When custom orders are slow and traffic in my little shop is down, I immediately get concerned. I should really know better by now. My craft business seems to be either “feast or famine”.

I’ve got more orders than I can handle or there’s not a single customer in sight.

My fall and winter holiday season orders started early this year – which is certainly a blessing. I crafted my fingers to the bone last weekend and brought all the orders to the store.

Every single one of these customers came in Monday to pick up – another blessing. Usually I have to chase one or two down with phone calls and e-mails because they simply forget.

For every customer who came to pick up, there was a new order from another customer. It was a steady stream of traffic all day. I hardly had a chance to sit down. Phew!

In the meantime, I’ve had 15 partially assembled beside my sewing machine since July.

On September 20, I blogged “I will complete the panadieres and make up a prioritized list of Christmas craft projects by October 7.”

Without further adieu, I have to tell you I didn’t meet that goal. In fact the only time I even touched the pile of undone panadieres was to count how many I had in front of me – 15! Am I disappointed or ashamed of myself? Not at all.

The reason I didn’t complete the panadieres was many unexpected blessings which came my way in the interim.

I’ve already completed two custom Christmas card orders and am working on all of the graphics for a November retrospective exhibition of a local watercolor artist’s work, hand-embossed invitations for an annual charity tennis tournament and beaded napkin rings for a client’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Am I complaining? Absolutely not! I’m delighted. I hope this augurs a very busy holiday season for me and I wish you the same. Either the panadieres will get done in time for this Christmas or they won’t. Man proposes; God disposes. If you would like to see what’s going on at The Artful Crafter more frequently than this monthly newsletter allows, please visit The Artful Crafter blog and mark it as one of your favorites.

Thank you for subscribing to “The Artful Crafter Digest”. As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.

For Ease of Reading

If your copy of this newsletter is difficult to read, please go to the the archived version to see it in its original (intended) format.

Eileen

Your Best Christmas Ornament Idea Could Win You $50

A special for newsletter readers only.

Marion wrote looking for Christmas ornament ideas and it occurred to me that it would be fun to involve all of you. So I’m throwing out a challenge. Maybe you read about our contest last month and have already started your design, but if not, you still have 15 days left to enter.

We will add an extra category and prize for Christmas ornaments.

We have a contest going until midnight November 15. The best craft idea and the best Christmas ornament submitted will win a $50 Amazon gift certificate.

Find the contest details here.

What Else is New on The Artful Crafter This Month?

First of all, visit our Holiday Craft sub directory for a list of all our seasonal crafts.

These are some recent additions:

Beaded Christmas Ornament Get started on your Christmas crafting with this quick project.

Hand Decorated Christmas Ornaments Create your own ornaments and memories.

Glittery Christmas Ornaments Add sparkle to your tree.

Finding Your Way around Photoshop: The Most Efficient Workspace Setup Photoshop is notorious for its steep learning curve, but if you get just a few critical basics under your belt you can gradually tap the depths and learn as you go.

Buying Red Heart Yarn at Wholesale Prices as well as how you can buy discounted mill ends.

Is it Decoupage or Collage? Combining decoupage with collage can look very striking.

Advanced Craft Repair Project Re-assembling a broken wooden mask

Homecoming Mum Dilemma

Okay, I made my first mum and must say it looks pretty good. One question ... How does the girl hang it on her? I made a ribbon loop that I attached to the middle cardboard backer but when I put the pin through it and hang it on me it droops.

Find out all about Homecoming Mums

Any Needle-Pushers Out There?

Hi Eileen,

I love your newsletter. I see many different craft types but haven't seen much on knitting and cross stitching – which are my passion. Perhaps we could see some articles on these?

Find out more about Cross Stitching.

Reader Letter of the Month

Hi! I just found your site and I am loving all the ideas and tips for starting a craft business. I just have a couple of questions, if that's ok.

First, I'm thinking of starting a craft business, but I have scattered interests and several ideas ... how do you focus in on what to center your business around? Most articles I've found assume you already know your product.

Also, I'm passionate about crafting and passionate about starting my own business, but I also want to be realistic. You've obviously been successful in your crafting business - do you think it is feasible for a person to create a profitable craft business?

I'd love to hear the story of your craft business and how it came about.

Thanks so much for your wonderful and informative site!

Holli

You just made my day! Thank you so much for your compliments on The Artful Crafter. You’ll find the story of how my craft business came to be here.

You’ve probably noticed that I have scattered interests too. I haven’t yet found “my product”. In fact I don’t think there is only one. What I focus on is The Market. I try to gauge what The Market wants at any point in time. This has garnered me much repeat business and a lot of good word-of-mouth.

I can’t count how many new customers come to me saying, “I want (you name it) and so-and-so told me ‘Eileen can make that for you’.” So, do I think it is feasible for a person to create a profitable craft business? Do I really need to answer that?

Good luck!