conference · News · speakers · workshops

Want to present at Midwest Craft Con 2023?

Midwest Craft Con is looking for experienced and knowledgeable creative business owners to share their expertise with our attendees.

Our audience ranges from hobbyists, small business owners just starting out to those who have been in business for 10+ years. A successful pitch will keep one of those people in mind, and we love it when pitches have their own spin on the topic.

Breakout and Workshop sessions are 1.5 hours in length, with built in Q&A time. We are looking for sessions specifically targeted to makers regarding marketing, business, finances, legalities, work-life balance, ideation, creativity and other craft business issues. To get an idea of sessions and workshops we’ve had in the past, check out 2020s schedule here.

Workshops are designed for participants to engage with creativity, regardless of skillset. All projects should be designed as a beginner level. Allowing new students to engage and advanced students to relax. 

Invited presenters will receive an honorarium, hotel stay and admission to our three-day conference with some additional surprises. We regret we aren’t able to invite to everyone who submits an idea, but we hope you will plan to join us no matter what!

We’ll get back to everyone who submits a speaking proposal in the middle of August, and announce the 2023 speaker lineup shortly thereafter.

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conference · craft shows · Craftin' Outlaws · keynotes · News · speakers

Save the Date for Midwest Craft Con 2023!

Midwest Craft Con is back and we have so many exciting announcements to share! 

Who’s speaking at the CON?
Our keynote for 2023 will be: Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts.

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Toni Lipsey, the designer and instructor behind TL Yarn Crafts, strives to inspire others’ creativity through online tutorials and modern, approachable crochet patterns. Toni learned to crochet from her mother as a teenager and has been exploring the possibilities of yarn ever since. Her current design obsessions are oversized shawls and modern home decor. When she’s not crocheting, you can find Toni cuddled with her 2 kittens and husband in her Ohio home, binge-watching the latest true-crime thriller on Netflix. Follow her daily crochet journey on Instagram and pick up her book, The Tunisian Crochet Handbook, and patterns on tlyarncrafts.com.  Stay tuned for our full length keynote interview.

When is Midwest Craft Con returning?
Never Craft Alone at Midwest Craft Con which will be held March 31 – April 2, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio!

In addition to the 3 day conference, we are adding Craftin’ Outlaws, our annual marketplace on Sunday, April 2 to close the event. 

All experiences will be hosted at the Columbus Museum of Art. Attendees will gain access to the Museum and discounted room rate but it’s not required to stay at our contracted hotel. 

Ticket Breakdown:

  • $299.00 – Member tickets open 9/15/2022
  • $349.00 – Early Bird tickets open 10/1/2022
  • $450.00 – General admission tickets opens 11/01/2022
  • $175.00 – $200.00 Day passes open 1/15/2023

If you haven’t been to our conference, prepare yourself for an endless weekend filled with pom poms and googly eyes, while you build your creative business. Get ready for our keynote(s) to fill you with inspiration, meet your creative heroes you admire online, and prepare to see colleagues you only see across the aisle at craft fairs.  Make new friends who help provide the extra drive you need to keep your business growing, long after the conference has ended. 

Read more about joining us and lodging

Stay tuned for speaker & workshop sign ups, scholarship forms, roommate options, and interviews with our keynote(s) and so much more!

News

What Makers Want: Gifts for Creatives

Looking to buy a gift for the creative in your life?

We decided to highlight the keynotes of Midwest Craft Con past, not to mention those of Midwest Craft Con future in 2020. Explore their shops and products to find something for the creative on your list.  Of course, the most helpful thing you could give a maker for the holidays is a ticket to Midwest Craft Con.

LISA CONGDON – 2016

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One of our first keynotes at Midwest Craft Con artist, and illustrator Lisa Congdon brings her expertise to this guide to the process of artistic self-discovery.

GEMMA CORRELL – 2018

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Gemma Correll taught us that periods and pugs make the world go round and she offers a limitless supply of products that keep us entertained and inspired.

JEN HEWITT – 2017

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Our 2018 Keynote, Jen Hewitt, fills the pages of this book with textile examples and simple sewing projects for creatives.

TWINKIE CHAN – 2020

For those who love food and crochet, explore the online shop of Twinkie Chan. Download a pattern, some brightly colored yarn and start making. Also explore books and premade goods. We can’t wait to meet Twinkie Chan at the next Midwest Craft Con.

CRAFTY CHICA – 2018

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Kathy Cano-Murillo, aka Crafty Chica, sprinkled in all her positivity in 2018 with how she built her creative business from the ground up, with the assist of glitter and hard work. She offers a wide assortment of books and products.

ABBY GLASSENBERG – 2016

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In 2017 we meet Abby Glassenberg, a sewer, podcaster and who was in the infancy of Craft Industry Alliance. This online membership group hosts live meetups, articles and provides countless discounts and advice for and from other creatives.

YAO CHENG -2017

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Yao Cheng continues to share her skills, as she did in 2018, through online session on Creativebug. Sign up and follow along as she teaches a series of beginning watercolor courses.

SARA TRAIL – 2020

We are all looking forward to hear more about Social Justice Sewing Academy and the journey that craft has taken Sara on through her work with this non-profit. You can give the gift of a donation and attend Sara’s keynote address in 2020.

CHRIS GLASS – 2017

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Back in 2017, Chris Glass taught us to slow down and observe our surroundings. To take the time to walk around, to reevaluate what and how we wanted our life to transform. His side business Wire & Twine offers apparel that speaks to Midwest roots.

Anything else on your wish list this year? Share your favorite gifts for makers in the comments!

keynotes · News

Twinkie Chan

You may know Twinkie Chan as a crochet designer, author, blogger, YouTuber, and Creativebug instructor known for her colorful, food-themed accessories like cupcake scarves, hamburger mitts, and slushee cup purses.

She also happens to be one of our 2020 keynote speakers joining us at the 4th installment of Midwest Craft Con! We found a minute to chat over the phone to discuss her unexpected start and her proudest moment in craft.

What was it like when you first launched Twinkie Chan? 

It all started kind of slowly and accidentally. I launched a website which had only 12 Paypal buttons on it. I’m not a web person so I didn’t know how to update it and Etsy wasn’t yet a thing that everybody was doing. A lot of DIY fashion people were using eBay which was really easy to set up and you could watch everyone bid on things. I was list something for $0.99 and for some reason a bidding frenzy would mean that somebody would buy a cupcake scarf for like $300! I never would have priced my work at that high of a price but it all created a word-of-mouth for my business. There was also a negative response from people, who would get upset, as if I was creating false accounts and raising the prices on my own but that’s not what I was doing.

eBay was really its own unique experience but then I started to sell on Etsy, and I liked the idea of more than one person being offered the chance to buy my items and giving customers more options. At first I had a woman in France who bought multiple items– She was buying everything!

Craft shows for me just didn’t work with crocheted products but it served as great marketing and I viewed the expense as advertising.

Most recently you’ve segmented your business into a download format where people can buy patterns from you. When did you identify that pattern design would be an additional revenue stream for you?

In the beginning I never thought I would share the patterns because I thought it was a secret, but in no way is that true. I thought that if I released the pattern that people would go to make that item and sell it in their own shop and I would be creating an army of competition against myself. 

I would release some patterns on Etsy, but I never really put a lot of time into it like I could’ve. I have a YouTube channel, classes at Creativebug, and advertising revenue from the blogging, but there wasn’t really a turning point for me sewing patterns when people started demanding it.

 

I initially launched Twinkie Chan it in the fall of 2005. I was doing it full time from 2009-2017, and now I work as a social media manager and digital marketing for a small clothing and gift company.

I’m an English major and worked in publishing as a literary agent for a while. I learned how to turn art into a commodity, which sounds sad, but we are here to make a living. Thinking of it from that mentality helped me with my Twinkie Chan brand. I picked up the skills as my own brand grew and while marketing is not a passion of mine— my love is designing— but when you’re promoting your own work you really need to learn how to market yourself. You really have to be a one women show.

Did the literary job help you in launching your books?

It definitely helped. With the whole process. You don’t just write a book and pitch it. You write a proposal, and pitch that before you start writing the actual book. So I was very familiar with what goes into a proposal and what makes it appealing. For my second book, I wrote my own pitch letter and had a friend who helped pitch the book. I created my own list of editors to seek out.

Then there’s the process for after you write the book. I think a lot of first time authors think the publisher is going to help handle a lot of it— but it’s really on you.

Publishers don’t have the money, the resources or the manpower to market the book, so you really have to find a way to self market after it’s been published yourself. 

My job was really just to help creatives make money through their art, but my book deal really didn’t come from any of those connections at all. My goal in the beginning for my crochet work was to mass-produce the finished designs and have a licensing agent for that. For various reasons it was difficult to break into licensing agreements for my scarves. My first licensing deal was for the books, which was organized by my licensing agent who handles it and not through any of my own contacts.

What is the one either product or experience that you’re the most proud of?

I promised with my first book that I would have my book signing at my local yarn shop, and I didn’t know that my parents were going to show up. It wasn’t as much as they were there, but it was kind of the first time that they understood that this is what I was doing and saw tangible representation of my work. It was actually a thing I was just super proud of! It makes you feel good when your parents understand what you’re about and I don’t think they understood until that point. 

What do you enjoy about conferences?

I’m a fairly introverted person, so any idea of attending or speaking is very intimidating, but I think it’s like summer camp: you’re really stressed out inside with anxiety, but once you start to meet the other people that are there and you all have a common love or common skill, you start to make really good friends. I never assume that it’s going to happen but it always does, especially if you keep in touch with social media. Meeting people that you’ve only really met on social media and making personal connections with people that love doing things that you love doing is so worth it.

What has your creative adventure been like?

Unexpected and unplanned, with an emphasis on creativity!

I never thought of myself as a business person. I started my crochet website and designed because I loved it. I had all these ideas and I wanted to share them. I ended up doing it full time for a small period and went through a licensing adventure in the apparel industry. I’ve published books and had a lot of things happen that I never could have imagined! It definitely wasn’t smooth or easy and there have been a lot of downs that have gone up with the up. You learn things and that it’s okay to fail.

Don’t forget to RSVP for Midwest Craft Con and get ready for grab your early bird ticket on September 1st!

conference · News · speakers · workshops

Want to teach at Midwest Craft Con 2020?

Midwest Craft Con is looking for experienced creative business owners to share their hands on experiences with our attendees.

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Last year attendees learned the art of shibori dying, crafted wooden jewelry and crafted their way into macrame with hands on workshops taught by creatives around the Midwest.  In 2020 we are once again looking for makers to teach their skills in a variety of different formats.

Invited teachers will receive an honorarium, hotel stay and admission to our three-day conference and some additional surprises. We regret we aren’t able to invite to everyone who submits an idea, but we hope you will plan to join us no matter what! Interested teachers should apply here.

If you’ve got an idea for a talk you’d like to give at Midwest Craft Con 2020, fill out this proposal form by July 28th! We’ll get back to everyone who submits a speaking proposal in the middle of August, and announce the 2020 speaker lineup shortly thereafter.

craft shows · News · Resources

Craft Show Bingo!

Crafted by our Social Media Manager, Margot Madison.

Craft Fair season is an exciting and challenging time, isn’t it? You work late into the night, creating new products that blister your fingers and make your eyes go googly. You design and re-design your booth for optimum sales appeal and portability, then pray it will fit into the trunk of your car. If you’re really on the ball, you actually remember to print business cards and takeaways brochures. Ha!

Once you get to the event venue, a new set of challenges arise. Where is the designated vendor parking? How far will you have to carry your boxes of product and your booth display? Did you actually remember to bring your card reader AND your power cord for your smartphone? Will you even have electrical power? Did you remember to bring enough cash to break a $100 that some clueless person brought to purchase your $4 item?

Did you prepare for the weather? Is it going to be torrential rains today? A freak hailstorm, perhaps? Or maybe just 99 degrees and sunny so that you can bake in your crafty little tent oven.

Then, fellow crafting queen, you must be ready for… The Comments. The endless, thoughtless, careless, clueless comments from casual craft show attendees. They mean well, bless them, but it can bring even the most optimistic crafty businesswoman to her knees.

You’re not alone, Craft Warriors. To help you find some modicum of enjoyment from these careless commenters and weather disasters, we created a Craft Show Bingo card (thank you for your inspiration Carey Gustafson!) to help maintain your sanity. Feel free to download and print. Better yet, share a few with your crafting brethren. 

We wish top sales and temperate weather weekends for you to find joy and success in your crafting hobby-turned-business this season.

Download this template for your enjoyment at your next fair!

When you REALLY need a break…The 2020 Midwest Craft Con is happening February 28-March 1. Join us for workshops on marketing, business tips and also for relaxing crafty fun. Bring a friend and enjoy a well deserved weekend of happiness. Click for more information on tickets.

conference · News · speakers

Want to talk at Midwest Craft Con 2020?

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2018 Midwest Craft Con Speakers from left to fight: Crafty Chica, Gemma Correll and Lesley Ware speaking on one of our all in panels.

Midwest Craft Con is looking for experienced creative business owners to share their experiences with our attendees.

Our audience ranges from small business owners just starting out to those who have been in business for 10 years. A successful session pitch will keep those business people in mind, and we love it when people put their own spin on the topic. Breakout sessions are 1.5 hours in length, including Q&A time. We are looking for sessions specifically targeted to makers regarding marketing, business, finances, legalities, work-life balance, ideation, creativity and other craft business issues. To get an idea of sessions we’ve had in the past, check out 2018’s schedule here.

Invited speakers will receive an honorarium, hotel stay and admission to our three-day conference and some additional surprises. We regret we aren’t able to invite to everyone who submits an idea, but we hope you will plan to join us no matter what!

If you’ve got an idea for a talk you’d like to give at Midwest Craft Con 2020, fill out this proposal form by July 28th! We’ll get back to everyone who submits a speaking proposal in the middle of August, and announce the 2020 speaker lineup shortly thereafter. Interested teachers should apply here, if you’d like to teach a hands on course.

keynotes · News

Save the Date for Midwest Craft Con 2020!

Midwest Craft Con is back and we have so many exciting announcements to share! Grab your ticket today. 

Who’s speaking at the CON?
Our keynotes for 2020 will be:.

  • Twinkie Chan is a crochet designer, author, blogger, YouTuber, and Creativebug instructor known for her colorful, food-themed accessories like cupcake scarves, hamburger mitts, and slushee cup purses
  • Sara Trail is an author, sewing teacher and pattern and fabric designer. A graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, she founded the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) to be a platform where youth create art that engages and educates communities. craft con 2019 (3).png

When is Midwest Craft Con returning?
Crafting your own adventure at Midwest Craft Con will start on February 28th – March 1st, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio! If you haven’t been to our conference, prepare yourself for a an endless weekend filled with pom poms and googly eyes, while you build your creative business. Get ready for our keynotes to fill you with inspiration, meet your creative heroes you admire online, and prepare to see colleagues you only see across the aisle at festivals.  Make new friends who help provide the extra drive you need to keep your business growing, long after the conference has ended.

Our theme for 2020 is Craft Your Own Adventure. We will return to the concrete cornfields (Google it!) of Dublin, Ohio. Our craft headquarters will be the Embassy Suites outside of Columbus.

Stay tuned for new team members, speaker & workshop sign ups, early bird release dates, scholarship forms, interviews with our keynotes and so much more!

RSVP Online or sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date on all the announcements!

News

Want to Get Involved With Midwest Craft Con?

As we get ready for our next con in 2020, we’re going to be making some changes in how we run Midwest Craft Con. Specifically, I’m going to be stepping back from active organizing duties.

Those of you who know me as the emcee of the con or from my time organizing Crafty Supermarket might not know that by day I’m a freelance journalist. And since I moved from Cincinnati to Berlin back in 2017, my career has really taken off.

It’s been incredible building up Midwest Craft Con over the past four years with Megan and Brit, and I don’t want my lack of bandwidth to hold back the team. To pick up my slack as I step back, we’re looking for a few people to join Midwest Craft Con’s organizing committee!

The basics

Who you are: A crafty person who is interested in helping make Midwest Craft Con as awesome as it can be! You don’t have to be located in the Midwest, but you have to be willing and able to come to Columbus, Ohio, in February 2020!

What you need: A reliable home internet connection and computer access. (We use Google Drive for almost everything.) Relevant skills and experience for the specific position. A can-do attitude and a love for crafty people and crafty life. Respect for our code of conduct.

Your time commitment: We’ll need you to join occasional Google Hangout meetings starting in June, which we’ll schedule to best fit everyone’s availability. The individual positions have varying time commitments: Some require more work months before the conference, some require more time in the last weeks leading up to the con. You’ll need to be willing to work during the conference, including during setup or teardown. So you might not get to see every session you want to see, but we guarantee you’ll have a good time.

What you get: You’ll get free access to Midwest Craft Con, a shared hotel room for four nights and your meals covered. If we surpass our goal of selling 250 tickets, cash money compensation will kick in on a sliding scale, which can include travel expenses to and from the con. You’ll also be as a Midwest Craft Con Team Member on the website with a bio and links.

What to do now: If you’re interested, read the position descriptions below and then fill out this form by March 15! If you’re interested in more than one position, that’s totally fine! Just explain to us in the notes what skills you’d bring to the group. We’ll review the applications and reply to everyone in April, and set up our first team videochat after that to get started on planning for 2020!

The positions

Grants and Partnerships Partner

Time commitment: Most work happens months ahead of the conference, plus wrap up. reporting after the event, as well as manage data collection through DataArts. We’d also love for this person to be with us for the long haul, as the grant cycles may fall in our off years.
Job description: This position requires attention to detail and also collection of data to prove our effectiveness. We’d also love for this person to build partnerships with other nonprofits and craft shows to create in-kind deals.

Sponsorship Manager

Time commitment: Most work happens months ahead of the conference, plus on-site management of the Trade Show and wrap up.
Job description: Be the point person to connect with corporations and businesses who want to support crafters in the form of cash money! We’re looking for someone with a lot of initiative to reach out to existing and new potential sponsors. This person will also be in charge of coordination of the on-site trade show and the crafty caravans.

Workshop Coordinator

Time commitment: The bulk of this work happens 3 to 4 months ahead of the conference.
Job description: Develop the workshop track of the conference, which is free to all attendees. Identify and recruit workshop leaders and workshop themes. Work with instructors to get supply lists and purchase items while sticking to a budget. Collect and manage deliveries of supplies, assist with day of room shifts from 1 activity to another, take inventory at the end of the event.

Speaker Wrangler

Time commitment: Most of this work happens in the 4 to 8 months ahead of the conference.
Job description: The speaker wrangler is the main contact person for all our speakers, working closely with the founders to develop the content plan. Duties include reaching out to potential speakers, communicating with speakers and keynotes invited to the conference, collecting biographies, session descriptions and other content. Duties also include coordinating speakers’ travel and itineraries, collecting accounting forms and maintaining the speaker budget and schedule.

Content Manager

Time commitment: About 15 hours per month
Job description: This person is the voice of our blog and updates our website. We need someone with a lively writing style and solid editing skills to write original content and edit contributed content for our website. This person also writes the approximately monthly newsletter that we use to promote the event. We welcome someone who has ideas to bring to the table! This person will also be responsible for collecting and editing content for the con program and any auxiliary print materials.

Social Media Manager

Time commitment: Weekly check-ins, 5 hours per week for the 6 months leading up to the con.
Job description: We’ve got great followings on Facebook and Instagram, but we’ve so far lacked a cohesive social plan. Our social specialist will own our social channels and help promote Midwest Craft Con in an engaging, crafty way, tying together our blog content with ticket sales. This person will also be responsible for coordinating our speakers’ instagram takeovers and reaching out to crafty influencers.

Customer Service Manager

Time commitment: Weekly check-ins, then 5 hours per week in the 4 months leading up to the con.
Job description: This person would monitor our email account to reply to potential attendees, answer questions coming from Eventbrite and send confirmation details to attendees. This person will print the final attendee lists for the con as well as the side events, such as the Crafty Caravan and Craft Swap. This person needs to have a problem-solving attitude and be also available to help work on the first day of Midwest Craft Con to help check in attendees and oversee a loyal group of volunteers.

Design Manager

Time commitment: Periodic check-ins, then 5 hours per week in the 2 months leading up to the con.
Job description: This person assists the Social Media Manager and Content Manager with any image needs they have for our social media and website. This person’s main work will be leading up to the conference as we prepare the con program, auxiliary materials and signage. This position requires Adobe Creative Suite experience.

News

Join us in 2018!

kathy cano murillo, kelley deal, gemma correll, midwest craft con keynote speakers 2018

February may seem far away, but it will be here before you know it. If you get your ticket today, you can write off the cost of the conference ticket on your 2017 taxes!

Our keynote speakers are the Crafty Chica herself, Kathy Cano Murillocartoonist and pug parent Gemma Correll, and Kelley Deal, a knitwear designer who is also in a little band called the Breeders.

Our theme for 2018 is Never Craft Alone and our headquarters will be the Embassy Suites Dublin, a new, more affordable location for our Conners that offers perks including free parking, wi-fi and breakfast!

And the breakout session lineup is still being set, but our speakers so far include Tara Swiger, Mei Pak, Vickie Howell, Kim Werker and Betsy Greer! Plus we are adding more craftivities, lots of DIY workshops, midday stretches, pool activities and and all the googly eyes you can handle!

The three-day ticket is $249, and rooms in our block at the Embassy Suites are just $99 per night and sleep up to four people. Click here to get your ticket on Eventbrite!

midwest craft con, craft conference ticket sales