The Best of Barbara's
Handmade For Profit Blog
Barbara closed her Handmade for Profit blog in December 2010 due to
lack of time to develop it as originally planned, but this
department now features the site's best and most timeless individual articles
and article collections, now in Adobe PDF format. (If you don't have
the free Adobe reader, download it
here.)
NOW IN THE ARCHIVES . . .
Articles and article collections for crafts business beginners,
established business owners, and art/craft industry researchers
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Reviews for Barbara's Money-Making Crafts Business "Bibles"
on Amazon
 The Crafts Business Answer Book: Starting, Managing, and Marketing a
Homebased Arts, Crafts, or Design Business
(See Contents page here)
Handmade for Profit!:
Hundreds of Secrets to Success in Selling Arts & Crafts
(See T/C here)
Make It Profitable!: How to Make Your Art, Craft, Design, Writing or Publishing
Business More Efficient, More Satisfying, and MORE PROFITABLE
(T/C here)
 Historical Industry Articles
Scrapbook Industry 2010. Kim Guymon provides this 2010 update on the decline
and fall of the scrapbook industry. (Article links to other related articles on
her blog.)
A Brief History of the Crafts Industry.
Shows the direct connection between the growth of today's professional
handcrafts industry and the retail hobbycrafts supply industry, from 1940 to
present day.
The Crafts Industry and Its Importance to the Economy.
Featuring CODA's landmark survey statistics and an update from Camille Ronay.
The Dissolution of the Society of Craft Designers.
Barbara's thoughts on this topic.
The Demise of the National Crafts Association.
Barbara's report on "whatever happened to NCA."
Should Your Handcrafted Work
be Perfect?
CRAFTSMEN IN INDIA believe that
nothing but God is perfect. If they see that something they have created has no
flaws, they will deliberately make it imperfect in some small way.
Being "perfect" and being exceptionally well made are two different things
entirely. The real beauty of a handcrafted object is the fact that it is not
perfect. And it is the small imperfections that convinces one that an object was
actually created by human hands, not machinery. The bubbles in glass are proof positive that a living, breathing human being
created it; the chisel marks on a carving tell you this piece was not produced
by machinery; the slight irregularity of one stoneware plate from another
proclaims that hands—not machines—formed their shape.
Just something to think about the next time you find yourself trying too hard
to achieve "perfection."
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Barbara's Memory Box Projects
Years after Barbara created these projects for her own enjoyment, some were
published in her "Making Memories" column for Crafts 'N Things magazine. Each
project offers ideas on how to use personal photos and nostalgic keepsakes.
BELOW:
Barbara's Cross-Stitch Embroidery on one wall of her office. This page includes detail
photos and information of special interest to needleworkers who do cross-stitch
embroidery.
Recommended Artist Websites
Barbara LOVES these sites and recommends them when you want to be artistically inspired
or merely amused.
Ukraine's Amazing Sand Artist. this site has had more than 17 million views,
and I promise it will be one of the most fascinating and enriching YouTube
viewing experiences you'll ever have. (From this video, you will be able to link
to other sand-art videos.)
Paint Your Own
Jackson Pollock Original. Want to have a few minutes of pure fun? To paint
your own Jackson Pollock, click above link and follow these guidelines as soon
as you hit the site: (1) Click to change colors; (2) Move slower to create a
thicker line; (3) Hold mouse still to let paint pool into a puddle; (4) CAUTION:
This can be addictive!
Iggy
the Kitten Ivestigates an iPad. This is one very smart kitty, one that can
create art and play the piano on his owner's iPad. If you're a cat lover, you'll love this
YouTube video and may give serious thought to buying an iPad just to entertain your cat.
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