Folksy Ltd

Help! Please help me focus!

(Mollyjump) #1

Hi,
My name is Paula, and I’m in desperate need of help and support.
My problem is I cannot settle on one thing. I am very crafty/creative and love to make ‘things.’ I’ve had a folksy shop for over 3 years now, but never stocked it properly. I work part time (4 days) so do have time to craft at least one full day a week.But what do I do?
My folksy shop is called mollyjump. I’ve sold a few items, which I suppose is good, as I hardly list anything, despite being a fully paid up member of Folksy! :grinning:

I have a lot on at the moment…getting married being one of them, but I really want to sort my shop out.
I suppose the trouble is I can’t settle on one thing. I am going to start crafting in earnest at the start of October as I have no commitments from then on so time is not a problem.

So any advice, help, tips criticism (please be gentle :pensive:) and support would be appreciated… Anyway sorry to witter on, but just posting this has given me some focus!
Thanks for reading. x

(Rhiannon Rose) #2

Which crafts do you do/ would you like to do/ can you choose from?

(Sally Eira) #3

perhaps focus on the one thing you are most passionate about as this will mean you will enjoy making the items and so be more productive.

also - do you sell elsewhere ? if so - what are your most popular items?

(Christine Shephard) #4

I suppose the first question I’d ask is why are you selling? Is it to fund a hobby, to make a bit of extra money, to try to earn a living, or just because you think you should if you’re making things? Many people are crafty/creatives who make a variety of things but don’t sell them - they give them as gifts or donate them to charity events. If you’re not sure what to focus on, why add the pressure of selling?

You could take the time to experiment with different crafts/techniques and find what it is that really inspires you to make; what gives you the greatest pleasure and fires your creativity; what would get you out of bed on a cold, dark morning and get you working. Then practise the craft until it’s the best you can possibly do…then think about selling it.

(Diane Burton) #5

Don’t think you have to stick to just one craft, there is a lady who has a shop on here with cards, jewellry, miniature paintings but they all have an animal theme (mainly bunnies) so you can try different techniques if you want to just find a theme you can carry across them. Also I’ve seem lots of shops with a mixture of crafts (jewellery/cards/fabric etc) in fact I’ve started to diversify from just cards myself (hoping to get chance to do some more sewing soon, at the moment I seem to have a lot of dressmaking for me going on) Maybe start with a bit of a few crafts and see what sells so long as you use the Collections to seperate them it shouldn’t be a problem.

(Roz) #6

Like you when I first started out I jumped from one craft to another and was all over the place. I loved all of them but nothing quite held me until I discovered felting and then it just grabbed me so now my focus is totally on that although I do still incorporate other things in with the felting - a bit of sewing, card making, beading etc - as I still enjoy other things.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with doing lots of crafts as long as you enjoy it - maybe just section up your shop into collections to make it clearer. You can’t push yourself to do one particular craft - you will know when you have found what you love doing, just keep trying different things until you find your niche.

(Mollyjump) #7

Thanks for all your responses!
Christine, I want to start selling properly so I can earn a bit of extra money. I would love to do it to earn an equivalent part-time salary but at the moment I need the financial security a permanent job gives me.
My biggest problem is I am very self critical and decide it’s not good enough to sell before it even gets listed.
Sally, I have sold at craft fairs…just putting a few of my items on a friends vintage stall and they did all sell and I got some good feedback.
Diane and Roz, I love making brooches and anything with a vintage feel. Repurposing odd bits and pieces making one off items is a favourite of mine.
Maybe time to change my shop look? Start afresh?
I would post some pics on here but I don’t know how lol
Please have a look at my shop and see what you think…

(Liz Clark) #8

I just wanted to add that if your attention is being taken up with other things at the moment it’ll be hard to make a decision and then be creative. Unless there is any pressing reason to make a decision now, then I’d take the pressure off yourself, and once your time is less pressured after your wedding, have a “play” around to see what it is you like doing best.

I would also say that everyone I have ever met in the art world is self-critical. We are our own worst enemies LOL! But the good thing you have to remember is that you have had some good feedback and sales at fairs, which are a great way of testing the market.

(Sally Eira) #9

you can post photos to the thread by clicking on the 7th button along in the reply section - if you hover over it is the one that says ‘upload’ -click on it and upload photo from you pc etc.

(Sally Eira) #10

hi - this folksy blog post may help.

it is a write i did of a folksyhour twitterr discussion about starting to sell on folksy …