An Empire State of Mind

Possibly the coolest thing that has ever happened to me occurred this week. On Monday I was looking at tweets from Michaels Arts and Crafts store. They were asking people to send them pictures of things they had created with Michaels' products using #MadeWithMichaels and some sort of surprise was in store. I didn't think much of it, I've been so consumed with marketing my website and product lately that I thought this would be another good outlet to pursue. So I submitted Hank the Hippo...

All of the #amigurumi I crochet are #MadeWithMichaels :) Great yarn selection! @MichaelsStores #handmade #crochet

I got a direct message on Twitter Thursday afternoon from @MichaelsStores saying they loved the hippo and want my permission to feature him on their billboard in Times Square tomorrow and social media. Say what!? I quickly responded with a yes and spent the rest of the day telling friends and family about this exciting news. I eventually figured out why they were doing this, apparently Michaels was going public on June 27th and they had a bell ceremony that morning. The rest of the day they were featured on the NASDAQ billboard in Times Square and they chose to show people's creations during the day. Best part, they were going to livestream the entire day so you could see your pictures.


Needless to say, I was glued to my computer from 8:00 to 11:05 when there he was, Hank the Hippo in Times Square! Something I made with my passion to start a handmade business was sitting there in the busiest intersection in the entire country for the longest 5 seconds of my life. It was overwhelming, I'm so thankful that Michaels decided to feature people's creation, genius PR! I wasn't going to get more followers, website views, or sales, but hey, this was pretty darn awesome! I could only take a picture of my computer screen, but still so so cool! Hank is a star :) 

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