Birthday for Baby Spice

My sweet girl turned three last month and we hosted a small birthday dinner for her...ordinarily I don't do full-blown birthday decor, unless it's a P-A-R-T-Y. But Miss Thang had it in her mind she wanted cute party hats (perhaps she saw them while I was on Pinterest?) and for those who know me, I just couldn't leave it at that. Especially when I came across this post on Ruffles and Stuff's fab blog, about doing party decor for free with scrapbooking materials. And as we all know from previous posts, I have PLENTY of those around :)

For the hats, I took an old store bought one I had (yes, I hoard like any good crafter), took it apart and used it as a template. I added the ribbon trim while the girls' hats were still flat --I used hot glue instead of sewing...but the ruffles look good, right?

Baby Spice got in on the dessert-making (no surprises here!)

We're a cupcake kinda family, so this year we decided to try cupcakes in a jar, and yes, the yellow cupcakes and Raspberry lemon frosting were homemade! See this post here for the recipe. They were delish!

I had been itching to make some of these as well...yes, more scrapbook paper! They were the perfect wall, well, mirror decor and you can reuse them or hang them in your child's room. Now, how's that for crafting on a budget?

Pinterest Challenge Giveaway Winner

We finally have a winner for the Pinterest Valentine's Day Challenge Giveaway!  Boy, did it come down to the wire or what???  Two of my FB fans hung in there for dear life, and the right guess came in on the last day! Congrats to Kathleen Heltzer for guessing the winning project, "So Pretty!"  Paula, from Scrap Your World sure gave her a run for the $$$!!  Thanks to all who entered.  Kathleen, please email me at cinnamonspice7 {at} gmail dot com to claim your gift.   

You will be receiving this lovely felt-rosette wreath!  The original wreath was pinned by theidearoom.net.

Now for Part II...I need you, my lovely readers to head over to the EtsyMom FB page HERE and check out all the lovely Pinterest-inspired Valentine's Day projects and vote on your favorite, EVEN if it's not MINE!  They should be posted by tomorrow, Feb 2nd.  You can visit my Pinterest Board here to see the original wreath, {it's a pretty full board, so scroll all the way to the bottom!}. Remember, we all created something outside our normal niche!

Happy voting!

{Giveaway} with a Twist!!!

Are you ready for a fun little giveaway based on one of the hottest Internet past times?  Yep, you guessed it...this giveaway is all about Pinterest!  I'm participating in a Valentine's Day Pinterest Challenge sponsored by EtsyMoms...I have to choose a V-Day inspired project to complete and give as a gift.  Here's the catch, it has to be a non-papercraft...

Oh my stars, what have I gotten myself into???  

Soooo, where do YOU come in?  I've created an "Oh My Sweet Valentine" inspiration board here...all you need to do is guess which craft I'm going to make.  The first one to correctly guess what I'm making will win the gift!  No kidding, I really am going to make it for one of you :)

The RULES:

• You must be a fan of my Facebook page here to enter.
• Comments should be entered on my FB page, along with your email addy so I can contact the winner.
• To describe the pin you've chosen, use my comment for that pin, ie "Cute font ;)".
• 1 guess per day, so think carefully, but don't take too long!!
• Giveaway will end once the First person correctly guesses the item I'm going to make.

Good Luck...maybe you'll catch a little inspiration for your Valentine's Day projects!!!

2012, the Road Ahead

Welcome 2012!!!  

My family and I closed out last year with a 2-week trip to my folks' place in St. Louis...after it took us nearly 3 days to drive back, hubby has declared no more winter road trips to my hometown!  

During the many hours on the road, I had lots of time to reflect on my creative business, what I've accomplished and where I want to go this year.  I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I believe wholeheartedly in 

setting goals, personal and business, with a DATE attached, don't you?

SO I want to share mine with you!  It will help keep me accountable and might inspire you as well ;)

This year, I am going to:

• Make better use of free business coaching resources (Ongoing). I started by attending Laura Roeder's Facebook Divide Webinar yesterday.  If you want some usable tips on untangling your business from your personal page, check it out here!
• Design a newsletter, develop a subscription list and decide the content and how often it will go out  (Jan 30).
• Overhaul my blog--I have changed the content a few times and need to decide on the exact direction I want it to go!  (Feb 29).
• Work on my branding, to include a possible name change, new logo and shop banner (Mar 31).
• Organize my craft room/studio--I need to carve out time to focus on getting this room set up so that I can be productive--tough because we moved last year and my space is much smaller, AND I'm still digging things out of boxes (May 31).
• Launch my own website! (Oct 30).
• Increase my sales by 50% -- I am launching a new, higher priced product line which is more cost- and time-effective to help achieve this.
• Do 4 quality craft shows (Dec 18).

I would love to read what YOU want to accomplish this year and what steps you'll take to get there, so feel free to share ;)

SALE!!! Limited Time Only

Now's your chance to stock up on winter gifts and stocking stuffers for family, friends and teachers!  I'm offering 20% off  my entire store here, yep, on everything!  Just enter coupon code EM20OFF at checkout. But hurry, offer expires Nov 28th (midnight EST).

xoxo,

Kimberly

I Love Mistakes!!!

Me loving mistakes has not always been the case!!!  And I certainly wouldn't have blogged about them because "Oh My Stars, how would that look???"  Before opening my Etsy shop a few years ago, I would definitely say I tended to be a bit of a perfectionista (I made a new word).  While that worked well in my previous line of work, it was holding me back in my scrapbooking and paper crafting endeavors.  Isn't that ironic considering the coolest thing about scrapbooking is the ability to cover up almost ANY uh-oh you've made???  I read somewhere on Etsy, maybe the forums, a while back that a true artist knows which mistakes to keep and which ones to abandon and now I GET IT!

Some of you might have seen this cute little album cover (below left) on my FB page  the other day...well, I thought a little speck of something had become lodged underneath the vellum so while oh-so-carefully trying to get it out, I actually tore the vellum--YIKES!  I fretted for a moment and thought, well I could just keep it, and then I thought, no way mama, you are not giving up on this one, so I just transformed it (picture on the right)!

                                                        And I like it so much better now.

So, my tip to you is don't be afraid of making mistakes, they can actually be a way of redirecting your creativity.

Get Your Craft Fair Prep On!

Fall and Holiday craft season is here!  I've done several small fairs over the past couple of years, and each time I try to note what I should do for more success in the future...figuring out what/how much to sell was probably the biggest pain in the "bucket" when I was just getting my feet wet.  I finally decided to...

Make what I love and find the right fairs for what I offer!

If you have time, do some research online (a simple Google search for "craft fairs" and your zip code, or try Craigslist, Eventlister, local schools or churches) and visit/ask other vendors about shows before you apply.  I've gotten excited about fairs in the past, only to find they were not well advertised, not well attended and I barely broke even!  Let's be real...you invest far too much time and talent; be selective when you can!


Probably the most important things you need to consider in advance, if you want to make a decent profit, are your target dollar figure and how much inventory you need to sell in order to reach that (minus supplies and materials, signage, booth fee, etc.).  Then consider that at a well-attended show you might only sell 1/3 to 1/4 of your inventory... that should give you an idea of just how much you'll need to create!  Try to find out in advance how many shoppers have attended in the past; if the numbers are low, carefully consider how much time you want to put into making new things...unless you have another avenue for selling them soon after.  Offer different price points... I came up with a few different, lower-priced items that I could have on hand in larger quantities, in addition to my more involved, and expensive pieces of work and they sold really well.

Remember, shoppers will want to see and feel your items, be sure anything too fragile for handling is well protected.  Place your more delicate scrapbooks up out of the reach of little hands and instead have something for them, like bookmarks or notepads.  For cards and tags or other smaller items, I use clear resealable bags and a bag topper I print onto cardstock.

Print your logo onto a small clear label or sticker paper and use a circle punch for adding directly to the back of your greeting cards (enlist a child, husband or friend to help).  Business Cards with a punched hole can also be tied to bags and larger items. If you offer a variety of items, display like items together, say all of your gift tags in a basket, all of your notebooks in another, cards together etc.

**Make sure your prices are visible**

Having signs with prices for similar items  helps avoid tagging each item and SAVES TIME!

If possible, set up your booth in advance, either in your yard, or wherever you have space (I used my living room) and take pictures to facilitate quick set-up at your event.

Be creative with your booth, after all, it's HOW your booth looks that will draw people to your display. Put time and effort into exhibiting your work, it will pay off!  Try to choose simple containers like baskets, boxes, shelving, similar in style and preferably color, so they don't overshadow your display!

Use on-hand items like boxes hidden under your tablecloth to create "risers" or height on your table.  Create your own bunting banner, Check out Etsy for great banners, or take advantage of free offers from Internet marketing companies.

Check out my Pinterest board here for some artful display ideas.  Other ideas to keep your display fresh are having a featured product spot and rotating a few different items; or having a drawing to attract people to your booth, it could be for something as simple as signing up for a newsletter to enter!

If you need more help with your display, search "craft fair display " on flickr for inspiration!   Paper Crafters might want to add "cards" to your query.

To ensure things run smoothly the day of your event,  have a list of the items you will be selling, have receipts available for your record-keeping and in case the customer asks you for one.  Office supply stores sell pre-printed receipt booklets that work well.   Accept credit cards if you can; there are a number of services available, like Square (squareup.com) and Propay.  Square sends you a card reader which you can connect to your cellphone (check to see that it is compatible with yours) and a fee is charged for each transaction.  Secure your money and keep it out of site with something like a small lock box (also available at office supply stores).

 Shows can last all day and use up a lot of energy, so bring along Snacks,  a Photo Album to display custom work, a Friend (for potty breaks), and EXTRA BUSINESS CARDS!!! Preserve your sanity...If you feel overwhelmed, ask for help!  Even non-crafty friends will want to help you succeed!!  


Don't be afraid to mingle, some of my best customers have been other vendors at shows.  That being said, when just starting out, I went to SELL and not buy!  Remember to take pictures at the show, SMILE and ENJOY yourself...it's fun making $$$!!

My post focused on a lot of nuts and bolts...here are links to some other extremely helpful tips from an Etsy Seller RockLove here who does HUGE shows! and more on Etsy's blog here.  And oh yeah, I'm not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned!