Crafting can sometimes be a lonely hobby; the thing you turn to on a rainy weekend afternoon or entertain yourself with on the long morning commute. These crafting moments are great, but if you find yourself wanting to expressing your creativity in this way more and more, you may want to consider expanding your craft circle. Luckily, there are numerous ways to do this: heading out to craft events, taking a few fun classes and learning new skills, experimenting with new materials, or — for the bold and the brave out there — possibly turning your creative hobby into a business.
If any of these appeal to you, then I think you will love this list of resources for crafters. I tried to cover all the places I as a crafter often find myself needing help: supplies, skills, professional advice, and peer networking. You don’t have to be a serious or professional crafter to appreciate these sites and services, but if you are one, you’ll definitely want to check these out. I hope you discover something new and exciting that takes you and your creative process somewhere unexpected. Happy crafting!
I’m always on the lookout for great tips, and I’d love to hear from all your craft enthusiasts out there. What are your favorite online resources for crafting?
If you are a serious or professional crafter and you aren’t going the wholesale route for supplies, than Create For Less should be the first place you look. I’ve consistently found great prices on standard craft and art supplies here, and they have an amazing selection of hard to find items. For example, after a long and tiring search for a particular brand of diamond dust (a coarse, iridescent glitter often used for holiday displays) This is also a great site to browse for inspiration, and the have weekly deals that might make experimenting with new materials and methods more budget friendly.
Rena Tom:
As the founder of the successful Brooklyn-then-San-Francisco based shop Rare Device, Rena Tom is well versed in the world of running a brick & mortar business. She’s decided to use this expertise, along with her superior design and networking skills, to help the rest of us realize our creative dreams–which is great news for all the emerging bloggers, makers, and entrepreneurs out there who need to know the first steps to going pro. In addition to hosting classes and workshops, Rena also unloads tons of great tips and articles on her blog. If you have any inkling to turn your craft into a business, you’ll want to bookmark Rena’s site immediately.
Stitch Labs:
Stitch Labs is a web based service that helps grow businesses that design, make, and sell products. With easy, straightforward platforms for inventory management, customer and vendor contacts, analytics, invoicing, and more, this service is a must for anyone trying to turn their creative or crafting skills into a business. Stitch Labs even allows you to sync with your Etsy or Shopify accounts, so you can easily manage all aspects of your business from one place.
You can’t even mention the word crafts without thinking of Martha Stewart. One of my favorite aspects of the comprehensive MSLO website is the Crafts Dept. blog, which is Martha’s incredibly talented craft team dish about all things craft related. There are tons of great resources here: you can find tutorials, see behind-the-scenes on craft photo shoots for the magazine, read about the team’s favorite places for inspiration, and more. My favorite section is the “Ask the Crafts Dept.” section, but there are endless fun things to discover on this blog.
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