I am very excited to report that I've made my very first Etsy sale! :) So in honor of that, I thought I'd give a more complete update on my new crafting adventure.
I'm from a family where the love of arts and crafts has been passed down from one generation to the next. There is an obscene amount of arts and crafts supplies between my house, my mom's house, and my sister's house. In our world, you can never have enough arts and crafts supplies. :) My mom and sister both have a Cricut (mom has the Expression and my sister has the Cricut Explore Air 2) and I've been wanting one of my own for awhile. This year, I was finally able to get one. :) And it just so happened that the new Cricut Maker 3 came out in June...so that was perfect timing. But shopping for the Cricut really got me thinking (again) about crafting as more than just a hobby.
I've wanted to transform my hobbies into a business for quite awhile, but I just haven't had the time or resources to do so until now. With the Covid19 lockdowns and courts only running limited dockets, there hasn't been a lot of transcription work. So, I had more time to devote to coming up with a business plan. I spent a lot of time researching and hammering out the details. I'm very much the kind of person that wants to do something right if I'm going to do it at all. There's always a lot of googling and spreadsheet-ing going on. ;)
My business is already set up with the state. I already have an EIN that I had to set up when I started doing law enforcement transcription. Kansas doesn't allow for registering a business as a sole proprietor/DBA so all I had to do was apply for my Retailer's Sales Tax Registration. With that, I'm also able to use my registration number to purchase wholesale supplies and not have to pay the sales tax up front for the materials I use. I only have to collect and remit sales tax in Kansas...and I doubt I'll make enough money in one particular state to meet the economic nexus to pay sales tax in other states. I started handling the quarterly sales tax payments for Johnny's small business back in 2013 so I'm very familiar with the process. And until I have more sales, I can file my sales tax annually instead of quarterly.
I stumbled upon sublimation when I was researching the new Cricut machine. I felt like it would be a great fit for me. Sublimation is printing designs using special dye inks onto sublimation paper (and mirroring the image) and then using heat and pressure to transfer the ink from the paper onto the substrate (polyester fabrics or hard surfaces with a special poly coating for sublimation). The heat turns the ink into a gas which then binds to the poly with the pressure and creates a long-lasting image. Not only will I be creating sublimation end-products (shirts, hats, tumblers, mugs, keychains, air fresheners, coasters, pet tags, tote bags, cosmetic bags, garden flags, etc.), I am also selling digital designs for sublimation through my Etsy shop (which was my first sale today!) at CandiMakerDesigns. So far, I've been creating designs from graphic elements that I have a commercial license to use from graphic collection websites. As I become more experienced with my digital drawing tablet (it's quite a change from pencil and paints!), I'll be creating more of my own graphic design elements. I will also be offering other types of printables in my Etsy shop as well (digital files that people can print themselves for planners, stickers, forms, templates, etc), but I've just focused on sublimation designs so far. I have a lot of Fall/Halloween designs up right now, but I'm also working on Christmas designs. And soon I will be adding a wider variety of designs and printables. I also still need to set up my ecommerce site where I'll sell the crafts I've actually made.
I joined a lot of sublimation groups on Facebook to network with others. There are a lot of roles...people selling digital designs, people selling actual product, people selling substrates or blanks to sublimation on, etc. There are even people coaching others on how to run their business. But there is a huge amount of information out there.
One thing I've found is a lot of people complaining about Etsy in the sublimation groups...but I think a lot of those people didn't really understand what they were getting into when they started...like what Etsy charges in fees (which is specifically spelled out on their website). And a lot of complaints came after sellers were violating policies that are spelled out in the "House Rules" on Etsy's website as well as copyright and trademark infringement. It's fairly easy to NOT sell work that infringes on the intellectual property of others. If you saw it on TV, movie, in a song, sports teams, etc. then it's pretty much off-limits. There are so many people who want to make a profit from the art and established popularity that others have attained instead of building their own. Not only can Etsy shut down your shop and hold your funds, but you can be sued and even ordered to pay statutory damages. A lot of people choose to take that risk for the money they can make at the time...but I'm not one of them. Not only am I unwilling to risk my livelihood...as a writer and artist, I'm not cool with stealing either. All artwork that I use which isn't my own...I have a commercial license from the actual artist. There are also a lot of people who complain about the requirements needed to attain Star Seller status...but it's not supposed to be something that everyone can easily accomplish. It's supposed to show buyers that the seller goes above and beyond.
Edited to Add: I *finally* got my refund from Vivohome and was able to purchase the replacement heat press (instead of a 12x15 swing away, I got a 15x15 clamshell) and my Cricut Maker 3. It's funny that the first thing that pushed me forward with creating a crafting business was the last piece of equipment I bought. ;) I finally took some photos of my office with everything set up. Right now I'm just using a hodge-podge of furniture that we've had. Eventually I want to find/build something different, but this will work well for now. I also want to put some stuff up on the walls (storage and decoration)...so it'll continue to be a work in progress. But I did take a picture of how my office looks so far:
The desk in the left photo is the same one I've had since 2004. I have all my planner supplies, art supplies, office supplies, etc. stored in various organizers on and in my desk. Then I have our regular Epson WF-2650 on the top of the desk and my Epson ET-16650 where a computer monitor would normally go...because it's such a huge printer. I love it though! I have my sublimation paper next to the ET-16650 for now, but I'd like to figure out a better storage option for it. I have three different sizes: 8.5x11, 11x17, and 13x19. And then the laptop is on what is actually the pull-out keyboard shelf.
The top right picture is my heat press on the desk from Johnny's childhood and all my heat press supplies (pressing pillows, teflon sheets for vinyl, extra heat tape, my heat-temp gun, butcher paper, etc) are in the drawers. The convection oven (which used to be in the kitchen) is on a nightstand at the end of the desk. There are drawers on the other side that will hold silicone wraps for mugs and tumblers. It's hard to see in the photo, but there's also a box fan behind the desk to put in the window for more ventilation when needed.
Then the middle right photo is my Cricut Maker 3 in the TV armoire we got from my husband's sister-in-law. It doesn't have very good lighting so for now I have my handmade Dr. Pepper lamp that I made in middle school in there. :P Eventually I want to get some LED lighting to stick up in there. Right now I have my vinyl sheets on the top shelf in the armoire, but I want to get some hanging storage for the vinyl that I'll probably hang on the door to save wall space for other things. And then I'll move the mats from behind the Cricut to that top shelf. And after this picture was taken, I put my Cricut tools in the storage slots on the end of the Cricut. I didn't take a picture of it, but I have all my sublimation blanks (mugs, tumblers, shirts, coasters, keychains, etc) on the shelves in the cabinet on the bottom of the armoire.
And then the bottom right picture is really just decorative stuff. The shelf is actually the hutch that goes on top of Johnny's old desk. I have all my art books, cookbooks, everyone's yearbooks, etc. on the shelves and then all of our old wedding decorations are on top of the shelf. Oh and the sign I got after my great-aunt died last year. She was an artist and I love having a piece of her in there where I'm also creating art. :)
Everything always seems to be a work in progress for me, because I usually think of ways to improve all the time...but this works for now. :) I'm so excited for this new adventure!