Business Cards!

As I have started making more contacts in the community I realized that I needed propper business cards.  At the recommendation of a friend I went to http://www.eprintfast.com/
My cards arrived last night.  They look great and the price was amazing too!

New cards shared

I have posted some new Christmas cards on my facebook page.  Please stop by to take a look.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cameron-Card-Creations/336779916413715

Ribbon score!

Finding card making supplies is a bit of a challenge.  While I like many of the items at Michael’s there prices are too high to make my cards affordable.  Dollar stores lately have proved to be a disappointment too with few new items in stock.

I have been enjoying a local 24 hour auction site of Facebook where I was able score a whole tote with 133 spools of ribbon and lace for $16.  I can wait to start putting the ribbon to use!



What will I be up to this week?

This week I don’t have any bookings but I will be kept busy making Christmas Cards and tags.  Some of the ladies at the retirement homes want packages of cards that are more economical.  I have a start on some cards for $2 each now but they aren’t as fancy.

I read about how to do a better job with the pictures I take of my cards so I want to do some experimenting with that this week too.  I would love to get some feedback about how the new pictures look.

Just over a week ago I called in an order for supplies from Ecstasy Crafts near Shannonville, ON.   My in-laws picked up my order and will bring it when they return from their cottage this week.  I can’t wait to try out the new embossing folders, die cut and layered pages.

I will try to post a sneak peak at Christmas cards later in the week.

Welcome to my new adventure!

I didn’t mean to disappear from blog life but I have been very busy. 

Yes, homeschooling two teens through high school keeps me on my toes.  For a year an a half I also had a job I loved working for ‘Senior Home Care by Angles” which balanced perfectly with our homeschool schedule and allowed me a bit of time out in the world too.

But since I injured my knee (multiple meniscal tears) in May I have struggled to find a way to add some additional income to our household while doing rehab.  Unfortunately, the first surgeon I saw was very discouraging.  She basically said that I could not return to my job but wasn’t prepared to offer any meaningful help other that get a $2,000 brace and keep doing physio.  I admit that this left me pretty down in the dumps and feeling sorry for myself.  Not a hard place to find when you hurt all the time, don’t sleep well at night and worry about how to earn some money to help out with expenses.

In the past I had made and sold greeting cards as a fundraiser for our church.  It had the benefit of letting me be creative and covered the cost of my supplies so that I could keep on making cards.  This sparked an idea to sell my cards as a business venture and Cameron Creations was born.  I had a blog where I posted pictures of my cards for church and I started a Facebook page.   I started out by contacting a number of retirement homes in the community and suddenly I had bookings.  I even have repeat bookings now. 

Wow!  This is exciting.  I thought that perhaps I needed to get serious about getting organized now and do some proper record keeping.  I looked at many different books out there about starting your own business but they didn’t really seem to fit with what I wanted to do.  Today at the library I picked up “The Handmade Marketplace” by Kari Chapin.  At a quick glance ~ I think I have managed to speed read through about half of the book ~ I have found the right reference book for me.  I have already noted some of the things I need to do differently.  I need to get proper business cards and do a better job of photographing my cards.   I need to do a better job of marketing.   When someone asks me about what my business is I tend to mumble about the fact that I make handmade cards.  I have joined a local group “Guelph Mom Preneurs.”  Through this group of amazing ladies I have already gleaned some great ideas and contacts.

If you want to see more of my cards check out my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/247061422033836/permalink/408753309197979/#!/pages/Cameron-Creations/336779916413715

I am looking forward to meeting lots of new people as I build my new business and create new cards!