Introducing D-Back Photography

Hi all. I'm here to introduce a new KraftieKidz shop section. Well it's not really a new section, I just renamed it, but it is a new name!

Daniel's Business Card

Introducing D-Back Photography.

D-Back is just a play on Daniel's name. He came up with the name about a month ago when he was playing around and started adding it to the photos he posted on instagram. 

Daniel has always had a passion for photography, but after talking with Shelly (owner of the Shoppes on Trade which you can read here ) and hearing that her customers are looking for more local photographs I think has sparked a new interest in that field.

 He is currently taking classes and we have already taken two different trips to areas around Greenville county and plan on taking more this year. 

Daniel's dream is to one day own his own studio where he will display his photography and his art.

This photograph was taken at the Greenville Zoo. Known as Baby Bob, this 8 year old orangutan no longer lives here. Bob, who was born in the Greenville Zoo was moved to the Oregon Zoo in Portland where zoo officials are hoping he will start a new family.

You can follow Daniel on instagram @dbackphotography for more of his photography and @d.backer for his art. You can also follow him on facebook. 

Goodbye 2014, Welcome 2015!

Happy New Year Everybody!

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to what's ahead for this year. God blessed us in so many ways during 2014. He blessed both KraftieKidz and CreationsbyJessi with sales, (Even though KraftieKidz sales slacked off towards the end of the year it did way better than in 2013) He helped us find the local craft market and opened up a door to sell in a local boutique shop; We have a website in the works, and we even got new machines for both businesses!

I am thrilled at what God did for us, and I am exited to see what God will do in 2015!

Here are my Goals for 2015. Remember some of these rolled off of last year's list.

2015 Goals for KraftieKidz
- Double what I made in 2014  This is more of a wish than a goal; but then again I can't sale what I don't make or list, so I guess it can be considered a goal. 
- Write my about page
- Have 150 items in my shop by my birthday (April 21) and over 200 items by the end of the year
-  Have a bigger inventory of valentine's day, birthday, mother's day, father's day, graduation, baby, and Christmas than I did in 2014
- Add more gift card holders
- Add more colors and themes to table confetti sets
- Add more birthday and baby themes to banner section
- Add a wedding section
- Post more on Instagram    Preferably every day or at least every other day 
- Blog more    Preferably more than once a week 
- Connect my Instagram and blog together     In so doing this I should achieve both blogging and posting more on Instagram 
- Connect both my Instagram and blog to my shop
- Pin items at least twice a week   One day pin items from KraftieKidz and CreationsbyJessi, and one day pin items from other shops
- Help Mama with her Social Media promoting

Other Goals
- Make birthday cards for the kids in my church
- Learn how to use different techniques and mediums for cardmaking as well as make cards using the different layouts I don't normally use
- Be a Godly witness and example to those around me and those I come in contact with. Whether at church, through the local craft market, social media, or even through etsy; which is sometimes even harder because it's hard to read people's emotions and attitudes correctly, but definitely still doable.


Like last year, I may not reach all of these goals, but it's nice to write out a list and then work one day at a time to achieve those goals.

So what are your goals for 2015? I would love to see them.

Jessica

2014 In Review

Well we are already at another new year which means new goals and new resolutions. But before we make new goals and new resolutions why don't we review the goals we made at the beginning of 2014.

Here are the goals I posted earlier this year or better yet at the end of 2013:

2014 Goals for KraftieKidz
- Double what I made in 2013   2013 ended with 86 sales and $437.81 in revenue, and 2014 ended with 64 sales and $668.59. That's not exactly doubling but that's still pretty good.
- Write my about page 
- Have about 240 items listed by my birthday (April 21) and 300 or more listed by the end of the year.  I am far from that.
- Have a bigger inventory birthday, mother's day, father's day, christmas, valentines day, and graduation cards, than I did in 2013.   I made more in birthday and graduation, but didn't get around to listing all of them. I made more Christmas as well, but didn't  get to list them all; I sold most of them locally. I also had a bigger inventory for back to school.
- Add wedding and baby cards.   I added baby cards.
- Add more colors and themes to die cut sets.    Done.
- Add gift card holders, magnets, clothes pins, and paper clips.    I added a few gift cards.


Other Goals
- Make and list jewelry in our other shop.
- Learn how to sew simple items.   I have learned how to sew. Now I plan to start helping mama with sewing the simple skirts very soon.
- Make birthday cards for all the little kids in church.   I started with the 1-3 year olds. 
- Blog more.    I did blog more this year than in 2013, but not by much.



Other goals that I achieved that are not listed:
- Opening an instagram account
- Opening a pintrest account
- Selling in a local boutique shop
- Selling at local craft markets


I'm a little bummed that I didn't accomplish more but looking at the whole list I did achieve a good bit. I'll just work even harder next year.

My next post I will share my goals for 2015. (All of these goals will roll over into next year.)

But before I do, I will leave you with some pictures taken throughout the year.

Happy New Year!

Our Experience With Selling In A Local Boutique Shop

Sorry it's been several weeks since I posted. But here's that post I promised you in my last post. 

Since we started selling the girls skirts in the shop the experience has been great. Shelly Jordan, the owner of Shoppes on Trade has been very helpful. Every time we go in we're always coming out with a list of items she would like us to work on. 

The Shoppes on Trade is a gift shop with a boutique feel that has a variety of handmade gifts from vendors around the Greenville SC area

Working with Shelly has been awesome. She has wonderful ideas and dreams for the shop itself and for all the vendors. One of the things she has been doing is craft shows. She has started taking Shoppes on Trade on the road to different craft shows around our area and has dreams to include more and more craft shows in the future.

If you are ever in the Greenville area why don't you stop in for a visit. We would love to see you!

KraftieKidz & CreationsbyJessi's Very First Craft Show

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. I have been super duper busy since my last post.
 I'll briefly bring you up to date.

In September we found a local craft show that looked interesting; so we went and checked it out. (We have been looking for a local craft show that wasn't too expensive for a booth.) And we met a lady who owns a local gift shop filled with handmade or repurposed items from different vendors. (I'll write a post on that later) When we told her that mom (Teresa) makes girls skirts and dresses, and that I (Jessica) makes cards and other paper items, and that my brother, Daniel does photography. She wanted us to come in and see her shop. We find out later that she has been looking for another vendor who makes girls clothes since the vendor who has been making the clothes is leaving her.

So in October we started selling our skirts and dresses in Shoppes on Trade. And so far it has been a wonderful experience. We have had quite a few custom orders through the shop. Shelly, the owner of the gift shop, has even sent a customer my way who was needing a custom birthday banner.



Ok, now for something more recent.

This past weekend we had our first craft show. (technically this was our second show but the first wasn't much of a craft show so I am calling this our first.) And it was so much fun! We may have only sold three items (one skirt, and two cards) but we got to mingle and fellowship with some of the other vendors.

Here are some pictures we took.

I had forgotten the banner I made for our booth so I had to have mama bring it with her when she came back.

Here's our booth with the banner on it.

 It was so cold after the sun went down that they brought out barrels and chopped up wood pallets to make a fire. And if you didn't have customers at your booth you could go warm up at the fire. (Sorry this wasn't a very good picture.)

Overall our experience with the weekend show was great. We learned valuable lessons and got wonderful ideas for our booth display and what we thought might would sell better at the next show. We even gleaned information from customers who stopped by to ask if we had certain cards in a set or if we had a different color in a certain card design. My brother even had a lady tell him he should offer his color penciled cards in a set not just individualy. I loved it that the customers weren't bashful to ask if we had something, because it lets us know what customers are looking for.



Next time I will post more about Shoppes on Trade and our experience with it.

Holiday Gift Card Holders

I finally made some gift card holders!!
It took me awhile to find a design I liked without it looking like I copied someone else. But I finally found it.

I found the design in the book I posted awhile back called The Joy of Cardmaking.

Now to my knowledge these cards are not gift card holders, but when I saw them I knew they would be perfect!

I hope to get these listed in KraftieKidz next week. And I can't wait to make more!

September Resolution

I know, I know, you hear resolution and you think New Year. But really we should have resolutions more than just once a year. One of the the definitions of the word is a decision or a determination. And I am determined to get back to being busy like I was at the beginning of the year.



So here are my goals for the month:

- Make one item everyday except Sunday

- List one item everyday except Sunday

- Practice on my coloring




Speaking of coloring here is something new. I got a new stamp set from Sweet Stamp Shop and I have been practicing with them. I'm hoping I can add them to projects soon.

Hedgehog Kiss Stamp Set

And here's something extra. I made this for a friend who moved to Maryland before school started. She gets to play on the school volleyball team and it's her first time.