Thursday 16 June 2011

Craftme.co- 4 easy tips for your craft shop: How to Reduce Craft Show Costs


http://www.craftme.co brings you: 4 easy tips for your craft shop: How to Reduce Craft Show Costs
You probably just started to present in art and craft market. There are so many of them in New Zealand, the main ones are in Auckland.
So you ask yourself: how do I reduce my costs, so I can generate a better income from my art and craft store.
I found that it is not always easy to reduce your costs. You can be creative with how you peel your art and craft show costs down, so let me help you with that. I figured that there are at least 4 main ways to trim down your costs, without sacrificing the quality of your art and craft, nor affecting the general sales.
Tip number 1: Buy your supplies in bulk - You do it for your foodstuff in order to save a few cents, so why not on your art and craft supplies? Think about it, if you are buying pipe cleaners for example, a paper for your origami craft or wood for your woodwork and you only need 10, it might cost you $5 - because you are paying for a single packaging and the convenience of only purchasing 10. However, if you bought 100 units instead of one, in a grey cardboard box - you might pay only $2 per unit. All of a sudden you have dropped your cost tremendously on each craft item that you create. So that's smart business tip- pinch pennies from your material cost.
Tip number 2: Use less frequent trips to your art shop. We all live in an instant satisfaction world. We already got used to idea that if we need something right now, we go and get it on the spot. There is no difference when you work on your creation and need a couple of supplies for you unfinished handmade work. You probably often take it for granted that there is fuel in the vehicle and that you can travel across town to your favourite craft store that sells your supplies. With the rising costs of fuel, it makes more sense to buy your art and craft supplies online and save your fuel costs. If you already going to drive to your art store, buy more items that you may need in the future for your craft projects. Step by step, you are going to save a great deal of time and money for your craft show business expenses bill.
Tip number 3: Reduce and reuse your craft materials and tools. You can reduce the amount of waste you create with your craft show items. By doing so you are going to cut down on the costs of producing your craft items for sale. In the same way, try to reuse some of the tools or art supplies that have previously gone unused. Be creative and save money- always find ways to make a little go a lot further. Remember, you can recycle, but do not sacrifice the quality for your arts and crafts projects.
Tip number 4: Plan your artwork. Think about the above tips to help you to make more money from your craft (online and offline) and get your craft show budget plan. Plan when and how much you are going to spend will help you to make to make good decisions and reduce your costs of producing your arts and crafts projects. Those who are not planning ahead buy less material, spend more money on travelling and they are very likely in the end to waste more supplies and pollute our environment. We all know that this is not the way to build your successful art and craft business.
Each dollar that you save when you are making your crafts is a dollar that is back in your back pocket. If you can reduce your costs by $1 for each craft, and you sell 1000 crafts, that is $1000 extra money in your hands. All of a sudden, reducing costs seems very important for your work.

Monday 6 June 2011

CraftMe.co- Obama economy-


Tools and Equipments Required For Decoupage Project
Decoupage (or Découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cut-outs, combining special paint effects, silver or gold leafs onto a flat base and then varnished. Commonly an object like a small wooden box or an item of furniture is covered by cut outs from magazines or from special purpose manufactured papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (most often multiple coats) until the "stuck on" finished product appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional découpage technique used 20-50 layers of varnish which were then sanded to a last polished finish. This was known in 18th century England as The Art of Japanning after it was presumed its origin in Japan.
One of the advantages of decoupage is that it requires very little equipment, and it's likely that you already have the tools that you need to get started with your first project.
Only few tools are essential for decoupage. Among them you can find scissors, glue, varnish, cotton swabs, damp rag and an assortment of images of all kind of sources. You can also take advantage of more tools, which are not always necessary for your decoupage project. These tools may include : paintbrushes, rollers, tweezers, craft knife, cutting mats, craft sponge, long metal ruler, coloured pencils, water-soluble pen and decoupage medium.
You can create your Decoupage project at home while you need the following ingredients. We give you some tips how to create most of them at home, without the need to buy expensive materials in art and craft shops. You need:
Good Glue. There are so many brands of glues available, some made specifically for decoupage. From my experience, white PVA glue makes excellent glue, although some glues may need to be diluted a little with water before using it. For simple Decoupage projects, you can mix two parts clear drying craft glue with only one part water. Decoupage glues may be used full strength most of the time, except on glass where they should be diluted.
You can simply use the following recipe for making your own glue if you find it difficult to obtain decoupage glue: ¼ cup of sugar, ¼ cup of flour, ½ teaspoon of powdered alum, 1¾ cups of water, ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon oil. Simply mix the sugar, flour, and alum in a medium sized saucepan. Increasingly add the one-cup of water, stirring strongly to break up any lumps. Boil until clear and smooth mixture while you stir it constantly. Remove from heat and add the remaining water and oil, stirring until it is thoroughly mixed. Put into a screw top container and use it for your Decoupage projects.
Glaze. You can mix together three parts PVA glue with one part water. Then, you add more water if necessary. Add two tablespoons of varnish, for shine, to enhance the glimmer of your work . Put into a screw top container.
Cotton Swabs. These are used to spread the glue around. They are a very cheap alternative to paint brushes, so get yourself many of them and keep them handy.
Scissors. Keep your scissors as sharp and clean as possible, because certain paper cuts can gradually blunt scissors. It is better to have a pair of scissors put aside solely for decoupage and always try to use them in cutting fine sandpapers. It will keep them sharp and clean. Embroidery scissors, which are well known by it’s sharpen are great for decoupage and curved scissors can be helpful also in cutting out unique awkward shapes. You also may need to use a craft knife or scalpel when cutting intricate parts of decoupage or parts from inside the illustration itself.
Damp Rag. Damp rags will help you to wipe up any excess glue that leaks out, as you don't want the residue to lie on top and ruin your Decoupage artwork.
Clearly, Decoupage can be one of the cheapest crafts around. Although you can buy expensive supplies made specifically for decoupage, you can also use supplies that you probably have lying around the house. Good luck with your new Decoupage project!


Have a crafty day, and thank you for your reading,
Roy Rodriguez, MBA
http://www.CraftMe.co
Founder and Manager


Roy Rodriguez has been appointed Chief Executive Officer for Auckland ecommerce solutions software developer http://www.CraftMe.co Ltd. Rodriguez joins the company from Up4Sale Ltd, where he was general manager. Before joining http://www.CraftMe.co , Rodriguez gained an extensive experience in business development, management, sales, marketing and engineering roles in the software, technology, communication and security sectors in New Zealand. Rodriguez brings his technical expertise, entrepreneurship flair, vision and leadership required of this significant role. Rodriguez holds MBA and 2 Electronic Engineering degrees.

http://www.CraftMe.co is a growing collection of quality NZ art and craft online stores, where you can showcase your art, craft, hobbies and artistic services in one location, tell more about yourself, sell your items, accept credit card orders and invoice your customers directly.
It is a place to buy and sell all things unique, handmade, vintage, handcraft and supplies.