My significant other has been purchasing all manner of mineral rocks – Read that: GEMSTONES – from ebay for the past year. He’s been very frugal and critical about how he went about his buying of these stones. Many were in the rough, meaning it meant cutting up, polishing and setting gems into beautiful pieces of jewelry. But I digress…..

Over the course of accumulating his “stash” aka inventory, he’s had boxes of stones all over the place, especially the kitchen and kitchen table. So it is with the polisher, with the stone cutter in the back bedroom.

Why is he doing this, you wonder? He’s 100% disabled from a service-connected injury while serving in the Corps. After a failed back surgery and no longer being able to be employed, he decided to turn to a long-loved hobby and make it into a business.

You based your comments on messes and “dabbling” alone, and then immediately thought that she needed to find a part-time job. Had this been me and after reading this column, I would have not allowed you to step into my home again.

Have you ever stepped into the home of school teachers or professors? THEY are notorious for leaving all manner of piles of messes lying about on every available surface in their home. Does that make them unprofessional? Absolutely not!

This was a narrow-minded approach to something that is real regarding out-of-work people, desperate to “dabble” at different things before finally settling on something that does work.

As to crafting for money. This is something you definetly need to know what you are doing, research your market and be able to recoup your costs plus make money for your time spent. Unfortunately most people are not interested at all in paying a decent hourly wage for a handcrafted, well made item. I have also seen people on ebay and other sales venues that just throw things up for sale without even trying to figure out how to make a decent listing and then whine because nothing sells. If you want to craft for pay, you are going to have to work, not dabble, in many areas–the carfting itself, marketing, sales, accounting, etc. to be successful. If you aren’t willing to do that, it might be better to go work for minimum wage.

I have been able to find some craft supplies for my personal projects at rummage sales, clearance racks and craft store coupons. But you’ll be buying in a much larger quantity if you are purchasing items to handcraft for sale.

You also need to study the market for where you plan to sell the craft items. I’m noticing fewer craft shows and more resale / rummage shows in my city. The recession is certainly having an impact on what local people are interested in buying via vendor shows.

My initial point was trying to say that if you are crafting something to give as a gift, to make sure it works in the manner intended. As an example, if you tell someone to drink from a handmade cup, then it shouldn’t leak. And candles should have wicks.

I don’t have the time or the dedication to try to make money out of my hobby– for now I just try my hardest to create beautiful gifts for people I love.

KAPLOOEY! RIGHT OUTTA DA WATER!!

Very valid points here.

Thanks