December Daily art journalling 2014 days 1-5

Here are the first few pages of my December Daily art journalling project for 2014. I've used a wide variety of materials from Studio Calico, Pretty Little Studio, Pink Paislee, Teresa Collins and a huge bundle of Christmas emphemera from Julie Kirk at Notes on Paper, one of my favourite journalling artists.

This years December journalling prompts that I created to were:

1. The meaning of Christmas for me

2. Plans for December

3. Best gift memories

4. All about Christmas Cards

I'll be sharing more next week (yes I have created more than 4 pages seen as it is the 10th December!)

How's your December Daily coming together?

Pretty packaging and gift wrap ideas for home made jams, preserves, canned & chutneys mason jars

Something pretty for you if you're canning, jamming, preserving or baking this week - preserve gift wrap & packaging ideas! 

You can't beat home grown and home made gift giving and as usual I felt the  urge to pretty up the jar beforehand ;)

Using some old fabric I cut scallop edge circles and then tied these onto the jars with twine. Using a flower shape punch I made a layered flower out of scraps of paper which matched the colour scheme on the fabrics - can't beat a bit of colour coordinatio! 

A tea doily, a decorative label using sweetly framed and some hand cut banners and stamping and the jar was ready to gift!

Happy gifting!

7 ways to build customer sales in your craft, creative or handmade business

If you publish a blog, manage a facebook page, tweet, share on Google+, receive emails or participate in forums & meetings, one of the easiest and nicest ways to build a relationship with potential and actual customers is through simply talking & making a connection with them through leaving comments, profferring advice, asking questions, showing genuine interest and sharing your knowledge.

Whether you operate online or in person ....

• listening to others
• answering questions
• sharing highs and the lows
• encouraging & motivating
• providing expertise when appropriate
• sharing information and knowledge
• showing up where the action is 

will ensure you are well on the way to becoming memorable, valued and sought out by customers who will genuinely appreciate the value and wholeheartedness you bring to the table.

Make it your goal to engage daily even if just for 10 minutes and see how rewarding it can be in building a relationship with others. 

Vintage theme Christmas Vignette inspiration

Here's a sneak peek at this year's vintage theme Christmas vignette that graces the Vintage Celebrations fireplace, resplendant in shades of cream, natural, gold and silver sparkles. 

The decorations have been built up over the years - there are so many now I may have to buy a bigger fireplace ;) 

The wooden tree and mini wreath are from Hunt Bespoke Kitchens in Bloxham whilst the Believe angel, the glittered stags are from Wyevale Garden Nurseries in Bicester, the patinated glass is from Next & Dunelm Mill and the gorgeously fragranced candles are from White Mgick Alchemy in the USA and are magically named Yule Faerie Silver Forest & North Woods Winter White (I always have a totally spot on Old English Egg Nog with cream, rum, spiced sugar, bourbon & vanillascented candle which smells good enough to eat from them!). The large wall mirror is from Next, the tall pillar candles either side of the fireplace are from Next and the fire itself is from Dimplex - the Alameda Opti Mist. 

Happy December Decorating!

December Daily craft project 2014

Are you up for the December Daily creativity challenge? 

December Daily is a month long art, journalling, scrapbooking and paper crafting project showcasing the daily highlights of the Yule season. 

There are no rules, you don't have to consider yourself artistic or creative and you can use whichever medium you are most comfortable with - fabric, paper, paint, clay, yarn, metal or a mixture of all - the choices are endless!

This year, I'm using scrapbooking materials, magazine cutouts, project life paraphenalia and scraps of inspiration & creativity found from everyday life.

Follow my daily journey and prompts and join in the festive fun by sharing your December daily pages here too!

Join in the Christmas cheer and chat with me on Facebook on my Vintage Celebrations page! 

How & where to find new craft & creative business customers online

Hitting online Social Media big time and plunging straight into joining forums & groups, liking pages, commenting, sharing and engaging are all great marketing activities that we're all encouraged to do by the pros. 

c. SEO Planter

However we also may be making a huge marketing (and time and effort) mistake when we only hang out in the same places online as fellow creatives & crafters, complimenting each other on our creations, creativity & creativeness. Whilst mutual support is vital to our industry, it's not the best way to gain custom.

Remember, other creatives are not the most likely audience to funnel into being your customers - hey they have their own products to sell! Think of it like if you've ever been at an exhibition and spent your takings on everyone else's products & services ;) Not the best strategy to make money.

Instead, spend your time, energy, money & focus on getting yourself & your business being seen online where your potential customers are also most likely to be. 

So where's that you may be asking? 

Here are my top tips for finding, defining and marketing to your ideal customers to be.

Click here to claim your free '50 free marketing tips' e-book to 

save you time & money whilst increasing your business growth, success & visibility!

Scentsy candle wax fragrances for clean, cosy, comforting & fresh smelling homes, offices, cars & personal accessories

For all my lovely discerning & luxury loving aroma-holic friends who like your homes, cars, handbags, desks, offices, pet corners, gym kit bags/lockers, shoe cupboards, wardrobes & drawers, cloakrooms, hallways, spare bedrooms, bins, laundry baskets (even kids & other halves lol) to smell fresh, comforting, cosy, clean, fragrant, delicious, sweet, delightful, aromatic, delectable, homely & warm (or to make your home smell as though you've been baking all day a la Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood - you choose!) you're welcome to nab some freebie samples for your own private sniff-a-thon of my new range of 80+ scented candle fragrances.

Lasting longer than ordinary scented candles at 75-100 hours of fragrance, no soot/lead/smoke or naked flame required (the heated wax only reaches body temperature so perfect if you have children or pets around, at work or anywhere a flame can't be used) & packed full of more fragrance oil than other leading jar candle brands- Scentsy makes economical & safety sense too!

Top of my favourites Scentsy candle smells list so far are the Christmas & Autumn scents with names that recreate the smells & memories of childhood festivities like sugar cookie, sticky cinnamon bun, winter pine, christmas cottage, frosted ginger cookie, honey pear cider, iced pine, autumn blaze maple, snoberry & cozy fireside - is it ever too early for the house to smell Christmassy? 

If you can't make it, don't have time, live too far away or couldn't bear to be in my company for that amount of time (no questions asked)  then never fear - I can simply send the sniffs to you!