Crafter Feature: Robin Lemon

CraftBoom! is featuring another inspiring crafter,  Robin Lemon of Pillows of Lavender.

What is your art or craft?

Lavender Comfort Pillows for aroma and/or heat therapy

How did you get started and what made you realize it could be more than a hobby

I fell in love with lavender the scent and color;)

I made 2 pillows as gifts for my mother and mother inlaw in 2006 and they told 2 people, and they told 2 people, and so on…

Well, not exactly but that is sort of how  it all started.  They showed them to their friends or they bought some for friends and then their friends did the same.  I was keeping pretty busy with orders in addition to being a candle distributor at the time and wondered if I could indeed turn this into a business of it’s own. I always wanted my own gig instead of buying inventory from a company.   Orders continued to flow so I took the steps to become a business with it’s own affiliate program  in September 2008 .

How do you come up with your ideas for your projects?

A lot of designs and styles are born from customer feedback and requests or from me just playing around with my sewing machine.

How do you decide how to price your work?

I have a formula I use to cover my cost of supplies, labor and commissions to my “personal sales team members”. (I mean my affiliates.)

Are you using any websites like Etsy, Artfire, eBay, Twitter, Facebook, etc to promote your business?

I have  etsy and artfire accounts but I haven’t used them for my pillows yet.

I do have my own website with a shopping cart and blog.  Stocking all of these places with my items is one of my business goals.

I promote my business on facebook daily, I love facebook and it has proven to be beneficial for my business.  I update my status when I am working on something and now my personal FB friends are gaining interest in my items.   I twitter too!

What’s the most challenging aspect of your business and how to you conquer it?

Labeling makes me scream, not kidding ask my family.  I am a perfectionist when it comes to this  part of the biz. If it doesn’t sit well with me, I can’t use it.  The frustrations of printing with poor equipment and not having the proper software to work with is very discouraging to me.  So, I haven’t conquered it…yet.  Possibly one day soon I will purchase what I need to run things more smoothly or I’ll just give in and outsource it until then I just keep on screaming.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?

Swimming in lavender lol seriously how can you go wrong being surrounded by the scent? Just knowing it’s all natural makes it all the more enjoyable.

I have no trouble relaxing or sleeping.  Also, the customer testimonies,  I love to hear the oohs and aahs.