Archive for the ‘PiPN Student Blogs 2011’ Category

May 31, 2011

Rylee Tomlinson, Mississippi State University, interning with The National NeedleArts Association

Hola mi amigos!

The TNNA trade show is almost here and I cannot tell you how excited I am! We are doing so many things to get ready like calling people and working on displays. Speaking of displays, I think y’all are really going to like what we are working on. It has a past, present, future theme and we have some help from Ohio State University’s Historic Costume and Textile Museum…but I am not giving away any more than that. You will just have to come to the show and see it for yourselves.
By the way, on a more personal note, all of this has been done while battling a medium level case of poison ivy. I would post some pictures but you would be too grossed out. You know, if it stayed concentrated to one area, like my arm, I would be okay. But no! It spread to my stomach, my other arm, and the front and back of both legs. I look just awful. Oh, and the itching is so much worse than the way I look. I have found, for anyone looking to relieve itching, that ice packs work wonders. Benadryl does too but, alas, I am now immune to it.
But I digress. The real point of this update was to let you know what we interns have been working on here at TNNA.  If you’re coming to the show, and I hope all of you are, don’t forget to stop by our display (to be on the show floor, in the “Fashion Show” area) and see what we have accomplished. You will not be disappointed, I promise!

First let me introduce TNNA’s PiPN interns.  Rylee Tomlinson and Crystal Spann are both students at Mississippi State University, our second PiPN hub.  I’ve been lucky enough to have them here, at my home office . . . and have to say, I’m enjoying every moment.  It’s wonderful to have their creative spirits and energy . . . not to mention they are delightful to spend time with . . . and are an  incredible help.

I’ve asked them, as well as our other 2011 summer interns, to send me updates of their experiences, so you can here it from their own mouths.

Here’s the first from each of them:

May 5, 2011
Rylee Tomlinson

Hi everyone!

Just a little update from an intern here at TNNA. My week started off slow, almost to the point where I was not sure this was for me. Boy was I surprised! Things have significantly increased and I now have a healthy amount of projects to work on, which I absolutely love. I have to stay busy or I think too much and go crazy. We had some trouble at the beginning of the week with the technology but Miss Sherry got it all worked out while I busied myself getting display pieces ready to ship to California for Maker Faire (I’ve never done so much sanding or used so much spray paint in my life). Tuesday we spent all morning making our to-do list (it’s very long, you see) for the whole summer. Now I am involved in the PiPN program by calling interns and making sure they are settled in with their host companies, the Stitch N’ Pitch program with the Cincinnati Red’s, and the TNNA Tradeshow in June. Lots and lots to do in a month! This is so exciting, though. I’ve never really done anything like this before but I’m taking it all in strides and doing the best I can.

Stay tuned for more from the interns here at TNNA and also, eventually, some interns from other hosts!

—————–

Hi guys, Crystal Spann here! I just want to fill everyone in on how my first week has been, interning for TNNA. I arrived on Friday, May 13, and I must admit that I was very nervous! Everyone, especially Ms. Sherry Mulne, was very welcoming and kind to me. It took me a while, but I finally started to relax and feel more comfortable, on Monday, after the first day of work.. Rylee and I met with Ms. Sherry that morning and talked about everything that we planned on accomplishing over the course of the next month or so. After the meeting, Rylee and I went out to run errands for TNNA and Ms. Sherry. We ended up being out a lot longer than we expected (five hours to be exact.) For the remainder of the week we worked on a few of our projects that we discussed on Monday and we were very proud to realize that we got a lot done in such a small amount of time! So far, I can honestly say that I love it here and I am really learning a lot about the real world and how to make something out of nothing.
Thanks for listening,
Crystal Spann