Crafting for Profit: Business Cards

If you are one of many who has decided to sell your crafts and handmade items, your success does depend on how you promote your business. Make no mistake, this is a business for you. And you want it to be successful, like we all do with any business.

Whether you have just made the decision to sell you crafts, or you have been in business for years, promoting your handmade work is one of the most valuable things you can do. The old adage, build it and they will come, frankly isn't true. You need to be the one to tell them where to go.

That's where business cards come in handy. They are probably the most valuable tool in your promotions arsenal. Your business cards will be used in many different ways, so make sure you have plenty available.

There are multiple ways to sell your crafted items. For many of us, we used a variety of ways. We sell through a booth in a craft mall, at every local craft fair possible and online through sites like Etsy and eBay.

With a physical presence, your business cards need to be available to all who stop by. Customers, of course, but also those who are just browsing. You want them to share your information with their friends and relatives.

For an online shop, your business cards will also be a valuable addition. Send your card along with every single item you ship. People will want to have a way to contact you again for additional orders, gifts and more.

In working your craft business for profit, you want to alert everyone you can to what you have for sale. Business cards are one of the best ways to do this.

Organizing Holiday Crafts

Are you a holiday crafter? Do you love taking advantage of those after-holiday sales for great deals on project kits, holiday fabric, all the little extras that make a craft special? I know I do.

Now is the time I'm pulling out all those craft supplies that I got from last year's sales. Now is when I'm looking at what I want to make this year and what I may still need to get. It has been easy for me, because I am the world's best organizer when it comes to my craft supplies.

After each of the holidays last year, I ran to the stores for those after-holiday sales. Halloween craft kits, Thanksgiving fabrics and plenty of Christmas goodies to add to my supplies. Then I really did put them all in their proper places ready for me to pull out this year and get started.

If you haven't gotten your holiday craft supplies organized, it's time to do that. Do it before you start working on a craft. Do it before you find that you might be missing a supply or two. Didn't you get that last year at a sale? But you can't find it, so you run out and pay full retail price because you need it complete this project.

That's what organizing your fall and holiday crafts is all about. Having everything you need ready to go when you are ready to go. Plus saving you lots of money, not just on craft supplies, but on gas to get to the store! Save your time for your crafting, not for searching for a particular supply, then running to the store to get it.

In other words, get your craft supply organizers, get your stuff organized and do it before you start in on those holiday crafts. You will be much more productive!

Do You Have Your Honey Can Do Cart?

I will admit it, I am in love with my Honey Can Do craft organizer cart. In fact, I have 3 of them. Have you tried and enjoyed your own, yet?

Never have I found a cart for my craft supplies that is so convenient and easy to use. This is a nice size, with plenty of different sized drawers to hold lots of supplies for my different crafting project. There is plenty of good features for this particular cart, but I think my favorite feature is the top.

I do have a work table that I do most of my crafting on. It's big enough for just about everything, but there always seems to be times when I could use another surface handy to my work space. That's what a Honey Can Do cart has. The top of the cart is a flat, strong surface that I can use for that extra work space.

And talk about handy, this is it. I can roll the cart around to where ever I need that extra space. The rolling feature of the Honey Can Do cart is valuable for me. My carts stay in a closet when not in use, then I can just roll the one I want out to my work space and I have all my supplies ready to go for my project. That is convenience.

If you don't have a Honey Can Do cart, you need to get one and try it out for yourself. Nothing is as handy and useful to me in my crafting work.

Photos for Craft Use

So many times, we find great photos to use for our craft projects. It doesn't need to be a scrapbook, or Smash Book even, to use a photo.

One fun photo project I enjoy is making a gift tag special for the recipient. Either using a photo of that person, or something that is special to them, then adding the ribbon to make it the tag more decorative always seems to delight them.

All those photos need to be stored properly. If working with prints, you want to make sure those prints are protected from damage from dust and sunlight. If you are working with copies, keeping them organized is important.

Think of the time you might waste sifting through many photos trying to find just the one you want for your craft project. If you have them organized, then you can right to the box or section you want and find your photo quickly.

Organizing and protecting the photos you use in your craft projects are two factors that will make your crafting time more productive. Plus, your finished product will turn out nicer if you start with well protected photos to begin with.

So get those photos out, get yourself the right type and size organizer you need and have a ball making your next photo craft.

Papercraft Organizing

I know I harp lots on keeping craft supplies organized, but there's a good reason for that. Now that I have discovered the fun of Smash Books, I needed to get my papercrafts organized. So I went looking.

And I found just what I needed. There is a company called Iris Organizers and I do love their paper craft supply organizers. These people seem to be crafters themselves and seem to know that we need just the right sizes for our various paper supplies. Plus plenty of spaces for everything.

My harping on keeping craft supplies organized is really for a good reason. Personally, I spent way too much time in the past, searching for something that I was pretty sure I had, but couldn't remember where I put it! That was a complete waste of my crafting time.

Now, I keep all the supplies for one craft, like my paper crafts, in one place. If they don't all fit in one organizer, I get two or more  as my talent and supplies grow.

You can find some great choices for those organizers at Iris Papercraft Organizers, plus find out what makes the best criteria for which ones you may want to pick for yourself. Making your crafting time as productive as possible is a real benefit. After all, aren't we all busy people? Who has multiple hours in a day to waste doing stuff like searching for what you need? 

Have You Discovered Smash Booking?

I found a fun new and exciting craft. Smash Booking. For some of you this probably isn't new, based on the number of YouTube Videos about Smash Books. For me, it's a new and exciting paper craft that I had never known about.

Smash Books are the creation of K & Company which makes papers and supplies for the scrapbook industry. They found the need for a smaller version of a scrapbook. But these books are even more than that.

The books are designed to be about 10 inches tall by 7 inches wide. Quite a nicer size than the traditional 12 inches square scrapbooks. They are spiral bound. The pages of Smash Books are designed so that they can be written directly on. That means your Smash Book can become a journal, or you can just add your own notes to the fun momentos you gather.

My first Smash Book is designed to be an book of inspiration for me. It's also a great outlet for my creative juices. Quilting is one of my favorite crafts. With my Smash Book, I can design "paper quilts." Now how fun is that?

I'm having a great time working through the pages, adding in beautiful, charming or whimsical papers, then embellishing to my heart's content and creating my own inspirational masterpiece.

Whether you enjoy scrapbooking and want to try something just a bit different, or you want to get into papercrafts, but not in such a huge way, Smash Books may be your best bet. I am certainly enjoying the creative work on mine!

March is National Craft Month

With March coming up on us sooner than we like, it's time to start thinking about what you will do during National Craft Month. I have two suggestions for you. First, learn a new craft. Maybe one you have always wanted to try but just never found the time or one that a friend knows how to do and may share with you her or his experience.

The second suggestion is to get your craft supplies organized. We all know how many little pieces, extra supplies and equipment that goes with most crafting activities. When you have them organized you not only save time but money, too.

I've talked about this often. When I finally got my craft supplies organized, I no longer wasted time searching for something that I was sure I had, but couldn't remember where I put it. Nor did I end up wasting time and money rushing to the local craft store to get that one thing I needed to finish off that particular craft project. My crafting time is more efficient and my crafting budget is under control. What could be better than that?

So get planning for March and celebrate National Crafting Month by learning a new craft and getting your craft supplies organized. You really will thank yourself for taking that time.