Five tips on Tuesday

I originally posted this on Skye's blog. But I wanted to share it here today.


Today I wanted to share with yall {yes I am from Texas} 5 things I have learned while having a handmade business.

1. It takes time. Lots of time if you want it to be successful. Promoting, working on shop items, editing pictures of your products, writing descriptions, getting your shop out there. I've learned to be very patient with my shop - because it's not going to grow over night, but I know if I put the time and effort into it, it will be worth it.

2. Understand that it's YOUR shop. This is one that got me for the longest time. Don't get me wrong. I obviously knew it was MY shop, but I was trying to go with a theme of things because that's what I saw in other shops. They had a theme and I thought in order for it to be successful that my shop needed a theme. I couldn't have been more wrong. My "theme" is now whatever I create that I fall in love with. Knowing that I don't have to keep it to one certain theme has let my creativity breathe again!

3. Make items you love. You think this would be an obvious one but in the beginning everything I created wasn't something I loved and it showed. I was creating things that I thought would sell. Big mistake. It finally hit me that I needed to be completely smitten with the items in my shop because it wasn't going to show in the way I promoted them and in the work themselves.

4. Believe in yourself and in your shop. If you want others to believe in your shop, you have to believe in it. You have to know this is what you want to do and that you are doing what you love, otherwise how do you expect others to love what you make if they can't see that you do?

5. Spread the word. This is a hard one for me. I'm very shy and asking someone to buy something I make, makes me want to curl into a ball and hide. But truth be told is your shop will get no where if you don't spread the word about. It has to start with YOU. You have to be the one who lights the fire for your shop and then watch it spread and then keep it going. This is something I am going to be doing a lot more.


If you own a handmade business, share with me something you have learned.

Indie Biz 101 - It's all in the brand

I did alot of research on branding yourself & your shop.
I just felt like ccy designs wasn't working for me.
I needed something that described who I was and what I made from the get go.
One of my bloggy bff's Skye & I texted back and forth with ideas.
I must say it was the fastest texting I've ever done in a short amount of time.

But it worked.
I asked her "What about the spontaneous designer?" because it had been bouncing around in my head.
She liked it & said this.
"Full of surprises and wonder. Cassie at the spontaneous designer is constantly coming up with creative items for her shop based on her daily inspiration; faith, family & fun!!"

Um yes!! 100% me. I am not only spontaneous with my shop.

I'm spontaneous with life, so it described me perfect.

Here are a few tips to help you figure out how to brand your business.

1. What are some descriptive words that describe you and what you make? Write them down & keep writing until you run out of words. Then go over them and see what things seem to stand out to you. Circle those, think on it and come back to them.

2. What do you make? This is important. We have to know what we are going to find in your shop. For instance the "designer" part tells you I design things. I design subway art, necklaces, crocheted items. They are all my design & therefor I am a designer as well as the maker. ;)

3. Who buys your items? Granted this can work and not work. I really don't know if an 80 year old woman or a 10 year old girl is going to wonder what in the world spontaneous designing is. But I know people my age will get it. They will get that I am a spontaneous person and that I am constantly coming up with new things for my shop.

4. Think about why you are selling your products. This may seem off track but think about it. Is it a hobby? Do you love what you do? Is it for charity? Is it for extra money? Hobbyin' it up. Love in a basket. Charitable creations. Money making mama. See what I did there? It works.

5. Ask a friend. Brainstorming and throwing ideas back and forth with a friend is almost guaranteed to work. Because you are both going to have different ideas and your friend is going to see your shop differently then you do, she is going to see it how other people see it. Even if you don't come up with a name together, I bet by the end of your conversation you will have one.

Indie Biz 101 - Create a shop header

So you are getting ready to launch your shop? Or maybe you already have but your not sure how to make a banner for your shop? I'm going to show you a very simple way to do this.

Step One Go to picmonkey.com

Step two To get a white background or different color background go to paint and save the background. Then.

Step three. Resize the background. 980 is the width for storenvy. 760x100 is the size for an Etsy header.

Step four Choose whatever graphics you like and you can rotate them any way you like.

Step Five - I chose a triangle and flipped it upside down. To have this image go all the way across the top. Duplicate the overlay.

Step six - Choose your colors.

Step seven - Choose the font(s) you want to use and type in your shop name and click add. Change the color to your liking.

Step eight - Crop out whatever white you don't need to use.

Step nine - Save your file.

That's it! Simple & easy! Next time I'll be showing you how to put graphics in your header for all you DIYers. :)