Kristen Rask is lucky, her passions and obsessions have become a lifestyle.

Plush enthusiasts, indie crafters, designer toy-makers and eccentric hobbyists congregate underneath Kristen Rask’s large umbrella of indie art influence. Within the scope of her influence, designers jockey for a position in her workshops, exhibitions, literature and shop.

Rask, perpetually dedicated to indie creativity, has given life to countless designers demonstrating prodigious talent but lacking Rask’s rolodex of connections and compendium of promotional wisdom. After dedicating her life to indie crafts, Rask has established herself as Seattle’s tastemaker and catalyst for indie craft and DIY.

Rask’s store, Schmancy, acts as the home base for her staggering amount of ongoing projects. The store is filled with plush, plastic and peculiar — a veritable paradise for Miss Lippy aspirants.

With the exception of the designer toy section (Kid Robot, Uglydoll, etc.), Schmancy deals mainly in comfort objects. A plush toy from Schmancy is represented as equally in ambulances for trauma victims as when tucked under the crook of a child’s arm as sleep takes over, which places Schmancy in the same brilliant marketing vein of Pixar films and Nickelodeon cartoons: mass appeal to parents and children alike. Schmancy is the paradigm for psychological comfort.

Outside of Schmancy, Rask, with help from Lindsey Ross, spearheads the biennial Urban Craft Uprising: a collection of vendors proffering a vast array of homemade and DIY creations, from baked goods to garden supplies. Come December, UCU will be eight years in and, considering the consistently increasing numbers of vendors and attendees, merits recognition as a Seattle fixture.

Once UCU ended, Rask shifted her focus to School House Craft, a conference for prospective creative business owners, and finishing another book to join her already published collection. Of course, during this time she’s prepping for the UCU in December and working at Schmancy. Rask is a perpetual motion machine, constantly pulling the strings to orchestrate the growth of Seattle’s craft scene, something she’s proven incredibly adept at. 

Schmancy | 1932 2nd Ave | Urban Craft Uprising | School House Craft | Kristen Trask

An unrelated youtube clip on a crazy invention.