New Year, New Store for Caffeinated Papercuts!

One of my goals for 2014 was to finally open a second, larger online store for Caffeinated Papercuts. Etsy has been good, but I was among the many that fell victim to smaller views, less sales, and never getting found in search results in 2013. Between that and a good, hard look at just how much I pay them in fees (trust me, it hurts) it was time to branch out. I'll still list a few bestsellers in the Etsy shop like the printable wedding invitations and chevron gift tags, but the move to a new shop has begun.

I researched for weeks to find another site that would fit my needs, and learned all the buzzwords; shopping cart app vs. ecommerce site, SEO, relevancy...honestly, my head is still slightly spinning! In the end it came down to IndieMade and Storenvy for ease of use and the ability to import my existing Etsy listings. While I still like the look of IndieMade, I couldn't justify the $15/month right now, so in the end the entirely free (unless you choose to add extras) Storenvy won. What can I say, I like free and the thought of not being out any funds if this bombs.

So, you will now see at the top of my website two links; one for the Caffeinated Papercuts Storenvy store and one for the Caffeinated Papercuts Etsy shop.

So what's the difference?

Right now, the Etsy shop has more items while I work on importing everything into the Storenvy shop. They do both have our latest Valentine listings (like our adorable Valentine Card Kits for the kiddos!) but going forward all NEW items will be listed in the Storenvy shop.

Love Bugs Valentine Card Kit

As time goes on, the Storenvy shop will grow to be the main shop with the Etsy shop simply being a smaller, more specialized shop. Everything listed on Etsy will also be on Storenvy by the time I'm done.

This is a big leap leaving the relative safety of Etsy, and let me tell you, it's also scary. Pessimism and self-doubt easily works its way into my thoughts; what if I fail? What if no one buys anything ever again? What if, what if, what if? In sharing those doubts with a good friend of mine, her response gave me the kick in the pants I needed: "oh, that. Never mind about that, worry about it next month when you have more time."

Here's to putting off the worries, whatever they may be. Happy 2014 everyone, the year of hope and new beginnings!

New logo for a new shop and a new year!

Happy Crafting!

Time to Get Organized!

So my craft room had sort of gotten to the point where it was, well, a semi-organized mess. I knew it wasn't great, but with craft shows and the holidays there simply wasn't time to clean up. I started thinking about organizing again while at Target...their dollar bins had letter trays and assorted organizers. Ok, time to clean!

I spent two hours the other night sorting, sifting, filing, organizing, and tossing. It was almost embarrassing how many canvas boxes I had still in their wrappers! Those I used for my Cricut cartridges, Sizzix supplies, and boxes of card blanks. Those along with my Cricut, Big Kick, and new Spellbinder machine fit nicely in the one corner.

The wood you see is my laundry rack. Great in the summer, too cold this time of year!

Moving all of those around freed up space on my side table. There my stamps were slightly reorganized (I moved Christmas/winter to their own bin), Sharpies neatened in their bin, stamp pads sorted, and my assorted 'other things' neatened. Now I had space to add a letter tray for finished projects, one for open online orders, and get my tin o' templates where I can actually find it!

Business cards & mailing inserts are right by outgoing orders...think of it!

Next up was my work space...ugh. Paper scraps were taking up the majority of it, followed by punches, partially completed projects, pieces leftover from projects that could still be used...yeah, it was a mess. I started by using my $2.50 Target find - an over-the-door shoe organizer! It fit nearly all of my punches, just the really big ones are left on the table.

Tiny ones bunched together nicely and seasonal is on the bottom

After another 30-40 minutes of figuring out what was left on my table, it cleaned up well. The large paper scraps I moved to an empty 12"x12" scrapbook paper container I had picked up exactly for that purpose. All of my card base paper I use all the time I tucked under the table (easy when my "table" is actually a huge piece of wood on top of a bunk bed!). Out of the way, nice and flat, and very close by when I'm making cards.

Chipboard, envelopes, kraft paper...and it must be Valentine time with all that pink & red!

That cleaned off a LOT of space up top! I put stamps back away, moved Christmas back to its storage bins, and threw out some scraps that were miniscule and I was silly to keep. Now I had room to put my standard tools where the punches had lived, get my cutter out of the way, and had a much more manageable stack of scraps. The last letter tray I used to corral all those bits 'n pieces I was keeping so they don't get lost or destroyed. I left out the season I was currently on (Valentines!) but hey, there was actually room to do so! Wow!

A much, MUCH more organized end of the table!

Now I actually have room to lay out my supplies for whatever I'm working on AND have a ton of space leftover to work. See, I was already painting puzzle pieces!

My new, clean workbench! Yes, that is a Care Bear in the corner...he keeps me company

It was so great being reorganized that I made four cards last night - woohoo! It's amazing what you can do when you can find your supplies. :)

If you're curious about what the puzzle pieces were for, take a look in the shop: You're the Perfect Match

How have you organized your crafting space? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Crafting!

Freebie Mondays are Coming!

In celebration of launching the new Caffeinated Papercuts online store, I'm proud to announce Freebie Mondays!

Each Monday I will post a new freebie on the blog...it could be a digital scrapbooking item, a printable, who knows! Want to be reminded when new items are posted? Then please, join our newsletter mailing list and get an email every week letting you know what the featured freebie is. After all, everyone should have a reason to look forward to Monday.