The CraftSanity Podcast

Alicia Paulson lives with the lasting effects of an accident, but has worked hard to craft herself a beautiful future. She shares how she became a successful crafty designer and businesswoman.

Leah Kramer, the woman who launched Craftster in 2003 and has watched its member base grow to more than 60,000 crafty people around the globe, shares her story.

Drew Emborsky is a shy man who loves to crochet. He loves it so much that he crochets from morning till night, six days a week working very hard to build his reputation as a pattern designer. On this episode of CraftSanity, Drew will share the story of how he landed in Houston, Texas and began to make a name for himself as The Crochet Dude.

If you’ve ever considered launching your own podcast or you want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes, you’re in luck. This week CraftyPod producer Diane Gilleland, a.k.a. Sister Diane, and I chat about what goes into creating a crafty podcast.

Greg Der Ananian is the 30-year-old proud founder of Bazaar Bizarre, a punk rock craft fair that features crafty venders with talent and attitude. Greg is also the author of “Bazaar Bizarre Not Your Granny’s Craft Book” featuring projects ideas from Greg and several of his crafty friends.

Textile designer and fiber artist Melanie Testa is going to inspire us with the story of how she crafted her way out of a bad situation. Today she’s an up and coming artist living in Norwalk, Conn. Her freezer paper resist project is featured in the spring issue of Quilting Arts magazine.

Leigh Radford didn’t set out to be a knitwear designer. She's been knitting since age 13, but it wasn't until a layoff from a graphic design job that she found her bliss and realized she could make a living off of her knitting by coupling the crafty skills she had learned as a child with her professional design experience. Instead of pounding the pavement in search of another 9-to-5 gig, she got a part-time job at a yarn shop and soon discovered her fabulous talent for creative pattern design. Now, at age 45, Leigh lives in Portland, Oregon, where she happily creates wonderful knitting patterns and enjoys success as a knitting book author.

AKrylik and PolyCotN are the founders of Knitta, a 10-member crew of yarn and needle-toting graffiti artists who are tagging the streets of Houston, Texas with vibrant knitted art.

Denyse Schmidt, of Bridgeport, Conn., learned to sew as a child, but she didn’t set out to revolutionize the world of quilting. That just the way it worked out.

Thanks to Claire Garland we all can knit a super cute alternative to the mass produced, virtually unattainable stereotype of the female form. It’s time to meet a hip new crew of spectacular “Knitted Babes.”

This week we’re going to sample Kathy Cano Murillo’s glittery world. She’s the Crafty Chica and she’s crafting everywhere these days. This 41-year-old working mother writes a nationally syndicated craft column for The Arizona Republic, designs and sells latino artwork from her home studio, and just came out with a new book called “Crafty Chica’s Art de la Soul, Glittery Ideas to Liven Up Your Life.”

Fasten Your Craft Fairy Wings and tune in for an interview with one of the freest spirits on the planet. Her name is Violette Clark and she is an extremely brave woman. She’s an illustrator and folk artist who isn’t afraid to stand out. She lives in British Columbia, Canada in the purple house she named the “Magic Cottage” and travels about in the “Glitter Girl” van, a ride she pimped out with a wild paint job and inspirational sayings. Check out more at craftsanity.com

Craftsanity is a place to escape the daily grind and renew your creative spirit through interviews with artists. Renée Rigdon and Zabet Stewart aren't ashamed of their anger. They're so comfortable with it, in fact, that they made it their inspiration for The Anti Craft, their online craft zine where they celebrate the darker side of crafting. You won't find any foo-foo patterns or girlie, girlie designs on their site. What you will find an assortment of cool craft patterns to channel your rage against whatever is that ticks you off. Check out more at craftsanity.com

Today's episode features John Murphy, the artist, illustrator, comic author and sock collector who makes creatures out of socks. You can, too, with his book, "Stupid Sock Creatures." Check out more at craftsanity.com

Today's episode features Jeffrey Yamaguchi, a 35-year-old writer, website publisher and author of the inspiring book, "52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity." Check out more at craftsanity.com