Scoops: Creativity Pushes for 2012

I’m a goal-planning junkie. Really. I worship my planner and spend the week before New Year’s ringing in the lists. There are the lists of started projects that need to be finished. Lists of new quilts and crafts to start. Lists of organization to accomplish. And lists of what I’d like to achieve in the coming year.

Sometimes I just chuckle at the fact that the very same goal shows up on my list every single darn year. Like “lose weight” or “save thousands of dollars.” The one that really makes me groan is “finish those quilts for other people.” I can never seem to get ahead of those. (Or maybe it’s just that this particular list increases all on its own in between items!) Whatever. Hope springs eternal.

What I do know is that those goals which are nurtured and supported will have a much better chance of coming to life, successfully, than those goals that are given help. (Yes, I must stop considering chocolate to be a food group if I really want to wear those pre-Samantha jeans ever again!)

If one of your goals is to improve your creativity in the coming year, or venture into the realm of selling your creations–whether online or in person–we’ve got some goal-nourishment in the form of some excellent books to offer up. Some of these have been around for a few years and that does not in any way lessen their ability to offer you guidance and orderly direction. So pick one up and give yourself the next couple of weeks to read through them and figure out how and when to apply their lessons. This time next year, we’re betting you’ll be well on your way to better creativity or making your pretties for paying customers!

Craft Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Turning your Creative Hobby into a Successful Business

by Meg Mateo Ilasco

Chronicle Books, revised 2011, $16.95

Meg’s newly revised DIY primer is a great first step into creating and developing your craft-based business. Updated from the 2007 edition, the new one includes information on Etsy. (Yes, Etsy really is just that new!) Meg does a fantastic job of covering the basics of business, from pinpointing if you’re suited to run your own business to developing business and marketing plans. And, she includes first person accounts from those who in the here and now with their craft-based businesses.

The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally and Online 

by Kari Chapin

Storey Publishing, 2010, $14.95

Kari gets into the bones about online marketing and that’s why she’s also on this list. She gives a great tutorial on social media promotion (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc…), solid tips on photographing your wares and how to get into fairs. A lot of her information can be adapted for us quilty types. For instance, she talks about approaching shop owners to sell your products and to make sure to have leave-behind materials (brochures and such) for these people. Take that to one of our main selling venues–International Quilt Market–and you see that the concept is still the same. Provide leave-behind materials. Of course, at Market, it’s really take-home materials. But that’s just semantics.

The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real

by Lisa Sonora Beam

Quarry Books, 2008, $19.99

Let’s say you know you want to jump into business but you aren’t sure exactly where you want to go or what’s suited for you. Try this wonderful book on visually road mapping your skills, talents and interests. Picture it as a design board for your hopes and dreams. Lisa provides lessons for befriending both sides of your brain, digging through your emotional baggage that may be blocking you from success and how to brainstorm effectively. It’s not a long book, but you’ll spend tons of time with it if you really work through her exercises.

Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art 

by Rice Freeman-Zachery

North Light Books, 2010, $22.99

This pretty little book is all about working through the pain of creating to get to actually creating. Where you create, how you create and when you create are the core issues solved in these pages, with many, many firsthand accounts from other creative people to instruct and inspire. There are also tons of short exercises, gentle reminders and practical tips for moving yourself along the road to creative success.