This past Saturday (July 14th) was the Our Maker Life Conference! We had an amazing time, and were inspired by not only the keynote speakers, but also by everyone who attended the conference. This year was our first time going to the conference, and our second time sponsoring the event. This year we discovered a common theme throughout the conference: not letting FEAR hold you back as a maker.
If you're interested in learning more about the organization, visit their site to read about the journey to starting OML. The OML people also write fabulous blog posts focussing on crafting tips, which you can find on their website as well.
Schedule of the Day
The day opened with the keynote speaker Bhooked! Brittany had a very informative presentation on getting yourself off the ground, and put a particular emphasis on scheduling your time when working for yourself. After laying out the many hours of the week we have available for creating, many people in the audience were dumbfounded how they weren’t more productive! Brittany also focussed on fear and how it can hold us back from creating and putting our ideas into the world. Brittany is a jack of all trades, between her podcast, youtube tutorials and designing, she is a very busy woman!
Next up was Jessica of the Hook Nook. As many of you may already know, we at Koigu love Jessica. She designed a beautiful crochet cardigan out of Koigu Chelsea for our Koigu Vill book. Jessica discussed a lot of her history and how if she had let fear of failure hold her back she would not be where she is today. Jessica was very raw in her speech, and we loved it! See more of Jessica on her site!
Jessica’s Cardigan from VILL
Next up was a presentation by fellow OML sponsor, Love Crafts. Almost every one of our bases is now available on the Love Knitting/Crochet, so you should definitely check out their website if you are in need of some Koigu yarn! Their presentation was focussed on their brand, as well as how makers can get involved on their site.
Our presentation happened after lunch and primarily focussed on our history. Prior to the talk I had the room sing happy birthday for both Taiu and attendee Susan Urasky as both of their birthdays happened to fall on the day of the conference!
There was a great panel following our talk, filled with questions looking for advice on some of the hardest parts of being a maker. We were so happy to have met so many new likeminded people! All the messages we’ve received since Saturday have been heart warming and we hope to continue these new relationships. Below are some photos in the great space that the event was held, in Chicago. We got to meet the Bluemouse and her beautiful cardigan that she designed in our Koigu KPM. Very excited to share that when the pattern is released.
Kersti and Taiu with the Love Crafts girls
Kersti with the Blue Mouse.
Kersti and Taiu with Jessica
Missed the conference and want to see a glimpse into it?
