DIY Business Tools

Have you ever gone to an office supply store to find a tool you needed and they just don't seem to have it? As a small business owner, I collect email addresses from my customers and I need a place to store them. No store sells email sign up books!

Years ago I used my Bind-it-All to create my own email signup book! I created the "pages" in a word processing program, completely personalized with info for my unique business. Then I printed the pages, cut them apart, and then bound them with my Bind-it-All. After I took the email book with me to a few events, other business owners wanted one of their own! Here are some of the books I have made over the years for other business owners:

It's been super fun to make these books for some of my fellow vendors at Crafted as well as friends in the past. The book above was created for Rain Hannah of Honey & Ollie, a fabulous jewelry shop at Crafted. 

Here is another book I created for Laura Miller of Dove Chocolate Discoveries:

If you have brick and mortar shop, are a direct sales consultant (like Close to My Heart or Miche Bags), or just an independent business owner, email lists are essential to growing your business!

Guess what? Whenever you need a slick and classy business tool, look to your Bind-it-All for a solution. Think of your Bind-it-All outside of the craft room!

Happy Creating :)

Visit my blog at:

http://hydrangeahippo.com

Meet Our Certified Instructors: Kimberly Congdon

Introducing Kimberly Congdon,  one of our Certified Educators! 

Kimberly Congdon lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Which is pretty much in between Chicago and Milwaukee.   Kimberly has a classroom in her home where she has been teaching paper craft classes since January 2008.   You can also find her teaching in Illinois craft stores and in various Stores, Museums, and schools in her town.  Scrapbooking since she was 17,  is her first love but since she is running out of space for storing all of her albums (over 85) she has been doing more altered art projects.  Kimberly teaches between 3-6 classes per week.  Between card classes, cricut classes, scrapbooking, home décor, party décor, and kid classes, she is also busy designing items for a few local stores.  You can find her busy on line as well.  Kimberly is a big fan of pinterest, instagram, and facebook.  Now that she is adding the Zutter certification to her resume you will find her teaching zutter classes real soon.

Website: www.scrapitgirl.com 

Meet Our Certified Instructors: Betty Scott

Introducing Betty Scott, one of our Certified Instructors!

As a child, Betty would sometimes wander away from the house as she gleefully picked flowers from the neighbors’ yards. As a young wife, she was creating sand painted terrariums. As an adult, that passion turned into a career as successful floral designer, owning her own shop for 40 years. Now she spends her free time paper crafting, where she applies her design talents to card making. She’s especially fond of iris folding and creating flowers using paper!  You can see one of her iris fold cards in the June 2012 issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine.

To book a class with Betty and the Create N Craft designers, please visit: http://www.createncraft.com/

Old Book Covers? Yes Please!

Jennifer Priest here with a fun Halloween mini I created using actual old book covers! Using book pages for decoupage and other projects, like wreaths, is so popular but what do you do with the leftover book coves? Many vintage books, like the reader's Digest Condensed book here, have old covers with a great patina and fabulous designs. They are great to repurpose as mini album covers like this:

Tie all kinds of lace and trim to the binding to give the book a spooky feel for Halloween!

  

The pages can be bigger than the covers, like this 5x7 Chipboard Covers and Glassine Bags I used here:

Consider wrapping pages with trim and tying it in a knot after the pages are bound--this eliminates the risk of accidentally punching through and cutting a trim.

Hope you enjoyed this book! And next time, before you throw those old book covers away,think about giving them new life with your Bind-it-All!

Visit my blog at:

http://hydrangeahippo.com

Meet Our Certified Instructor: Steph Ackerman

Introducing Steph Ackerman, one of our Certified Instructors!

I am a craft-a-holic who loves nothing better than spending time in my craft room creating. I create an assortment of projects - from cards and layouts to mix'd media and altered art.   My day is just not complete if I haven't spent some time crafting. I have a dedicated craft area where I work and teach a wide variety of classes for the beginner and the more experienced crafter.  I love using assorted tools  (Bind-it-all, Cricut, Sizzix, Spellbinders) plus inks and stamps in my work.  I am a firm believer in playing with your supplies because only then can you truly see their full potential.  I have been fortunate to have a number of my projects published.  I am a  Craft and Hobby Association Designer Member.

To book a class or see Steph's schedule please visit:  http://www.stephaniescraps.blogspot.com/

Meet Our Certified Instructors: Candice Windham

Introducing Candice Windham, one of our Certified Instructors!

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Candice Windham is an award-winning graphic designer, instructor and fine artist, working in watercolor, acrylics, colored pencil, fabric, mixed media and paper and altered arts.

She studied design at the University of Memphis and retired from her graphic design work at Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division to open Candice Windham Design Studio, providing design, layout and illustration for brochures, fliers, annual reports, CD covers and other printed materials, as well as display design for various trade shows. She is also curator and designer of the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Historical Museum.

Candice is the author of Scrapbooking for Home Décor from Fox/Chapel Publishing. Her work has appeared in a variety of paper arts and crafts magazines, including Make it Mine, Stamper’s Sampler and Today’s Creative Home Arts. Her work also appeared in Make It In Minutes: MiniBooks, Make It in Minutes Party Favors and Hostess Gifts, Make It in Minutes Wreaths and Make It in Minutes Last Minute Gifts, a book series from Lark Books, a division of Sterling Publishing Co. She is an instructor in rubber stamping, scrapbooking, mixed media acrylic collage and altered arts.

She was the recipient of the Craft and Hobby Association’s Designer Press Kit Award in Orlando, 2009.

Candice and her husband Larry have a son, Michael, and reside in Brighton, Tennessee along with pups Pete and Sam.

To book a class with Candice or view her schedule, please visit her blog at:  http://www.candicewindhamdesigns.blogspot.com/

Meet Our Certified Instructors: Danielle Hunter

Introducing Danielle Hunter, one of our Certified Instructors!

Danielle Hunter is a multitasking mom of two creative girls and wife to her hubby of 12 years. She lives in Toledo, Ohio and has been dedicated to crafting since childhood. She launched her scrapbooker-for-hire business in 2007 and recently started teaching classes at her local hobby store. Danielle's focus is on eco-friendly scrapbooking and enjoys getting crafty by turning trash into treasure. She's in her third year as a Glue Dots Dottess and her past design teams include MemoryWorks and ScrapTiffany. 

To book a class with Danielle or see her upcoming schedule, please visit: http://www.ecoscrapbook.com