Handmade Cards - Setting Up a Home Business

I made my first card and gift tag set last weekend using more of my Fathers Day papers and embellishments. I am happy to report it was promptly sold to a colleague at work.  I've also received some interest in one of the sets of cards created in the past few months. If a sale goes through this will be one item less to list in my future online store.

My day job ends in a few weeks for another academic year and there will be more time to devote to card making and turning this hobby into a home business.

To Do List (in no particular order):

• make a lightbox for photography
• re-take photos of items for sale
• calculate prices remembering site fees etc.
• write descriptions for items
• policies, terms & conditions (look at other handmade card shops to get an idea)
• create shop banner
• add items to shop and announce store is open
• create shop badge for blog (can I do this on Facebook Page too?)
• create a special offer for Facebook Page current likes (mmm... a coupon, a giveaway or what? Have to think!)

There are other tasks which are more about administration such as having a PayPal account (done), setting up a spreadsheet for accounts, creating invoices and other stationery and so on but in this post the focus is on the steps required to simply set up shop and marketing. The following links are sites I've found useful:


How to Sell Handmade Cards - Useful Tips I'd never heard of an Angel Policy before reading this article which is aimed at rubberstampers but is relevant to handmade cards in general. An Angel Policy is a limited licence that some rubberstamp makers may have on how a stamp may be used for cards that will be offered for sale. The article also includes a list of companies with Angel Policies but on further investigation it is nothing to be alarmed about but good to be aware.

How to Price Handmade Cards  This is the most difficult area (for me) so it will be the area where I will need to be most attentive. I could use a maths buddy here.

How to Create an Inexpensive Photography Lightbox (with pictures)
How to Make a Photography Light Box 
Two articles using slightly different techniques. I prefer the one with pictures which uses a cardboard box but the second article will show you how to make a lightbox that is more durable. Making a lightbox is actually one of the easiest to tackle and therefore will be the  first task to be completed.

Folky Blog - Making a shop badge
Making a simple online shop advert or badge
A couple of useful articles from the Folksy blog.

Make a Web Banner using GIMP  This is one of a large number of videos available on creating a web banner but one of the few that were not too fast or with muffled soundtrack or worse no audio track at all! GIMP is free, open source and there are lots of tutorial videos available online.

I've yet to do or even participate in a giveaway. Are they as daunting as they seem? What should be offered in a giveaway? What are the no no's? I would like to do something for the people who 'like' my Facebook Page and follow my blog. I'm guessing I can't give something to everyone but can give a few good things to one or two or three people. It would be a good reward to celebrate the launch of my online store when it happens. I'll check out some forums and discussion boards to help with this one. Your advice and tips are welcome.

You can see there is a lot to pack in before I am required to return to the day job at the end of summer.

All this and making cards too. Don't forget the garden where me and my grandson recently picked our first ever strawberries. Out of three plants planted last year only one survived. After eating a freshly picked strawberry I am thinking of planting more.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone :)

Join the Campaign for Mastercrafts!

Mastercrafts was one of the best series on TV this year in my opinion. For once a programme focused on learning about different craft disciplines including weaving, stone carving, thatching and green woodwork was a refreshing change. Each week I and many others were fascinated as we watched people change their work goals and gained a new perspectiveon life. It is something to which we crafters can relate. It also was in tune with the growing numbers who enjoy creating and making things as a daily part of our lives. When it ended I looked forward to the next series. But the BBC says they have no plans to commision another series. What!!!

Join UK Handmade and more Mastercrafts fans in telling the BBC how we feel. I've signed the petition and you can too by clicking on the badge at the top right of this blog.

If you're on Facebook join the Facebook group Why cant we have a second series of Mastercrafts on the BBC? Let's make it massive so it can't be ignored.

If you're on Twitter spread the word - tweet and retweet.

Join the campaign and let's get a second series of Mastercrafts on the BBC. You can even make a complaint to the BBC directly.

Sign the petition

Monty Don on Mastercrafts

Mastercrafts on Facebook

Handmade for Men.

Anyone that knows me knows that I like to buy card making magazines which come with wonderful and useful craft goodies. Not every month but once in a while as a source of inspiration as well as adding to my stash, card making magazines are what added this activity to my list of hobbies more than two years ago. In those days I followed the photos and instructions for every card I made, as closely as possible, picking up different techniques and design ideas from great articles. Nowadays I might follow the designs illustrated but mostly I create my own. One thing I never do is throw the magazines away.

The issue of Let's make... Cards used to make the cards featured in this blog post was purchased a year ago. In fact I blogged about one of the cards I made then in Sunday Football for Fathers Day.

When Fathers Day approaches out come an abundance of men friendly motifs and card design ideas in the craft magazines. No need to spend money I haven't got this year. Why when I could use the stash of materials that were lying dormant in my craft storage? In a few hours I made a good variety for Fathers Day, birthday and some which could be used for any occasion. I'm thinking of making it into a Mens Card pack.

 It's great to create your own designs but lets be honest, sometimes the creative juices do not flow well. Over the past couple of days I've enjoyed just following the instructions in the magazine. It was very relaxing and very productive. I think I'll do that more often.

My Twitter buddy @essdeecee and fellow blogger and member of UK Handmade recently blogged about making cards from kits she bought on QVC. It is very interesting and quite amazing to read how much Shirley gets out of using these kits. You can read about it here. You can also find her blog SDCrafts in my blog list in the left sidebar. As Shirley says, using a craft kit is a good way of building up stock and providing  variety for her customers.

Thank you for reading. If you comment, I will comment back :)

Have a good week!

UK Handmade Magazine - It's Summer!

This week I received an email from UK Handmade announcing the publication of the summer issue of their online magazine. If you want an inspiring read with wonderful pictures, I recommend you click over to the website and click to read.

The photos are stunning as are the creations by the featured artists and designers. I like to flick through the pages just admiring the work before settling on a good read. Learn more about the people behind the creations and be inspired. All articles, ads and so on provide links making it easy to visit the various sites where you can see more creations.

It doesn't only feature crafters but resources including Scrap Stores, something I'd never heard of before where you can find stuff to make whatever you like. It covers all manner of topics within 126 pages of creativity including summer picnicking, great projects and so much more. To find out more visit the UK Handmade website and enjoy!

I'll be dipping in and out of this magazine throughout the summer. How about you?

More Handmade Card Sets

Hello dear Reader, I hope you've had a good weekend. I managed to squeeze in some card making in between the spring cleaning, gardening and the usual household chores. There are some new pics in my slideshow including one of the best flower photos I've ever taken. Can you spot the greenfly? Ladybirds love my roses which is just as well or I'd have to do a lot of spraying. The rose bush has more flowers than ever. All down to the deadheading last season and the beautiful ladybirds.

It's half term week which potentially means I've got more crafting time - at least that is the optimistic hope at the start of the week. We shall see.

The first set of cards uses the tulips I featured in a previous post. I decided to keep it simple mounting the hand drawn motifs on plain black card using sticky pads. Plain inserts allow the card giver to write their own message and the cards can be used for any occasion. Note that these are original drawings. They are not scanned or digitised in any way. Outlined with a fine line pen and coloured with my favourite watercolour pencils I decided these motifs did not need any embellisment. I quite like them.

The second set of cards share a colour theme using the same background paper in each design. One card is for a birthday, another for a 'Mum' and the final card for any occasion. Once again all have plain inserts. The flowers on two of the cards were made using a flower template which came as part of a goody bag of craft stuff. I used a pair of scissors to curl the petals of the flowers and experimented with swapping the papers round for each flower.

Well that's all for now. Hope you all have a good week.

Thanks for reading :)