessions? Tell us in the comments.