making tags

I've been making and selling my things for many years now - eight? nine? Mostly, I am still in shock that people will purchase the things that I love to make. I usually feel kind of guilty, having to charge people money for what I love so much to do. But I learned long ago not to undervalue myself, my work, or especially my time.

Some of the best advice I can give to anyone looking to make a living off of their craft is to never undervalue all of the time it takes them. It may seem like fun at first - making a little bit of extra income here are there for something you like to do. But one day you may become overwhelmed with orders. Suddenly, becoming incredibly pressured and stressed - and all the while making much less than minimum wage for all of your effort really kind of sucks.

Regardless, I love so much that people will purchase my work from me, and I am forever eternally grateful. I have found most of my customers over the years to be truly wonderful people. I really feel like I have met some kindred spirits out there. And that is the most satisfying feeling of it all.

I am not always able to, but I really like and try to send along a small little gift with all my orders. One of my favourite things to make are little recycled paper tags. I constantly have tons of little paper scraps around, so its the perfect way to make something sweet and nice from them. If you want to make some for yourself, they are really easy - you don't even need a tag punch really. They would be really nice to use for gifts or to label some of your favourite things.

To make them, I first purchased a couple of tag craft punches and a bunch of packages of 1/8" metal grommets from Michael's. Whenever I get a moment, I punch and set away. This is a really good project to take "on the road" with me, and often I will bring along these supplies when we go to visit my parents or such.

I designed the packaging top up in Adobe Illustrator, and get out 5 to an 8.5 x 11" page. Then I simply photocopy them onto ivory cardstock. (This is cheap of me but hey! It works out and the idea here is to not cost a lot but still be nice).