Comments on: CraftyPod #95: Crafting for Money vs. Passion, with Paul Overton

By: itssopattydesigns

itssopattydesigns — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:53:06 +0000

Great podcast! I was also getting caught up in the selling end of my craft and upset with myself if I didn't feel like making jewelry on a given day. It has started to turn into a job and I find I just don't enjoy it this way! So, now I feel like I can go back to just making jewelry when an idea hits me or I feel like playing and not feel guilty! And yes, I would like to be able to make money off of my craft, since I am layed off, but I don't feel the same sense of urgency about it. Thanks so much! Now I can defend myself with all my crafty friends who are telling me I need to make more jewelry and sell it! LOL! Honestly I through I was one of the few in the world who felt like this! :D

By: itssopattydesigns

itssopattydesigns — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:53:06 +0000

By: SisterDiane

SisterDiane — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:52:49 +0000

Ah… I was wondering where you went. I'm so glad you shared your
experiences here. And I love your approach of setting creative
challenges for yourself. What a great way to re-connect with your love
of making!

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:14:54 +0000

It was time for me to catch up on the craftypod! I loved this episode, it put in to words what I have been feeling lately. I have been struggling with this for awhile. I just felt bombarded with people pushing their shops and it turned me off twitter and other social sites. Also, I didn't want to be that person and I was afraid that was where I was heading. I took a little break and am now working on little mini challenges that I set myself. It gives me something to blog about and something to push me creatively. And since they aren't things I plan on selling I don't have the pressure of it being perfect. I had to remember that it was okay to make mistakes. For so long I was just doing production work I lost sight of that fact that I once did this for fun.

Thanks!

By: marshaspaniel

marshaspaniel — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:34:33 +0000

I enjoyed this podcast so much! I found myself falling into this same 'e commerce' thing and then started asking myself 'what am i doing? i realized that the people i follow are the ones that talk about other things besides their own shop items. so, i decided to start blogging myself because i think that i have a lot of good stories to tell! thanks again,
marsha spaniel
www.spinalfusion.etsy.com
http://spinalfusion-marshaspaniel.blogspot.com/

By: Catarina

Catarina — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:39:07 +0000

Yes I am. I'me finding a new pleasure in crafts, and I'm loving to meet interesting people like you and Paul from Dude Craft :D

By: SisterDiane

SisterDiane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:29:58 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story, Catarina. It sounds like you're enjoying blogging a lot more with this approach, too!

By: Catarina

Catarina — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:54:12 +0000

I totally agree with this podcast!! I´ve been wanting to make a post about this in my blog for a long time, but I haven’t found the right way yet.
I have been crafting for a few years now and I started my blog 10 months ago. In the beginning was just another blog trying to sell my stuff like any other. Bit very rapidly a realized it didn’t make any sense to me. To be there, every day talking about being a crafter and only care about selling my products (any the sales weren’t never that great), and not sharing anything with the community, instead to be mad if anyone copied my designs, it just didn’t make sense to me. So I decided to stop doing that. I just stopped selling stuff on my blog. I have a dawanda store (a european Etsy) I have a link to it on the blog but I don’t make posts saying “please go to my store and buy my stuff”. Right now in my blog I’m more interested in talking about my craft passion and sharing what little experience I have. I share link to other interesting sites/blogs and talk about techniques that I’ve learning and this is much more exciting to me than just try to sell my creations. Right now I really don’t care if I sell or not, I love crafting and I’ll keep doing it just because I love it!

By: msbillie

msbillie — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:46:05 +0000

what a great and fun interview! I feel better, because I've been blogging for years and not really have found my niche, I just love crafts and cooking and I seem like I'm flip flopping all over the place, but that's me! If I can focus on one thing I might be able to sell on etsy, but it's not going to happen. I just love crafting when I have the time, in the mood, and whatever craft turns me on at the time. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one. I've been thinking about giving back through a tutorial or something – that's something I'm working on. Thank you! Paul is great, I'm heading over to his blog right now!

By: Relished Artistry

Relished Artistry — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:38:58 +0000

[...] sure that’s actually useful in the long run. Sister Diane, on CraftyPod, did a podcast that discussed this briefly a while ago. (FYI, I highly recommend her podcast–good good stuff!) Her concern was that [...]

By: SisterDiane

SisterDiane — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:42:26 +0000

Thanks, Tim! That music is by a bandleader named Esquivel. He was popular during the lounge music era of the 50's and 60's. A total genius. Check out his Wikipedia article for a photo of him wearing the most amazing pair of glasses you've ever seen.

By: Tim Moon

Tim Moon — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:23:01 +0000

Hearing from a man that crafts was rather interesting. I liked the conversation centerpiece (business vs. passion) because it's a good choice to help keep people grounded and focused on the skill and fun.

Regarding your podcast, who made the music? Btw, I like how you intersperse the tunes with your conversation.

By: Holly

Holly — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:39:02 +0000

Thank You for such a great topic. It really made me think about how I craft

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:11:33 +0000

I always listen to craftypod when I am tidying up my sewing room. This weeks episode touched on the battle that I have for finding that balance between blogging about my process and trying to protect what I am making as I too have an etsy shop. What I sell through etsy and markets pays for my crafty endeavours! … taking inspiration from Future Craft Collective and other crafty groups, a few of my friends (and I) are starting a crafty club to share and socialise. We are hoping that this will be a good opportunity to share as a “we have done this” rather than a “I have done this” (I am not too good at blowing my own trumpet!). thanks again for your crafty podcast and I can't wait to see your book!

By: SisterDiane

SisterDiane — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:00:28 +0000

You're so right, Meg – I see lots of examples of musicians
participating in the online community and making devoted fans one at a
time. I think these ideas have applications across a lot of creative
fields.

Good luck with your efforts!