Copyright Information

Try This at Home operates in the spirit of sharing knowledge, creativity and inspiration. That being said, we still also need to support and respect copyright. Please note the following:

• Resources with specific copyright guidelines will have them described in the post attached to them. Please read and abide them.
• In general, please do not sell or redistribute any graphics, text, HTML or other content on this site (or any derivatives of such material) without our expressed written consent.
• Vendor graphics on this site (including logos and/or product photography) are included for the sole purpose of their promotion. We will happily and respectfully remove and graphics upon request from the vendor; please contact us directly and it will be taken down as soon as possible.
• Designer interviews may contain information relevant to their process, which is a generous and optional piece of information to share. Please be appreciative of their willingness to share, and do not repost their process as your own or use their honesty to violate their copyright.

Thank you in advance!

About the Creator

My name is Maddy. I'm 23 and live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, though I'm originally from New York City and Long Island, and went to Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. I'm a graphic designer for a company based out of the Twin Cities and relocated for the job. It's been great so far, and I work with a lot of incredibly intelligent and creative people who inspire me at work and at home. I live with my boyfriend of almost five years, Devon, and our two (sweet but usually naughty!)  Bengal kittens, Marlowe and Jocko.

My first passion is all things paper, although particularly the letterpress. I spend a good portion of my college education learning to use the machines properly, then experimenting with different techniques on press to achieve different textures and aesthetics. It strikes some people as strange for a City Girl to say, but one day I would love to live on a hobby farm and just run a letterpress design studio out of my house. It would be fantastic.

On downtime, I dabble in bookbinding, baking, jewelrymaking, Gocco printing, photography, candlemaking, and several other crafts. I have a small crafts circle with some friends/coworkers that runs every weekend which is really inspiring and motivating - not to mention a lot of fun. I'm dubbed the "Cupcake Queen" in the office because I'm constantly baking and bringing in cupcakes for everyone. Trying new recipes and decorating cupcakes is extremely relaxing for me, but don't ask me why. Jewelry is my latest craft fixation, and I'm sorry I didn't try to take a class in it at RISD. The only craft I am a general failure at is crochet and knitting, which (I think) slightly embarasses my grandmother since she was a professional seamstress back in the day, and made extremely elaborate blankets and such before she started getting sick. I'm still willing to learn, although I'd say about a good half dozen people (or so) have already tried to teach me... sort of embarrassing.

About Try This at Home

Try This at Home started with a quick review of my bookmark list. There were loads of sites bookmarked for inspiration, here and there were a few links to tutorial sites, and then of course, finds and shopping sites thrown into the mix along with some crafting business links. After a while of organizing them logically, I exasperately said to myself that there had to be a better way...

... et voila. Try This was born to fill a gap and have a place to put all that information into one site. I knew I wasn't the only crafter who not only was interested in making a part time business out of something they loved doing, but was always on the lookout for what others were doing for inspiration, surprise, and delight (which is usually accompanied by a small to medium hit on my checking account).

Try This at Home divides its content by the hat you choose to wear at the moment: the crafter or the shopper. From there, posts are broken down by specific categories designed to simplify getting the exact information you want. As of May 2007, we have also included a sidebar feature called "TTAH Recommends", a suggested reading list that is updated montly with books I have either purchased or checked out of the library and loved. Purchasing through this feature, which is powered by Amazon, helps balance out the cost of keeping this site alive.

If there are any features in the future that you would like to see, please send us an email at trythisathome[at]gmail.com.