Conversations with Craft Wars Judge & Michaels’ Crafting Expert Jo Pearson!

It’s no secret that I spent the last few days in Dallas representing Craft Gossip at a blogger event. Check out my daily roundups from yesterday and the day before for a taste of what I got up to, the crafts all of us bloggers got to make, and some of the new products Michaels will be carrying this year.

Not unimportantly, however, was getting to meet and craft with Jo Pearson, known most recently for being a judge on TLC’s Craft Wars, and longtime creative force behind Michaels Stores’ craft inspiration sheets, online videos, craft cruises and more. She has a total dream job!

After breakfast on Monday, Jo answered some questions we all submitted before the event. I passed on the questions you guys submitted in the comments on this post, but wasn’t able to get answers to all of them since there were 15 of us asking just one person tons of stuff.

All about Craft Wars

A lot of the bloggers wanted to know about Craft Wars (even though one of us, Beckie of Infarrantly Creative, will be competing on an upcoming episode!). The scoop on Craft Wars is that it’s completely produced and owned by TLC. When they hadd the idea for the show, they approached Jo individually to be a judge. Since she also works for Michaels, she talkedd to the Michaels team about the opportunity. Long story short, Jo ended up being hired to judge Craft Wars, and Michaels seccured a spot as the supply sponsor for the whole thing.

Jo talked about the craziness of the Craft Wars TV set, and she had a couplle things to share right away. TLC does not decide who wins each episode, it’s completely up to the three judges. Jo also said that if it were up to her, she’d have picked out different supplies for the contestants to work with.

Members of Michaels’ PR firm were there for our group chat with Jo and helped answer a few questions too. Most notably, they said that Michaels doesn’t currently know if TLC is planning a second season of the show.

The Michaels Crafting Team

Jo heads up Michaels’ team of about 6 crafters who design the projects you see in stores, ads, classes, etc. Every day in Jo’s life is a little different, and she loves what she does. She said that she and her team are all passionate about what they do. “We craft from the inside out,” Jo says. “We’re makers.”

I meant it when I said she has a total dream job!

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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