Wednesday 31 July 2013

Tutorials - stamping and cardmaking

I've been wowed by some of the tutorials taking place on blogs this week - I had to share some of them with you!

Deanne shows you how to make sure your images line up in her straight stick trick, while Laura describes how to make a gorgeous card using cleverly upcycled card (from a cereal box - but you would never guess!).  They are both well worth a visit for the information they share.

And - oh my word! - there are three links, here, which show you how to make an animated gif from a digi stamp.  I love these, because they are so very different to everything else on my radar at the moment!

Art Politics Life has- very cleverly, I think - made three of my images into animated gifs.  My cat in a an arched window stamp comes to life here with PhotoShop.

cat in arched window digistamp - follow the link above to see this image animated!


And then, look at my birds dancing! How cute do they look?  And here you can make a gif with glitter and/or crumpled paper!  Brilliant!

Just in case you are tempted by any of these tutorials, you can buy all the stamps featured in Handmade Harbour's online shop - your digi stamps are instantly downloadable, so even if you want to do a little crafting at midnight, you can.

Sunday 28 July 2013

Handmade Monday 127

Welcome to another Handmade Monday.  Come on in, take a seat and enjoy the company!

My week has been blighted by computer problems yet again (how is it these things take up sooo much time when they go wrong?).  It seems I have a hard drive failure for the second time in around 12 months.  I'll spare you all the boring details, but it's causing me a lot of frustration!

I've also been busy designing some new digi stamps - which is largely a computer-free task for me (at least in the beginning stage) so that was pretty refreshing and managed to transport me to a happier place!  I'm planning a range of humorous images, which I'm quite excited about, but they are still in the early stages yet.  I'm hoping to be able to show you them next week sometime.

But I do have a new superhero digi stamp to show you.


He was based on a clock design I did for one of my 1st Unique Gifts customers. I love the fact that he's a cute little boy being a superhero!

Over to you for Handmade Monday!  What's your week been like?

Friday 26 July 2013

Giveaways - and win a handmade pendant!

Giveaways are a great way to raise awareness of your handmade products...

but how do you get people to find your giveaway in the first place?  Here are a few links which might help spread the word about your giveaway:

Blog Giveaway Directory

Blog Giveaways

Giveaway Directory

And, just in case you would like to enter a giveaway right now (and why not?!) here's one:


Gemma is offering you the chance to win one of three handmade pendants (there's one each or red, white and blue, to celebrate the birth of new royal baby Prince George) The winner can choose to have their own initials stamped into the pendant.  Pop over to her website now to find out how to enter (it's really easy).

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Stork and new baby digital stamp

Well, you would have to be living in a very remote spot to have missed the news about the new royal baby! I don't know how it was in the rest of the world, but here in the UK programming schedules were interrupted and the minutest of details were pored over and analysed in depth.  It was obvious the news was beamed all over the world from the images we saw of all the reporters outside the hospital (some of whom had been there three weeks...!) speaking to cameras in a wide variety of languages.

While of course the new baby prince looks absolutely gorgeous, and William and Kate looked every inch the proud parents, we know that all new babies are very special.

So here's a brand new digital stamp to welcome a new baby into the world - he or she doesn't have to have royal status to be the centre of attention!  You can buy the stork and new baby digital stamp by clicking the link - it's an instant download and you can get crafting your new baby card immediately!

Sunday 21 July 2013

Handmade Monday 126

Welcome to Handmade Monday!

This week's news involves a magazine called Quick Cards Made Easy - it's in UK shops now...


and no less than two mentions for Handmade Harbour inside its pages!



The magazine contacted me a while back about using my free cupcake digi stamp for their download of the month spot.  I was thrilled - of course - but then they offered me another spot, too ... this time I'm giving  £10 worth of free stamps to 15 people.  I figured it was pretty good publicity and hopefully the recipients will be happy too!  This is a magazine giveaway, so you'd need to go through them to be in with a chance of winning.



In other news, I've happily completed a commission for one of my personalised party cones.  This one was for a wedding where they are serving fish and chips cones, and I'm thrilled to report that the couple love the design.  This is a snippet...


However, I've realised that I seriously underestimated how long it would take to put together all the elements of personalisation and come up with a completed design!  And that means I underestimated the cost, too!  I really will have to charge more for these (sorry, talk amongst yourselves while I pop over and adjust the price... OK, I'm back) which I fear might make them seem too expensive - it's often a tricky thing, getting a balance, isn't it?  However, the good news is that I've realised I can concentrate on developing some generic designs, too - so people who can't afford the personalised version could get a real bargain. So I will be making more cone designs to put on the website - for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  I'm hoping that will give a real choice for people.

Enough of my news - what's been happening in your world?





Friday 19 July 2013

Cardmaking Tutorials

I'm thrilled that people are starting to write about using my digi stamps for their card making!

I want to share with you a tutorial about using digital stamps that Felicity wrote.  Pop over to Felicity's blog to find out more about what she did with my cute fairy digi stamp!



I'm also thrilled that I've started to receive applications for the Handmade Harbour design team.  Up to now, I'm very impressed with the high standard of the applications.  But there's room for more, so if you think you'd be interested, here's the Design team Call with all the details.

Wednesday 17 July 2013

Design Team Call

I'm excited to announce Handmade Harbour's very first design team call!


I'm looking for six papercrafters/cardmakers/digistampers who would like the opportunity to be part of a small but enthusiastic (and hopefully international) team, blogging and making from around the world!

OK, this is the kind of person I'm looking for:

  • you have your own craft or personal blog and like to blog about your creations (essential)
  • you enjoy using digi stamps (essential)
  • you can take reasonably good photos to show off your work (essential)
  • you'd be willing to create two cards (or other digistamp projects) per calendar month (essential) and blog about them
  • you could be based anywhere in the world, but you blog in English (essential - a dual language blog is OK though)
  • you're happy to be part of the team for at least 6 months (although you can opt out earlier if your circumstances change - I understand life can get in the way of crafting!)
  • you probably take part in challenges, linky parties or blog hops (desirable)
  • you might also post images on public galleries or forums (optional)
  • you probably have some social media presence: maybe Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram (optional)
  • you might sometimes post blog tutorials related to card making and/or digi stamps (optional)
  • you might submit designs to magazines (optional)
  • you're OK with me using your images on my blog or website (essential)

And this is what I'm offering:

  • at least four free stamps per month, usually with an element of free choice
  • Angel policy on all stamps including your free ones
  • mentions and links on the Handmade Harbour blog and website
  • mentions and links on social media - helping to publicise your own blog
  • friendly and supportive approach


If you are interested, please email me: wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk, attaching 2-4 images of your work using digi stamps.  I'd love to see you using some Handmade Harbour images, but it's not essential.  Please tell me the following info in your email:

  • your name, home address and preferred email address
  • your blog URL
  • Any other URLs where I might see more if I'm interested: your website or online shop, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, SCS gallery, etc.
  • Why would you like to join Handmade Harbour's design team?
  • How would you describe your style?
  • Are you (or have you been) on any other design teams?  If so, please tell me more! (it's not essential to have design team experience, but I'd love it if at least one team member did).

You have until 31st July to get your application in.  You may not hear back immediately (but that doesn't mean anything either way!).  I hope to announce the new design team here on this blog around mid-August.

Good luck!  I can't wait to see your applications!



Sunday 14 July 2013

Handmade Monday 125

Come on in and make yourself comfy - it's time for Handmade Monday again.

This week I've had visitors to stay - some of whom are quite small and incredibly cute...


and we've had a couple of birthdays to celebrate too (the man of the house and I share a birthday).  I've always suspected his dream job would be to be Batman, so I rustled up a card for him...


I did think about making this as a digi stamp but I think I'd need to tweak it and make it slightly less "Batmanlike" for obvious copyright reasons (even though this is clearly not the original superhero - did you notice the bit of a pot belly I've given him?)


Meanwhile, away from Gotham City, I'm just getting the house back to normal after the delightful whirlwind that is my tiny  granddaughters! Working from home does mean that work goes much more slowly at times like these, but times with babies are precious - so I hope my customers will forgive me for being a little slower to respond than usual.


What has your week been like?  I'm looking forward to finding out so...

Friday 12 July 2013

Tea and a Chat with Hannah of Fastenation Studio

Hello!  Good to see you, the kettle’s just boiled – what would you like to drink? 
I would love a cup of lemon green tea. Thank you!




So, tell us a bit about yourself and your business. 
Hello! I’m Hannah, owner of Fastenation Studio. I’m a young business owner who enjoys working hard to provide customers with quality products & service. In my studio I design & make polymer clay buttons, and one of a kind shawl pins. I make all different shapes, sizes, designs, & colours. I also love to do custom orders to help customers get just what they’re looking for. I’m constantly adding products to my shop shop & will continue to add “categories” as I have the time to design different items. I have multiple in mind. ; )   The one closest to being perfected & made available (with my Mom’s wonderful help) is hair bows, barrettes, clips, bobby pins, all things hair, with buttons for interest of course. I love getting input, ideas, encouragement, or just a quick hello – so I welcome all comments! Thanks so much.




On the personal side, I love staying busy & enjoy many varied things including spending time with my family (I’m the third child & oldest girl in our crew of 13), cooking & baking, knitting, anything outdoors (including the farm work I do when we’re home in the fall/winter), & I love Baseball! My Daddy was a professional (MLB - major league baseball) athlete & is now the pitching coach for a Minor League Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Due to the “baseball life” we live, we travel & move around a lot, get to see many new & exciting places, & I personally have lived in over 10 States. However, the most important aspect of my life is my religion. 

What (or who) inspired you to start your creative business? How did it all begin?  
 My Mommy was the one who inspired me to start my business & is a constant encouragement to me in my work. My mom & I are also avid knitters so I knew that we would both benefit from being able to “fasten” our own projects with my buttons & they would be exactly what we wanted. 




How has your business changed and developed since it started? 
Well, I just opened shop in the end of April so although there have been many changes & developments they’ve been small but steady & I couldn’t pinpoint a particular one. 

What are the main ways you promote your business?  Which methods have been the most successful for you?
 I run ads on Ravelry & that has been a wonderful place to promote my business. I also have had giveaways & found that to be very helpful as well.

What’s your workspace like?  Can we have a sneak peek?  And do you have any workspace organisation tips for the rest of us? 
My workspace is any table we happen to have, my craft travels well & is easy to transport & do anywhere. I keep all my tools & clay in totes which are on the bottom of a bookshelf right now. I’m quite an organised person but as my business is working with small items I don’t have a ton of things to organise. My biggest tip would be to take the minute or two to put your things away correctly the first time, instead of allowing things to build up & get out of control so that it takes you hours or sometimes days to clean. 




What are the best and worst bits of running your business? 
The best part is probably making the buttons (especially when all goes smoothly) although I really enjoy interacting with & helping my customers. I don’t know that I have a worst bit, I really enjoy it all.   




What other small (or not-so-small) creative businesses do you admire?   There are so many out there it’s hard to choose from, here are just a couple:
Addiah.com
The Cottage Home
How Joyful
http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com 

What tips can you give to others who run (or hope to run) a small creative business? 
Right now I wouldn’t say I’m in the place to give tips as I’ve just started myself. But… determining the cost of your goods & the time involved, to determine the price of your product(s) correctly is a major part in the success of your business. Overpricing & underpricing alike will hurt your business. 

What are your hopes, plans or ambitions for the future?  
 I hope to become known for my honesty, quality of service, & well crafted goods. I would love to grow & be able to involve others in my work as well.  




Finally, where are the places we can find you online if we want to partake in a little friendly cyber stalking? 
My shop website www.fastenationstudio.com is the place where you’ll find out more about myself and my business. My blog www.fastenationstudio.com/blog/  is where you will see shop updates, tips for working with clay, giveaways sales & coupons, and also occasional stories about our life. Come subscribe to stay in touch. You can follow me on Pinterest, I’m hannahdew2. I’m also on Ravelry as knitsnnotes & have a group Fastenation Studio. 

Thanks so much for stopping by – it was so nice to be able to take the time to chat with you! 
Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure. 

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Wholeport's Weekly Pin to Win Contest

This is something that might interest you if you'd like to get your hands on some free sewing or crafting supplies!



Wholeport are offering you the chance of winning whatever it is you pin onto Pinterest from their website - this is a weekly contest, so you can have a go every week if you like.  In case you can't see the infographic above, this is a quick overview of how it works:

1. Follow Wholeport on Pinterest
2. Create a board called Wholeport Pin to Win
3. Use the hashtag #WholePortPin2Win on your pin
4 When you've created your pin, copy and paste the URL onto the comments section on this pin

Good luck!  Wholeport is a brilliant place to get all sorts of crafting goodies - it's well worth popping over for a look.

Oh, and if you're not on Pinterest, do go and sign up now - you'll either be very glad you did, or become so heavily addicted that you'll wish you hadn't!

Sunday 7 July 2013

Handmade Monday 124

Hi and welcome to Handmade Monday.  Click the link to find out more, including how to join in if you're new.  You don't need an invite!

This week I've been playing with pebbles and paint for Craftseller magazine for an upcoming rock art feature.  That was quite a lot of fun!  I can't show you the whole project until it's published, but here's a little taster...


In other news, I'm getting together with Totally Tutorials to offer free digi stamps to bloggers wanting to produce a tutorial.  I've had some really lovely emails already, with some ideas that would never have occurred to me!  I'll be looking for a mix of tutorials and ideas and it's lovely that some Handmade Mondayers are joining in.
vintage caravan digi stamp

The hardest bit will be deciding who gets the freebies, but I think this is something I'll do again anyway so there will be other chances.  The five who get picked this time will have their tutorial promoted on here as well as the TotallyTutorials blog so it should increase exposure for them.  I do like a project that works well for all parties, don't you?

Meanwhile, here's another idea that's good for all of us - it's time for Handmade Monday and you know what that means...

Friday 5 July 2013

Tea and a Chat with Anna Seager from Little Crab Designs

Today I'm having tea with Anna from Little Crab Designs.  Put the kettle on, pull up a chair, make yourself comfy and join us...

Hello Anna!  Good to see you, the kettle’s just boiled – what would you like to drink? 
 Skinny latte please!

So, tell us a bit about yourself and your business.
 I’m Anna Seager and I have been running Little Crab Designs since 2006.  We specialise in creating original, fun & quirky textile design nursery wall art and pictures for children’s bedrooms.  Sarah Howell, friend and Isle of Wight artist, provides me with the majority of the original artwork, which I then turn into viable products and sell through the website at Little Crab.

What inspired you to start your creative business? How did it all begin? 
It all began in the summer of 2006 over an evening glass of wine, when I was staying with Sarah. She was keen to use her artistic talents again after taking time out to start a family and I was chomping at the bit to earn some money since giving up work had put a strain on the household income.   I just knew that Sarah’s style of art would lend itself really well to the children’s market (we had lots of her work in our house!) and that if she did some designs, I could turn them into products to sell.  I took the first pictures to my kids school Christmas fair where they had a great reception and the rest is history as they say!
How has your business changed and developed since it started? 

Our first products were actually prints of watercolour designs on chunky block canvases.  We then introduced the textile art designs – Sarah in the main and I did a few too – and I came up with the different colour distressed frame options for them which have been a huge hit and now we have phased out the canvases.  In fact I just sold the last few through our Facebook page in a “sale album” format – worked a treat!  The whole textile/free machine embroidery theme is really a part of our brand now and what Sarah and I love best, so this is the basis of all new products now.  When I first started out I did a lot of craft fairs and wholesaling to shops –but once the website took off I realised this was the way to go, as it gave me the true flexibility I was looking for to work around my children and was the most profitable way to run the business.



What are the main ways you promote your business?  Which methods have been the most successful for you?
 Well this last year has been a real learning curve.  Having sat smugly for the last four years watching our website traffic stats go up and up and up and seeing us hold onto top Google spots for our keywords, in September 2012 we suddenly dropped off a cliff edge and disappeared from that all important front page of Google in the organic search rankings.   A huge lesson was learnt – not to put all my eggs in one basket – and now I am busy building up our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest as I realise the importance of these platforms today and I also maintain a regular blog and try to find other like-minded and relevant websites and blogs I can guest blog for or who might be interested in writing about Little Crab Designs.  We just won a Jacqueline Gold #WOW twitter award last week for my recent Twitter efforts which I am really thrilled about!



What’s your workspace like?  Can we have a sneak peek?  And do you have any workspace organisation tips for the rest of us?
 My lovely husband recently sorted out my little home studio.  We went to the local junk shop and bought up some old school desks complete with chewing gum and graffiti!  He cleverly adapted and modified it to suit and I have my computer set up at one end and my sewing machines and cutting out table at the other.   I love my little den – more in the summer with its open doors onto the garden… not so warm in the winter though!



What are the best and worst bits of running your business?
 I love coming up with new ideas for products – working them through – whether I can make it commercially viable etc and then taking the new idea from design to finished product and seeing the response to it as it hits the website.  This is what keeps me going!  I also like creating new designs on my lovely Singer 201k sewing machine but I haven’t done much these past 9 months as have been so busy sorting out the new website.  The downside or working from home is it can be quite lonely sometimes  – luckily I have my gorgeous dog, Nala for company – and I intersperse long hours at the computer with dog walking with friends, or going kitesurfing at my beach  -200ms from my front door!

What other small (or not-so-small) creative businesses do you admire?   
 Oooh – there are lots!!...but I am going to say one I have recently come across because I am just so impressed with the speed at which she has built a business and all off the back of Facebook – she doesn’t even have a website !  Betsy Boo Creations - She is one hard worker!

What tips can you give to others who run (or hope to run) a small creative business?
 It’s a rollercoaster ride!!  You can have amazing days where you feel on top of the world and awful ones where you just want to give it all up – so learn to recognise that they are just that – a bad day… and the world will keep spinning the next day – and things will get better – so just keep doing what you do and keep trying – it seems to pay off overall!



What are your hopes, plans or ambitions for the future? 
 Well, we've just launched our new website which we are really excited about as it should make the whole shopping experience for our customers much, much easier and it gives us a very clear brand identity.   So, the plan is to plough all my energy into promoting this whenever and however I can, over the rest of 2013 and work on restoring our traffic stats.  We have some great new products in the pipeline which we hope to launch in September, and we are also looking to capitalise on our international market now we have a better ecommerce platform for taking overseas orders.

Finally, where are the places we can find you online if we want to partake in a little friendly cyber stalking?
 The website is www.littlecrab.co.uk
Twitter - @annalittlecrab


Thanks so much for stopping by – it was so nice to be able to take the time to chat with you! I now realise I would very much like a dog and a nearby beach as a diversion for breaks in my working day!

If anyone else out there would like their small craft business featured in a Tea and a Chat interview, please get in touch!  There's more info here 

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Free Supplies for Tutorials!

I'm excited to be getting together with Totally Tutorials to offer some free digital stamps in exchange for tutorials!


Basically, this is how it works:
  • you apply to get your freebies
  • I send you the stamps of your choice if you are selected (I've no idea how many people will be interested so there has to be a cut-off point!)
  • you blog about how to make whatever you made (or do another kind of tute, like how to use Promarkers, or use digi stamps)
  • you send your blog link to Totally Tutorials and me
Are you interested?  Excellent! So here it all is in a bit more detail:
  • You'll get five free digital stamps of your choice (you don't need to use them all in your tutorial)
  • I'll choose up to five people to receive the stamps, which will be sent to you by email
  • You can be based anywhere in the world and you have until 9th July 2013 to apply.  I'll let you know within 3 days of the closing date if you're successful and you'll receive your stamps as soon as possible after that.
  • I'd like you to be able to post your tutorial within two to three weeks of receiving your stamps - ideally on your blog, but if you don't have a blog you can still join in by posting on Craftster, Instructables or Cutoutandkeep
  • You need to let both me and Kym at Totally Tutorials know once you have posted your tutorial
Still interested?  Email me: wendy@handmadeharbour.co.uk telling me a bit about why you'd like me to choose you, what you'd make and which stamps you'd like to have.

There's more info about the Exchange Program on the Totally Tutorials blog.  If you are interested in applying, pop over to check the details.

PS: You can check out my digital stamps on the Handmade Harbour website.