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BITS & PIECES

© Barbara Massie

Are you contemplating a garage or tag sale in the near future? Possibly to include unsold craft items to get them out of your inventory? Learn how. Read Garage Sale Promoting: For Quick and Easy Money. Consider another option. You can deliver the items to Goodwill or a similar organization, get a receipt and write off the value of the items as a contribution for income tax purposes. You will realize a higher return than by selling at a sale.

This is an excellent time of year to consider learning something new. Perhaps a class will increase your expertise at what you do, or choose a topic that you have always wanted to learn more about. A class can perk up a career that is blah or open another area of interest. My sister has switched from oil painting to making sculpture by welding. A complete switch, but still a creative outlet.

Join an organization. A business-related organization can provide new information, give you ideas and let you meet people who have the same interests. A list of organizations dealing with different segments of a crafter's life is at Craftersmarket.com. A non-business related association is just as important. The focus will be on other areas of life, but any people you meet will be also interested in what you do now. This is just as useful to business. Remember that word of mouth is the best advertising, so don't be shy about telling others what you do. Hand out business cards, if only as an excuse that your telephone number is listed for a friendly call in the future.

Perhaps it's time to find new suppliers before you really need a large quantity of supplies. Talk to other creative people to find their sources. Read the labels on things you use and contact the company for information about distributors and wholesalers. Many times there will be a phone number on the label. We have even used a partial address to get a phone number from Information to call a company. This technique will work with mugs you want to buy to put into giftbaskets or with a particular glue you need in larger quantities. Always try to find wholesale sources for basic supplies used in large volume.

Do you need new ideas? Look at theNext Door With Katie Brown site. Check out the archives for a potpourri of projects and instructions that have been shown on her program.

The copyright of the article BITS & PIECES in Crafts is owned by Barbara Massie. Permission to republish BITS & PIECES in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.