Great book for crafters!!

I was celebrating today, along with a lot of Haddon Township.  Our little library has finally reopened after being closed for two months due to a water main break inside the building.  I was like a kid in the candy store, picking up lots and lots of books.  For someone like me who reads sixty books a year, I was suffering from withdrawal.  I found a real gem for crafters too!!  "The Handmade Marketplace" by Kari Chapin is a book on how to sell your crafts locally, globally, and online.  She has included lots of input from other crafters and also the VP of Etsy, who gives advice on selling online.  I sat down with a cup of tea and my 100 calorie cookie pack, and dove right in.  I love this book.  I've just started Chapter 2, but already I have picked up some great ideas and inspiration.  Something I read really resonated with me - working in a clean, tidy environment.  My craft area looks like a small tornado went thru.  So tonight I plan on clearing my space, so my creative juices will be able to flow better.  Clutter makes me feel overwhelmed. After a little break from the 112 heat indexes in NJ, I'm ready to get moving again.

Backgrounds

Sometimes I like to make a quick background when creating a card.  I love the cuttlebug embossing folders.  The one I use the most is the swiss dots.  I also love my bird stamps, so I decided to combine the two.  Sometimes, simple is just so much better.

I also love owls and in the last few years there has been a lot of great owl stamps out on the market.

I didn't have a polka dot stamp, so I found a pen with an eraser which made a perfect circle to create the polka dotted background on the owl card I made. 

Easy does it

Happy 4th of July.  I have a real day off!!  I decided to take it easy - going to a bbq pool party shortly.
I happened to log onto my Etsy account and was presently surprised to find a sale!!  Now more ideas are floating thru my brain, and I want to get into work mode.  Or as I like to call it - my creative mode, because I don't feel like I'm working when I make cards.  I find it a real struggle having a shop online verses a booth at a farmer's market.  I have contact with people and get all kinds of great feedback at the craft market.  While my online shop is sometimes so quiet, I swear I can hear crickets!  I get feedback from some customers, but not all the time.  I can rearrange my craft booth adding cute baskets filled with card packs, etc., but I find it a lot harder to revamp my online shop.  I am going to hire my son-in-law's brother to create a new banner for me.  Then I plan on adding lots more items. 

I just put things out on my tables at the craft market, but Etsy takes a whole lot longer with lots of pictures and good descriptions.  Then trying to let people know I exist out there is a huge challenge.  So my motto for today is Easy Does It.  I am tired from spending my few days off working on my online shop and market booth.  So today I am trying to do as little as possible.  For a workaholic like me that's not easy!!