Featured Crafter -- coming soon!

I am working on a SUPER Featured Crafter post! Stay tuned!

Handmade Holiday: Can you guess?

It's going to be a very frugal holiday this year. As such, I have to get started on crafting. I'm excited to make organza flower hair pins for the girls. My daughter plays roller derby, so I'm thinking about things she would want/need for that sport. I have several teenage and younger girls to make gifts for this year. I scored with the sweater above.

I can get two or three gifts out of that sweater. It's made of wool and angora. Can you guess what I'm making?

Handmade Holiday -- What are your plans?

Image by Gisele at greetingfriends on Artfire.

This year, for the girls, I want to make organza flowers, like those up there. Or maybe these, down here.

photo by bippityboppityglue, on Artfire.

Mysterious, no? Apparently, flowers like these are made by cutting organza or some other polyester-based fabric into circles, and singeing the edges with a candle flame. They are then stacked and sewn together with little beads in the middle. I'm looking forward to simply having the time to make them.

I'm not sure what I'll do for the boys this time. It's been a while since I've made fleece hats--and heads get bigger, don't they? And now that I say that, I'm feeling tired thinking about making all this stuff. What is my time worth, anyway? Buying handmade is a great way to support indie business and invigorate your local economy. Just yesterday, I was vending at the one great craft fair that I do every year (which is done! Gone! This was its last year! Sob!), and I bought a new winter hat (knitted), and a cute, cute, cute felt hairband. Both were handmade by the vendors. Awesome! I'm glad to know where my money is going.

What are your plans for a handmade holiday?

Calm now-- no worries

I saw my blog and just realized that you all must be thinking that I'm filled with murderous rage, constantly, because I didn't update the blog.

That's what it looks like, glancing at it, anyway.

I've gotten over my rage. I really shouldn't have even let myself get worked up. Everything always works out. Always! There is no sense in getting worked up. Really. Maintain an even temper. It's better for your skin.

And here's the proof that it worked out.

Experiencing the Murderous Rage of Entrepreneurship

Yesterday, I had a horrible experience with "support" at my hosting company. I'm still upset about it, which is probably my fault. It is infuriating to deal with a situation that is out of my control.

But my emotions are still under my control, right? So if I'm upset, it's my own fault.

Cut to this morning, and I check in on my website, and it's gone. Well, not GONE gone, but the link doesn't point to the site anymore--it points to the hosting company. I think this has something to do with the nonsense yesterday, so I've decided not to get my panties in a twist about it today.

No, you cannot access my website right now. Yes, I've placed ads and changed links and I've started directing people there. Yes, today, some people will be confused when they try to go to my site.

I've got to let it go. I'm letting the murderous rage go. I can handle this. This is the result of my decision to move forward despite everything being in place. Today, I will live and learn.

Craft Business: When To Get Out or Hire it Out

Different aspects of business make me think carefully about how much my time is worth, and whether or not I should spend time on any particular thing. I think you should be just as careful with your time.

• If you sell your soaps at a farmer's market, calculate how much money you are bringing in per hour, and ask yourself if it's worth it. I recently decided not to return next year to one particular market. Too many days had returned too few dollars, and this was the second year we gave the market a chance. Forget it!
• If you make your own products, figure out how many products you can make in one hour, and then price that out at retail. Then ask yourself if it's worth it to hire someone else to make them for you, or to help you make them. Example: I can make 168 bars of soap in about 2 hours. Sold at full retail, that's $924 worth of product in 2 hours, or $462 in an hour. Would it make sense to hire someone at $10/hour to make the soap for me, so I can focus on other aspects of the business? How much more work could get done around here if I wasn't making soap?
  
• If you sell your products at craft fairs, carefully consider the rent. If you pay $200 in rent, and you only bring in $500, and the fair lasted two whole days, is it really worth it?
  
• Even better--what about a small craft fair that only wants to charge you $25? Or 5-10% of your earnings? Let's pretend you agree to it. You must add up all the time it takes you to make the stuff, pack up the stuff, load your car, drive there, unload your car, set up the stuff, and sit there, vending. Then when the fair is done, reverse the whole process. Even if the fair charged you a minimal fee, you have invested a LOT of time and effort into it. This year, I am foregoing attendance in a very small fair, because of this very thing. My time is just too valuable to take chances like this anymore. I do one big craft fair that has reasonable rent, and always gives me a good return on my investment.
• Every year I swear to myself that I'm going to hire an accountant. But then every year, my TurboTax auto-renews, and I do it myself, anyway. I've got a system, I figure. It doesn't take that long, and I never really have the however-much money it would take to hire someone. Should I stop doing it myself?
  

What parts of your business have you realized you should give up? What parts will you never give up?

Craft Business: Be Direct

If you have the opportunity to talk directly to your customers and offer a sample, you should do it.

If you have the chance to tell a customer why they should buy today, you should do it.

If you are talking to a client about a large purchase, and they need to be reminded of your conversation, you should do it.

Sometimes, customers want to be told what they should do.

Luxury: A Rant

Photo by Gunnar Ries via Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons agreement.

Time is a gift. It is a luxury. I am certain that many entrepreneurs are in the same spot that I am right now. We are busting our collective asses.

We do this every day.

Every day, we go to day jobs that we dislike, to feed our families and continue with health insurance. We finish with that 8-hour day, thinking at the end of it, "If I had just spent those 8 hours on my business--I could be so much more successful!" But we are trapped, because our businesses do not feed our families, yet.

Yet.

We leave that job and go pick up our kid(s) from school. We then go home and get them started on homework while we start on our second shift. This shift has several components:

• homework with the kid
• dinner
• laundry
• business work

All of these things happen simultaneously, somehow. The business work gets started, and then it falls apart because our spouse put the packing tape in his/her car. So the business work shifts and something else gets done. But then our kid needs help with her homework, so we stop that. She also says she's hungry, and our spouse is tired from working on business work all day, so we get some sort of food cooking. While it is in the oven, we go back to the business work, until the homework needs interrupt again.

We then try to sit down and eat in peace for five minutes, once.

After dinner, we continue with the business work until we are too tired to see straight. This tells us it is time for our kid to take a bath and get ready for bed. During bathtime, we wash our faces and brush our teeth, and then we get the kid into bed and read a chapter of Harry Potter. After that, we collapse into bed, but then get up because we forgot to take our glucosamine/put the laundry in the dryer/feed the pets/stamp a letter. Then we go back to bed and try to fall asleep, but ideas about the next day's plan of attack.

The whole time, we try to remain hopeful that all this work will pay off in the end. What does "pay off" mean? To me, it means making enough money on my own so that I don't have to have that 8 hour job. It means spending those hours at home, so that my evenings can be spent paying actual attention to my family.

Where is the rant in this? Here it is. While working, I am sometimes on social networks online (Facebook and Twitter, mostly). Some of it is marketing, and yes, some of it is distracting.

Some of the distractions make me want to vomit. To wit:

"Oh, look at these cute cookies!"

"This video of a camel spitting on some douchebag is priceless."

"I am so bored. I think I'll nap on the couch."


Nap? Nap? Who are these people, and why are they my "friends?" Cookies? Videos? BOREDOM? And some of them write sanctimonious blog entries about how we need to save the planet by doing this/that/the other.

Some days it's enough to put me over the edge. Straight over the edge of reason into full-fledged WTF mode. I feel like my head is going to explode. I feel like I hate complete strangers. I am JEALOUS.

Yes, it's all jealousy. It's a reflection on my poor character. I long for the days when all I had to do was go to work and come home. But no--I have to be an entrepreneur, launching a new project, in the middle of my other businesses' busy season. Because I am an idiot.

Right now, I DO BEGRUDGE YOU YOUR FREE TIME.

Don't worry. I'll get over it when I have some time to sleep. Right now, I can't take it.

As I often do, I'm asking again: Am I the only one, here? Is it really just me?

The Root Word of Business is Busy

I am so busy.

It's a good problem to have. My husband stopped looking for a job, as he had been for the past two years, and just works for my soap company. Since he's making the soap now, I am freed (ha! freed!) to attempt to bump up the soaps through wholesaling. I have done this, with help from a forward-thinking friend, and now my husband is employed, full-time, making soap. Hundreds and hundreds of bars of soap.

Its' a good thing he's doing it. Because I am swamped.

My web guy is working on Craft e-Revolution. I wanted it to launch in August, 2010. Now it will launch in October, 2010. It will! To start, it will only have my books. I do have one book from an author that I'm formatting, so she will be published before the end of the year. I'm also re-writing my own books.

But I have to launch, so I'm gonna. It will be what we call a "soft launch." I have learned over the years that the soft launch works out better for me.

I am so busy! It's really ridiculous, sometimes. I work at my 7-3 job and think, "Lunchtime is great. All I have to do is eat lunch." It's often the only break I have in my day. I have to force myself to Put. The. Computer. Down. at night.

Who else? Am I the only one?

Soap Business 101: Getting Started

I had a great response when I asked my email newsletter folks a question. I just went and checked, and it's been over a YEAR since I asked.

I am lame.

But I haven't forgotten it, and I got a lot of feedback on it. I saved it all, and I still plan on writing a book on owning and running a craft business. I'm thinking I should focus it, though, and write the book about running a soap business in particular.

Which book would you rather read?

Advertising on Blogs: How to Choose?

I have been trying to figure out which blogs would be best for advertising Craft e-Revolution. There is a part of me that doesn't want to spend one cent on marketing, and I'm doing the best viral planning I can. I have a newsletter email list, etc. etc. I'm not going to explain that. You all know that, right?

Right? Maybe a post for another time, then.

In any case, I'm trying to resolve a dilemma. Should I advertise on a blog that has high readership, but often incorporates MAJOR spelling mistakes in the posts? It's obvious that the blogger doesn't know how to spell 'spigot' for example. The spell check feature would have caught 'spickot' anyway.

See? Right there? That red, wiggly line that you, the reader can't see but I CAN BECAUSE IT'S SPELLED WRONG?

Sorry. I think I know my answer. That blog won't get my money for advertising. I can't give my money to someone who thinks it's appropriate to have a blog that has egregious spelling errors.

I just can't.

Where else should I draw the line? Or shouldn't I? Am I too picky?

Too Many Jobs: When to quit?

Am I the only person who has two businesses AND a full-time job? I can't be, right? I can't be the only one. If I didn't have the full-time job, I could dedicate hours and hours of time to the businesses. I could spend LOTS more time with my family.

Am I the only person who feels like she's missing her own life?

NaBloWriMo -- someone else do it, please!

This year is the year I must give up NaBloWriMo to someone else. I am absolutely spinning with work to do. Someone, please volunteer to do it. I am sorry, but I just don't have the time this year.

Roller Derby: Entrepreneurs Take Note

Since joining roller derby, I have learned a lot. I've learned that my body can still surprise me, and that it hasn't forgotten everything about being an athlete. I've learned that pain doesn't last forever.

Some of the things I've learned from derby translate directly into entrepreneurship, and can be expressed with charming one-liners. To wit:

It doesn't matter if you fall; what matters is how fast you get back up.

Hello? Anybody there?

I am a list owner of a group on Yahoo. It's called "Firing Your Boss." The idea was a friend's, actually, and she is still one of the list owners, too. We wanted to create a support group for women who wanted to be self-employed.

Great idea, right? We could talk to each other, offer ideas and support, and network, too. All in a positive environment.

Okay, so I'm the only one who posts anything. I try to engage people in conversation, but they don't participate. I create different ways we can interact (i.e. a What Did You Do This Week? thread), and nothing. I ask new members to introduce themselves, and they do, and NOBODY else says anything to them but me.

What do you all recommend? Should I delete the group? Keep going, because writing down my thoughts is a good way to remain focused? Continue blogging about it until folks join up and start talking because I cried about it here?

I Do Exist

It's been a while, hasn't it? Maybe it's time for another crafter feature. Maybe it's time for me to expound upon the glories of business-ownership and entrepreneurial pursuits.

Or maybe it's time for me to curl up in a ball in the corner, rocking back and forth, with a horrified look on my face. That face. Up there.

That's right. It's time for me to go back to work. Not only do I own a craft business and a publishing business, but in my free time, I'm a public school teacher. This year will be my 19th year.

So today is the first Sunday of the school year, which means I will be preparing my lunches and clothing all day, and taking my daughter to roller derby practice in the afternoon, and not much else. I will peruse the list of convos on Etsy, however, to see who wants to be the next featured crafter. Gotta have fun somewhere, right?

PSA: Great Business Blog That Isn't Mine

I received a great blog post in my email today, about failure (hence the stricken gargoyle). I subscribe to many blogs, but one favorite for business is erica.biz. Her advice is straightforward and practical. I have not purchased any of her products yet, but if she produces one that seems like it will help my particular publishing business, then I'll give it a try. As an independent publisher, I like to support others who are indie, too. She publishes all of her own products.

Give her blog a try and see if it helps you.

Winnah Winnah Chicken Dinnah

And the winnah is:




Devin!


I will hook her up with Angela, so she can claim her prize. Whee! Thanks to all for partiicpating!

Featured Crafter: Angela at The Pink Dillo

Polka dot flower confetti

It's featured crafter time! Remember how I said this blog is going to be all about crafters and entrepreneurs? Here we go again--with a great giveaway, too! Our featured crafter this week is Angela of The Pink Dillo. She lives in Austin, Texas, and her handmade tags are just too precious.

What is your favorite kind of paper to use for your crafts?

I have quite an obsession with paper, I have more cardstock and paper pads than I can count, or have room for! But that doesn’t stop me from buying more. I love using scrapbooking papers and good quality cardstock in my projects. I use a lot of DCWV (Die Cuts with a View) cardstock and paper, and really love the quality and texture of Bazzill cardstocks too. I also recently discovered many of the wonderful digital paper packs and collage sheets offered by sellers on Etsy, where you can print out the designs on your own paper or cardstock as many times as needed – genius! Even though I have enough paper already to last a lifetime, there’s several of these I have my eye on and plan on giving a try here soon – I just can’t help myself!

Sunflower embellishments

What do you look for in a supplier?

I use a mixture of suppliers – I probably spend more time at the local craft stores here in Austin than anywhere else, outside of work and home. I also spend a lot of time shopping from a few sites online, and get all of my shipping supplies in bulk from a variety of online companies, which helps keep my per unit costs down. I also enjoy using Etsy suppliers, and just recently bought a bunch of materials from a variety of shops, which I’m currently using to create a new line of bottle cap, wood, and glass magnets. I definitely look for quality items, but also try to keep my costs down too and usually wait to buy things at the local craft stores when on sale or I have a coupon - I’m a sucker for a good sale.

heart confetti

How long have you had a craft business?

This is still a relatively new venture for me. I have a full-time day job, where I work in the corporate office of a property management company. While I enjoy my job for the most part, I absolutely love the outlet that I now have in Etsy, where I get to create things that hopefully others will enjoy. I’ve always loved being crafty – my mom had plenty of arts and crafts projects to keep my sisters and I busy when we were young, and I still enjoyed being creative whenever I had the chance as I got older.

My shop officially opened on November 22, 2009, but I first discovered Etsy last summer. I had actually wanted to start some sort of craft business on the side, but had no idea how to begin and never knew a site like Etsy existed until a couple of co-workers told me about it. Once I checked it out, I knew immediately that I wanted to open a shop. Paper crafts seemed like the natural direction for me to take as I had gotten into scrapbooking while in college, although I hadn’t kept up with it in recent years. I pretty much jumped head first into it all and quickly began adding to the supplies I already had and started making gift tags and cards. I’m sure others can relate as well, but I soon learned there was much, much more to having a craft business than actually creating! I spent several months preparing before actually opening shop, and while it’s been a time-consuming adventure, I’ve really enjoyed learning the business aspects of it as well – makes me feel like I’m actually putting my Marketing and Business degree to good use!

Black-and-white damask hearts

What's the next craft you want to learn?

I have so many ideas running through my head – too many ideas and not enough time in the days, unfortunately. There are plenty of other crafts I would LOVE to learn how to do – jewelry making, handmade soaps (I have a huge obsession with those now too), hand-sewn products, and plenty of other things I see on Etsy everyday. Maybe one of these days I’ll try my hand at something completely new and different for me, but for now I’m more than happy to concentrate on paper crafts and support other Etsy sellers.

I am planning on expanding my line of products soon, however. In addition to the cards, gift/favor tags, confetti, and embellishments currently available, I’ve started a new line of magnets as I mentioned, and will soon be listing sets of bottle cap and decoupaged wooden magnets, with glass magnets to follow. Other new products that will be debuting soon also include decorated party favor tins, cupcake picks, and journaling tags. I also have a couple of cool new tools I have yet to try out - a heat embossing gun and a sticker machine – can’t wait to see what other creative goodies I can come up with using those.

Whimsical heart tags

Get honest with us—what drives you crazy in business? Is there any part of it that causes you great anxiety?

I was definitely anxious to make that first sale, wondering whether anyone would like my items enough to buy them, or if I would be gifting my friends and family with a lot of handmade cards and tags. Once I did, of course, then I had that moment of panic, stressing over what I was supposed to do next, and worrying whether I would ship everything out okay (which thankfully I did).

All in all though, I haven’t done this that long, so I don’t think I’ve experienced too much anxiety related to the business yet. Listing items can be a hassle sometimes, as it can take me awhile to figure out what to write. The need for more organization also frustrates me at times, mostly because we currently live in an apartment and our dining area, which we never used, is my make-shift craft room – what I wouldn’t do for some more (easily accessible) storage space! But this is more a hobby for me right now, something I truly enjoy doing, and I’m able to take a step back here and there when I need a break. My day job is stressful enough at times – this is my way of relaxing and letting my creative side out! I’m still learning as I go along though, so check back with me in a year or so, and I may have more to say about this then.

What is your favorite technology (software or hardware) to use for crafting?

None of my crafting techniques are all that high-tech at the moment – the most advanced piece of equipment I occasionally use is the laser printer at my work. I would love to invest in one of those fancy cutting machines, like the Cricut or Silhouette at some point, but for now, I keep things pretty simple. I definitely couldn’t live without my trusty little manual paper cutter, not to mention the multitude of paper punches I’ve collected over the last several months. I also definitely couldn’t do without some sort of photo editing software – a must-have for this business!

****

Thanks so much for joining the fun here, Angela. Readers: Angela is offering one of her new sets of magnets she mentioned in her interview, as a giveaway prize! Click the link to see the choices--they are adorable! The winner will get to choose the magnet set prize. Yay!

How to enter, you ask? There are several ways:

1. Tweet this blog post (just click one of the Tweetmeme buttons) = 1 entry

2. Share this post on Facebook = 1 entry

3. Leave a comment on this post, answering one of the interview questions = 3 entries

4. Subscribe to this blog (up above, on the right. See it?) = 1 entry

5. Heart The Pink Dillo = 1 entry

6. Leave a comment on this post, sharing your favorite Pink Dillo shop item = 1 entry

But wait! There's more! If you enter the giveaway but aren't the winner, Angela is still offering you something--a 10% discount coupon for use in her shop. Awesome! Share this blog entry and enter to win--go forth and share it! You've got one week--the giveaway ends Friday, July 9, at 7pm mountain time.

The Fine Print:

1. At 7pm mountain time on Friday, July 9, all entries will be tallied and assigned numbers.

2. A random number generator will be employed to choose the winner.

3. The winner and Angela will be put in touch via email, at which point they will deal with the transaction independently.

4. No promises are made, implied, or otherwise told to you about the outcome. If you don't win, you still can get the 10% discount. Email me for details.

Now!

I loved this post at Entrepreneur. Probably because it validates my opinion.