Hi again, my sweet friends!
Today’s post is a bit special and I will tell you why. As many of you already know, all this DIY started as a hobby for me, as a way to disconnect from work and daily stress and connect with my creative side. I started doing little things, reading tutorials from other blogs, watching YouTube videos … I tried the homemade chalk paint, some transfer here, decoupage over there. Little by little, I got hooked on this and began to improve, as always happens with everything that is done with love and repetition. Everything I created could not stay at home because I would have had to move to a castle, then I started to publish it on Facebook to sell it. The surprise came when immediately after announcing it several people were interested and took few days to sell it. That money allowed me to continue buying materials and save some money, which never hurts 😉
I kept doing the things I could think of, sometimes crazy inventions like printing on napkins but then they were very useful at a given time. Other times Pinterest, (yes, that black hole in space/time) was the detonator of a new idea. After a while, as it often happens to me, I was bored to do basically the same thing. Well, to the same thing I do not mean the same painting always, but to paint a piece of furniture, to make a transfer, something of decoupage …
Then I decided that I wanted to learn to use Photoshop so I could make my own compositions and designs. I found an offer for a very economical e-course and I started it. To be honest, the program has hundreds of different functions and you can do the same thing in several different ways, but learning the basics of layers and tools is more than enough for me. That allowed me in the moments when I felt like creating something but I did not want to move from the sofa nor look for paintbrush or paint, put my head to work in a different way. You can see all my digital designs, many of them are free download and I would really love to see what you do with them if you use them in any project.
Now I had a bit more to choose, I could be in “movement” with my brushes, paintings and other stuff, or just sit comfortably designing with the computer. But I was missing something that had called my attention since I was a kid… Tools. I remember my father with his drill doing things around the house, cutting wood with a hand saw, screwing and hammering the simple things he did, but I never got to participate beyond cleaning the baseboards after he painted the walls or at most a few minutes using the roller on the wall. At that time women did not do those things, and it’s a shame. So when my husband surprised me with a table saw for my birthday (because flowers, clothes, and bags are not something that excites me), I thought that the time had finally come to experiment with other things.
Due to his work, he spent almost all last year abroad and I could no longer wait for him to come back to make a bench with a headboard, so I took all the courage and did it on my own. I have to admit that now I will not stop, you are warned! I have done more things after that bench, some are already published here on the blog but many others still haven’t. Patience please, I promise to share them but this blog thing takes time.
To all this, surely you have wondered why I started saying that this post was special, maybe I should have added that it was also going to be long! Ok, it turns out that I am most outraged about the comments of some future brides in a Facebook group and their attitude towards small craftsmen and artisans. Don’t worry, I will not tell you the whole story because it will seem like the book of The Thousand and One Nights instead of a blog post, but to sum it up I’ll say that there are people who do not value work, effort, preparation and love from artisans to their creations, so this entry goes for all of them!!
You can find information online about places near where you live where they can orientate if you want to open a small business. It is also important your presence in social networks, the best known and fantastic to publicize your products could be Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and even Twitter.
There are also companies like Wunderlabel that can help you with the labels for your creations, whether it is a ribbon with your logo or custom text to wrap the product, or as a label identifying your brand in the object in question. The important thing is that people see and recognize your brand.
For example, do you see the bag sweet Larissa from Prodigal Pieces has? Don’t miss a visit to her shop and blog, she is amazing.
That label on the bag makes it easy to know quickly who is the craftsman who has done it, which can translate into more sales.
Another artisan, Tara, the owner of Lil’WesternWorks. It makes awesome chaps for both boys and girls. It also turns out to be the sister of my friend Keri of Repurposing Junkie, they have creativity into the genes!
SaraJeanBoutique makes totally customized clothes for kids, another advantage of buying from an artisan.
María from El Atelier de Sueños has hands that are worth gold. She makes wooden boxes that are gorgeous, but her creations in crochet always leave me speechless.
DesignsBiK also customize accessories with embroidery. Both for a wedding and for some special occasion they are a great choice
DLauree and her pillow cases are gorgeous. I would need the castle I was talking about earlier because I like them all!
CosenzaStore makes chunky wool blankets, great to be wrapped in them in the cooler months and that would look great also in a decorative ladder.
So from here I send all my unconditional support to all the artisans that there are around the world. To those who are just starting I wish them good luck and I hope the advice I have suggested will help them to get their creations to many homes.
Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of the week!
Hugs,
Pili
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Any content on this website is created for inspiration purposes only. Creating with my suggested methods, products used and tools fail under your own risk. Please ensure you are following proper guidelines with anything used, and you receive professional guidance if you don’t know how to do something. For more details you can read my complete disclosure
Pili, I loved reading about your DIY journey. It’s so neat to learn how you started out and how you’ve picked up new things along the way. Everything you’ve done and made is awesome sauce!! Sorry that some people don’t see the value behind all the time and work that goes into a handmade piece. Thank you so much for including my sister and me in the Roundup of amazing artisans!! 🙂
Such a lovely post Pili, not just because you shared your own creative journey, which I really enjoyed, but because of all the talented crafters you’ve shared too. I think sometimes people who’ve never tried to make something for themselves have no concept of how much love, passion and hardwork it actually takes. They just want to spend as little money as possible. My honest belief is that it is changing, some of us are getting tired of mass produced things. I would far rather buy from a small passionate crafter than an IKEA anyday
Pili, I know you home is full of one-of-a-kind pieces and those don’t come at a cheap price. They are full of hard work and sweat but most of all love for what you do. This is an excellent reminder to all those people looking for cheap that they will get just what everyone else has. If you want something special you have to realize why it is special.
I ditto every comment that has been said so far. Purchasing handcrafted isn’t just buying a product – it’s about buying something unique that has a story behind every little stitch, or paint stroke, etc. You can’t get that on a store shelf! Oh my goodness, I can see those adorable chaps on my grandson – so cute! Keep creating Pili because you have loads of talent to offer this world!
SO many beautiful things out there, Pili…I’m overwhelmed :). But that’s what I love about artisanal works and the magic they put on every single works
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