The Holster Brands team is attending the 2016 CHA Show!
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What do you get when you cross crazy amounts of creativity, energizing colors, pounds of candy, and glue guns? You guessed it…the Holster Brands booth #1900 at the 2016 CHA Show! This year we’ve teamed up with some very special celebrity crafters to bring our booth to the next level, and we’re giving you a behind the scenes look at what Katie Sabin, from Just Add Sunshine Inc, and Allison Gharst and Kellie Dooley, from Peabody & Sassafras have been up to.
Here at Holster Brands we are big fans of the crafting, and enjoy seeing how different people express their creativity. We’ve been following these amazingly talented women over the years, so it seemed only right to invite them to sprinkle a little craft magic in our booth for the CHA Mega Show.
Now let’s be honest, the Holster Brand’s team loves candy (almost as much as we love...well, breathing). This year we’re turning our booth into a full on candy craft party! We envisioned a world where candy and craft could coexist in peace and harmony, a world where colors are bright and vibrant, a world where the only weapons used are glue guns. Thanks to Just Add Sunshine Inc and Peabody & Sassafras our dream world does exist (well at least for 4 days.) Do you want to know what inspires these women to be the creative geniuses they are? Read on for the answer to that, and a few more questions posed by the Holster Brands team…
HB: What inspires you?
JAS: Bright, happy, colorful "scenes"! Whether it's someone's creative space, a set of beautifully decorated bookshelves, a collection of crafty tools or the world out of doors, my mind is often spinning with how I can incorporate the pieces and parts I love from those scenes into my home, my life, or the things I create. I'm also inspired by so many of the women I've met through crafting and the crazy world of Instagram! There are a ton of talented ladies out there I never would have met (both virtually and personally) if not for Instagram!
P&S: We’re very inspired by the crafty, talented community we are a part of, by color trends, by finding ways to transfer recent trends to wood and metal, and of course by Pinterest!
HB: How do find the time to fit crafting into your busy everyday lives?
JAS: I'm pretty sure there isn't a day that goes by that I'm NOT doing some sort of crafting!! A friend once asked me if I feel the need to make something/be creative every day and my answer was a big 'ol YES! I love using my hands to create something new and happy for my home or others and being in a small home with my supplies nice and close (and everywhere!) makes it easier to start right back up where I ended the day before. My kids also like to be included and I try to slow down enough at times to let them paint and be creative as well.
P&S: Barely, that's how!! (: We each have 3 kids under 7, so life is busy for sure. We often work while as many kids as possible are in school and with a lot of distraction from the little ones. We also own the Queen Bee Market, so once a week we have childcare for our youngest so that we can do 'officey' type work and make business decisions. Other than that, we're in Allison's garage or kitchen making things while the kids play.
HB: Have you always been really into crafting?
JAS: I've always enjoyed doing things with my hands but it wasn't until having my first babies that I really got into it! My oldest are twin boys and the first few years as a twin parent tend to be very, let's say, intense. Between that and my husband going back to school (at night) to get his masters degree, I spent a lot of time at home and needed something to keep me busy other than my cute little guys. I discovered Mod Podge and cute scrapbook paper and pretty much added paper to anything that could handle it! A friend of mine loves to craft as well and we did many projects together in those early years with our little ones running amok and playing together.
P&S: Allison was an art major and art teacher before having kids and has always been the crafty type. Kellie became more into creating things once she became a homeowner, but we come from an artistic family.
HB: Do you have any tips for crafting on a budget?
JAS: Craft with friends and split the cost! I started painting signs because it's pretty inexpensive and the tools and supplies can be used many times over. One wood board can be cut down to many smaller pieces and then used for lots of different projects or share with crafting friends. If you don't have access to a saw to cut the wood, ask the guy in the wood department at Home Depot! Also, blogs and Pinterest were my best friends when I started looking for crafty ideas. There are so many ideas out there with really well written tutorials, that don't cost a lot of money.
P&S: Coupons, coupons, coupons! And get free stuff when you can (salvaged wood is everywhere!).
HB: What are your go to tools/gadgets for crafting?
JAS: I'm a sign maker so I regularly use my "big" tools before I can sit down with my more "fun" tools and gadgets. I use almost daily my miter saw and orbital sander along with my Silhouette, my paints and paintbrushes, a glue gun and glitter :)
P&S: Glue gun, of course! A good pom pom maker is always fun and we use a lot of bakers twine. For our actual Peabody&Sassafras work, old fences, paint, and a Cricut machine.
HB: When someone tells you they're just “not into crafting”, how do you try to persuade them otherwise?
JAS: I think some people hear the word "crafting" and instantly picture the little art projects we all did in elementary school with Popsicle sticks and cotton balls. But "crafting" or "creating" (perhaps a more appropriate word) is so much more than that and absolutely tailored to each individual person. I "craft" using wood and acrylic paints, for others it's fabric and their sewing machine, or embroidery floss and hoops, watercolor paints and paper, scrapbook paper and mixed media...the world of "crafting" is big with endless possibilities. I have an aunt who started watercolor painting in her fifties and is really, really good. She never expected that to happen, but she loves it!
So to my reluctant friends who are just "not into crafting" I'd say expand your mind, try something new, and be ready to fall in love with a "craft" you've never done before!
P&S: We host Queen Bee Craft Nights twice a year and all levels of crafters (or non-crafters) come. With good instruction, the right tools and a cocktail anyone is a crafter!
HB: Anything else you'd want Holster Brand fans to know about you?
JAS: Her craft room is amazing! (She’s too modest to say it, so we did it for her) :)
P&S: We are sisters who spend 5 days a week or more together and love it!!