Christine of PillowThrowDecor had one Extreme Marketing Idea and put it into action. This is what she says:

I knew for our Bootcamp program I would have to come up with some really compelling ideas that would bring traffic and make sales for our sellers. One afternoon I was off to do errands and experimented with a new marketing idea as an opportunity to hand out business cards about my new pillow and throw store and this new Canadian Handmade Online company icraft.ca.

I grabbed my camera and strapped one of my Geek Pillows to my chest and off I went packing it around as though I was wearing a baby bundle. I made three stops; the bank, the post office, and the insurance company.  At each place I was asked for cards and “the story”. I had carefully rehearsed my “new store, new company” script and explained it to anyone that would listen even people walking by on the street. I laughed with a lot of people that afternoon but always when I explained I was writing an article they wanted to get in on the act too. I handed out 23 cards and at the end of the day sold my Geek pillow at my last stop. Doesn’t get any better than that!

As part of the iCraft.ca bootcamp experience, Sue and I randomly chose two of the iCraft.ca bootcamp / indiesmiles coupon advertisers to win a featured store spot and a showboat smiles feature. The winners were Carvel Country Soapworks, who won the store feature spot, and Studio 2:24, who won the showboat smiles.

This is what Studio 2:14 told us when she was asked to describe a little about herself and crafting.

How long have you been crafting?

I am Trish and I have been crafting ever since I remember. I learned to sew at 13 when my Mom won a sewing machine, and lessons came with it. And I was off to the races! I soon branched out into crochet and knitting – and still love doing them, especially now that there are year-round fibers to use!

Later I tried my hand at jewelry, and found my true love. I started with marbled paper earrings, then beads, then larger beads – and now use more of the Swarovski crystal beads, wire, and mixed media. I host a monthly craft night at my church during the school year, and have a great deal of fun trying out new things for that, which I then use in my own crafts.

Currently I am exploring the possibilities of wire – amazing the things you can do with this versatile material. I am also trying out drawing and making hand-crafted cards.

Tell a little about yourself.

I am “retired” – and that is in quotes, since I am now far busier than I ever was when a had a “real” job! I am married to a pastor of a small non-denominational church, and am the resident ‘techy’ person there. I also participate on the Praise and Worship Team and the Performing Arts Ministry.

I am also a free-lance website builder – and build and maintain sites for myself and several others. I love the instant gratification that writing my own code gives, and the fun of seeing the result of my work out here on the internet.

I have raised three sons, and in our blended family there are a myriad of grandkids from babies to teens. There is never a dull moment in our family get-togethers!

What do you want people to know about your crafts?

I truly believe that God gives every one of us gifts, and we are then responsible to develop and use them for His glory. I named my craft studio “Studio 2:14” – which is from the Bible: 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 2, Verse 14.

I love crafting, and every creation I make is an original – using the best materials I can get and all the skill and talent I can bring to bear. I consider each piece I make a little bit of myself, and my biggest wish is that it will delight the one who wears it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Now at iCraft.ca, enjoy the handmade experience while iCraft members participate in bootcamp – the rigorous 28 day program to teach habits of effective and consistent marketing. iCraft.ca is a Canadian based website but enjoys worldwide attention.

Please take a look at what each indie shop has to offer and take note of their special coupon offer with coupon code. For information on how to redeem the IndieSmiles coupon, please see this post.

o u r f e a t u r e d s t o r e s

I just bought soap from Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen on artfire. I needed (or should I say wanted) soap for my face and at the same time I wanted to test out exactly how artfire customers do their thing – after all, since I sell on artfire myself, I should know how to use it!

So off I went scouring the shelves of artfire. I found so many soap shops on artfire that I didn’t know which to choose from. But, since my main concern was a facial soap formulated for mild acne and reasonable shipping (after all I believe that you should reflect your true pricing in the price and only charge the cost of shipping and handling in the shipping charge). I narrowed it down to Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen – aka SoapDeli.

I ended up purchasing two of SoapDeli’s Cedar and Sage Soap, one for myself and one for my mother (its mother’s day!).

What did I find in my mailbox? Exactly as pictured – two bars of Cedar and Sage Soap. But to my surprise, Rebecca also included  two samples of her other soaps, a Mango and Papaya and unscented goat soap. It was great to try out her other creations but I have to say that I am in love with her Cedar & Sage soap. I hope it hasn’t been discontinued!

She runs a fantastic blog called Soap Deli News and helps her husband in promoting his new website byhand.me.

Check her out! She is very good at what she does (in making soaps and in promoting!)

Join in on our latest contest! Write an article about your shop, a friends shop, a how-to or a business article…Indie please and you could have your article published right here on Indiesmiles in July!

You can find the contest entry…… right here on our sidebar, you only have a few weeks so get your creative juices flowing and enter by the end of June to be considered. The winner will be chosen by Sue and El; but we will also consider the comments that we read about each submission.

Hope to see your article on our front page!

Do you ever wonder just how these talented artisans work? Well, then, check out how one artisan, BeyondthePicketFence on etsy makes her soap.

Today, they are on Day 14 of Bootcamp at iCraft.ca. What is that you say? It’s a ‘Sellers’ Bootcamp’ 28 day marketing programme, headed by ‘Experts’ with backgrounds in sales and marketing, in the form of their very own talented iCraft Creators!

They began a 28 day period with daily assignments designed to encourage Creators to get into the habit of effective and consistent marketing. These assignments were simple ideas with low to no cost methods, and took up only 30 minutes of time daily, with ‘Bootcampers’ reporting back to the community with their daily progress. The assignments are still available for everyone to see here.

There are 55 bootcampers signed up! And, it looks like you can join the fun at any time. Just sign up here.

Take a look of some of the wonderful creations by these bootcampers. A more complete list is available here.