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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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Meet Jumbo Jibbles

August 22, 2012 Leave a Comment

I’ve been encouraging my friend Amy to submit answers to some interview questions for a feature on this blog for a while now, and I was super excited when she recently emailed me with some A’s for my Q’s. Readers, meet Amy Brown, the crafter behind Jumbo Jibbles, a.k.a. the crafter who made nutsawesomelyamazing giant artichoke and asparagus photo booth props for my wedding.

HO: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your business.
JJ: It all started when I made a joke and someone took me seriously.  A new friend (Heidi, you) was having a wedding with a very specific theme, and I mused that it would be funny to have a giant artichoke and asparagus in the photo booth at the reception.  They turned out splendidly and it gave me the confidence to explore fabric sculpture.  I began an Etsy store to sell my stuffed stuff, as well as my smaller clay sculptures.  When I moved to California, I was suddenly in a new market where I could advertise myself as specialized childcare provider in arts enrichment, due to my wide talent base in crafting.  Years later, it still seems like a joke when I tell people, “I sew giant stuffed vegetables” or “I’m an arts and crafts tutor”.  My elevator speech is “I take what’s in your head and put it in your hands”, and when someone asks me, “Can you do this?” I say yes and learn how to do it.

(Photo by Dan Hartley.)

HO: Why did you decide to go in to business making this/these particular product(s)?
JJ: Making the big veggies was a lot of fun, and there wasn’t much market saturation (I’m totally pretending I know industry terms right now when I don’t). Word of mouth was helpful, as well as an internet presence, in getting me puppet commissions, another skill I didn’t have before I said “yes”.  I’ve only just started doing fairs, and my products have a “pop” to them visually that draws people in.  My creations make people happy.

HO: Do you have a day job, pets, a family, or a partner? How to you balance everything?
JJ: I’m currently in a charmed situation having gone from breadwinner to house-spouse temporarily.  My spouse is incredibly supportive. I supplement my hobby-cum-business with freelance arts and crafts instruction for individual children and the occasional art party.  I’m still getting used to the free-fall feeling of being in charge of my own success, but I have the luxury of being able to focus solely on growing my business and skills without a 9-5.  I do almost all the housecleaning and cooking, but I cook what I want and spend the rest of my time making crazy-ass crafts.

HO: What’s your favorite thing to make or do when you’re not running your business?
JJ: My home and work life have so blended lately, that’s a hard question.  I’m living in a city for the first time in my life, and I like to explore it.  And if I happen to wander into a new used bookstore in my wanderings, I’ll bring home a stack of new books to lose myself in.

outer space pendant jumbo jibbles

HO: Where can we find you online? (Website, Facebook, Etsy, Twitter, etc.)
JJ: I am on Etsy, (try to) maintain a blog of my projects and teaching, am on twitter, tumblr and mostly active on Facebook.  Sure, I’m on Pinterest, but I have to have some time left over for work!  If you Google “Amy Brown”, you’ll get nothing but the fairy fantasy artist, but “Jumbo Jibbles” is all mine!

Filed Under: Crafter Features Tagged With: crafters, features, giant asparagus, jumbo jibbles, san jose, west coast

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, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
A new YouTube tutorial is live today covering how A new YouTube tutorial is live today covering how to knit the Little Butterfly Stitch (aka Bowknot Stitch). It adds so much cute character to simple stockinette. Only a little funky to knit, and it packs a huge visual punch! 🦋 
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Find the video & written stitch pattern on the blog and YouTube, links are in bio. 
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#kpambassadorsfeb21 #sponsored
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Yarn: @kelbournewoolens Germantown in Baby Blue via @knit_picks. Needles: Prism Interchangeables, also from Knit Picks. 
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Pictured: a light blue swatch of Little Butterfly Stitch knitting on a pink background. A skein of yarn and a few stitches of knitting are nearby.
“You’re telling me words can be pronounced in “You’re telling me words can be pronounced in different ways and mean the same things?!” 👀 Posting this here, just to make it clear: when anyone says skayne, skeen, or skyne, it can be safely assumed we’re talking about a bundle o’ yarn,  a SKEIN. It’s not necessary to shame someone for using a word that is known to have MULTIPLE common pronunciations. 🧶
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Can you plz comment sharing how you say SKEIN and where you learned it? The OED happens to say SKAYNE, but it’s not a personal attack if someone says SKEEN and you say SKYNE or even Saskatoon. I’m legitimately curious. We don’t all knit or crochet the same way, and craft evolves a bit like language - it is passed on. There is so much value in having conversations about & embracing these variations! ✌🏻
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Pictured: A blond woman holds a skein of mustard yellow yarn up to her head like a phone, looking shocked. She’s wearing glasses & a knit sweater. 
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#handsoccupied #heidigustad #skein #yarn #yarncraft #knit #crochet #yarnaddict #knitincolor #soldotnacrop #language #englishisweird #oed #oxfordenglishdictionary
Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather than yarn. Here’s the latest mediocre-but-improving result of my slow quest to learn to set vintage inspired curls. 💇🏼‍♀️ I’m hoping to be able to wash my hair less using a regular vintage set, but we’ll see if it ends up being practical. 😆 Hair frustrates me so much more than crafts! 
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Do you also style your hair using vintage methods? If you have any tips for vintage hair styling or good resources to share, please do!
I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn colo I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn color suits your pooch. 😆 Navy really might be Woodrow‘s color - what do you think? 
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Pictured: A medium sized, brown, senior dog asleep on a green bed. For some reason a donut ball of navy wool yarn sits on his head.
The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live on YouTube! Diamond Brocade is a great knit+purl only stitch for beginners or anyone wanting a classic look for their knitting project. Find the video with a written stitch pattern on the blog or head directly to the video on YouTube. Both are linked in bio. ✌🏻 
#kpambassadorsfeb21 #sponsored
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