Decluttering and destashing with Yerdle

I've been meaning to mention this app called Yerdle (they have a website, but you need the mobile app to actually post and buy). 

I've been using it since the summer of 2014 and it's been such an awesome way to get rid of stuff in my house and my studio - including fabric, ribbon, product I tried but didn't sell. I've also gotten rid of a lot of weird things like used make up, a bra and lots of kid toys. In return I was given credits and was able to use those credits to "win" a lot of awesome things like shoes for my daughter, a duvet cover, and a Patagonia fleece.

The app doesn't use money in transactions unless you need to buy extra credits to make a purchase (they call it "winning" an item). Otherwise you give away your own items, get credits, and then use credits to win new items. When you sign up you get 250 credits to start. The way they convert credits to dollars on the site is a little weird so just be careful of that (10 credits = $1). They convert it to dollars to help people recognize the value of things, but it's a little misleading sometimes. 

Shipping is paid by the person who wins an item  (flat fees of $4, $5, $6). As a the person giving away an item, when someone wins something from you it's your job to print the label generated by Yerdle and drop it off at UPS.

Want to sign up and try it out? 

Just got to the website for a link to the app, or from your phone click on this link: yerdle.com/i/ryan-green-135798

Ryan - WickedMint

In My Studio: Creative Block

Storyboard

Creative block is that awful feeling when you just can't get into your groove, your studio gets you down and  your ideas dry up. I periodically suffer from this malady and have found some great ways to help me out of the funk.

1. Make a story board. Rip out pictures you like from magazines and brochures. Stick them down on a large piece of paper.

2. Take a creative field trip. Go visit a museum, gallery, ikea! Or take a class. Seeing what is happening in the outside world might help spark an idea

3. Look at the forecasting reports and see what colors and imagery will be on trend for the following season.

4. Clean up and organize your studio, a long forgotten scrap of fabric or sketch you put away might spark a great new idea. And a clean and organized studio will give you the space you need to create when the ideas start coming.

   

   A page from an old sketch book might spark an idea

5. Talk to store owners where you sell your products. What has been selling well and is there anything customers have been asking for. Look at comments you have received at craft fairs or conversations on Etsy. Customers sometimes give us great ideas for new products.

6. Listen: I have recently found some great podcasts that have really inspired me and given me a lot of good tips for running a small craft business. The best of these is called 'Elise gets Crafty'

7. Silence: Great ideas come sometimes from giving yourself a little distance and space from your studio. Take a walk, a yoga class, go skiing whatever you enjoy and just let your mind relax and see where it wanders.

"Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it." Bob Dylan

Good Luck and Good Making!
Sarah
So Handmade

The Balancing Act

The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you have lost it – anonymous

When working full-time and also trying to grow a small business, it is easy to spread yourself too thin. Besides all of the hours that are spent working at a job that may not be your real joy, you may also push yourself to exhaustion and irritability, while working on the very thing that may be your heart’s desire.
We all have choices, and the often the relief of having a steady paycheck can trap a person into believing that this is more important than doing what you really love.

When the hours that are available to work on your craft are regulated by everything else that must be done, it can feel as though little is being accomplished, or that the process is moving too slowly.

Part of the balancing act of life includes family obligations, social activities, necessary chores, appointments, and unexpected events.

As I prepare to take a week and a half for summer vacation, I am accepting of the fact that the time spent exploring, relaxing, enjoying, will recharge me. In order to have energy for fresh new ideas, it is important to take time to relax, and realize that taking a brief break can be positive.

The act of balancing all aspects of life can be a challenging dilemma. Time passes quickly, and often while looking towards the future, we forget to experience the now.

Jenny - Reclaimed Designs

In My Studio: Craft Fair Preparations

Hudson Valley Etsy Team Holiday Craft Fair in 2012

This time last year I was frantically trying to get products together to participate in my first ever holiday craft fair with my business So Handmade. The plethora of holiday fairs start as early as October and happen almost every weekend until Christmas. These holiday fairs can be the most lucrative time of year for selling and can also provide a great opportunity to network and market your business. I learned some valuable lessons starting out on this circuit last year so want to share some of challenges and tips for any new sellers out there:

1. Which Holiday Fairs: Choosing the holiday fairs to participate in is the first challenge. Balancing the sometimes high cost of a spot with the potential for earnings. Wondering if doing the local church/ school fair would be beneficial or a waste of time. As a newbie to this scene I don't have any great advice for choosing your fairs but have found that talking to fellow vendors is a great way to gauge which fairs are good and which to avoid. Don't overstretch yourself by applying for one every weekend between now and Christmas, pace yourself. On the weekends in between go and visit local fairs to see if doing them the following year might be worthwhile. Look at the other potential costs involved of doing the fairs such as the distance away from home, hotel costs if it's a two day affair etc.
      
2. Plan your space. Once you have decided which fairs to do look at the size and shape of the booth you have been allocated, mark it out on the floor of your house with masking tape. Arrange your booth furniture in the space allocated making sure that you are aware of where the flow of people will come in and out making your space easy to negotiate. A booth that's too cluttered will put people off from entering, make sure it's open enough to entice customers. Does your set up require an electrical outlet and where will it be?
   Remember to give yourself a designated space and a chair to sit, the fairs can stretch on and on and on and being comfortable is important. Take photos of your mock up so you can easily replicate it on the day. Finally make sure all the booth furniture is manageable and will fit into your car, doing extra trips costs more and wastes precious set up time.
   
   
3. Tablecloths: Make sure you have tablecloths that cover the front and any visible sides of your tables all the way to the ground. This makes your space look more professional and also gives a great storage space for things you don't want to be on view. Choose the color wisely to best show off your products.
   
   
4. Presentation: Work our beforehand where your products are going to go and if you need special stands/ baskets for them. Play around with the layout and once you are happy take photos so you can remember. Keep your products clean, ironed  and stored carefully, presenting dusty, creased products at the fair will not help your sales.
   
   
5. Branding: Label your stand with your business name as visible as possible. Banners are a great way of doing this, Staples and other stationary stores are often giving good deals on printing them. Keep business cards easily accessible to visitors and put one in every customers bag. Donating an item to the obligatory raffle  is also a good way of getting visibility for you business. Remember to have a visitors book for e-mail addresses so you can start to build up a mailing list.
   
   

   

   Banner for Rockerbox Garlic

6. Price your products with labels that are easily visible, do this before the show to save time but also remember extra labels for any products you missed or for any changes/ discounts you want to make on the day.
   
   
7. Payment Options: Remember to bring with you a cash box with as much petty cash as possible, at least $50-$100 in a variety of different denominations and change. Look into ways that you can accept non-cash payments, this might be on a smart phone or ipad with a square register or similar but be aware of the additional costs. Remember to add the states sales tax to every purchase made, bring a calculator to easily work this out. Register online to file these payments.
   
   
8. Be your own advertisement: If possible wear one of your products (if it's jewelry or apparel) and remember to tell people that its available. 
   
   

   

   Me wearing one of my half aprons at a holiday craft fair

   
   
9. Don't Forget:

• Plastic or paper bags for customers purchases and packaging such as bubble wrap or tissue paper if needed
• Business cards, banners and other branding items 
• Calculator, receipt book and notebook to keep track of sale
• Pens, pins, safety pins, scissors, string, tape, small sewing kit 
• Food and drink to keep you going and a book for slow times 
• Extension lead for electrical supply if needed

10. Network: Lastly don't forget to tell people where you will be at the weekend, make sure all your family and friends are going to visit the holiday fair and especially your booth. Post details of your schedule online and encourage visitors with promises of cookies!

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

Alexander Graham Bell

Good Luck and Good Making!

Sarah Omura

So Handmade

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SOhandmade1

In My Studio: Time Saving Tips

The other day I was in my studio sewing on my machine.  After taking the fabric off I realized I had sewed the wrong sides together; I would have to unpick the whole thing. I was so cross with myself, how could I have done something soooo stupid! What a waste of time! Yes, that's the crux of the issue TIME.

As a Mom of a very active 3 year old boy I don't get much time to devote to my business. The time I do get is therefore very precious and I hate wasting time knowing that the sound of little feet will come along any minute to put an end to my industry. Don't get me wrong I love my family very much but getting that work/life balance right is so hard and in my case, ultimately, work is always on the losing side.

With this in mind when I am not making mistakes on my sewing machine here are some of the ways I manage to save time:

1.    I try and keep my studio organized and tidy, it saves time looking for things and cuts down on accidents.

2.    I stow any products that need to be hand sewn in a basket, together with the needle, thread, and scissors. I bring this out at night and sew in front of the TV.

3.    Similarly, I collect together anything that needs ironing in a pile and do it all at once in the evening in front of my favorite show.

4.    I bring a flask of tea and a bottle of water into the studio with me in the morning to cut down the trips to the kitchen for refills.

5.    I make a quantity of products at the same time, cutting them all out at the same time, then making them up stage by stage until all of them are completed.

6.    I throw ingredients into a crock pot early in the morning then dinner will be ready on demand and the extra stress of preparing dinner has been taken away.

7.    I try and go shopping for supplies in the evenings or weekends when my partner is home to babysit, therefore freeing up those precious weekday/daytime making hours.

8.    Similarly, I try and do a couple of hours of paperwork/computer work at the weekend when my partner can take the little one out. The accounts always get forgotten and doing a couple of hours a week saves me loads of time later on.

9.    In order to stay on top of things I always keep lots of lists; lists of supplies to buy, lists of outstanding orders, lists of events to plan for, then when the opportunity arises I can plunge right in.

10.  I never try and do any work when my family are home,  the distractions are just too stressful and I end up making mistakes that set me back even further. Close the studio door!

11.  Having said that, when things get busy I sometimes utilize my partner to help with packing and postage.

Good luck and good making!

by Sarah Omura, SO Handmade

In My Studio: Organizing

This year my first New Year's resolution was to organize my studio- and keep it that way. After the hectic Christmas season my studio was a dumping ground for all manner of craft fair equipment, boxes full of materials, display furniture and other things I just hadn't had the chance to put away.

In order to get back to work in 2013 I needed to do some serious sorting out. Organizing is something I really enjoy; printing out labels and sticking them on countless storage boxes, separating the pencils from the paintbrushes and seeing all my fabrics folded neatly onto color coordinated piles gives me a  tremendous feeling of satisfaction.  Unfortunately when time is short and the orders and craft fairs keep coming tidying up is not a priority.

Keeping a studio shipshape is important for many different reasons:

• It allows me to keep an inventory of my stock so that I know by a quick glance when I'm running low on particular supplies.

• Organized also means it is much easier to clean, therefore avoiding dusty materials and products.

• An organized space= an organized mind, I find it much easier to be creative when clutter is kept to a minimum. 

• Having a studio I feel proud to show off to anyone who might call round unexpectedly, maybe even a potential customer...

• Keeping supplies organized means it is much easier to find them if everything has been put away in the right place, hunting for those buttons I know I have somewhere can be a huge time waster.

With this in mind here are a few tips to help you keep your studio organized in the year to come:

1. Keep a basket dedicated for odds and ends that you have been using. This can be sorted out when you get the chance but in the mean time keeps them tidied away.
2. Use transparent boxes and glass jars so you can see easily what is in each.
3. Bring a box/drawer into your TV room and organize it while watching TV at night. It doesn't feel like a chore then and you're not wasting any 'production' time.
4. Design a simple labeling system with a basic label template saved on your computer so you can quickly print up new labels as and when they are needed.
5. Have an area (or a box if you don't have space) dedicated to packing, keeping all the things you need such as scissors, tape, boxes, tissue paper, bubble wrap and business cards in one packing place. Then when orders come in you can dispatch them quickly and efficiently.
6. Similarly have a box dedicated to craft fairs and keep in it all the basic things you need to set up and run a stand. Print out a basic list to keep in the box of these items so you can quickly check them off.
7. Use your wall space effectively, if its pin boards, pegboards, even shoe storage hangers converted into stationary holders, from studio floor to ceiling, to maximum the storage space.
8. Look online for many inventive and creative ways to store your craft supplies.  Look for ideas on Pinterest, Michaels, Simple Magazine etc.
9. Devote an area in your studio/ house for photographing your products, keeping a backboard, lights and spare camera batteries ready and set up to use when needed.

my packing box

"Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Albert Einstein

Good luck and good making!

Sarah Omura, SO Handmade