Handmade Spark » Emily Orpin

Having a color crisis? These blogs might help

Emily Orpin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:00:53 +0000

Have you been following Viviana Izzo’s fabulously useful ‘Marketing through colors‘ series here on Handmade Spark? Viviana has been taking us through the rainbow, discussing the myth and meaning of each color and then (my favorite bit) providing us all with a long list of evocative descriptors. I think I’ve bookmarked every post – no more boring ‘orange’ in my Etsy descriptions, from here on in it’ll be ‘apricot’ or ‘flame’ or ‘salmon’

But what about before you’ve got to the ‘I’ve made it and I’m ready to list it’ stage? What about when you’ve got a germ of an idea and you’re struggling to make it a reality, to find those hues that sing to you (and your customers)? Or when you’re stuck in a color rut and are desperate to move on from your old favourite combinations (orange and blue, anyone?), but stumped for inspiration?

Well, one great place to start is this Handmade Spark post by Jenny Hoople on combining colors masterfully – it is overflowing with fabulous information and examples. And, once you’ve had a read of that, here’s a few blogs well worth keeping your eye on for ongoing color inspiration:

Color Collective is ‘a designer’s resource for color’ created by Lauren Willhite. It features endlessly inspiring color palettes drawn from art, photography and fashion – like this one:

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Lauren’s work can also be seen on the always fantastic Design*Sponge in her ‘simply color‘ posts. Here, inspiration for color palettes comes from stylish interiors. A word of warning though, you get more than just color inspiration from these posts – a shopping list of must-have decor items seems likely too!

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Jessica has a life-long passion for color, and it certainly shows in her beautiful blog { design seeds } where she ‘tracks and forecasts emerging colors and palettes’.

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Jeni sews and quilts and has also written a fabulous series of color related posts on her blog, in color order. Under the heading ‘The Art of Choosing’, you’ll find step by step guides to selecting and matching fabric for various projects. The posts are primarily aimed at quilters, but I find the information useful regardless of the project I’m undertaking or the material I’m using. You can find all the posts here.

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And last, but definitely not least, the Brandi Girl blog is always worth a look for a healthy dose of colour inspiration. As well as creating breathtaking color palettes (like the one below), Brandi is also embarking on the 52 Colors Project which explores a different shade each week.

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Now it’s over to you – do you have any favourite blogs that you look to for color inspiration? I’d love for you to share the links in the comments below!

~Emily

Emily is one of the talented writers on the Handmade Spark team. She is an Australian crafter living in Asia. She loves all things Handmade and has a slight obsession with paper, owls, teapots, vintage buttons and dachshunds. You can also find Emily leading our Paper Lovers group on Facebook and get to know her on her blog.

Spark Tweets: Who is Your Craft Icon?

Emily Orpin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:00:11 +0000

Night Sky Pendant by Stuff By Xtine

In March, @handmadespark and me (@ejorpin) asked all the crafty and arty tweeters to tell us who their craft icon is – who they admire, who they turn to for inspiration and motivation. Some familiar names cropped up and I was also introduced to some new faces – but the common thread was talent, drive and a real passion for the creative life. I hope you enjoy exploring some creative icons with me!

Attic 24 is Lucy – a mother, crafter and blogger from the north of England. Check out her blog and her Flickr for wonderfully colourful crochet and lots of creative ideas (ps. there are also a ton of tutorials on her blog, well worth exploring!).

@meetmeatmikes is Pip – an Australian blogger, crafter and retailer. She is a champion of all things beautiful and handmade – have a look at her bounteous blog for buckets of crafty inspiration (plus a good dose of music, books, food, film and what not!).

@VickieHowell is an American writer, mother, knitter, self-taught designer, blogger, DIY champion, television host, eco-friendly guru, and more – whew! You can find more information on all of her many endeavors in craft and in community by checking out her website here.

Fog and Swell is K – based in Vancouver Island, Canada she describes herself so: ‘graphic designer by day, explorer, photographer and creative whenever I get the chance’. You can find out more on her blog, and you can find her beautiful, delicate, nature-inspired creations in the Fog and Swell Etsy shop.

@kootoyoo is Kirsty – a Melbourne mother who likes ‘coffee, running and making stuff’. Her blog is updated daily and is rather lovely (it’s also the home of My Creative Space). Kootoyoo is bursting with ideas and a delightful lightness and yes, there are crafty tutorials to be found here too!

@nicolemdesign is Nicole – a super talented Melbourne-based seamstress and the head of Nicole Mallalieu Designs, a business that’s all about helping you improve your sewing confidence through classes, projects, tutorials and self-paced learning.

Gennine is a freelance illustrator based in Mexico. She loves watercolours and creates the most stunning, delicate yet bold artworks featuring birds and other bits of nature. Her blog is overflowing with gorgeous, earthy photographs, plus some embroidery patterns and desktop images to download. Gennine also has a blog for her beautiful border collie, Turbo. I am completely and utterly smitten!

@catheholden is a wife, mother, blogger, crafter and graphic designer. Head on over to her blog – Just Something I Made – for posts about the ‘techniques of craft and design, artistic inspiration and support’ and for a whole lotta DIY inspiration!

Debbie Sanders is a glass artist based in America. She creates intricate, sumptuous lampwork beads – you can find out more on her website.

Abby Meadow is a designer and maker of bags and other textile items. She has a focus on all things natural, organic, sustainable and functional – to find out more about her beautiful pared-back style have a look at the Infusion Fibers blog.

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Once again, thanks to all of you who shared your tweets with us. It was such a treat for me to explore your craft icons and to add more talented, wonderful people to my ‘inspire’ file! I hope you found some new queens of craft to inspire and motivate you too (I do wonder where the kings of craft are, but that’s a discussion for another post).

And if you missed out on March’s #sparktweets, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below – share the love and tell us about the people who inspire you.

See you on Twitter!

~Emily

Spark Tweets is a year long project involving two of my favourite things: Twitter and looking at the creative process. Each month, we’ll be tweeting a new question and asking for your response. And each month I’ll be sharing those responses in a blog post. In January, we asked people to tell us why they create – you can see the replies here and here. In February, it was all about inspiration. If you’re on Twitter and want to get involved, stay tuned to @handmadespark in the first week of each month and keep an eye out for #sparktweets!

An Artist’s Guide to Pricing: An ebook by Brandi Hussey

Emily Orpin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:00:28 +0000

Do you ever come across a resource that is so helpful that you just have to tweet it and blog it and Facebook it to the world? Well, that’s exactly how I feel about this guide to pricing, which I stumbled upon thanks to @danniellecresp). It’s put together by the amazing jewelry designer Brandi Hussey (you might know her from Catie’s Blue) and it’s really rather good!

Pricing is something I think we all struggle with but, really, we don’t talk about it all that much (especially when compared to the mountains of advice and information on marketing). I think Brandi’s guide to pricing strikes just the right balance between giving crystal clear advice and providing enough flexibility so that you come up with an answer to pricing that is right for your work and your business. She covers general principles of pricing (like consistency for example, not just across your product range but across your selling mediums too – on-line, wholesale, retail, etc), and also takes you through some specific exercises to help determine your pricing structure. Oh, and did I mention it’s free?!

I asked Brandi to tell me a bit more about what motivated her to write the guide, and here’s what she said:

“I see artists underpricing themselves all of the time, and I’m conflicted. On one hand, I get it – I did the same exact thing when I started. But on the other, it’s really painful to see well-made work being priced far lower that they could be or should be. Do artists even realize that they could get more? Do they know the message they are sending out into the world about how they view and value their own work? How are some of these artists making any money? Do they know how much profit, if any, they are making off of those prices?

The more I saw this happening, the more I wondered why. And it occurred to me that maybe those artists just don’t know how to price. I know I sure didn’t. I’ve mentioned it on my blog before, and again in the ebook, but I never had a discussion about pricing my work or monetary value in art school. Everything I learned came after I started a business, from pure experience selling. Plus, pricing is one of those things that artists don’t really talk openly about. When I started my business and tried to ask questions, I felt like I had to be a little vague or wait a long time before approaching someone with a questions.

With An Artist’s Guide to Pricing, I want to change that. I want to talk openly about pricing their artwork because it’s a big topic, and I truly believe it contributes to the long-term success of a business. Pricing is more that just a number; how you view and value your work, how you approach your idea of profit, how you view selling art, what you think handmade buyers want – all of this plays in to it, too. So, a few weeks ago, I sat down and started writing. An Artist’s Guide to Pricing is one part psychology, one part business, with a dash of personal experience and opinions thrown in for flavor!”

What do you think? Do you struggle with pricing? Do we, as a handmade community, talk about it enough? Have you had a look at Brandi’s ebook? Was it helpful or not? I’d love to hear about your experiences.

You can get your free copy of An Artist’s Guide to Pricing by heading over to the Brandi Girl blog, right here.

~Emily

Crafting Your Business Abroad: Interview with Etsy Expat Victoria Elson

Emily Orpin — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:00:20 +0000

These days I’m a stranger in a strange land after following my hardworking husband to Asia. For me, being an expat is what has allowed me to pursue my creative dreams, more so than if I had of stayed at home, in Australia. I adore living in such a vibrant and dynamic part of the world, and I love the freedom of being able to focus on creating and blogging. But I also know that being an expat can be isolating and frustrating at times, and it can make small everyday tasks seem monumental. Which got me thinking about how the expat experience might influence both creativity and business practices, for good and for bad.

So come, take a trip with me and some Etsy expats. We’ll meet new corners of the world and take a peek inside some lives lived abroad. First cab off the rank is the vivacious Victoria Elson, traveller and seller of all things vintage. Together with her husband Trevor, she runs her business Ancien Esthetique out of Theirs, France.

Please, tell us a bit about yourself and where you live…

Trevor and I moved to France about a year ago and had a baby nine months ago. I’m from Wales and my husband is from Oxford, England – we currently live in Thiers, Central France. Theirs is in the middle of nowhere, it used to be famous for it’s knife making industry but now it has many derelict factories and empty workshops. My husband rents one of these and restores antique furniture, we love old stuff. In central France it goes with the territory – people never throw anything away and buildings stay the same year after year, cars slowly rusting outside and roofs slowly creaking into dilapidation over time.

Auvergne, the area we are in, is passionate about food. Most restauranteurs in the rest of France, particularly in Paris, come from Auvergne. The local radio station ‘France Bleu’ mainly discusses varieties of potatoes, cheese and mushrooms!

Before living here in France we lived in Bolivia doing voluntary work, but then we surprised ourselves by getting pregnant! We decided European soil would be more practical for now…We haven’t finished traveling, we believe a semi rooted, nomadic existence enhances our soul and expands our minds, life and spirit.

What about your business? How has living in France impacted that?

I already had an Etsy shop making jewelry but during our time here we realised that our house couldn’t contain all the vintage treasures we were stumbling across, so we needed an outlet. And it meant I could easily work from home whilst looking after our baby.

Where do you find the vintage pieces for your shop?

We find them mainly in ‘vide greniers’ (French for ‘empty attic’) which are village fairs throughout summer. You can buy a little guide book each year which tells you of the locations and dates of each fair in the individual villages. Everyone arranges their old wares on the pavements or on little streets. We find amazing old treasures, from Granny’s attic linens and crockery, to forgotten boxes of lace, to broken down old clocks…Why go to IKEA? You can get second hand but beautiful, stood the test of time pieces with their own character and history!

Also in France they have brocantes – shops or warehouses that people sell or give their old goods to. We love popping in to these places when we have spare time, often on a Saturday afternoon. The nearest one to our house is a big draughty open barn sort of room, smelly, freezing in Winter, boiling in Summer, crammed full of bizarre and unique finds. Then out the back they have more old buildings full of anything from rickety old chairs to fire buckets, old prams and bikes. Old tools, pots and pans, books, odd shoes galore! Real Aladdin’s caves sometimes!

Any favourite finds?

Oh so many! I’m always coming across them. I found a whole box of antique lace collars and handmade lace ribbons and other pieces which the lady told me had been made by her Great Aunt at the turn of the century. It had the original spool of thread inside the box and also some gloves she’d made and used. Basically most of the stuff I find I want to keep and I usually have it in my house for a bit and then grudgingly part with it. Trevor can be worse than me – one of his favourite finds is an electric coffee grinder which we actually have for sale, but he still looks at it longingly now and then!

Are there any difficulties associated with trying to run your business as an expat in France?

French paperwork! The red tape you have to swim through, wade through, drag yourself through, to work here in France…You know the guy who went across Niagra Falls in a barrel? I could probably do that now! Or build a bridge across with all the paperwork we’ve accumulated here! And the post office…hmmm! Let’s just say the French have a very definite way of doing things and until you figure that out and comply with it, well, you may as well just whistle a long boring tune! But, that’s all okay because now we’ve got it figured out and it’s all relatively easy.

Learning the language is an ongoing process, but being out working in the community is a great incentive and help. About 99% of the people here are all embracing and very willing to help us, guide us, laugh at us nicely, maybe! In all honesty I don’t think that all of the French friends we have made here would ‘get’ what we’re doing, as they have such a rich history – so many vintage and antique pieces. Perhaps it wouldn’t be entirely understandable to them that we search through their ‘off-casts’ and ‘rubbish’ and put a greater value on it.

And the joys?

Basically we couldn’t do what we’re doing here anywhere else. As I said, the French have a very rich history and have kept their possessions and their ancestors possessions stowed away in lofts and attics for a long time. It has a certain novelty factor for us as well. People like to tell us the history of a piece, and we like to learn it, and we usually end up swapping some language help and cultural exchanges.

All round, we love it! And it changes every day. Sourcing pieces can become a nice day out, stopping of for a demi (small cold beer) or a glass of red wine, watching the local life go by in different villages – there is often a petanque (boules) competition somewhere. People are jolly and relaxed, a real summer fete!

In France people have not lost the idea of shopping local and supporting the community. So, for example, each Thursday and Saturday our town has a farmer’s market selling cheese, pasta, seasonal fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, soaps, fish and meat, as well as other handmade products like knitted goods. In France people still really value handmade crafts and the workmanship that goes along with it. Trevor being an ‘artisan’ furniture restorer is very popular, all the old ladies ooh and aah!

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You can see more gorgeous photos of Victoria’s neck of the woods here (and if you happen to speak French, you can read more about her there too!), and you can see more of Victoria’s wonderful vintage finds in her Etsy shop, Ancien Esthetique.

~Emily

Definitions of Creativity: An Occasional Series…

Emily Orpin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:00:37 +0000

How do you define creativity? How would you describe the creative process? This is something I struggle with so I’m always excited when I stumble across a definition of the creative process that makes me think ‘yes! that’s it!’.

Recently I’ve been re-reading Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, which is basically a history of philosophy but told in bite-sized chunks and framed by an intriguing plot-line. It’s a great introduction to philosophy and the different ways of thinking about life, the universe and everything over the ages. And it’s a good refresher if you start getting your Lockes, Kants and Humes confused.

At one point, when teacher and student are talking about Freud, Darwin, psychology and evolution, a discussion of creativity evolves:

‘…perhaps there is an element of the unconscious in every creative process, for what do we actually mean by creativity?’

‘I’ve no idea. Isn’t it when you create something’

‘Fair enough, and that happens in a delicate interplay between imagination and reason. But all too frequently, reason throttles the imagination, and that’s serious because without imagination, nothing really new will ever be created…’

I think we’d all agree that imagination is essential to creativity, right? But what of reason? Our immediate reaction might be that reason, logic, analysis has no role in something as free floating and fluid as ‘creativity’? The teacher goes on:

‘[Thoughts] occur in the consciousness one after the other, at least if we refrain from censoring ourselves too much. But only some of these thoughts can be used. Here, reason comes into its own. It, too, has a vital function. When the day’s catch is laid on the table we must not forget to be selective…

Imagine if everything that “strikes us” were allowed to pass our lips! Not to speak of jumping off our notepads out of our desk drawers! The world would sink under the weight of casual impulses and no selection would have taken place!’

‘So it’s reason that chooses between all these ideas?’

‘Yes, don’t you think so? Maybe imagination creates what is new, but imagination does not make the actual selection. The imagination does not “compose”. A composition – and every work of art is one – is created in a wondrous interplay between imagination and reason, or between mind and reflection. For there will always be an element of chance in in the creative process. You have to turn the sheep loose before you can start to herd them.

Creativity as an interplay of imagination and reason! Does this speak to you? Can you relate to the flurry of ideas, the excitement and tumult of new things, followed by a slightly more sedate sifting and sorting?

~Emily

Spark Tweets: What Inspires You?

Emily Orpin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:00:33 +0000

Expand into Dreams | $60 | Stephey Baker

For February’s Spark Tweets, @handmadespark and me (@ejorpin) asked all you lovely people who follow us on Twitter to tell us a bit about the things that inspire you, the things that drive your creative spark. And wow, what a fabulous response – thank you!

Being such an open question, I had a feeling we’d get a wide range of replies…so, from heart break to heavy rock, from zombies to zoos, take a look at what inspires the artists and crafters of Handmade Spark:

Thanks to all of you who took the time to tell us a little about the things, big and small, that inspire you. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what next month brings!

And don’t forget, if you want to know more about any of these fabulous tweeters, clicking on their tweet above will take you to their Twitter profile page. I do hope you find some new crafty friends to follow!

Spark Tweets is a year long project involving two of my favourite things: Twitter and looking at the creative process. Each month, we’ll be tweeting a new question and asking for your response. And each month I’ll be sharing those responses in a blog post. In January, we asked people to tell us why they create – you can see the replies here and here. If you’re on Twitter and want to get involved, stay tuned to @handmadespark in the first week of each month and keep an eye out for #sparktweets.

~Emily

Handmade Love: A Collection of Crafty How-To’s

Emily Orpin — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:00:22 +0000

Three heart dish | $22 | dkpottery

Let’s say that you started off on the anti-Valentine’s path but you’ve kind of succumbed to the pressure to do something at least mildly romantic on February 14th. Or perhaps you always liked the idea of Valentine’s Day but just lost track of what month it is (it happens…).

And now you want to show someone your love, and you’ve got 24 hours or so to do it. All the chocolates are overpriced, the remaining flowers sad looking, the hot air balloon trips booked out. But that’s okay, because you don’t need any of that. You have your craft stash and your own hands and nothing says love like handmade!

So, here are some easy, creative Valentine’s crafts which might just spark your imagination:

Raid your fridge and get stamping! Celery stamped Valentine’s cards over at Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Two of my favourite things (paper stitching and doilies) are combined in this easy Valentine’s card tutorial from Stephanie at Phantom Limb

Look tricky? These heart pouches are surprisingly easy to make – they’re up-cycled envelopes! Great idea from Jessica Okui at Zakka Life

Have fun!

~Emily

Emily is one of the talented writers on the Handmade Spark team. An Australian crafter living in Asia, she loves all things Handmade and has a slight obsession with paper, owls, teapots, vintage buttons and dachshunds. You can also find Emily leading our Paper Lovers group on Facebook and get to know her on her blog.

An Unhappy Valentine’s

Emily Orpin — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:00:19 +0000

Screw You necklace | $59.99 | ecoblingcouture

It’s positively inescapable that we are coming up to that rosy red, sugary pink time of year that some of us loathe. That time of year when retailers convince us that we don’t really love our loved one unless we shower them with flowers and chocolates and gift boxed socks; when sap and mush and twee are all around; when it’s near-impossible to have a normal meal at your favourite fancy restaurant (a la carte? Oh no, you have to order the special Valentine’s Day set menu. At twice the price.).

Forgive my cynicism, but I’ve long been an anti-Valentine. In all honesty, I’m sure it started when I was a bit of a dateless geeky freak in high school (disdain is always preferable to despair). But even through a serious relationship, some not-so-serious flings, and now a very serious husband, there’s something about Valentine’s Day that just grates.

And I’m not exactly sure what that something is. It’s not that I’m against consumerism (a quick look at my Etsy purchase history shows I am a committed consumer), and it’s not that I don’t love love (I rarely say no to a teary rom-com). Maybe it’s the smugness that perfect Valentine’s Day couples exude? Or the pressure of doing something terribly romantic (and the fear of failing)? Or maybe it’s a remnant of teenage rebellion – no one tells me when I’m meant to say ‘I love you’! Yeah, I guess that’s it. I’ll tell my husband I love him whenever and wherever. I do not need a dedicated day for such things, thank you very much. So there.

The wonderful thing about Valentine’s bah humbuggery is it seems to bring out people’s sense of humour, in a big way. I had so much fun searching for anti-Valentine’s on Etsy (oh, but don’t go searching for them yourself, unless you don’t mind a bit of ‘colorful’ language. You’ve been warned.)

From subtle (like the necklace above that incorporates a screw and the letter ‘u’ in the chain) to sweet, from clever to cruel – I hope you find something to give the one you love some day, any day. As long as it’s not February 14th.

Bite Me necklace | $5 | TheReliquaryShop

Love may bite, but who cares when it’s as cute as this little guy!

Small plush heart | $15 | ObeyMyBrain

These cards get my vote for best item title…

Two anti Valentine’s Day cards for people who like things gloomy | $7 | bensurly

And here’s a perfect un-Valentine’s paper cut from one of my favourite shops. I actually gave this to my husband one year, saying he should have bought it for me. It is now framed and sits proudly in our bedroom, next to a polaroid from our wedding!

Your Crazy Emotional Needs Give My Life Purpose | $20 | owlyshaddowpuppets

Tough Love earrings | $45 | girltuesdayjewelry

Valentine’s Bacon | $3.75 | 4four

Another awesome item title here:

Franken Heart necklace | $57 | MarKhed

Oh, and just so you know, I’m now living in a country that has a Valentine’s type of day for every single month! That’s twelve a year! Seriously!

~Emily

Spark Tweets: Why Do You Create? A Postscript

Emily Orpin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Live Work Create print | $13 | ogiovetti

At the start of January we (@ejorpin and @handmadespark) asked our lovely Twitter followers why they create, and we received a wonderful mixed bag of goodies in response (read them here). Since then, I’ve had even more answers to that eternal question, and I really wanted to share them with you.

And there’s also been a whole range of beautiful, though-provoking comments on the first post. If you haven’t read them, please do! And thank you to those of you who commented and shared you reasons for creating.

Of course, all of this has led me to really think about why I create, so please forgive me for being self-indulgent for a moment. First up, as I’m sure you might agree, it’s really not a simple question to answer. I definitely don’t think I could answer it in 140 characters as eloquently as you all have!

After much thought, I think one of the biggest reasons I create is because it connects me to the world somehow, especially now I don’t work full-time and I’m far from home. I also create because, to pinch the wonderful words of Marcia, ‘I love the connectivity of hand, heart and brain when I’m creating’ – yes, it’s that wonderful sense of focus and alignment. Plus, there’s the buzz of achievement you get when something turns out okay, or even better than okay. And there’s that wonderful rush of crafty ideas that hits you, late at night or very early in the morning. The excitement of something new, the joy of finishing a project – these things are enough to get me out of that funk that I occasionally fall in to, enough to snap me back to reality and remind me that life is pretty darn good, isn’t it? And I haven’t even touched on the sense of community that comes hand in hand with the world of craft.

With all that going on, perhaps the real question is why doesn’t everyone create?!

- Emily

A big thank you to all those who took part in our first #SparkTweets. If you want to get involved, keep an eye out for February’s #SparkTweets question, coming very soon!

Spark Tweets: Why Do You Create?

Emily Orpin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:00:57 +0000

Tweet Tweet | $10 | cleartrampoline

On Handmade Spark this year I’ve decided to combine two of my passions – Twitter and looking at the creative process – for a series of blog posts I’m calling ‘Spark Tweets’ (hmmm, the brainstorming session wasn’t spectacularly creative that day was it?).

The best bit is these posts are going to be all about YOU! (The best bit aside from me indulging my love of social media and dressing it up as something like ‘work’ of course…) Each month I’ll be tweeting a question about the creative process, and each month I’ll be looking for your replies.

If you’re on Twitter and want to get involved, make sure you’re following me (@ejorpin) or Handmade Spark (@handmadespark) and keep an eye out for each months #SparkTweets.

I think it’s going to be a fascinating insight in to what makes crafters and artists tick (as well as a testament to how much emotion, information and story-telling people can pack in to 140 characters!). As an added bonus you might even find some new friends to tweet along the way!

To get the ball rolling, at the start of the new year I asked ‘why do you craft/create?‘, and here’s how you responded (click on the tweet to get the Twitter profile for each person – which I would strongly encourage you to do, because they are all super ace tweeps!):

Want to join the conversation? Let us know in the comments below why you create – maybe you can relate to some of the above reasons (I know I can!), or maybe it’s something entirely different that drives you. And make sure you look out for February’s #SparkTweets!

- Emily

ps. If you’re new to Twitter, or just looking for some extra help on how to use the thing, there’s some great resources for you right here on Handmade Spark. Your first stop should most definitely be this fantastic post by Sister Diane on how to work your Twitter magic. You could also check out the 7 Cardinal Virtues of Twitter by Jill Liles. And lastly, confused about Follow Friday? Want to know how to use favorites to help you manage your Twitter stream? Click through to see my quick Twitter tips.