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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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A Giant Surprise

March 21, 2013

Those of you who have known me IRL for a long time might be in the loop on my what my surprise talent is. However, this is a topic I haven’t discussed here at Hands Occupied – it’s kind of an emotional one for me. Since I’m trying to stretch myself as a blogger, I might as well rip off the band aid of avoiding the personal. Here goes. My name is Heidi, and I am an oboist.

A Giant Surprise at HandsOccupied.com

Me, learning to play the oboe at age 10.

I started playing oboe when I was ten, and it led to several defining experiences in my life. It led to a job as a professional symphony member while in high school and a couple of scholarships to respected music camps and to study music performance in college. It taught me the value of working incredibly hard for small victories. I’m very lucky – a lot of kids who get to study classical music in a serious way don’t tend to be from a state like North Dakota or have totally normal, middle class parents. At the end of my first college year, I ended up changing my major from music performance after several bouts of carpal tunnel and tendonitis. I just knew in the end that being a full time musician wasn’t a sustainable career move considering I struggled to hold a pencil more than once by the age of 18.

Heidi oboe 2004

One of my senior pictures.

I also had the opportunity to spend my college years playing oboe in a non-classical band with some of my best friends. (Hear some of our music here.) Playing in the band completely transformed my college experience and made making music a positive experience for me again, despite the injuries. I also met my husband the night we opened for another band in a bar 5 years ago. In case you were wondering, I still play on my own for fun from time to time and truly remember with fondness the time in my life that was almost entirely oboe-filled.

Falcorps 2007

Falcorps, ca. 2007

Music made me love creativity as a healthy outlet for whatever life throws at me. Not doing music as a career led me to reconnect with other passions like crafting and learning new technologies like blogging. Even my oboe-related injuries opened some surprising doors – I can kinda write left handed now, and I can knit leftie too. How cool is that?

A Giant Surprise at HandsOccupied.com

Me at age 17 in my uniform for Interlochen music camp.

Now, Green Giant (you know, ho ho ho?) has a surprise they want to share with you all as well – they have a new line of veggie chips. And they’re totally delicious. My husband helped me sample the chips, and we agree. They have a nice, flaky texture and are flavor-packed. Also, I think the package design is adorable. If you want to try them for yourself, Green Giant has shared a printable coupon for 85 cents off their new Veggie Snack Chips.

New Green Giant Veggie Chips

 There are a couple of things about the chips worth noting:

  • The Green Giantâ„¢ Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chips – Zesty Cheddar Flavor are made with real vegetables, 17 grams of whole grain per serving (48g are recommended daily), and are naturally flavored.
  • The Green Giantâ„¢ Multigrain Sweet Potato Chips – Sea Salt Flavor are made with real sweet potatoes and made with 14 grams of whole grain. Plus, they contains 40 percent less fat than regular potato chips*!
  • *Green Giant Multigrain Sweet Potato Chips (6g per 28g serving) have 40 percent less fat than regular potato chips (10g per 28g serving)

New Green Giant Veggie Chips  Thank you to The Green Giant™ for being a sponsor. Show the Giant your surprise talent at www.facebook.com/greengiant.

PS: Comments are broken on my site right now, so if you want to react to my giant surprise, you can Tweet @handsoccupied or comment on Facebook. I’m working to fix this.  

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored Tagged With: band, chips, giant surprise, green giant, music, oboe, review, sponsored, whole grain

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
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