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The Artful Crafter is getting more and more interactive all the time. Are you aware of the many ways you can connect and get involved in addition to through this free monthly newsletter?

• Join The Artful Crafter website. Look for the 'Join this site' box with thumbnail images of our members at the bottom of each page.
• Subscribe to the RSS feed in order to be notified whenever new content arrives on the website. Look for the little box near the top of the right column of any page which says 'New on The Artful Crafter'.
• Become a Follower of The Artful Crafter Blog. The Follow widget is about halfway down the left column of the blog where you see the avatars (thumbnail images) of our current members. As a member, you’ll be notified whenever a new article is posted. Use the opportunity to leave comments and questions on those that interest you.
• Use the Contact Us form any time you have a craft question.
• Send in photos of your crafty creations. I may be able to feature them in an article (with your permission of course). If you have your own craft-related blog or website, you’ll get a link back to your site(s).
• Coming soon: a Members’ Gallery where Artful Crafter Members can upload and share photos of their work.

Connecting with others crafters and artists can help you grow in your art; provide tips and support in building a career or business using your art; inspire you when the creative well runs dry; plus bring friendships and fun with like-minded people all around the globe.

We have some new projects on site as usual. Plus you’ll find lots of other projects to inspire you in our Craft Ideas Section.

Please read on for all the fun details.

Eileen

New Articles Added Last Month

Altered Altoid Tins - Reader Shaaron sent in a photo of some really cute tins she’s been making, along with a bunch of ideas for their use. Thanks a bunch, Shaaron!

Where to Get a Maker’s Mark Stamp - Add a professional touch to your clay creations with a maker’s mark stamp.

Help with Your Decoupage Problems - Kelly needed some troubleshooting help with her decoupage project. If your edges sometimes refuse to stay flat when you decoupage, you might find an answer here as well.

Paper Mache is Fun - Gather up the kids for an afternoon of paper mache fun.

June’s June Cake Challenge and Free Cupcakes for All!

Creative Dreamer June’s birthday was last month and so was her blog’s. To celebrate, June challenged her readers to make a cake - any kind of cake - and post a photo to her CreativeDream Flickr Gallery.

If you’d like to join in the fun, click on the links above for the 411. What novel cake idea can you come up with? You have until July 5th to enter your creations.

My cupcake was created using Photoshop CS5. I challenged myself to use no purchased digital products (papers, styles, brushes, etc.) - only what came with CS5.

The cupcake itself is made as a template with multiple parts: cup; icing; 3 candles; 3 flames; and 3 candle holders. So this cake is made from scratch. Lol.

Each piece has its own layer in a Photoshop layered file (PSD). To add all the colorful papers and effects, all you do is clip (Ctrl+Alt+G) a patterned paper to each layer. Add some drop shadows and other effects like beveled edges and you have a cake that looks good enough to eat.

As a subscriber to The Artful Crafter newsletter, I’d like to thank you for being so sweet ;-)

If you reply to this newsletter telling me you want a cupcake, I’ll e-mail you a copy of my PSD cupcake design file along with step-by-step instructions.

It would be so cool if some of you then use my PSD file to create another cupcake for June’s Flickr 'Let Them Eat Cake' gallery.

Reader Letter of the Month:
Home-Based Craft Business Dreams

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin when you want to craft for profit. If you have any other ideas for Ann, please chime with a reply e-mail.

I make bookmarkers at home.

Would like to find a vendor that sells internationally that would be interested in selling the bookmarkers at flea market(s).  I can mail a sample bookmarker for them to review.  

Ann

If there’s something quite unique about your bookmarks, you might be able to find someone to market them for you.

This article on Marketing Your Craft may provide some guidance. In it, you’ll read how one of my tote bag designs was picked up to be sold internationally.

However, that was only after several years of selling my crafts and developing connections locally.

I sold at craft fairs, in galleries and finally opened my own little craft shop. I tried flea markets but decided they’re not a good venue for crafts - or at least the type I wanted to sell.

You can read about my experience with flea markets in Flea Markets are for the Birds .

You’ll find lots more craft business advice in The Artful Crafter For Profit section. I hope this is helpful, Good luck!