Three Halloween Arts and Craft Project for Kids

As Halloween nears, young minds drift toward costumes and candy, and parents often find themselves at wit’s end in the attempt to calm those young enthusiasts into near-normalcy. Directing their attention and energy into Halloween arts and craft activities can help both young and old alike. This year, steer their imaginations and energies toward fun and creative pastimes that have a Halloween theme.
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6 Tips for Outstanding Craft Business Customer Service

One reason people like to shop from handmade businesses is the personal attention they receive. You can easily become known for your phenomenal customer care and personal touches that keep customers coming back for more.

Here are a few ways you can take care of your customers:

1) Try to learn and remember every first-time customer’s name (or, if you’re terrible with names, some other important detail about him or her). When you greet them the next time they shop from you, your memory of them will demonstrate how important they are to you.

2) Find small extra things you can do for your customers, above and beyond what they expect. When the art teacher at my son’s school asked me to redesign some old beads into new necklaces, I also created a pair of matching earrings from some of the beads, which she hadn’t thought to ask for. She was thrilled with that thoughtful extra touch.
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Joule Hat Knit Pattern

The Joule Hat is knit in the round using the two stranded knitting technique. A self-striping yarn allows for gorgeous color changes without many ends to weave in.
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Digital Scrapbooking vs. Traditional Scrapbooking

Technology has revolutionized our use of paper. In today’s world, we have more choices than ever to end our reliance on parchment and turn to electronic sources. The digital world now offers electronic newspapers, books, and mail. Some observers argue that paper will eventually be replaced by its electronic counterpart. Others contend that there is still value to having tangible paper products.

Today, scrapbooking also comes in a digital form. Which form of scrapbooking is preferred? In this article, we will target some key questions to help scrapbookers decide between digital and traditional scrapbooking.

What is the difference between digital scrapbooking verses traditional scrapbooking?

Scrapbooking, in general, is the art of preserving photographic memories. Unlike a photo album, a scrapbook album adds color, background, themes, journaling, and embellishments to the displayed photographs. Traditional scrapbooking uses physical objects to create the memory album. Taking their printed photos, traditional scrapbookers use adhesives to fasten down the picture along with embellishments to cardstock. Digital scrapbooking, also known as digi scrapbooking, starts on the computer. The digi scrapbooker uses photo editing software to add clipart and templates to their digital photo.
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Joule Mittens Knit Pattern

The Joule Mittens are knit in the round using the two stranded knitting technique. A self-striping yarn allows for gorgeous color changes without many ends to weave in.
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Craft Show Jewelry Ideas for Kids

Kids love to wear (and make) jewelry just as much as grownups do – and a cool product name can make more sales of children’s jewelry items!

Here are some products kids can make, either from kits you’ve put together ahead of time, or by choosing their own supplies from a selection. (However, be warned – whenever you let people choose their own components, they often take a VERY long time to make their choices!)

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Featured Crafter: Julie from Miss PrettyPretty

In this Featured Crafter, we hear from Julie from Miss PrettyPretty. Julie’s playhouses are incredibly imaginative, be sure to check out her store to view all her themed houses. They are customizable so your little one can have their own unique playhouse.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
My name is Julie. I am married to a really wonderful man, and we have two children, a boy who is 5 and a girl who is 4. I am an “older” mom who feels very lucky to have started a business that enables me to be at home with my kids!

Where can we find you? (website, craft shows, etc.)
You can find me at missprettypretty.etsy.com . I am too busy with my online business these days to do craft fairs, but I am definitely an arts/crafts fair veteran! I earned extra money and sometime supported myself on craft fairs for about 20 years. Back then, I made a lot of embellished clothing, denim shirts, sweatshirts, etc. All of that applique work was a good foundation for making my playhouses.
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5 Tips for a Better Jewelry Booth

Are you ready to have a successful, profitable jewelry show? Here are some things you can do at home, in the days before the show, to make setting up your booth easier, more professional, and more profitable:
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Featured Crafter: Rachel from The Yellow Hobbit

In this Featured Crafter, we hear from Rachel from The Yellow Hobbit. Read on to hear Rachel’s story about how watching others knit opened her up to the fiber world.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I’m a fiber artist who knits and spins, and I also dye my own yarn and wool roving.

The name The Yellow Hobbit comes from the fact that I’m a Tolkien fan, and I consider myself to be a hobbit because I’m really short (I’m 4′11″). Being a hobbit is much more fun than just being short. I started going by this nickname my freshman year of college, and it stuck. So I figured that it would be a good name for my store as well.
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Featured Crafter: Mary Katherine from Silvia’s Heart

In this Featured Crafter, we hear from Mary Katherine from Silvia’s Heart. Read on to learn how Mary Katherine’s love of a tiara turned into her love of gemstones.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I worked for a number of banks for many years, but lost my job because my medical leave expired and they couldn’t hold my job until I got better. Still on disability. I have loved gemstones for forever. I started making simple jewelry about 2 years ago. When I lost my German Shepherd Silvia a year ago and lost my job, I started to actually learn about gemstones. My wonderful husband has invested a lot of money in my learning process. Caliper gauge, carat scale, refractometer, microscope, loupe, loose gemstones, reference books & DVD’s. It has been a wonderful learning experience. I love setting my gems & then creating something around them. My loves are my husband Gabriele, my dogs Lacie & Tiler, Family and my gems and being cancer free for 10 years and running! (breast cancer & then skin cancer due to radiation)
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