My heart is full. Our third annual awards show was such an amazing culmination of celebration for handmade businesses. What moves me so much is not the grandness of the event or perfect details but how much people enjoy connecting with each other and how much they feel celebrated-- and celebrate others. It is the generosity of spirit that defines this event from start to finish.
A PSA about our most important event of the year. I wanted to share with you an email I sent to out yesterday. First if you didn't get this email-- WHY AREN'T YOU ON OUR LIST? :) I wrote this because I know that introverts make up a huge portion of the handmade demographic-- and I know many are not into parties because they can be cliquey and awkward. I want you to know that is not what our awards are about!
As part of our awards show each year, we honor someone who is building up the community. This award is really special to us, because we think that being part of a community means giving back to it. Read on to learn about this year's incredible honoree: Danielle Spurge of The Merriweather Council.
I am so excited to introduce to you today a group of handmade business supporters that I am proud to also call sponsors. In particular, this set of sponsors is the Creative Business Circle. I created this special distinction this year to honor this group of businesses that has been supportive of Academy of Handmade all year long-- not just during the AHAS Awards. All of them are huge supporters of makers and I encourage you to check out how they can support you.
It is always an immeasurable pleasure when you meet a person who is equally talented as they are nice-- Robert Mahar is very talented and very nice! That is why I am so excited to introduce you to our 2016 Master Maker presented by CreativeLive.
The Master Maker is someone we choose who we can hold up as someone to emulate. Robert has had a generous and devoted career to creativity-- building communities, teaching his craft(s) and supporting other makers at every opportunity. I hope you read on and are inspired by one of the finest people in our community.
We have the raddest people sponsoring our awards show. They really care about makers and want to see them celebrated. Plus they provide some really AH-MAZING resources. We're excited to feature three of them today!
This past Saturday we celebrated makers who are kicking butt as both artists and businesses. They are the people who are bringing professionalism, creativity, community and ingenuity to handmade... and we couldn't be prouder! They are helping push our industry forward. Check out the full list of finalists and also nominees. #formakersbymakers
