It’s 2025
CRAFTCAST, the podcast, was born 20 years ago this March.
Hard to believe.
People from around the world listened in.
The concept of teaching online was born when I was at an in-person workshop,
At the end of the workshop, people went to the bar to hang out.
I decided to sit with two men I didn’t know personally but had terrific creative reputations.
It was Robert Dancik and Tim McCreight, both inspiring teachers.
I introduced myself and took a chance. The internet was infancy, but I asked them if they would like to teach online. They both agreed without a second thought.
I was thrilled but walked to my car, wondering how the heck that could work. There weren’t any 3rd party apps like Zoom or the like.
I got home, went into my studio, and worked on figuring it out.
Here is the setup I came up with.
Robert’s class was first.
I announced the class time, day, and cost on My Space and Facebook pages as well as the podcast.
I had Robert call me using his phone, yes, a landline. I connected the phone receiver to a device, allowing my computer to hear the call. I sent 82 people who had signed up a link to a “Chat Box” plus a link to listen to Robert and me talking over my computer.
Crazy.
Once we were all on, I would paste links to photos uploaded on my blog into the chat box. Everyone would see the link in the chat box and could click it to open a browser window on their computer showing the image that Robert was talking about.
It worked.
There was no video, of course, but step-by-step photos made it all work.
The only problem was that people started texting each other in the chat box. It was exciting to see the names of old creative friends and it turned into a big chat party.
Before Robert officially started, I told Robert I had to run upstairs to my husband’s computer, log in, and start the recording software.
“Hold on”, I said to Robert.
I ran up the stairs and quickly got all going.
I ran back down and told Robert we were going to start.
He was laughing.
“We could hear you running,” he said.
But so it went.
And it was fabulous.
Thank you, Robert, for saying yes.
Here we are all these years later.
Now, it is an easy one-click to join a live class. Everything is high-definition video, and we still have a great time!
I’m lucky I love what I do.
I get to mix crafting and creating with tech.
Many’ve told me it’s an odd combo, but it works for me!
I love it at the end of a class when everyone is emailing and texting me how excited they are to give what they learned a try. It’s a dopamine hit, for sure!
And so it goes.
2025 has begun, and I’m always thrilled to work with master instructors worldwide who will join me to create a LIVE online learning experience.
It’s clear to me that people love being creatively inspired wherever they live on the planet.
Onward.
