So I have completely changed the direction on my online store.  Originally I wanted to sell a variety of crafting products but that didn’t go as well as I would have liked.  LOL!  I think I ended up giving away more than half my inventory. 

I have changed things around to sell scrapbook kits.  So I chose a list of papers and embellishments and ribbon and such and make a monthly kit.  Buyers can either buy a single purchase or subscribe for either 3 or 6 months.  I also have a design team that gets the kits for free in exchange for projects created using the kit.  It has really helped sales.  They are slowly but surely picking up. 

I am not sure if I want to advertise any other way.  I have thought about getting those car magnets or making shirts.  I might also think about rack card printing.  Maybe have some business cards made.  I dunno, but I like the way things are going this time around.  Things are getting pretty hectic with school and the kids so I really hope I can keep on the webstore as well.

I mentioned earlier in a post that I decided to sell off all my craft stuff.  I sold a ton of it before I decided that I didn’t want to give up my hobby all together.  Unfortunately before I made that decision, I sold one of my favorite rubber stamps.  It was from Stampin’ UP!  Mainly the reason I wanted to sell it is because I will no longer use SU products.  Or at least I will try  not to.  I have had too many bad experiences with them to desire using their products. 

BUT, the stamp set that I sold was my favorite.  It was about 5 sentiments and my favorite was the Christmas sentiment.  I wish I hadn’t sold it but overall I am happy that I don’t own the SU stamp set.

Back in August I decided I wanted to start selling scrapbook kits in my web store.  I started selling them in September and have been since.  Slowly but surely I am getting the word out.  I have made several sales and have some subscribers.  I LOVE IT! 

The prices are absolutely amazing for what I include in the kits.    The shipping is really reasonable too, no material handling charges.  I hope I can keep this up because I really am having a great time.  I haven’t actually used any of the kits I have sold yet, mainly because I would rather sell all of the ones I can.  I don’t purchase very many and I still haven’t gotten to a point that I am making my money back but overall it is great.

A few weeks ago I thought I was making the right decision and selling off all my craft paraphernalia.  My Cricut, paper, stamps….everything.  I decided to list all my stuff on a craft forum and see how well I did.   The first few days I was selling my stuff left and right.  My Cricut was the main thing I wanted to sell, I was asking $100 for it.  I wasn’t getting any bites.  If it would have gone much longer I probably would have put it in an online auction or something.  I probably could have gotten more money for it that way but that really wasn’t the point. 

A day or so later I ended up selling it.  I think with all my sales I made about $300.  That was nice.  Well I could only go about 48 hours without my Cricut before I was wishing I hadn’t sold it.  LOL!  Thankfully I decided to go pick something up at Joann Fabric on Black Friday because they have the Personal Cricut for sale for $59.99.  YIKES!  How could I not buy it.  LOL!

With as little space as I have to craft, it worked out perfect.  It is so compact that it doesn’t take up too much space but yet it totally does what I need it to.  I am happy I sold the Cricut Expression and bought the Personal Cricut!!!

I really enjoy crafting and I really enjoy having my blog and web store but I had to make some decisions this week.  I shed some tears because my first thoughts were to throw in the towel and close shop.  I was prepared to sell every last bit on my stuff.  But I love what I do, I love crafting.  The problem was that I started making cards and it seems the card world is so competitive because I felt I had to make video tutorials and have the newest of the new stuff just to keep up with everyone out there.  I opened a web store and it seemed like several people I knew did the same right behind me.  Now I am not saying it was because of me but I had to try that much harder to offer better products then so many people.

It just started to get ridiculous.  So instead of closing shop, I decided to gear my shop more towards scapbooking.  I think it is much more personal to make scrapbook pages.  Not to much competition.  I am a monthly scrapbooking kit that I sell in my store. So in order to make room in the store to strictly sell scrapbooking kits and a few extras I have a huge sale going on right now.  40% off.  Wahoo!  I posted it on my craft blog and said click here to see all the great deals.    So we will see if I get some sales and get rid of a bunch of stuff.

For all you paper crafters, scrapbookers, and card makers out there, check out my webstore.  ARTFULDELIGHT.COM I am still trying to get the store fully stocked but slowly but surely I will get there.  I now offer a monthly scrapbook kit for an AMAZING price.  You can get the details in my store or check out my blog artfuldelight.blogspot.com

Flat rate shipping to the US of $5 and do offer international and Canadian shipping (check webstore for prices).

I have been slowly but surely trying to get my online store up and running.  It just seems like everyone is doing the same thing I am trying to do.  Make my own stamps,  sell craft supplies and make a little bit of money.  I enjoy all the people I meet online so I am not really out to make a living on this just to have fun and meet new people and be able to craft for cheap or free.

It is a good thing I don’t have a store front that I have to stock and buy supplies for and pay rent because I would really be in the hole.  I don’t have to worry about buying point of purchase displays.  I just wish I had a little bit more money to buy more products to fill my store so maybe I can attract more business.  I know all business’ seem to have a slow start but some craft sites I see just seem to be booming of the bat.  Oh well, at least I am having fun!