If you’re a crafter, odds are you’ve heard of The Graphics Fairy blog.  But how much do you really know about what goes on behind the scenes there?

The Graphics Fairy is a free, online resource for vintage, one-of-a-kind graphic images, as well as inspiration for an unending number of graphic transfer projects.  These projects run the gamut from ones you might create for yourself and for your home to projects you can create for resale.  Either way, the blog is an invaluable resource for crafters looking for just the right image to finish off their project.

Say Hello to Karen

The person behind The Graphics Fairy is none other than Karen Watson. 

A self-professed lover of all things vintage from a very young age, Karen has managed to turn her love of vintage images into a thriving online community where she shares two new vintage clipart selections daily, adding to her already bursting-at-the-seams library of 4,ooo-plus vintage images.  Her blog has become so popular as a go-to website for crafters and home décor DIY-er’s that she ultimately created a sister blog, The Graphics Fairy DIY Projects for the Home. The sister blog is a place where Karen can share more transfer ideas and feature her readers’ projects as well.  These candle wraps are a recent example of a reader-featured project using Karen’s vintage graphics.

In today’s world, Karen’s approach is truly a refreshing one. Her goal, simply stated, is to share what she loves doing with others.  According to Karen, “I want [the blogs] to be more of a community, where people can hang out, get ideas and inspiration from each other, and get their creative juices flowing!” 

She’s even gone so far as to institute ”Brag Monday”, where once a week a different reader project is featured on the blog.  Over 150 readers’ projects have been featured thus far. They include painted furniture, pillows, and paper products such as this recently featured greeting card.   

The fact that she has over 33,000 Facebook fans and more than 40,000 Pinterest followers is a testament to Karen’s incredible contribution to the crafting world.  Karen’s friend and colleague, Donna, of the acclaimed Funky Junk Interiors, recently got to spend some one-on-one time with Karen.  According to Donna, all you have to do is look around Karen’s home to appreciate all her talents. “I loved studying her graphics studio, where I could see for myself the love and devotion she puts into her work.  From having a true blue knack for staging a home that is beautiful but also meant to be lived in, right down to how carefully she selects her vintage inspiration, getting behind the soul of the Graphics Fairy was a gift in itself!”  

Tutorials and Images Galore

Another example of Karen’s generosity when it comes to how-to’s is her readily shared instructions for image transfer methods, of which there are many.  After you’ve downloaded your image, be sure to check out her post entitled “12 Easy Image Transfer Methods” before going any further.  Just click on the image to the right to take you there.  It’s a great resource for both first-timers and seasoned image transfer crafters. 

If you’re interested in finding a specific image for a project, you can search The Graphics Fairy by category (of which there are currently 94) ranging in scope from “Angels and Fairies” to ‘Vintage Numbers Clipart” to “Weddings.”   Some of the most popular images fall into the holiday category such as Easter, Valentine’s, Halloween and Christmas. Other favorites, some of which are shown below, include vintage labels, typography, French ephemera (my favorite) and sheet music. 

What’s Next?

Who knows what’s next for Karen a/k/a The Graphics Fairy?  As Karen states, “I’m finding that as a blogger, you never know where you might be heading next.  Things change constantly and you have to be prepared to keep up with all of it.  Also, surprising opportunities sometimes show up in your inbox, and that can take you in a whole different direction.”  I can’t wait to see what new and different opportunities present themselves to Karen in the future.  But for now, both The Graphics Fairy and The Graphics Fairy DIY Projects for the Home are chock-full of ideas and tutorials for unique vintage graphic image transfers.  And with Karen’s help, the possibilities truly are endless.

Passion.  That’s the word that best describes Pat Bravo. She is driven by her passion. Her heart overflows with generosity. With the help of her husband, she has drawn on these very things to build a successful fabric and textile manufacturing company, Art Gallery Fabrics, from the ground up.

Early Years

Pat Bravo was born in Argentina. She began sewing at nine years old and attended sewing school when she turned thirteen. Following sewing school, she enrolled in law school but dropped out after three years and took painting classes. It was during this time that she met who, after 30 years, she still calls “the love of her life”, Walter Bravo.

Discovering Her Passion

Pat and Walter moved to the U.S. in 1989, where Walter worked in the clothing industry. Pat describes this time as very difficult for her, as she struggled to adjust to a new culture. When her husband gave her a sewing machine, that all changed.

She fell in love with quilting.  She started out learning the traditional techniques, but soon ventured into art quilts. Her creations progressed from landscape to the more abstract. As she searched for the right fabrics for her designs, she discovered that the available color palette in the batik fabrics she used were very limited and insufficient for her needs.

Filling A Need

Her landscape quilts required lots of shades to use for rocks, trees, etc. She found a book and taught herself to paint fabric.  Her results were stunning and when she shared the fabric at her local quilt guild, she sold every single piece. She began selling at quilt shows in her home city of Miami and other cities with great success.

In order to reach more customers, she made the decision to open an online store. It became impossible for her to meet the growing demand. According to Pat, “some days I was painting up to 80 pieces a day.” Wow! Can you imagine?

She decided to try selling fabric at the Quilt Festival in Houston. Her husband accompanied her on this trip. When he saw how large the demand for her fabric was within the quilting business, he encouraged her to make the leap into manufacturing commercially.

Going Wholesale

Walter had just sold his apparel company in New York and was looking to start a new company in Miami.  Art Gallery Fabrics was born in 2004.  Pat was still selling online, but soon stopped when the wholesale business took over.

Her first collection was called Oriental and was only one print in three colors.  Pat was apprehensive attending her first quilt market as a wholesaler.  With only her small collection, she feared ridicule from others in the industry. She created two more collections made from hand painted panels that were very successful.

Her next collection was made entirely on a computer and was called Belle Epoque. From then on, she has never hand painted again. Everything is done on a computer and hand drawn using Adobe Illustrator.

Growing The Design Team

Bari J was the first outside designer brought on to Art Gallery Fabrics by Pat Bravo. This is what she had to say about Pat –

“I met Pat back in 2009 when my first line of fabric came out. I was with another company at the time but we both knew that if the stars aligned and we could, we’d want to work together. I was so thrilled when that happened. Pat is a huge creative talent in her own right, but she is also a gifted creative director. She and I seem to speak the same language when it comes to design, and she’s been able to pull my very best from me… even when I thought it wasn’t there. Pat is full of passion and heart both personally and professionally. It’s an absolute pleasure and honor to work with her.”

Success In Business

In a live chat, Pat told Pattern Review that she believes three things for success in business; good product, honesty  and a lot of sacrifice working long hours.  True Up says this about Pat, “she broke into the business in true DIY style.”

Lately Pat has begun aggressively marketing herself as just another designer for AGF.  Soulful Eyes is her personal design blog where she shares her inspiration and love of design.

Passion For Design

Anais Crowley, Social Media Director for AG, says -

“Pat is a very passionate person. She really pours her soul into every line, every flower and every color choice. Coming from a background that has always been heavily influenced by an eclectic mix of color she has taken that into her collections. Pat is a person that strives to gain knowledge of various cultures and she transforms that knowledge into her collections. Her style is ever changing but with a familiarity and devotion to her true style.”

Inspiring Others

What impresses me most about Pat is her desire to help those around her.  Her passion is contagious.  Despite everything that she may have going on, she is always accessible to her colleagues and customers.  She is generous with her time and talents.  I asked Shannon Donoghue of Create Kids Couture pattern company what it was like to work with Pat -

“Pat is one of the nicest and most helpful people in the industry! She mentored us through Quilt Market and if it wasn’t for her we would have been SO unprepared. She is so passionate about her work and when you speak to her it’s contagious. You can’t help but get excited about her fabrics when she talks about them. We’ve had the privilege of using her fabrics on our Fall 2012 line of paper patterns and they just made the patterns!”

What an inspiring example of what passion and hard work can accomplish. She is not only passionate about creating her own beauty, but in becoming the inspiration for others to do the same. It is clear that Pat Bravo truly gives her whole heart and soul to design.

Who inspires you?

In this age of online marketing, the ability to create product names and descriptions could be just as important as the craft itself.

Craft Clever Product Names

Create product names and descriptions using adjectives which appeal to the buyers senses.  This creates emotions that will sell more of your crafts. Your product descriptions also need to accurately represent the product and its contents, along with the intended use to the customer.

Craft Unique Descriptions

When writing descriptions, consider what the customer wants. Convey your message with passion using various methods like storytelling or testimonials. The goal here is to create a personal feeling between the customer and your product.

Descriptions should go beyond the standard list of features and ingredients. Highlight what makes your product unique. Tell the customer why your product is better.

Creating  a clever product name and description is only the beginning. Your creative writing skills will also create useful and purposeful content.

Craft Great Content

Think about what your customers are looking for and find out what they are buying. Your descriptions must match the product, yet be original. Avoid becoming just another duplicate listing by creating unique, descriptive content. Make sure your product descriptions are always accurate and make sense to the reader.

Improve your search engine optimization by including a variety of relevant tags and keywords in your product descriptions while still sounding natural. Useful product names will incorporate keywords to allow easy search results for your customers and improve traffic to your product.

Great Examples Of How To Do It Right

Create Kids Couture is a clothing pattern company who makes good use of creative writing in their product naming. They give each pattern a girl’s name. This gives each pattern its own personality and creates a more personal relationship between the pattern and the customer. Nothing says fun more than Chloe’s Party Peasant Dress! Rayna’s Retro Romper sounds just right for the upcoming summer months.

Several keywords are added to the pattern names which make it easy for the customer to identify the unique features of each pattern as well as creating improved search results.

Another company who writes beautiful product names is Urban Threads. They use brief but brilliant product descriptions to entice their customers.  With embroidery pattern names like Light And Shadow Swallows and Dolphin Doodle  they make it fun, yet keep it descriptive to the unique details of each design.

I love their simple yet impactful product descriptions.  With the Summer Bounty, you will “Craft a natural, vintage look with this abundant summer design”.

Crafters who can write as well as they craft are going to put their products at the top of the search results. Once you’ve gotten potential customer’s attention and wow them with the distinctive features, just watch as the sales come rolling in!

Like it or not, summer’s almost here.  And that’s something to keep in mind as you plan your crafting inventory.  So what’s more likely to sell this time of year?

Think Beachy

What says summer more than sea shells? You see them everywhere these days, from Pottery Barn’s home accessories to Anthropologie’s jewelry.  Shells are easily crafted onto many items such as mirrors, candleholders and picture frames.  Just use your imagination.  Both shell and nautical-themed jewelry are always hot-selling summer items.  I make nautical-themed charm bracelets every summer and I’m always glad I did.

We’ve all seen those recycled wood pallet signs with various trendy/seasonal/pinnable sayings on them.  So why not sell beach and lake house-themed signs?  The more rustic, the better.  Turns out I’m going to be spending a bit of time on Lake Michigan this summer, so I already went ahead and painted my own sign:  “Go Jump in the Lake!”  I mean, how cute is that?  Another popular saying (and one of my personal favorites) is “Life is Better at the Lake.”  Have fun with it.

Think Garden

Always remember the beauty of the garden, and those garden-themed items that sell like hotcakes in the summer!  Garden-themed booths at craft shows are filled with everything from actual gardening supplies like wellies, shovels and flower pots to more ethereal garden-themed items like tchotchkes, accessories and home decor.  Think outside the box with decorated pots and watering cans, painted plant stands and handmade bird feeders.

 Flower arrangements and summery wreaths are popular, too.

Anything garden-related is fair game!

Think Patriotic

4th of July-themed items also sell well.  Even jewelry can be Old-Glorified with some red, white and blue!

Patriotic T’s are popular items, as well other patriotic textiles including aprons, tablecloths, placemats and napkins.  How about a picnic basket filled with red, white and blue picnic supplies?

The sky’s the limit when it comes to selling summer crafts.  Using beachy, garden and patriotic-themed creations, your summer sales will soar.

What’s your best selling summer craft?

So, you’ve started your online craft business. You’ve made product, it’s listed on one of the various online marketplaces or maybe you’ve already started your own webpage. The orders are starting to roll in. What now? Have you thought about how you will package them for shipping and delivery? This video has some fun and easy ways to make your orders stand out from the competition!

Today, I’m speaking with artist, writer, and sewist, Jen Osborn, of The Messy Nest

1. What kind of art or crafts do you make?

I’m a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to creating. I started out in Mixed Media, but my love of making things with my hands quickly spilled over into jewelry, sewing, painting, and knitting. There is something so therapeutic about creating from the soul!

2. When did you get started – and when did you realize this could be a business?

I’m a 3rd generation artist, so creating has been a normal part of my daily life since I was very little. When my youngest started first grade thirteen years ago I needed something for myself, so I started a graphic design, website, and branding business from home. This quickly branched off into custom invitations. One day I ran across a copy of Somerset Studio while looking for wedding invitation paper. This was a GIANT light bulb moment for me; I couldn’t believe you could make a living doing something so amazing. Within a couple months I began publishing and writing tutorials about my creations, and I haven’t looked back since.

3. Where do you get inspiration for your projects?

However, I get the most inspiration from my friends and other crafters. I know some people get really discouraged when they see other artists creating amazing stuff, but if you can let go of your insecurity it can be such incredible creative fuel.

4. What do you like best about selling through more traditional venues (craft fairs)?

For me, the best part about selling directly to the public is getting to interact with people who love arts & crafts face to face. I love getting that instant feedback, and even the criticism can be helpful if you can learn to filter out the rude comments. Every time I do this, I run across someone who has a story about something they’ve bought from me in the past; that is such a great ego boost and really keeps the creative fires burning. The obvious downside is it’s a lot of physical labor, and the older I get the harder it is to get excited about that part of the craft fair process!

5. Now, what do you like best about selling online?

I love how easy it is to sell from home these days. When I first started out the only place to really sell online was Ebay which can be both good and bad depending on how many computer screens you are able to reach out to. Then Etsy was born, and a whole new place of opportunity arose for the average crafter. I like having the control over how my wares are presented online, and being able to do it from the comfort of my home is a HUGE bonus.

The downside to this is there is obviously way too many people selling online these days to easily be found without a lot of promotion & a big online presence. It is also really time consuming to take photos, edit them, upload to Etsy or wherever, and create a description for every item you want to sell.

6. How do you price your work?

I have to confess that I am terrible about pricing my own work. It is one of the things I really struggle with even after all these years doing it! I generally look at how my peers are pricing their work, ask my mentors/peers what price they would be willing to pay for my work, and do a lot of finger crossing when it comes to pricing.

I think it’s really difficult for most of us to actually get what our time is worth when it comes down to it, and honestly the economy plays a huge part in what you can actually get for your creations. When families are having trouble putting food on the table they are way less likely to buy art for art’s sake. This is when creating useful items needs to become a priority over creating wall art.

7. What has been your biggest struggle with your business? How did you overcome it?

My biggest struggle next to pricing has been promoting myself. I am a typical right-brained artist, and I find the number side of the business both confusing and extremely boring. I’m still in the thick of overcoming it right now, but two things that have really helped me is hiring an Art Coach to keep me on task with the number/promotion side of my business, and knowing how to ask for help in my weak areas.

I think we want [and even feel we should be able] to do it all, but it’s so important to know your strengths and weaknesses in this business! Time is money and you need to know when it’s more beneficial to hire someone else to do something you are terrible at and give yourself more time for the actual creating side of the business.

8. What has been the most rewarding part of your business?

Being able to share what I love with people all around the world. I’m one of those lucky artists who has way more ideas than I will ever be able to create in my lifetime, and having an outlet to share those ideas has really saved my sanity. I have met many of the most important people in my life through my art, and I cannot even imagine if I’d chosen another path and missed out on those connections!

9. What is something you wish you knew when you were first starting your business?

The most important thing I would share is that it takes a lot of time, patience, and practice to get to a point where you have true confidence in what you create. We all tend to start out wanting to be amazing, and the only way to get to amazing is by creating a lot of garbage. There is a great blurb about this very thing by Ira Glass. I wish I had listened to this when I got started because it would have saved me a lot of frustration. The second thing is that there is room for ALL of us in this world of creating. The more of us create, the more attention it brings to all of us.

Don’t be tricked into thinking that anyone can take that away from you by creating their own stuff {even if it looks exactly like yours}. If your toes get stepped on speak out, but move over and make room for new artists/crafters every chance you get. You never know when they may be the one to come along and lift you up even higher!

10. Do you mind sharing a business goal that you hope to accomplish with your business?

Up until a year ago, my big big dream was to publish my own book. It took lots of time and patience to achieve that goal {almost a decade}, but I totally did it! My next big goal is to start licensing my artwork for home-goods and fabric. I love both of these things, and it would be such a gift to be able to sew with my designs or decorate the homes of complete strangers with my art. Wish me luck!