New Crafted Greetings for your 2011 Holiday play...

A few years back I had an idea of creating Mini Note Cards. Great little 2.5 to 3 inch cards that would serve as great note cards and tags for gifts and gift bags. They would be sold in sets, inexpensive and come with envelopes depending on design...

For my Grand re-Opening/Comeback I started to play around with a few ideas I would like to share:

My first design is the Holiday NutCracker

These little NutCrackers sit on white card stock of 2.5 inches all around and will have red and green inked edges, stamped with non-toxic ink a little Holiday cheer with the inside remaining blank so you can scribble a short Holiday message. These Mini Note Cards will come with a mix of red and white envelopes so you can give as Note Cards or attached to a gift or stuff into a gift bag...

This is a set of 4 Mini Cards for $3...

Look for the finished product later this week...

My second design: SnowFlake Penguins

this is a similar design I did last year with blue ink edges and a ribbon for tying/attaching to gifts...

This years design will follow that pattern but have a mix of red and green inked edges,

a ribbon for attaching to gift(s)/gift bags and stamped on the back with non-toxic ink, To: and From:

This is a set of 4 gift tags for $2.55

Look for the finished product later this week....



New Holiday Cards

See these and more at http://www.handcraftedbylamar.com/

2 years in business and still growing...

I too have been with Etsy for 2 years (September 2007) I have learned sooooo much it was like going back to school...

I made goals and reached many of them:
last year said I wanted 100 sales and got it. Also said how I wish to get 500 hearts and got close before the end of the year. Now I am at 177 sales (working to get 200) and almost 700 hearts.

I thought I'd share are a few things I have learned and some things that I do that you might want to do too:

1. Ask and you will receive.
One day I asked myself why of all the other great card makers a buyer choose me . So I asked and got back such great info. I ask after the sale or when I informed the buyer the item was being shipped.

2. Start a mailing list.
Did this as well but only on my website and only have about 167 or so. Still working on it, trying to increase my following.

3. Blog, Twitter, Fan Page.
I have a blog... bad thing is I am the worse blogger because I do not always blog when and the way I should.
I tweet...just to keep up with the JONES....
Facebook? of course I do. I keep up with old friends and I do not do the separate personal and business page. I like to let people know I am human and think its ok to show that side. Though I have had a slip up here and there but my purpose is to let ppl know I am normal.

4. Always do your research.
This I found to be a must if this is a business to you. You need to check out your competition and changes in your material and new ideas...

5. Try out other venues.
This is very important. Look in the real world all businesses try new venues or states and or areas. I am apart of at least 5 other venues in which 2 have made me sales. The others keep in sight of the people. I also do craft shows.

6. Jump at your chances!
I have took many chances with consignment deals. I also work with artist in other states as to sending my work there and them sending their work to me. You have to take chances, thats almost the name of the game.

7. Never be satisfied.
Because you can always improve. Work on your techniques, your descriptions, your tags, your profile, and your photos! I'm always working on better ways to make things or how I can make something but be more time efficient.
Not much more to add to that....

8. Take time off.
Make sure you give yourself time away from your business. Take a day off and spend it with family, do something fun, cook up a storm, or whatever you enjoy. All work and no play makes for a dull life.
Couldnt say it better then that

Snow in AUGUST?!

Yes this year Handcrafted by LaMar introduces 'Snow in August'

What is Snow in August? Snow in August is our newest promotion to bring the new Holidays a little earlier and easier. Last year we did Christmas in July and had a wonderful turn out that became a new trend for 2009. So this year with the new designs, new concepts and a new attitude we have decided to bring you Sow in August.

How does it work? Well this year we have decided to sweeten your pot. If you purchase any single Holiday Card you will get any additional card, of lesser or equal value, listed in our boutique for FREE. Buy a set of Holiday Cards and get up 3 FREE cards from our boutique. You get to pick the card(s) you want and best of all, the cards ship for 1 cent Nationally and $1 Internationally.

How long will this promo run? This promo will run from August 14 to August 31

How do we notify you which cards we have selected? Before you complete your purchase you can either contact us via the boutiques contact link, or message center. You could also put the name of the card(s) in the message to seller section. You can call us toll free: 1800-974-5203 or email us at: orders@handcraftedbylamar.vpweb.com

Which site/boutique must we shop at to enjoy Snow in August? You can shop any of our boutiques online to enjoy the Snow in August SALE! Shop them all and enjoy the sale at each...

Moving On Up… To the East Side!

I am so siked right now. 2009 has, thus far, been good to me in so many different ways.
Though I have not jumped out of the roof with sales, I have made great ground coverage with exposure.

One day, as I always do, I was in the forum section of Etsy.com’s Business Topics. I found a thread where one seller had seen their sales rise due to a press release in their local newspaper. I was amazed by it personally, not because I don’t think that seller was worthy but because hey that’s FREE advertising! So I contacted that seller and asked for a little assistance on how my press release should be look, feel and sound. After a day I finally got mines down on paper. My next step was to find out who to send it to. When I called my local newspaper, The Journal News, I was shocked to get an email and phone call reply that said, “We are interested in doing a story piece on you and your cards, please let us know when you are available…”

You can image how shocked I was. I was siked…

Long story short I contacted them back and a few days later they were at my home and 2 after that I was in the ‘Life & Styles’ section of the paper plus had a small piece on their blog. I was totally happy with just that, even if nothing else happened this year. It’s not everyday a small-small business man gets a 2 page piece in the paper and not making a $100,000 a year. *That article brought in a few sales and an email from the local news station, News 12, editor/producer. Now that’s when I hit the roof, because I thought maybe the next I would be struck by lighting. I mean like so many goods things at one time…It was weird for me. They said they wanted to do a piece on me for Valentine’s Day. Of course I said heck yeah…Well the next week Tuesday, February 10 they came to my home and later that night I was on the 10 to 1030 pm slot, with a few other local shops but I was there and so were my cards. It was amazing and such a joy to know I was getting the exposure I so desperately needed and felt I deserved. *I have not gotten any orders from that yet but I am hopeful.

My point here is that no matter as long you try, be patient and work hard, things will happen. My new motto, which is old but I changed the meaning, is P.U.S.H. ‘Push Until Something Happens’ you have to keep pushing yourself and never quit on yourself, because if you quit on you then you can’t expect anyone else to stand by your side while you sit around feeling down and out.

80's Theme Party Invitations

I did this 1980's Birthday Party theme invitations for a customer in New York.
Her hubby was into break dancing, loves the 80's and sported a jeri curl...

This is the inside, where I felt it would be great to do a scroll.
You know like ol' skool graffiti
when an artist signed his/her name they would add
this small paper/scroll in the bottom corner...

I thought it a great idea to raise the main guy off the cover about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. All colors are aqua pencil. Complete design was done by La-Mar. To see different invitations La-Mar has done and that are available for sale please visit the Handcrafted by LaMar Gallery...

Greeting Card History...Valentines Day!

I really felt the need to share a bit of my craft's or industry history with you today.
Valentine's Day is coming soon, Saturday, February 14, 2009.

Tradition holds that the first Valentine was sent in 270 A.D. by St. Valentine on the eve of his execution for refusing to renounce Christianity. He sent a note to his jailers blind daughter for bringing him food and delivering messages during his incarceration, which he always signed "from your Valentine."

The Romans celebrated St Valentine's Day as the Feast of Lupercalia, dedicated to the pastoral god Lupercus and to the Goddess of LOVE, Juno.

The Christian Church denounced these 'love lotteries' as pagan rituals. During the Middle Ages love lotteries persisted in France as "chance boxes" that allotted couples one year to get married or part ways. In England, men wore the name of the woman/girl they drew on their sleeves encircled with a heart... Now we know where that tattoo came from...

Written Valentines appeared in the year 1400, often giving anonymously. By the 1700's the verse "roses are red, violets are blue..." became very popular and by the 1850's the French began to design their Valentines cards with glitter paper, ribbons, lace and other intricate embellishments... Handcrafted Cards... *hint* hint*

The first Valentines in America were exchanged during the Revolutionary days and were mostly handmade. In 1840, Miss Esther Howland, an imaginative artist and entrepreneur, became the first regular publisher of valentines in the United States, eventually heading her own publishing company that specialized in Valentine's Day Cards.

See how far back greeting cards go?
See why card makers like me love to make handcrafted/handmade cards?

Become a follower and see more fun interesting greeting card history facts
as Holidays and special events/dates come up this year...