Hello Everyone!

I am still very much here. I have just returned from a much needed holiday in Cambodia and Laos. It was wonderful, inspiring and where my man asked me to marry him - yay!

The craft scene is so vibrant and alive in SE Asia. You can see girls and women in shops, cafes and sitting on the streets sewing, weaving and embroidering wherever you go. Also the hand craft of some tribes people (the Hmong tribe) is their livelihood and many tribes people still make and embellish their own clothes, costume, and jewellery. Their work is intricate, colourful and traditional - it was sooooo inspiring to see craft so tightly interwoven into the lives of so many.

There are many cooperatives and groups that work with tribes people and others to support and preserve their hand craft and their precious skills so that factories don’t get a look in. These folks are not only incredibly talented, they are proud of their skills and they are seriously the happiest and friendliest strangers I have ever met on my travels. You get the sense that craft is as integral to their lives now as it has been for centuries - which to me is comforting! I felt that even on holiday, thousands of miles away from my work I was still surrounded by lovely crafters and mucho handmade goodness.

Unfortunately I don’t have any pics of tribal art and craft to show you because my memory card is corrupted grrrrrrrr! If you’d like to see some of the tribal craft you can look here.

So I’m back at work now and really happy to be as well. I still have a monster inbox to get through, but we’re getting there. My assistants have kept the shop ship-shape whist I’ve been away and now we are cooking up something new and (for me) very exciting. After all my extolling the many virtues of Etsy on CraftBoom! I am now going to open up my own Etsy shop - hurrah!

Now I know that many folks often do things the other way round, they open up an Etsy shop and then they look into setting up their own website, and many folks continue to run both - whereas I already have an established website and now I am setting up an Etsy shop. I think I have good reasons for doing this and I will explain these reasons to you in subsequent posts. For the time being you can check out my progress in setting up my U-Handbag Etsy shop here.

Ohhh! I can’t wait to get going! I’ll be sure to keep a diary of the set-up on this blog - maybe we can help each other with tips and advice. It’s great to back!

Here are a couple of helpful CraftBoom! posts on Etsy:

• How to set up an Etsy shop step by step.
• This Weeks Etsy Faves

Thanks to the talented Amy of LucyKate Crafts for telling me about this really super useful series of FREE podcasts on copyright and how to protect your intellectual property. Useful information for anyone in the creative industries.

Pop over to the Own-it site for heaps of free and useful copyright advice.

Have you ever wanted to see your gorgeous handmade craft in a glossy craft magazine -  like yeah!  The Traplet magazine group is on the look-out for new and interesting crafts, projects, and stories.  Their magazines are available worldwide.

This is the current issue of Sewing World (a Traplet publication) showing my bag design for the month of Sep.

I already write for this group; I design and write a bag tutorial write every month for one of their magazines; Sewing World, but Traplett also publish other craft titles that cover Patchwork and Quilting, Craft Stamper, and Beads and Beyond. So if you have any crafty goodness that you would like to share and see in the spotlight get in touch with them.  What have you got to lose?!  Find out more info on the Traplet Site.

Woo! new interviews here on CraftBoom!� ‘10 Crafty Questions with…’ are a little different from our Crafting Heroes Interviews. These interviews are a bit more person orientated and there’s also a fun twist: I ask the interviewee 5 questions and the interviewee makes up another 5 questions to ask themselves. Sound like fun? Yep, I thought so too So without further ado I’m sooo delighted to be able to present to you the lovely Megan Reardon writer of the blog we all love to love that is Not Martha and boss lady of The Organized Knitter Hurrah!!!

Megan Reardon

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CraftBoom!’s 5 Questions

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If you could be any crafter/artist (past or present) for a day who would it be and why

I would like to be Elsa Schiaparelli for a day, especially around 1927. She lived a remarkable life and didn’t bow to societal pressures. She was a fashion designer who hung out with Surrealists and collaborated with Dali, she was a rival of Chanel. She used innovative knitting techniques and wasn’t afraid to shock anyone. You can read about her on Wikipedia. I went to an exhibit of her clothing and they were things that wouldn’t be out of place in shops today, and almost seemed unremarkable unless you knew what decade they were designed in. This photo exhibit online from the Philadelphia Museum is great if you’d like to get to know her work.

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If you had magic powers what 3 things would you do to advance the Crafting Movement?

I would go back in time and make sure Sassy magazine didn’t fall before it’s time.

I would create grants (or just piles of gold coins) for those who put so much work into creating craft shows like Urban Craft Uprising, Bizarre Bazaar and the DIY Trunk Show.

I would create a neverending supply of fabric so that certain styles wouldn’t run out, and I wouldn’t feel the need to hoard fabrics quite so obsessively.

Some things just defy explanation; which means you’ll probably find them hanging around on Megan’s blog.

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What are you most skilled at craft wise and what craft skills would you like to be more skilled at?

Having studied it in college, my sewing skills are the strongest (if a bit rusty when it comes to making clothing). I would like to be more skilled at graphic design principles in order to adorn my own work, or print my own fabric Spoonflower or Ink&Spindle. I think knowing more about graphic design would also help me design, or at least make decisions about, my house, garden, and website.

Megan is also pretty handy with the baking too. Will you get a load of that perfect pastry on that pie; why don’t I have neighbors or friends who can do that?

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What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

I think it may be the bacon cups, though it was almost accidental. They were created as a result of being invited to a bacon-themed pot luck at the home of a chef and a food writer. I don’t have a lot of aptitude for cooking so I decided, the morning of the pot luck, that if I couldn’t do something that would taste good, I might as well do something that looked dramatic. I had no idea they would be so popular on the interwebs.

Megan’s world famous bacon cups. Drool…only another 2 hours before lunch…

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Besides family/friends/home/health what is your most treasured possession?

At this very moment I’m smitten with my iPhone, I feel like I have such freedom to have access to any information I might need or want from wherever I might be. I can look up recipes, yardage for yarn, maps and addresses, and all that stuff I print out but inevitably leave on my desk on the way out of the house. I’m hoping it will make my scattered self run a little more smoothly.

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Megan’s 5 Questions

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“Megan please choose another 5 questions to ask yourself. So these self chosen questions can be about anything you like. It would be nice if they are somewhat craft related questions, but they don’t have to be; I happen to think things like that “who would you like to share a roller coaster ride with” or “who you would to knit a jumper for” or “your favourite brand of chocolate milk” for example, quite interesting “

NB: Meg thought it would be a cool idea to ask her Not Martha readers to think up some questions for her to answer:

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What do you do when you’re suffering a creative block to unblock?
I find something in my daily life that I would like a solution for but cannot buy. My shoe racks are an example of this. Not only did I end up with a solution for keeping shoes my tight little corner but I found myself wandering around hardware stores completely engrossed in discovering what I could do with things I could find there. This lead to a bunch of other things I wanted to do and suddenly I find myself inspired to work on a bunch of things.

Megan’s stylish DIY designer shoe racks.

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What are your fledgling hobbies–as in, what would you be tackling next if suddenly the craft world went boom, yarn disappeared, and uh, food made itself? Are you a closet golfer? Aspiring Toastmaster?
I would love to make video games and study game theory and structure. I grew up playing the Kings Quest games, and credit the early ones with teaching me how to type properly. I really admire Erin Robinson at Livey Ivy, and I’m a fan of Ragnar Tornquist.

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Was your business planned, or did it naturally evolve? I mean, did you actively seek out having a business, or did the business find you?
My business, The Organized Knitter grew from not being able to find the type of knitting needle cases and storage that I wanted. Once I had my idea I set out to make it a business. If I could do it again I would wait longer to quit my job until the small business absolutely demanded it, I did a lot of floundering around initially and would have felt more secure if I hadn’t put so much pressure on myself. I wish the books Craft Inc. and The Boss of You had been out when I was starting my business, they would have helped a lot.

Inside view of one of Megan’s crochet cases. Enough organization to bring on a feeling of peace and calm.

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What are the crafting tools that you cannot live without?
I cannot live without disappearing markers, the packaging often calls these ìair erasableî. They make it so easy to place something and you don’t have to worry about washing or brushing away chalk later on. I never did like thread tracing. I also really love the Clover fabric eraser, I mark all my sewing and cutting lines in pencil and this does the best job of getting that up out of fabric if I need. It’s pencil shaped as well so it’s easy to keep in with my other marking supplies.

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How did turning your hobby into a business change your feelings about it?
Since I spend all day sewing I now considering checking my email to be relaxing. I still enjoy sewing but I’m less likely to think up projects that involve it. I do think I have focused my excess creative energy on knitting and cooking than I would have otherwise.

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Thanks so much for the interview Megan. So many of us check-in to Not Martha daily wondering what type of coolness we’ll find, so it’s really nice to know a bit more about the driving force behind such a wonderful site. Wishing you lots of happiness and wishing you luck in your business. I wonder is it possible to Fed-ex Jar Pies to London?

I hope you enjoyed that. More of these 10 Crafty Questions are in the pipeline. Look out for them!

Last night I was loafing about on Etsy (like you do) and I happened upon a seller of clasp purses (also known as kiss lock purses). The seller’s site was nice and fresh looking and they had made a considerable number of sales over the years. The purses were yummy and the photography was great too, you could tell that this person puts a lot of effort into their shop. “Good on them” I thought to myself.

A few more clicks and few more shops later I happened upon another shop also selling clasp purses and I thought “Hello does the last clasp purse seller have 2 shops?” These are a few things that I noticed where identical or similar between these two clasp frame purse sellers:

• Some identical purse frames (bag and purse supplies are my thing so I can tell whether 2 frames are identical are not).
• Some identical photo views (and in some cases) even down to a photo showing a hand holding the purse.
• Similar price points, though one seller was slightly cheaper than the other

Now I can’t prove anything and I’m not going to make any accusations, but if you look at the ‘member since’ dates of the sellers one of them started their Etsy shop a year earlier than the other. **UPDATE** It looked to me as if there were 2 different sellers here, one of which was (shall we say) ‘heavily inspired’ by the other. So go figure; do you think it’s just a coincidence? Have you come across something like this before?

The first part of this series is: How I organize myself in my Craft Business: Part 1 - Paper work.

The second part of this series is: How I organize myself in my Craft Business: Part 2 - Time Management.

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Why be seasonal in your Craft Business?

A readiness be seasonal in your craft business will make you more relevant and hopefully more busy! Of course some businesses are more driven by the seasons and the holidays than others, but most of us can devote a percentage our inventory in order to capitalise on Christmas, Summer, Valentines, Easter, Winter, and so on. Periods such holidays put people more in a mood to buy because there is purpose to buy! So it makes sense to sell relevant items in order to anticipate their needs.

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Start thinking, planning & preparing a Season in advance

So if we want our craft business to be ready for the upcoming holiday or season we have to prepare in advance. If you are busy making items for the Christmas holidays during the Christmas holidays than you are taking away precious time and energy from selling and marketing your items at the crucial time, thus increasing your chances of being left with unsold Christmas stock…urgh!

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How I try to Prepare for the Seasons

In my experience I find it best to work a season in advance. So for example to be ready for Spring/Summer I start thinking about it in mid Autumn, I hope to have selected and ordered Spring/Summer stock by mid winter, and I hope for it have all delivered by the the end of winter. This gives me a couple of weeks after New Year to have all photography, product descriptions, and marketing ideas all sorted before we all turn our attentions to Spring/Summer in Feb/March. Well that’s the plan anyway, it doesn’t always pan out like that So my craft business focuses on craft supplies, but if your business is centered upon handmade items the principle is still the same. For example; the peak selling time for Summer goods is now over (and lots of sales are on so the Summer stock can be shifted to make way for next season) and by now you ideally should already be in production of your Autumn/Winter items.

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Start Preparations with Research

One of the keys to staying one step ahead is research this is because in order to be ready for the next season/holiday a certain amount of prediction is involved. We have to hone our fortune teller skills by trying to figure out what key things, events, people, colours, etc. are going to have an influence on fashion or lifestyle trends.

Fortunately for us Goobers (that is Amy Butler’s term for folks like me (and a lot of you) who LOVE the internet and technology. I met and chatted her last week and she called me a Goober! I was so touched!) Info about what’s new, what is hot, and is going to be hot is never far away. Check out the blogs you love, check out the craft portal sites, and get a feel for what the crafting world is being influenced by. Other sources of research can include magazines, film, music, whatever! The secret is to not just copy what is going on, but to learn what is happening out there and then interpret these influences in your own special way. Here are some of the those sites (make a cuppa, get yourself some biccies, and get researchin’):

• Craftzine
• Adorn
• Whip-up
• Craft Gossip
• Craftster
• Craft Revolution
• We love Etsy
• Indie Quarter
• Modish
• Decor8
• Anything Indie
• Trunkt
• Mintd
• Indie Finds
• Oh Joy!
• Design Sponge
• Indie Fixx

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Understand the trading patterns within a season.

Another Key to staying one step ahead is understanding the trading patterns of a season. This will help you plan and prepare to make the most of the season you are working in and also plan and prepare for the following season. My theory is the busy-ness of a season can be typically broken up into 3 parts. If you take fashions stores to be an analogy:

• The Lead-up period (transitional period) - we are coming out of one season (and we are all sooo bored of it!) and we are now entering the new season. There’s a buzz about the new season in the press and the media and we are beginning to hanker for the new stuff. During this time the previous season’s items will be greatly reduced in the last of previous season sales. Time to grab a bargain winter coat for next year, but also time to start thinking of pretty summer dresses and sandals.
• The In-season to peak season period - we are in the full swing of the season and (the shops hope that) a majority of the in-season items are being sold (at full-price) during this period. There are no sales on at this time, (but there may be promotions to stimulate sales), and shops are not re-stocking any In-season items. Time to buy those pretty summer dresses and sandals.
• The Peak season to end of season period - just after the peak season is over (almost half way though the season) the shops start reducing the price of their items and/or putting them in promotions. The further on you go into this period the more aggressive the price reductions. The shops are off-loading their season’s stock because the next season’s stuff is already ordered and soon they will start putting it on the shop floor. And before you know it, the circus starts all over again and we are back into the Lead-up period of the next season! Time to buy some timeless classics for next summer at reduced prices.

I am soooo proud of this photo it aint true!