Card Biz?!

Those that know me know that paper and I share a long time love. It started way back when I was in elementary school writing letters to my pen pals. It started with a family friend's daughter in Calgary. Then somehow I found pen pals all over the world including other parts of Canada, the States, Taiwan and even France. I still love writing letters to the few pen pals that I have, although I've been awful this past year. I owe all 3 of my pen pals letters! Fast forward to 2008. I was introduced to Stampin' Up! and my paper love reached a new level. Who knew one could love paper and stamps so much? In the past year with the wedding crafting, I ventured more into sewing and realized that I love fabric just as much as I love paper! Throw other hobbies into there such as photography and Project Life, that leaves me with 2 things. A lot of hobbies and not enough time to get really good at any of them. 


I guess that's how Jamie and I work though because when we decide we want to try something, we both jump in with both feet. Go big or go home right? So besides planning our honeymoon and kitchen renovations, I still want to find time to do the things that I love. That includes finding time to make cards! My lovely friend, Amanda, has kindly put in an order for some thank you cards. 20 of them to be exact. Now folks, hand stamped greeting cards is not the business to be in if you're wanting to quit your day time job. It might be if you're wanting to be a demonstrator and sell the products used to make greeting cards, but not if you just want to sell the cards you make. I used to keep a basket of the cards I made at work and my coworkers would oh so kindly support my paper addiction. Any money made would have already been spent months earlier on the new must have stamp set. 


With the wedding and many other things competing for my time (including the evil television), I've made very few cards in the last year. Amanda's card order really is the kick in the butt I need to get back into it. I best be putting my thousands of dollars worth of crafting goods to use! Although I've always loved hosting card workshops where I get to entertain friends for an evening of card making fun, I never did it consistently enough to make a business out of it. I think the biggest deterrent is the prep time. It really ate away a lot of my time and that's likely due to me not learning the best and smartest ways to host workshops. But I still love making cards and I've always wanted to sell my creations to people that love one of a kind (OOAK) handcrafted goodies. Today I stopped by a store called Henry's on High Street and what did I find in this funky uber chic store? Hand stamped greeting cards! I thought, "This is awesome! I could do this!" On the drive home, the lights just happened to turn red right in front of a local flower shop. I've talked to Jamie about approaching the store to possibly set up a little card business so what'd I decide to do? The light turned green and I turned right in. After 30 minutes of jovial chit chat, I decided to spill the beans! "Not gonna lie, I came in here with a motive." The owner's reaction was more than awesome. She was so receptive and so encouraging of the idea that I am now so excited and had to blog about it. The sucky part? I didn't have any samples of my cards with me! Jamie's response, "You went in with no samples? That's brave..." I honestly didn't plan any of this at all and I even told the owner that. She was asking about how I wanted to work the sales, split the percentage, sell directly to her to resell? I was dumbfounded and told her truthfully that I didn't do any prep at all. Not a great way to sell myself, I know. That's okay though because everything is a learning opportunity. In the next week or so, I hope to crank out some OOAK beauties to show off. 


Am I excited? Very. Am I nervous? Definitely. Will it be awesome? Absolutely.