What if you could start your day out with an excited shout instead of a frustrated sigh? Unfortunately, selling handmade goods online is no longer as simple as throwing together a product listing and waiting for sales to roll in. There are now millions of people with handmade products and they are all eager to build a sustainable income. The Handmade Entrepreneur uses precise methods based on proven marketing techniques to set you above the competition. It teaches you how to create a genuine business you can count on rather than a bundle of shop pages and social media accounts built on a foundation of guesswork. What You Can Expect to Learn from This Book: • How to take DIY pictures that get clicks and sales • How to set up a shop that turns visitors into buyers in under two seconds • How to price your items • How to write titles and descriptions • How to brand your business with DIY techniques • How to rank your pages • How to find targeted audiences • How to build up your list of followers • Where to promote your listings • How to sell without selling • How to form relationships with people who can send you extra sales • How to start a "buzz" about your products • Which tools to incorporate into your business The goal of this book is to free you from having to rely on any third-party website for your sales. Yes, you can take advantage of platforms like Etsy, and you should, but websites come and go, and if all your sales come only from that website, you run into trouble every time there are algorithm changes, a saturation of sellers, or cheaper products to compete with. You are trying to generate sales, which means that you are trying to run a business, which in-turn means that you need a real business plan. Brick and motor stores don't just buy a bunch of goods, throw them in a building, and hope people will come. They plan, study their target market, pick a perfect store location, and prepare to market themselves. Just because you sell online does not mean that you can skip all of these steps. You have billions of products to compete with online and a crowd of shoppers who have an overwhelming number of options before them. You must prepare your storefront, get your products ready, know your audience, and then know how to market to them. Optimizing Your Shop for Sales Dani starts out showing you how to prepare your products with photos that attract clicks and sales. It doesn't just tell you how to do it, though. It SHOWS you. Thanks to the help of many carefully selected Etsy sellers, there are many example photos for each point. In addition to this, the author only shows you DIY photos to prove that you can do it all on your own. Next, Dani discusses how to optimize your shop. She goes through every aspect such as banners, profiles, descriptions, tags, and titles. You will learn how to optimize your pages so that people stay there instead of leaving instantly. This can be done by creating an inviting environment with images and content that buyers can skim through in under two seconds. If buyers can determine that your page is worth staying on in less than two seconds, you have won the battle. Finding Targeted Audiences and Marketing The issue with selling online is finding people who would be interested in your products.

    Do you look at yourself now and wonder if the spark has gone out? Ignite that inner fire with the 30 engaging exercises, fun activities, inspirational images, and motivating ideas in this book. Learn what your Little Spark of creative passion looks like, how to capture it, and how to make room for it in your life. Read the book cover-to-cover and use it as a month-long creative roadmap, or just dip into the exercises as your time and inclination allow. Either way, you will change your life.

    Author Joanne Sharpe shows you how to create exuberant and personalized writing styles for your artwork-whether it be a journal, canvas art, or other projects that use text.After an overview of Joanne's favorite tools and surfaces, take a peek into Joanne's personal lettering journal to discover how you too can collect inspiration, hone your lettering skills, and tap into your natural creativity. Joanne then demonstrates twenty art techniques for creating a variety of lettering styles using many different tools. She provides you with fifteen basic alphabets, ranging from simple pen-and-ink renditions to increasingly elaborated texts that reference calligraphy, vintage fonts, and doodle art, among other styles. Joanne also teaches you how to turn prosaic lettering into page art itself, merging text into illustration, or ornamenting words with decorative drawings.

    From traditional sailor’s knots to the trendy friendship bracelets of the 90’s to the modern craze of paracord crafts, knot tying is a fun and valuable skill. Guys, gals and even young kids can learn the principles of knot tying to create a huge variety of projects. This ebook will teach you a selection of the most widely used, best loved knots and a variety of accompanying projects. The step-by-step photo instructions make it easy to learn, even for the beginner!

    This collection of drawings and painted canvases from dozens of contributors features thousands of tangle patterns and doodle designs to inspire you to doodle anything and everything.Create a mythical, doodled beast or abstract work of art. Draw an inspirational tangled card for a friend or add doodled intrigue to your art journal with patterned shapes. "Zen Doodle" provides you with the first steps toward creating unique tangled art, including traditional tiles, letterforms, Zendalas, landscapes, four-tile ensembles, paper quilts and more!Inside you'll find: More than 100 pieces of Zen doodled art from 42 artists.Step-by-step instruction to help you begin your own Zen doodles.Four chapters of doodle inspiration: Abstracts, Shapes & Objects, Animals & Beasts, and Friendship & Love.Isn't it time you take your tangles to the next level?

    Art Starts with a Line is approachable for artists of any skill level, no prior drawing experience needed! This form of art requires minimal tools, making it both affordable and portable.   Following a brief introduction to tools and materials, as well as some easy exercises and techniques for warming up to basic drawing tools, you will explore a variety of subject matter. You'll draw plants and flowers, architecture and cityscapes, animals, and everything in between. These projects aren't restricted to black and white either! You'll find techniques for adding color with colored pencil, marker, pen, even digitally.  Art Starts with a Line presents everything you'll need to know to learn how to successfully create line drawings of all types. Whether your goal is to create a custom logo for a client, or to simply decorate your planner, it's all here.

    Award-winning designer Doris Chan helps you get more out of crochet with these endlessly adaptable patterns and techniques that can work with a variety of different looks, personal styles, and body shapes. You'll learn to personalize these designs by easily making alterations, adding removable elements, or simply styling the piece in an ingenious new way. Make it once. Wear it again and again.

    Lafosse's complex and beautiful origami projects are well known around the world. Focusing on models from nature, Advanced Origami provides unparalleled instruction on how to create master-class level 3D origami paper folding projects. The origami designs are challenging—they require some folding experience—but the results are more origami art than craft. Paper folders will create projects that can be displayed or given as gifts.Sophisticated origami or paper crafts fans will appreciate the unique origami designs along with complete detailed instructions and easy-to-follow color photos and diagrams. Advanced Origami also features information on paper selection and preparation, advance techniques such as "wet folding," and making your own paper.This origami book contains:136 page, full-color book15 original and challenging projectsStep-by-step instructionsColorful diagrams and photographsAdvanced techniques and tipsIn recent years origami has evolved beyond simple folding and creasing into a true art form akin to sculpture. For those seeking to learn origami at such a level, Advanced Origami provides all the essential information and techniques. Soon you will be able to design and fold your own origami sculptures!Origami projects include:North American CardinalKoi FishOrigamido ButterflyPond FrogAnd many more…

    Whether your story calls for a flashy drama queen or a mousy bookworm, this guide contains everything you need to know to create fabulous shojo manga characters with personality.The Figure. Follow these simple basics to draw the guys and girls of various body types, in any pose.The Face. Learn how to draw an endless variety of features. Get the feeling across with facial expressions from a subtle quirk of the mouth to all-out crocodile tears. Then add the perfect hairstyle--the icing on the cake.The Look. -Shop- from an illustrated gallery of clothing and accessories for every season and occasion, from formal dresses to bunny slippers, with demonstrations and tips on designing your own original fashions.The Setting. Portray your character's world with demonstrations on how to create classic hangouts like classrooms, coffee shops and bedrooms.Complete with 14 start-to-finish demonstrations for drawing a range of character types, from the girl next door to the punk guy, from single characters to couples and groups, this book will help you bring a world of unique and memorable characters to life...and have lots of fun doing it!

    This is for the mothers out there that want to run the home and raise the children in a stress-free and affordable way. This is for the wife that would like to be the hostess with the mostess, but not toil and fret all day and has no talents in making radishes into roses. This is for the real housewive's that are a little funky, want to be frugal, want the adorable home, maybe a little farm in their Urban backyard, purposely don't match their sheets, like fun accent walls in each room, want to homeschool their children, need to do a major household budget, and downsize, but won't compromise on a good life. This is for the families that want to cut the grocery bill big time and still have their organics and non-GMO popcorn. This is also for the families happy to ditch the car and walk to save money and the environment but won't give up their entertaining and gatherings. This book is loaded with great advice and tips on everything from a household budget, making your own cleaners, going a little country in the city, throwing parties with a few dollars, and having a good life on very little.

    Dye your own fabric, yarn and clothing whilst using soya milk to bind the colours. There is colour potential all around us just waiting to be unlocked!I share my methods with you, step-by-step. The pages are bursting with photos of the dyeing process as well as photos of fabric and yarn samples from lots of different plants.Perhaps you already dye with plants using conventional mordants such as alum and would like to try the more natural soya milk method for fixing colours? Maybe you are beginning your journey with plant dyeing now? Either way, there is something for you in my book.The book covers the following plus morehow to produce long-lasting colours on cellulose (plant) fibres such as cotton, linen & bamboo viscose. how and why to pretreat fabric & yarn in soya milk before dyeing. choosing plants that will give promising results in the dye pot. how to extract the most colour from plants and how to achieve dark colours on cellulose fibres. my methods for producing deep pinks from avocado skins and stones (pits/seeds). altering colours by changing the pH of dye. using iron or rust water to darken your dyed fabric/yarn and expand your palette of colours. painting patterns with iron water. testing fabric & yarn for colour fastness. A note on plant fibresThis book focuses on dyeing cellulose fibres, such as linen, cotton, hemp and bamboo viscose/rayon. I am vegan and do not use any animal protein fibres like wool or silk. Of course my dyeing methods can be applied to animal fibres, if you choose.

    On this painterly journey, Tracy Verdugo leads you from self-doubt to self-appreciation by helping you find your voice through a myriad of vibrantly-hued mark making, painting and self-reflection techniques. There are no mistakes here, only opportunities to learn and grow.- Learn the language of your own sacred marks by painting with personal symbology. - Discover the inspiration that exists around you, in your home, your community, the present moment. - 19 step-by-step exercises use popular mixed media materials such as pastels, acrylic paints, inks and more! - See how to use art making to plant creative seeds and cultivate your wildest dreams. Turn on your Paint Mojo and make an awesome, shiny, perfectly imperfect mark of you.

    It is a collection of 150 brain teasing math riddles and puzzles. Their purpose is to make children think and stretch the mind. They are designed to test logic, lateral thinking as well as memory and to engage the brain in seeing patterns and connections between different things and circumstances. They are laid out in three chapters which get more difficult as you go through the book, in the author’s opinion at least. The answers are at the back of the book if all else fails. These are more difficult riddles and are designed to be attempted by children from 10 years onwards, as well as participation from the rest of the family. Tags: Riddles and brain teasers, riddles and trick questions, riddles book, riddles book for kids, riddles for kids, riddles for kids aged 9-12, riddles and puzzles, jokes and riddles, jokes book, jokes book for kids, jokes children, jokes for kids, jokes kids, puzzle book

    You’ll love Adrianna Adarme’s easy-to-follow instructions and will enjoy getting lost in her warm and comforting photographs. Organized by the months of the year and by categories as “Live,” “Do,” and “Make, ” this book offers ideas for activities, recipes, and DIY projects that make the little moments in life just as exciting as the big. Adarme gives us special (but totally doable) things we can do for others and ourselves. From quick recipes to easy crafts, she focuses on simple, inexpensive undertakings that have a big reward: happiness. The Year of Cozy will surely inspire you to march into your kitchen and craft closet to make something you can truly be proud of.

    In 1989, when Dr. Betty Edwards revised the book, it went straight to the Times list again. Now Dr. Edwards celebrates the twentieth anniversary of her classic book with a second revised edition.Over the last decade, Dr. Edwards has refined her material through teaching hundreds of workshops and seminars. Truly The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, this edition includes:the very latest developments in brain researchnew material on using drawing techniques in the corporate world and in educationinstruction on self-expression through drawingan updated section on using colordetailed information on using the five basic skills of drawing for problem solving