Happy Saturday!
This week Saturday artisan is Toni! She is the creative person behind Little House of Crafting.
It's the perfect shop when you are looking for something geekery, handmade with love.
Tell us a bit about you and what arts/ crafts that you make?
Hello! I'm Toni, owner of Little House of Crafting!
I'm a happily married 20-something geek that loves to watch Doctor Who, play videogames and of course, craft!
Little
House of Crafting came about in early 2013 when my friend, and partner
in crime, Lilly Inverse of Lilly Inverse Designs began making and
selling art in Artist Alleys at anime conventions. I decided to join in
the fun and created a line of pinback buttons. Later, I added
perler/pixel art (also known as drawing with plastic) and now offer
pinback button designs in magnet form!
Each product is made by me
in my adorable 650 square-foot home in southeast Michigan. Every fandom
and activity featured at Little House of Crafting is dear to my heart.
Great pride is taken in ensuring that you are able to share your geekery
with the world at large!
What is the story behind your shop name?
The story behind my shop name is that my products are handmade by me in
my little 650-square-foot house. I take over the kitchen table!
Who is your target market?
My target market are those that attend anime conventions and those looking for geekery to collect and squee over!
Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?
The part of the creation process that I enjoy the most is designing
custom pinback buttons and magnets. I love getting in the zone of
designing and sending Facebook messages and emails of proofs for
approval before sending out the final product! :)
For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/
city?
Even though I live in a township, those who live in my area don't pay
attention to what towns they are in as our cities are so small. I live
on the border of two other towns. It's so wonderful as the town I live
in doesn't have a movie theater. We go 5 minutes down the street to the
next town! The other town I border has a fantastic tavern that my
husband and I frequent very often. The staff are great and will sit down
at the table and talk with you!
Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little
tips here and there in this department?
I organize my products simply. Each pinback button design is stored in a
ziplock sandwich bag and then are collected in a gallon size ziplock
bag. I need to be able to find my designs quickly during an anime
convention so I have my button designs organized by color and type of
text or picture. Choose a method that works and is efficient for you!
How does your day go in general?
My day depends on whether I am working or not. I work part-time at Jimmy
John's. Regardless, on the weekdays, I wake up at 7am for a 20 minute
work out. Then I get some online work in for my shop before going to
work. Typically I'm catching up on social media, preparing orders for
shipping, etc. After work I catch up on social media again and work on
convention prep, designing new products, completing new shop listings
and photographs, etc. One thing's for sure is that every day is
different!
How do you balance your personal and work life?
I make sure to have family time every day. This is very important as
it's easy to get preoccupied with completing orders and making new
products. I also make sure to have scheduled alone time every week. This
allows me to recharge and have some quiet time so that I don't burn
out.
What inspires you?
Everything inspires me! Be it a conversation with a friend or a loved
one, TV shows or movies, a book I've read, a videogame played..my
inspiration comes from everything!
What is your best seller?
My best seller is my Soul Eater Moon pinback button. That design is hand
drawn using my Wacom tablet and GIMP. I am so proud of it!
What is your goal for 2014?
My goal for 2014 is to reveal a new shop mascot and launch two new product lines!
Any advice for others running their on-line shop?
The advice I would give in running an online shop is that you can't
please everybody. Make the online shop you and yours and reflect your
passion behind it. It will show! Also, limit the amount of stock you
make for new products until you have an idea of whether it will sell or
not. If you do find yourself having too much product see if you can
donate it to giveaways that benefit charities or to charities
themselves!
Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money?
I research and shop online as much as possible. I also try to purchase
from handmade and local shops as much as possible so as to support small
business. That balance can be a hard line to walk but typically you can
shop online for the supply purchases and shop handmade and local for
the freebies included in online orders. For example, I shop at Washi
Mall for my washi tape that I embellish my "Thank You" message with.
Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!
