As much as I hate that my day job diverts 8 hours of my day away from crafts, I will admit there are the occasional amazing perks (and I’m not just talking about the $s that arrive in my bank account on the 1st and the 15th). One of these perks came in the form of hiring a graphic designer for a project about six years ago. As we discussed the boring details of the promotional brochure that I hired Tracy Wagner for, little did I know that I was talking to one of the most creative and artistic people I’ve ever known! Since then I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work on many projects with Tracy and it is always exciting to see her latest ideas.

Hi Tracy! Tell us about your creative background.
I went to the Savannah College of Art & Design – BFA in photography (switched my major a few times – painting, illustration and finally photography).

Grew up down the road from my grandfather’s farm in Osgood, Indiana. Besides being farmers, I come from a long line of crafters – both grandmothers made quilts. Grandma Wagner loved ceramics, knitting and had a little upholstery shop. My grandpa Wagner was a wood worker – had a yard full of penguins at Christmas time. My mother is a weaver and my father dabbles in wood working too.

I have loved art my whole life – remember going berry picking with my grandpa Jackson (didn’t care too much for berry picking) so I would sneak off in the cornfield and use my few berries I did pick and draw in the dirt.

Grew up in a small farm town in southeast Indiana. Always loved art but the small farm town life wasn’t for me. Moved to Atlanta 1st and studied graphic design at the Portfolio Center – only lasted 1 semester. Moved to White Bear Lake, MN for a year where I was the #1 fruitcake seller that holiday season. I worked at a day old bread store.

Realized I had bigger dreams than the day old bread store so I moved to Savannah and finished up college at SCAD. After college I moved to Hollywood where I had an internship that didn’t work out so I moved back to Cincinnati where my graphic design career started at Kanet Productions. After a couple of years I moved to Baltimore, MD and worked as a Senior Designer at Tullier Marketing in Annapolis. After a couple of years I headed south to Atlanta where I have been for 12 years. Started Tweet Design over five years ago and love every minute of it.

You do it all — you’re an artist, crafter and designer. What do you like about each? How is working on each different or similar?
I love all three – I think they all tie in and mesh together.
If I am working on a painting I can see little elements flow into my graphic design then I will simplify it and make letterpress cards or tshirts.

Being an artist, I love the freedom – working with my hands, getting dirty and seeing my ideas and thoughts come alive – same thing with crafting. I love working with found objects, junk and anything I can get my hands on. I am self-taught in a lot of things – I don’t think I will ever stop learning something new – makes it exciting. Graphic design is a good outlet for my creative side. I can still be creative but with guidelines (clients), taking someone else’s ideas or project and making it come alive.

What inspires you?
Anything old that has a history to it – love roaming through flea markets and junk
stores. Lately it has been little things that Henry, my 2 year old son, has been pointing out – he discovered his shadow the other day. Really interested in textile designs especially patterns.

I’ve noticed you are really active on Pinterest. What do you like about Pinterest?
So many ideas!! I used to save everything I found from the web in a little folder on my desktop and Pinterest is great! Everything is organized and easy to get to. Plus you can see what DIY project people in South Africa are into. Never ending – just need to get started on doing some of those DIY projects and other finds I have saved.

I know you’ve been working on an upcoming exhibit at Young Blood Gallery. Tell us about the Day of the Dead art show you are curating.

I started the Day of the Dead Show four years ago – wanted to host a group show where everybody starts out with the same material. Picked Day of the Dead because it was a great Holiday and four years ago I didn’t really hear that much about it. The idea of making little coffins was a plus too – my husband sometimes isn’t too trilled about the idea of making 100+ coffins a year but he is getting really good at coffin building.

It’s so exciting to get the little wood coffin back – no two coffins are alike – so many ideas. Just amazing. This year the opening is November 5th at Young Blood Gallery, an awesome gallery and shop here in Atlanta.

What else do you have going on these days? Anything else you’d like to tell us about?
I am in the process of getting a plan together of translating my paintings into clothing, especially children’s clothing. I painted a dress for the opening party for the Dali exhibit last year at the High Museum in Atlanta and that started the whole idea.

I started a little blog, and that has been helpful for getting my ideas and ‘work in progress’ out there. Would love to have another group art show and always thinking of my next art project – never ending.

That all sounds so exciting Tracy! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Thanks for talking with us!

With an amazing array of artfully displayed materials in their craft supplies store and a dedication to community involvement and learning craft, the Fancy Tiger ladies are an inspiration to crafters and independent business owners alike. They combine business savvy, inspiration, and fun to bring a great destination shop to Denver’s South Broadway area. Amber and Jaime took time out to talk to Hello Craft.

What’s the meaning behind the name Fancy Tiger?
The store began as a collaboration between Jaime and Matthew, who currently owns Fancy Tiger Clothing. The two stores were originally one, with both modern craft supplies for sewing and knitting as well as independently designed clothing and jewelry. Since the concept for the store was so unique–it wasn’t just a clothing store or a knitting shop–the name needed to be one that wouldn’t imply a specific type of shop. The name Fancy Tiger was chosen for the store because it could be anything. Also, the website was available which is important!

Tell us about your craft origins and how you came to be independent business owners.
Jaime: My mom had a craft store when I was growing up in Parker, Colorado called “The Craft Peddler” so I grew up in a crafty household. I learned all sorts of crafts and was taught that I could make anything from an early age. Some friends taught me to knit fresh out of college in 2001 and that’s what re-kindled my obsession with crafts. My partner, Matthew and I opened a coffeehouse in Galveston, TX also in 2001. When we moved back to Colorado in 2006, my love of crafts had grown and I knew I wanted to try my hand at retail, so Fancy Tiger was born. I am an entrepreneur at heart and enjoy working for myself!
Amber: As a kid I learned to sew from my mom, who is an amazing seamstress and just one of the most crafty people I know. She made a lot of her own clothes and when my sister and I were young we always had adorable handmade outfits. My own background is in art and graphic design, but when I learned to knit about 10 years ago I was hooked. I love the combination of creating something by hand and of crafting a functional item made to be used. I have always wanted to own my own business and when the opportunity came to partner at Fancy Tiger I jumped in.

What challenges did you face? Anything you’d do differently?
We started small and have just taken it one step at a time to grow to where we are now. That has been a great way to learn as we go. We’ve been really lucky and had tons of awesome support – there’s nothing we’d change!

On your website you say “All of our products are hand-selected for awesomeness!” Totally agree there! I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy store every time I walk in. Can you talk about what kind of supplies, suppliers and crafters are you seek out?
We choose what we love! We seek out companies that are eco-friendly and fair-trade. We like to work with small companies and companies that support independent designers. We try to have a selection of locally made craft supplies, from local wools, yarns, buttons and notions to even locally made spinning wheels. We carry products that we ourselves are excited to craft with. When you make something by hand you are going to spend a lot of time with your supplies, not to mention someone is going to spend a lot of time with it when it is finished, so whether it is yarn, fabric wool or thread, it is important that it is a joy to work with.

Your store looks amazing. Who is the designer/curator or is it a collaborative effort?
We both choose the products in the store, which is definitely one of the most fun parts of our job. Our amazing employees and customers are constantly giving us great ideas for new products to carry.

You offer a wide variety of classes, host a weekly Open Craft Night,  and have a strong presence in the local community. Can you tell us more about that and other events you do?
Craft Night has been going strong for almost 5 years now, starting the first week the store was open! Crafting is a great way to build community and we see it as an important part of our business. In 2007, we held our first Holiday Handmade craft fair which was and continues to be a great success. We’ve collaborated with a lot of other businesses including the Denver Public Library’s Fresh City Life program, Create Denver and the Office of Economic Development, the Denver Handmade Alliance, The Makerie, and more! We love working with people, meeting other crafty folks and just hanging out and being social so community events are a large part of what we do.

How you perceive the craft movement in Denver? How does it compare to say east or west coast craft movements or even more traditional crafts?
We have a lot of really amazing things going on in Denver–from numerous handmade markets throughout the year, local graffiti crew Ladies Fancyworks Society, and shops that celebrate handmade. Denver is a really supportive town for craft. The craft movement here seems to be growing all the time and we are amazed at all the things that happen in our town every day.

What kinds of crafting do you all do personally? Any favorite materials? What are you currently making?
Amber : I knit, sew, crochet, needlefelt, spin yarn, embroider and I’m especially excited about quilting right now. It is my newest craft pursuit so I am excited to learn everything there is to know about it! I’ve just finished my largest quilt yet–a hexagon quilt in sunny yellows that I now have on my bed. I currently have an embarrassing number of craft projects in the works including a crocheted afghan, a Lopi sweater, a highwaisted Ginger skirt and several quilts–I’m excited about crafting.
Jaime: I also sew, knit, spin yarn, embroider, and needlefelt. I love to make garments so I am currently knitting a cardigan out of a US produced Shetland lace yarn and I’m also sewing a short sleeve button up shirt out of luscious Liberty of London fabric. I also have the quilting bug and recently made a beautiful quilt in Echino fabrics, which is a Japanese line by my favorite fabric designer. Between the two of us we’ve already made five quilts so far this year and there are more in the works.  Amber’s quilt & Jaime’s quilt.

Anything else you’d like us to know?
Well, we can’t say too much, but there are some exciting things on the horizon for Fancy Tiger Crafts…stay tuned!

Check them out at Fancy Tiger Crafts

Buy their fab goods in store and online at the Fancy Tiger Etsy shop

Visit the Fancy Tiger blog

Cathy Pitters is a crafter from Portland, OR who creates Bossa Nova Baby, a line of handcrafted clothes and accessories, and who co-organizes Crafty Wonderland, PDX’s art and craft extravaganza. Many of you may have heard her speak about how to organize a craft market at the Summit of Awesome last year or met her at the Show of Awesome, which she organized with Hello Craft as part of the Summit festivities. I first got to know Cathy in 2007 when we happened to be booth neighbors at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago.  I was already a fan of hers though because she was a member of PDX Supercrafty and I kept up with their website and enjoyed their book, Supercrafty.  Since meeting, I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with Cathy in Brooklyn, Portland, Chicago and DC, where we’ve continued the tradition by being booth neighbors at Crafty Bastards the last few years.

Cathy made time for a quick chat earlier this week in the midst of final preparations for Crafty Wonderland, which will be next Saturday, May 7th.  If  you are in or near Portland you should definitely check it out!  I hope you find this little bit about Cathy inspiring. Turns out, dreams do come true!

How did you get started with crafting? And how did Bossa Nova Baby come about?
I feel like there never was a time when I wasn’t crafting! As a kid, my Mom was always making things with my sister and I. We would hand make our holiday gifts every year – candles, painted rocks, shell ash trays (!!!). So I feel like what I do for a living now is a natural progression. I really started crafting for profit shortly after my son was born in 1997. I was looking for a way to stay home with him while making some extra cash. I started making funky clothing for kids and selling them at local fairs and shops then later online. As my son got older it was a refreshing change to move away from kid’s items and start designing adult clothing and accessories. Then getting a Gocco Printer changed my life! I still sell my work online and at local shops but also travel to large craft fairs around the country. I feel so lucky to be doing what I love in a community of such amazing people!

What do you make these days?
I primarily work with my Japanese Gocco printer to create clothing and accessories which combine screen printing and embellished top-stitching. I print onto sweaters + sweatshirts and also hand make skirts that incorporate the printed designs. I also use the screen printed images on accessories like iron on patches and scissor cozies. This year I will be adding zippered pouches to the mix – I’m super excited about these!

Tell us about Crafty Wonderland.
My friend and business partner Torie Nguyen and I started Crafty Wonderland  in April of 2006 as a monthly art + crafty sale that featured 40 local vendors selling their goods in a basement rock venue called Doug Fir Lounge. We both had been selling our work around town at different events but felt like Portland was lacking a regular indoor venue. We ran the monthly show for almost three years and over that time saw a huge increase in the demand from both shoppers and vendors. In December of 2008 we made the decision to transition to a twice yearly show that would be on a much larger scale.  We now hold the sale at the Oregon Convention Center in May and December and feature over 200 vendors in 60,000 sq. feet of space! The larger venue gives us plenty of room to offer fun extras like free DIY make and take areas, donated booths for non-profits and a crafty author book signing area.

How did you decide to do a pop-up shop? And how did it go?
Last fall we were approached by the City of Portland to participate in their pop-up shop program. The city works with building owners and local designers to fill vacant storefronts downtown during the holidays. We had always dreamed of opening our own shop so we were thrilled to have the opportunity! The city subsidized part of the cost of the shop so it was a great way to test the market without a whole lot of risk. We decided to limit the shop to Portland area artists only – partly for convenience and partly because we loved the idea of a store that was entirely local. We brought together about 100 artists & crafters – most of whom were also vendors at our craft fairs. The shop opened in early November and was scheduled to run through the end of the year but the public response was so amazing that we decided to stay open and negotiated to lease the space on our own. As of now we are set to stay open through August of this year at which time we will do more negotiating and hopefully renew our lease to stay into the future. It really has been a dream come true for us!

The museum touts the exhibition will explore the “evolving notions of craft within traditional media such as ceramics and metalwork, as well as in fields as varied as sculpture, industrial design, installation art, fashion design, sustainable manufacturing and mathematics. The range of disciplines represented illustrates new avenues for the handmade in contemporary culture.” As part of the celebration the museum intends to acquire artworks by every artist in the exhibition for its permanent collection.

For a museum, documenting and showcasing the past is usual, but this exhibit, which looks at innovators of handmade and craft within the past 40 years, brings this exhibit into the 21st century especially with inclusions of Jenny Hart and Cat Mazzo.

The 40 artists selected to be featured in the exhibition are: Vivian Beer, Melanie Bilenker, Jeffrey Clancy, Dave Cole, Cristina Córdova, Gabriel Craig, Jennifer Crupi, Erik Demaine, Joshua DeMonte, Brian Dettmer, Nick Dong, Joseph Foster Ellis, Jeff Garner, Theaster Gates, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Jenny Hart, Sergey Jivetin, Lauren Kalman, Lara Knutson, Stephanie Liner, Marc Maiorana, Sebastian Martorana, Christy Matson, Cat Mazza, Daniel Michalik, Matt Moulthrop, Christy Oates, Olek, Andy Paiko, Mia Pearlman, Lacey Jane Roberts, Laurel Roth, Shawn Smith, Jen Stark, Matthew Szösz, Uhuru (Jason Horvath and William Hilgendorf), Jamin Uticone, Anna Von Mertens, Stacey Lee Webber and Bohyun Yoon.

Congratulations to all the selected artists. The show will be on view at the Renwick Gallery starting in July of 2012.

Pam Berry is a pioneer of the craft and zine scene. She’s co-founder of Chickfactor, an influential musician (Black Tambourine, The Castaway Stones, Glo-Worm and more), a seamstress, button collector, pie maker, and a national treasure in the US and the UK.

What’s your craft handle? Any previous incarnations?
I go by Craft Ho for everything I make now, but several years ago I made cushions and cards under the name Chin Chin.

Tell us about your craft origins.
As a kid I used to collect found bits and bobs to use for future projects and keep them in a box until I thought of something to do with them (hoarder, moi?). The earliest thing I can remember making is a heap of hand-sewn beanbags when I was six, using soybeans as the stuffing – there was a ginormous old dried-up soybean field behind our house in Chesapeake, VA that all the neighbourhood kids used to play in and these hard, dry soybeans struck me as the perfect beanbag innards. Later I learned to sew properly with a machine and pattern in a junior high school class (I made the skateboard pillow with the bare feet on it, it was either that or the light bulb) and I’ve been cursing patterns and cutting corners ever since. I used to make clothes in high school – including my prom dress, a taffeta/white/shoulderless affair that is the anti-Pam dress now, but it felt like an achievement.
My mother is probably the one who got me started making things, she always had projects going on the sewing machine and was great at crochet, she taught me when I was seven or eight, though after the proud moment of finishing the scary orangey brown halter top, I didn’t really go back to crochet. She sent me to Vacation Bible School as a youngun, which was pretty much two full weeks of nada but crafting, and it’s where I learned the all-important life skill of making papier mache lightbulb maracas. When I was 12 she let me go to the summer pottery club at the local high school that had a kiln and a row of kick-wheels. I mostly print cards with a gocco now and sew cushions and totes and do embroidery and make jewellery out of vintage buttons, but I still haven’t settled on the one craft I want to focus on! Maybe I never will.

What inspires you? Any major influences?
Things that make me go weak in the knees are old food packaging and advertising, vintage typefaces, diner china, button cards, letterpress and show posters, 1950s department store logos and coat labels, fabric ranging from leaf-infested barkcloth to Mahler fleurs and Eames small dot, all things Bakelite. Thirties stepped outlines, forties colours, fifties and sixties dress shapes, they all inform what I get up to in the craft room in different ways.
Can you describe your process? Do you start with an idea, a material, a need?
I really like to start with a material, and I stock up on things I fancy as I come across them, in charity shops usually. But these days I’m so busy with the child-wrangling by day and the working by night that I don’t get much time to start a project for the sake of using the fabulous buttons I just scored or whatever. So these days I start with a need – usually I’m late with a birthday gift so I try to figure out a present to make using materials I already have from the stash. Or I’ve signed up for a craft fair and about two nights before think, “Gah, I’m not going to have anything to sell if I don’t get to stepping!” Because I love making things and I’m perpetually flat broke, I’ve enacted the rule of never buying gifts if I can make something instead, but my inability to start anything on time means that I’m always about 10 late handmade gifts behind where I want to be.

Fav materials? How do you feel about buttons?
My amour for buttons may border on unhealthy, but they are such satisfying little chunks of form + function. Bakelite buttons shaped like birds, old resin ones shaped like flowers (so great for making brooches!), big coloured ones for fabulous coats I haven’t made yet, I love them all. When I was moving to London in 1998 and boxed up some of the most important things to post in advance I handed over one big box full of hundreds of buttons and the P.O. clerk looked at the customs tag, shook the box next to her ear and said, “Honey, this box has got a story to tell!” She wasn’t wrong.

What are you currently making?
I’ve just designed and printed 500 copies of the cover of the next Hangover Lounge EP. I’ve done a print run of two new gocco card designs and I’m about to start on a bunch of gingham silhouette stuffed critters with vintage buttons for eyes and nose similar to the larger ones I made my girls for Valentine’s Day. Since I got hold of the awesome Sublime Stitching books and patterns from Jenny Hart I’ve gone embroidery nutty, and lately I’ve been getting the girls to draw pictures onto fabric or hankies or aprons which I’ll then embroider. These end up being gifts mostly. I’ve also been stitching up hankies and stamping the fabric, then selling them as a double pack. They’re slow burners, but I keep making them because I love cloth hankies. I’ve got log cabin pillows using fabric copies of vintage knitting patterns on the go, also little tote bags and bigger sewing totes (belated Secret Santa gifts, streeeetch out that holiday). This month I’m going to confront my nemesis the pattern and make a couple of sixties dresses, an A-line skirt and a spring cape.

Do you see the same types of craft motifs in the UK as in the US? (Here it’s all owls, mustaches, robots, and octopus)
Owls, we’ve got ‘em. Robots less so in the DIY world but very much so in the trendy kiddie stuff world, and last year’s London Popfest tote featured an octopus illustration. They do a lot of putting a bird on it on these shores, too. So I guess a lot of the tropes cross the pond, but I don’t think we have anywhere close to the saturation of DIY craft going on here that you have in the States, so I’m not really sick of any of it. Design saturation in hand-fashioned wares is a problem I’d very much like to contend with!

How do second-hand stores in the UK compare to those in the U.S? What is the UK version of Michael’s, Joann’s, etc.?
Man, I really miss American thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, and fabric shops that have massive haberdasheries included. Charity shops here are tiny little places compared to the mahoosive thrifts in the US, and because of that it’s really hard to score good supplies/vintage anything. I have actually left a charity shop empty-handed more often than I have with a purchase, it’s a world gone wrong. With the exception of the John Lewis department store which does both, large fabric stores tend to only sell fabric, then you have to go to a separate haberdashery to score all the other things you need to sew with – D rings, bias binding, needles, etc. We did just have a Hobbycraft open not far away from us, it’s the closest thing to a Michael’s we have, two countem two floors of habdash and craft! But it’s pricy.

What craft fairs have you done? Any upcoming shows? Ever think about Crafty Bastards?
I just did the Rockmount Spring Fling at Ava and Lulu’s school, it was fun and it got me to make a bunch of stuff. We have those twice a year but may start doing them more often. On the same day as the Spring Fling my friend Tim did the Carousel fair in Hackney, that one’s a monthly fair that we’ve shared a table at before, so this time he took some of my wares to sell at his and I took some of his to mine (he letterpresses great cards and beer mats as Half-Pint Press). I’m hoping to be at the next Carousel in May with him, but I haven’t been organized enough till now to seek out bigger fairs. I wish I could blink myself over to Crafty Bastards this year!

If you could organize one event and had an unlimited budget, what would it look like?
It would look like the British cousin of Crafty Bastards and Renaissance but held indoors due to our mercurial weather. In my dream world it would take place in Crystal Palace, South London where I live, for with an unlimited budget I might be able to buy the old empty Woolworths building and a couple of shops either side and bust through the walls to make one space safe for massive craft fair action. In between craft fairs the space would be a craft studio with classes in sewing/letterpress/gocco/screenprinting/etc, a shop and a craft book lending library. This is a project my pals Jenn and Tim and I talk about a lot, we just haven’t figured out how to make it happen yet.

You can see and buy Pam’s goods at:
See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pernfors88/sets/72157594546092886/ on flickr
Commission: Drop me a line on craft_ho@yahoo.co.uk
Buy: On etsy from craftho http://www.etsy.com/people/craftho (shop opens April 15th)

Is this man your favorite customer? (Screenshot from "The Room")

I loved all the responses and discussion my last post tipped off about discounts and whether makers should use them. As discussed in the comments, there’s a time and a place for coupons and discounts—one great example is using discounts to reward frequent customers for their support.

So who are your most valuable customers? I’m not just talking about hermione3918 who buys out all your Gryffindor scarves. I mean more generally—who are the kind of people who buy from you? What are they like?

Creating customer profiles—mini bios of fictional people based on the folks who buy your goods most frequently—is really helpful and seriously fun. This marketing trick is used in lots of fields, but especially in magazine publishing (which is my day job). If you search for magazines’ reader profiles, some of the info from media kits will be heavy on statistics. But a lot of magazines create ideal readers, who they keep in mind as they plan coverage, write headlines or consider redesigns.

When you know exactly who you’re speaking to, writing descriptions of your items and creating a Facebook fan page gets a lot easier. Does your audience have a sense of humor or are they stoic? Are they prim and proper or super casual?

For an example, my three “customers” are Allie, Diane and Jackson. Like cameo characters on “Law and Order,” these people are fictitious and any similarity to actual people is purely coincidental.

• Allie is a college student with just a few bucks, but she’s got a nerdy sense of humor and is likely to stockpile funny handmade cards and stickers. She’s probably got artist or writer tendencies herself—$10 says she is or was an English major. She shops at Trader Joe’s and reads McSweeney’s and the Onion. (The bulk of my customers are Allies.)
• Diane is an upper-middle-class lady who likes to support local arts organizations and buys presents for her friends—sometimes a bunch of handmade books at a time. She’s retired but doesn’t identify with the “ladies who lunch.” She shops at Whole Foods and reads a printed newspaper. (About 20 percent of my customers are Dianes.)
• Jackson is a middle-aged guy who seems out of place at a craft show. But he’s really into craftsmanship and asks a lot of questions. He comes of as not that interested then out of left field makes a big purchase. He shops at Kroger and reads nonfiction books mainly. (About 5 percent of my customers are Jacksons.)

What does this mean for my business? When I’m making new things, I consider how my core audience of three would like it. Try writing up some customer profiles yourself! You might have one core type, or a half-dozen. Start thinking about the customers you meet at craft shows or the shoppers at stores you consign with, and ask yourself these questions:

• Where do they live?
• What do they do for a living?
• Do they have kids? Pets?
• How old are they?
• How much money do they make?
• How much do they spend on handmade items?
• What do they like to read, watch or listen to?
• Do they ride the bus or a bike or have a car?
• Why are they so into your work?
• What other things do they like?

Take a little time to brainstorm about your most valuable customers, and I hope you’ll post one of your mini bios in the comments!

(vintage Kmart tag photo by Roadsidepictures)

“$22 for $35 worth of letterpress cards!” I get so mad when I encounter crafters selling their wares at ridiculous discounts. And recently a spate of handmade discounting schemes has popped up, making me fear the Walmartization of crafts has begun.

First up, Heartsy.me is like Groupon for handmade goods. Vendors apply to offer a deal—which must be at least 50 percent off—and the site’s members vote on which should be accepted. Selected sellers create gift certificates, which Heartsy buys off you and promotes on their site.

Quite Unique is more of a traditional wholesale situation. The site offers a daily deal poised to sell out fast—“one unique handpicked item per day at a great value.” It’s the “great value” part that smacks of big-box discounters to me. (Is craftsmanship not valuable at full price?)

And, of course, Etsy introduced coupon functionality on the site in November 2010. You pick the discount you want to offer and go hog wild.

Shoppers are primed to react to discounts. (If you’re into social history, I highly recommend Ellen Ruppel Shell’s book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.) But discounts are largely a phenomenon of the era of mass production—it pains me to see handmade items’ prices slashed like off-brand iPods. Will discounts boost your Etsy sales? Maybe. But I think they’ll do crafters much more harm than good in the long run, for these three reasons.

1. Discounts make you undervalue your time.
Crafters are already notorious at underselling themselves. Too often, we simply price our goods at what we consider the going rate, rather than taking into consideration the cost of materials plus the cost of your time and any overhead you have. I fully believe in making a living wage, and I believe every crafter should do the same. (If you think I sound ranty now, just read pages 27 through 30 of my book.) More than likely, you’re already selling your work for too little. If you discount it any further, you could even be losing money.

When there are dozens of people selling similar things on Etsy, you may think you have to lower your prices to compete. But I think a customer is more likely to save up to buy a pair of steampunk owl earrings that they really love for $55 than spend $5 on a pair that’s marked down from $10.

2. Discounts don’t draw the kind of customers you want to have an LTR with.
You might think a buck’s a buck, but fair-weather shoppers who only buy when it’s cheap aren’t the kind of customers you can count on. Discounts don’t create repeat customers—they only create customers who expect more sales.

If you consistently offer discounts on your handmade items, what incentive does a shopper have to ever pay full price? We need to focus on educating buyers of handmade items why our products are priced what they’re priced, and why they’re worth it. Creating personal connections with customers is what handmade is all about.

If you’re struggling to make sales, maybe you don’t have a solid idea of who your audience is yet. Are your products appealing more to college students or empty-nest moms? Spendthrift yuppies or up-and-coming country folks? When you know who your customers are, you can figure out how to best reach them, and what prices they’ll pay. Discounts won’t do that for you.

3. Discounts cheapen your brand.
Let’s face it: Most handmade goods are luxuries. They’re lovely nonessentials that people buy because they want to—whether driven by wanting to support a small business, to consume more ethically or simply to have beautiful things. When you’re a craftsperson, being the cheapest isn’t going to help your business. Making quality products—and pricing accordingly—will.

Think about it this way—do you want to be a discount store shampoo brand, selling economy-size bottles of shampoo for $3 with a 25-cent-off coupon? Strive to be Aveda: Making and selling high-quality, beautiful products that attract a clientele that doesn’t need a discount incentive to be convinced to buy from you.

The conference, Crafting a Nation, brought together an impressive list of panelists. And while not exactly our top choices to talk about the role of craft as it pertains to the economy from the individual maker to the broader role of craft in the community and nation as a whole, it was still a strong cast of characters who spoke.

Panel topics ranged from the economy, the role of museums and collections, the DIY movement, education, history and science. A lot was covered in two days, but many topics and needed conversations were left out, fell short or even hit the dreaded third rail – mainly, what are “the kids” doing these days. I was probably the youngest in the room who stayed for the entire two days.

Several themes came out of this experience and in a few posts I hope to condense and present on the topics of youth in craft, the DIY movement, and patrons of craft for your thoughts and opinions as well as some possible suggestions to the organizers on how to make next year even better.

So stay tuned and craft on!

Dudes of Craft is the Hello Craft series from Keli Anaya exploring the mysterious world of men who craft.

This week, I’d like to share a few links where I find inspiration on craftiness.

1. I’ve been a fan of Dude Craft for a long time. This post on Yvonne Lee Schultz really captures the variety of crafting.

2. You all know my love of being green. Recyclart is so good at combining eco-friendliness, art, and craft all together.  That light up globe chandelier from Benoit Vieubled is really incredible.

3. Geninne of Geninne’s Art Blog had a line of illustrations for Urban Outfitters a while back.  She makes lots of drawings, has tutorials on how to make stamps, and even free patters for whatever you want.

4. Next, Upon a Fold.  This site showcases the uses of paper.  Can you believe these are made of paper?! (from mammalampa)

5. This link isn’t for a particular blog, but for an incredible company named knife & saw.  This is the essence of craft to me:

6. Finally, I’m going to give a shout out to Bryan Byczek.  This post on Charissa Rais’ stamps is wonderful. Make sure to check out the rest of his site as there is so much inspiration on a variety of topics.

Happy Friday everyone!

Today’s post is the second installment on the basics of crocheting. Just like last time, you will need a crochet hook and some yarn, string, or twine.

Here are a few links:

1. This is a great site that gives you a run down of the basic stitches. Note, the ‘one and a half stitch’ that I reference in the video is actually called a half double crochet. The abbreviations for the stitches are listed, too which are used in patterns. (By the way, Quintuple stitch!)

2. This next site is near and dear to my heart and not just because of that sweet roses gif. I reference this site far more than I care to admit, but it is a comprehensive list of intricate stitches.

3. Here are a couple of my favorite stitches.
Afghan or Tunisian Stitch (This one requires a specialized hook, but look how pretty it is!)
Popcorn Stitch
Granny Square

4. Here is a video from a man who makes some incredible work. Check out all of his videos for an inspirational romp with crocheting.