Meeting of the Sewcial Butterflies and much much more

Meetup.com, oh how did I live without you before? last month I went on the hunt for a new craft group and resorted to good ole Craigslist. I posted a posting in th group section of interest for a 'Make' craft group. I received an email from Wendy inviting me to a scrapbooking meet.

I am not much of a scrapbooker but my sister has an interest more than I. I invited my sister to go with me and she was all for it. They meet the 1st Friday of the month. Convenient enough. Suzy and I got our scrapbooks and supplies and headed to the meet. We eventually made it after getting lost. We showed up end everyone was sooooo nice! We were welcomed into the group and found a group of people with similar interests.

The host, DJ, sells stampin up and Suzy bought a pretty cool punch. We signed up for the February meet and cannot wait to see what we make next. The group is organized on Meetup.com and we signed up.

I went exploring on the site and found several groups to join but no Crafty groups. Plenty of knitting groups. I never realized how many knitters there are out there. I found a list of people interested in a Craft Sellers group but no group established. So I started one.

About a year ago I tried to start a craft group on Yahoo Goups. I had a few people sign up but nothing really materialized from that. I invited everyone on the interested list and very quickly, people started signing up! I was stoked how quickly people found an interest in the group.

I quickly set up a meet and greet to get to know all these wonderful people. Three in all. The first meet was this past Friday. It was a total of 6, all with a coffee in hand and a desire to grow our businesses. I really enjoyed the company of these members and look forward to meeting the rest of the group as we continue to 'Meetup'.

Stephanie makes the cutest monsters and has these bright business cards with a picture of one of the cutest on them. Her site is www.CurlyQCuties.com where you can find the latest cuties she's whipped up. She is very talented and I hope to learn from her how to work with fleece.

Marie makes Celtic themed products but has an appeal to a broad range of people. She makes candles and has these Dream pillows that even the most congested person can smell...he he he that person was me. Who doesn't love candles, right? Be sure to visit her site www.AmitysCandles.com for a view of her product line and her talent for blending herbs and essential oils.

I met Tracy at the scrapbook meetup. We hit it off at the Xmas page table. She is an RN, a mom and a crafty designer. She is an Indy crafter who embraces the Recycle lifestyle in her designs. check her etsy shop, RecycleWear.etsy.com, often as she is always creating something interesting.

Jessica joined us as a guest and I am glad she did. She is a graphic designer and owns JBMSDesign.com. She is new the the craft world an is interested in something that she can learn and make some money doing, all while having fun. We have some common Mac interests and I look forward to working with her. I hope she decides to join our Meetup group. ;) hint hint hint Jessica. (*update: Silly me...she joined 1/19, oops, sorry Jessica)

Last but never least is Tonniele. She is a transplant from New York. She makes the most fabulous beaded bracelets inspired by a bracelet her friend brought from Africa. This girl is a gem. She is smart and crafty. She is comfortable in both the worlds of science and art, a balancing act that is not too easy. I don't have her shop info but will be sure to post it as soon as I get it. *update: oh how could I forget the beautiful candles Tonniele makes. She makes wedding candles out of wedding invitiations. Be sure to visit her website, http://candlesforkeeps.com, if you or someone you love is getting married and would like a beautiful keepsake.

We shared a lot of ideas and had a very productive meet and greet. Every month the Sewcial Butterflies will meetup and socialize, craft and help each other with business. Also, fun activities will be planned once a month to feed the crafty side of us all, classes in mosaics, sewing, knitting, beading, a pottery painting party, Crafting at Rio Ritas. We are still in the planning phase. I have another meet and greet on Saturday and hope it does just as well. :)

Books we are reading:

Craft Inc: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business
By: Meg Mateo Ilasco