Make Room

For our first two markets in 2018, we used half of the space at Decatur Recreation Center. April 2019 marked the first time we collapsed the wall and used the entire room. The reality is that even when we were using half the space at the previous markets, we were already in the full room. It was up to us to see it.

My vision is my belief that God placed a deposit in me before I was born to pursue my greatest and wildest dream as a maker. My vision is about my potential and seeing my fullest self without restrictions, hindrances, fear or doubts. My vision is not about my present conditions, but it is about my final destination. For some that might mean vending at a bigger venue or doubling your income, while for others it might be owning a brick and mortar store or developing a global brand.

Sometimes people don’t understand our vision and we spend time too much time trying to convince them of our vision. However our vision is bigger than our present conditions, people’s understanding and even what my eyes can see.

If I plan to go from a half space to a full room, then I better start seeing, believing in and pursuing my vision with everything I got.

Make room.

In the Beginning

“I really don’t want to be a part of that”

“I think that idea is stupid and you are crazy for thinking we will do that”

“Why would you think something like that will work? We’ve never done anything like that before. I don’t want to do that”

In my mind these were the scenarios that played out when I decided to approach Charlene, Jandi and Mina about my idea to start a market for makers. I sat on the idea for months because I thought they would think I was crazy. I knew deep in my heart that God had deposited this idea in me and had directed me to those three ladies. But the idea of starting a market for makers didn’t make any sense – especially when we hadn’t done it before. In the end, I knew I had two choices – would faith or fear have the final say?

If I had allowed my fear-filled scenario to play out in my mind, there would never have been a Craft Savvy Market. We would never have had all the wonderful experiences with makers and costumers that we have had over the past 3.5 years. Charlene, Jandi, Mina and I have launched four face to face markets, a virtual market and are slated to have our first online conference for makers – Resilient 2021 on Jan 9, 2021. We started without a business background and market experience and we’re still here.

Many of us walk around with great ideas and potential to launch awesome projects and collaborations. At some point we have to decide who will have the final say in our life. I have since learned that in order for faith to have the final say, there are three things I must do –

Acknowledge my fear but move forward anyway – Acknowledge that you do feel scared because you are heading into the unknown but move forward nevertheless.
Reflect on how I have been on the road of fear before and celebrate my wins – Sometimes when I feel afraid to start something new, I reflect on my Craft Savvy Market experience and remember where we are right now. I didn’t let fear win then and I won’t let it win now.
Share my story – Sharing my story of fear honestly releases fear’s power over me. Sometimes we keep our battles to ourselves but I’m realizing that the more I share my struggles, the more I realize that fear has no power or authority over me. Faith will have the final say in my life.

by Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

Behind the Scenes: DIY Photo Backdrop

Hello Makers!

We’re pulling back the curtains behind something that has become near and dear to our heart – our Craft Wall. So, we launched our first craft wall at the second Craft Savvy Market. As makers it was really important to us to include a handmade piece that reflected our love for artistry and provided our attendees an opportunity to capture their time at the market.

Fast forward to our last market. The very first thing we did was search for inspiration pieces. The founders, Charlene, Mina, Jandi and I texted each other possible considerations and cast our vote on our favorite designs. The inspiration piece below from a Pinterest search was the hands down winner. Next we ordered the supplies and mapped out how we would create the wall.

It took at least six hours from start to finish to complete the project. We first spent a lot of time mapping out the look. We then divided the work and completed the wall. We kept in mind that the piece needs to not just look beautiful but also hold up for the entire market. The last thing we needed was to have leaves or our logo signage falling on someone’s head.

We were so proud of the final project. Our Craft Wall was an integral piece of our market that reflected our love for handmade artistry and it gave our attendees an opportunity to capture the market experience.

Hope you will consider adding a handmade craft wall or handmade craft element to your next Maker’s event. If you do and share on social media, please tag us. We would love to see your creation.

by Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

Shut It Down

“No one likes any of this stuff. You shouldn’t try to make anything new” a voice hissed as I packed up the last of my merchandise at the market. As I tugged my suitcase out the door of the event hall, her voice would not relent. “You wasted your time making all of this and no one bought much of it. I mean, look at all these leftovers. You’re not a real maker”. Ok. I had had enough. I spun around to face this nasty person but I found myself standing alone in the parking lot.

Sometimes we speak to ourselves in a way that if we heard one person speak to another person that way, we would give side eyes all day. So why do we allow such cutting, toxic and negative words to be spoken over ourselves? Sometimes such negative self-talk is an indicator of how we truly see ourselves or how we feel deep down inside. We take such care to craft beautiful hand made designs, let’s take care to speak beautiful words over ourselves.

As makers here are three things we can do to walk away from negative self-talk and kick our inner critic to the curb:

Avoid absolute words such as never because it only sets you up for failure. You have the power to create your best life. You are not defined by absolute words like “never” and “always”.
Focus on the positive. Take a minute and write down things that are going great when you feel the critic in your arise. Focus on the good instead of centering on the bad.
Turn it around by speaking life over yourself – Try saying, “I didn’t sell very many goods today but I will sell more goods at my next market” or “The sale of lack of sale of my goods are not a measure of my talent.”

What will you do to shut down your inner critic?

Image Credit – Jack Canfield

Lessons Learned from Craft Savvy Market 4

We held our fourth Craft Savvy Market on November 16,2019 and this market proved that we cannot remain stagnant at any point on our journey as entrepreneurs. No matter the challenges, we must push through and persevere in order to grow. Below, we wrap up and share part 1 of our lessons learned. Check us out in Instagram and Facebook @craftsavvymarket to see more pictures and videos from the event.

Trust

Trust. I’ve always struggled with trust issues – relationships, projects, hopes and dreams. It really wasn’t until my thirties that I realized that my struggle was not a lack of trust in people but a struggle with fully trusting God. As we started planning for Market 4, my old struggles were back and doing a number on me.

With one team member pregnant, we were down to a team of three. I kept wondering how are we going to pull this off with only three people? How would we make this market better than the last? Who was going to do all this work? What was really going on? Somewhere between July and November, I realized that I didn’t need answers to my questions. I just needed more of HIM. And God came through.

At Craft Savvy Market 4, we increased the value of our market by adding the talents of Atlanta influencer Trina Small; we rolled out new merchandise – Craft Savvy Market Creative Creed magnets and added more vendors to the room. We even created a new craft wall. It wasn’t easy but we did it. We did more with less.

I just want to take a minute and put my God on blast for who He is – mighty and wonder-working. He’s worthy of all my trust. I am so grateful that I serve a God who blesses me in spite of me. I’m taking my testimony from Craft Savvy Market 4 into the next decade as we plan for Craft Savvy Market 5! Trust.

by Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

CSM 4 LESSONS LEARNED

1.Market, Market, Market – This time around, I realized that money spent in marketing is money well spent! For market #4, we decided to increase our marketing dollars to help get the word out to more people and we saw a difference. It is also worth mentioning that marketing dollars must be spent in the right place – i.e. where or who you market to matters. Marketing must be targeted and specific. It must put you in front of YOUR kind of customers. In the past, we’ve tried different forms of marketing that did not always pay off. I believe that we are moving closer to formula that works best for us.

In addition to paid marketing, we must not underestimate the power in free marketing – i.e. telling your friends and family about what you are doing and asking them to share the good news. This year, I was especially blessed to have many of my family and friends make special efforts to come and see what Craft Savvy Market was all about.

2. Work the system and let the system work for you – This year, we tried a new system that made the day so much easier and peaceful. Don’t be afraid to try a new system that may work in another area of your life. I took something that I had used in a different area and tweaked it for Market #4 and we were pleased with the results. The more systems you have in place, the smoother the process is. A smooth process means less stress and more smiles. Consider implementing systems for social media, customer communications, product development, etc.

3.There is power in relationships – While every market may not result in millions of dollars worth of sales, there is always the potential to connect with people who can open doors for greater things down the line. One thing that Craft Savvy Market has helped me to work on is being open to talking to more people and connecting with them. Sometimes I like to stay in my shell, but being a business owner has pushed me to slowly get out of that. This year, I was afforded an amazing opportunity by someone who visited my booth at market number 3. That person did not buy anything at the time, but I still took the time to strike up a conversation. Imagine if I had not made a good impression when the individual stopped by.

Establishing relationships or even striking up conversations may not always result in a sale, but it has the potential to lead to so many open doors. So I challenge you to step outside of your comfort zone – smile with more customers who come up to your booth, strike up a conversation. Who knows were it will take you?

by J. Harris

5 Instagram Accounts Every Crafter Should Follow

As a creative, there are times when our creativity seems to be stuck in a rut. Sometimes we can ride the wave and wait until inspiration finds her way back to us. Other times, it seems like she took a long bus ride across the country and she may not be returning. Thankfully, with the help of social media, inspiration is just a few clicks away. Here are 5 Instagram accounts we love that are sure to help you get your creative ideas flowing, regardless of your craft.

@Crafttherainbow – Here you can get inspired by craft projects that represent all colors of the rainbow. photo from houselarsbuilt

2. @Houselarsbuilt – Here you get creative inspiration for living – (home, decor, events, crafts, etc).

photo from @houselarsbuilt

3.@damasklove – The page will give you all kinds of fun inspiration and easy DIY projects that will get you back to creating.

photo from @damasklove

4. @Pantone – This page will keep you inspired by the most recent color trends. Anyone who loves color can’t help but enjoy this page.

photo from pantone.com

5. @Kailochic This Instagram account will inspire you to be creative in your everyday life. She covers everything from DIY to home to event decor to crafts.]

photo from @kailochic

What other social media accounts do you draw inspiration from? Let us know so we can grab some inspiration too!

Don’t forget to RSVP here to attend our next market (Holiday Market) on Saturday, November 16, 2019.

Essential Tools – Live. Learn. Love.

Essential Tools – Learn a new tool or fall in love again with your old tool

Makers. What do we do? Make! And what do we use to make our goods? Tools! Here are some highlights of essential tools for makers. Whether you sew, knit, or papercraft, tools can make or break your project. Even if you have every tool you think you need, you never know when you might need another tool. Here are a few resources for upping your craft life by learning new tools or (re) falling in love again with the ones you have.

Whether you are making a beginner’s tote or a jumpsuit, this list of sewing tools from Polka Dot Chair is sure to please!

Have fun knitting away gloves, sweaters or even blankets with the essential tool list from The Blue Elephant.

Create a thank you card or refresh your scrapbook kit with any of the following essential tools from Jill Cameron’s Creations.

By – Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

Craft Savvy Market #2 – Lessons Learned Part 2

We held our second Craft Savvy Market on November 3, 2018 and we had a blast. Apply to be a vendor for our upcoming market here.

We gave you our Market #2 reflections and thoughts Part 1 (here), and we are back for Part 2. Reflection allows us to the opportunity to identify what works for us and the things that do not work. As a team, we have incorporated reflection as a necessary practice because it allows us to look back and improve as well as celebrate. m

The importance of Confidence – Lessons From CSM #2

You can have the skills, and talent, but confidence will lead you to a success. A few months back when we started planning for Craft Savvy Market #2, we decided to take more risks, challenge/encourage each other, and boost our confidence in our abilities to produce a successful event. As a result, we pulled of a great market event. This personally encouraged me to step out with confidence in every area of my life. One specific example: was creating our photo wall backdrop. Charlene challenged us to make our own creative photo wall, and we accepted the challenge. As a result, we collectively created an amazing photo wall for our event. That added an extra boost to my self-confidence.

Did we have fears? YES!!! Did we doubt somethings? Of course we did. We decided to focus on the Big GOD we serve; and grow our confidence from what He did during our first market event. We grew confidence in our abilities, so we didn’t allow fears to rise within up. That confidence helped to free us to push even harder. It has helped me to move out of my self-restricted comfort zone. With that level of Confidence, I am ready to work harder for a greater outcome. With all this confidence, love, support, and teamwork, I am excited to see what happens next. I know that the next market day will be bigger and better. So with that been said, if you are embarking on a new undertaking, have supportive people around you to help build your confidence.

Mina

Pace Yourself – Lessons From CSM #2

This time around, I learned to pace myself in regards to creating products. One of the challenges of being selling handmade items is producing items to sell. Because many of us are a one / two man show, failure to adequately prepare in this area often times means we are left scrambling at the last minute, or we have a very limited supply of our products.

In preparation for market day, there was quite a few things that had to be taken care of from a market stand point and from a business owner’s stand point. Sometimes, it got overwhelming, but one thing I improved on was not waiting until the last minute to create products.

I intentionally set goals for the number of products I wanted to have on hand and broke down how many items I would need to produce over the time I had in order to be fully prepared. And every week, I made progress towards this goal. I didn’t necessarily meet my weekly goals every week, but it was much better than when I started. Instead of being a last minute producer (which impacts the quality of my product), I became more goal driven. This made a huge difference in the amount of products I was able to produce and it preserved my sanity and lowered my stress levels as well.

Jandi

Craft Savvy Market Atlanta — **Lillie Gwen Designs at Craft Savvy Market #2**

How do you reflect as a creative? Share your ideas and thoughts with us below.

Click here to read Part 1 of our lessons learned.

Top lessons learned from our first market – Part 1

As crafters, we are all about risks. We take risks when we use new materials, try new projects, mix different mediums, etc. On a warm summer afternoon in June, we crammed into a booth at Panera Bread and took a risk to join hands and organize our first Craft Savvy Market.

Here we are, almost four months after our first market day, and now that we have exhaled, we are sharing our top lessons.

1. Growth and success sometimes means making the choice to stay instead of walking away.

Going into this experience, I soon realized that while we have all been friends for over 20 years and have a lot in common, we were actually four very different thinkers and four very distinct creatives. And that made me want to run to the hills.

But by October, I recognized that it was through our creative differences that we would create a very successful craft market. Our multiple perspectives and ways of thinking was actually a strength not a weakness. So I learned not to look at our differences as a sign to look for an exit but as an indicator that we were actually on a path to creative excellence.

Many times we flee the creative process before we see fruits because the road feels uncomfortable or we wonder if we are on the right path when there are creative differences. But when we push through the challenges, we get to see the fruits of our labor. In the end, I’m so glad I continued to push through and am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with three very distinct thinkers who also happen to be my super talented, always creative Craft Savvy sisters.

–Ciatta-Mae

2. Presentation and packaging matters

As market day approached, the opportunity to share my jewelry crafts with our customers excited me. But then came the questions of packaging. If you’ve participated in or visited craft market shows you probably understand where I am coming from. Packaging can make the simplest things into beautiful looking gifts or it can lessen the impact of a great gift

. And frankly speaking, I didn’t put as much thought as I should have into my packaging. I used medium paper bags, but all my products could not fit the bags.

Thinking back, I should have assessed my items closely and given myself time to create packaging that would wow my customers. I should have considered a variety of sizes. Moving forward, I plan on having pretty packaging with more options for my products.

Mina

Read Part 2 of our top lessons learned here. Apply to be a vendor at our November Craft Market here.

Maybe you participated in a craft market for the first time or you took a creative risk for the first time. What new understanding did you possess after the experience? We would love to hear from you.

Why I Stay Focused on My Craft

By: Mina Mantor

Let me go directly into the idea of “craft”. Why is it worth me pursuing and what is it? My own idea on craft is that it is more than sharpening skill, style or application, more than an object you just touch or put together. “Craft” is a creative technique; your thought connections and hours of practice. Your craft is the way in which you apply your ideas, how you think about it, and how you share it with others. It is working on something you love and developing it over time.

The fact is, everyone possesses a craft. It’s up to you to nurture it and develop your ideas and application. Understanding where my craft can take me and how it can define me can be a very powerful motivator that keeps me going.

Here are a few reasons why I stay focused on my craft:

The more mistakes I make, the more I learn from them and know what to avoid next time
The more I create, the further I will go, because I understand my ability
The more I work on sharpening my craft, the more I will stand out as a crafter

The journey is the reward; please don’t forget! Now, stay focused on your craft.