To wish that i could make money ouy of arts and crafts?

[malificent7]

I think i have posted about this before but i love arts and crafts.
I have done an Art course but it didn't lead anywhere as i was i a very bad place at the time . I was also concerned thag it couldn't pay the bills.
I am now retraing in a science subject with a big chance of getting a job as there are a shortage in my field. It is facinating but it us not creative.
Whilst watching Kirstie's handmade Christmas it us full of artists and craft people making a living from their field. They seem succesful etc.
I just dont get how they manage to pay the bills. I think i might resent it if i had to make stuff to pay rent, gas and electric etc so i want to make money on the side.
I tried selling at craft shows but only made a couple of pounds and i do not want to end up on a Facebook Christmas craft tat thread on here!

Whilst watching Kirstie's handmade Christmas it us full of artists and craft people making a living from their field. They seem succesful etc.

How do you know they are making a living, by the way? How do you know that they don't also have a job? Or a partner who supports them financially? Or a trust fund to live off?

I did support myself through university doing a very specific craft. I had no grant, as it was in those days, no parental support and basically had to do something. I was lucky to find a perfect storm of something I was extremely good at, and having a great contact via an American exchange student. I also went into it with the express intention of making profit so everything was costed to the last penny. To make it work, I had to have out-workers, with all the quality control issues that brings. I also worked commission only, payment upfront. I learned a LOT about business but I have never done that particular craft since. When you HAVE to do it, and when you are taking commissions, it loses a lot of it’s creative edge and become a job. What I did learn though, is that the business building part fascinated me, the craft aspect less so!

I’ve made my living for the last 6 years from a hobby, earning between £10-15,000 a year. It’s hard work and long hours but I love it and my hours, holidays etc are very flexible. I know people who are better at it than me charge/earn much more.

I'm in the craft business. Tried many crafts as a hobby as I love designing and making. Finally took the plunge into paid work year ago. I sell on Amazon, Etsy, eBay and Facebook.

Designing and creating the niche markets and items is tough. If you create something unique it won't be long before someone else is making the same. It happened to me a few weeks ago, had an idea, produced a prototype and have since sold about 150 in 4 weeks. Within a couple of days there were other people making similar things.

I've invested a lot of money in machinery, however I will be hoping to return to part time employmemt soon whilst I build the business further.

I used to make some money from papercrafts, but as it was very much a hobby there was no profit, it was a bonus to sell some of the items I'd be making anyway. I did make some progress to money-making by streaming making cards and stuff on Twitch, basically used a top down camera of my hands making the items but to be successful I'd have needed a far better setup, a facecam as well as a top down and far better stream setup and internet. It was fun, I was able to chat to people who watched as I crafted, I sold a few items from it and had some tips coming in but definitely couldn't make a living doing it.

I'm sure there are ways to make a hobby some sort of income but I feel by the point it was profitable, it would no longer be a hobby, and turn out like any other job.

I think even the ones appearing on Kirstie's show will either be doing it part time or for a low wage.

That said, Instagram has changed things. You can do far better now than before it came along if you're also savvy and take good photographs and have a consistent and beautiful feed.

It is a tough landscape for retailers - and you might think of yourself as an artist but you would be a seller.

We would all like to do something ‘creative’, it’s human nature. And even if you are brilliant, OP, very few artists make money.

I would to don't this. I can't see it paying so I imagine myself opening up a craft shop where I sell yarn/paint/paper/materials and also a few bits I make myself. I looked into it but the cheapest rent I could find was 12k and then obviously all the other start up costs have just kept it as a dream for me maybe one day

I make about £30k a year with my two craft business, but I work a full time job on top.

I know of 2 or 3 successful artists, one has quite a name for herself and her art is sold in various galleries. She recently needed a new car and managed to produce lots of new artwork over the summer to achieve her goal. Her prints aren't cheap , £100+ unframed, and they're in a popular style.

Part of the problem is that many people resent the idea of paying for your "time, talent & overheads" and seem to only get their heads around cost of materials which is often only the least costly component. People look at a huge intricate quilt for many hundreds of pounds and only see the cost of the materials and say it's a rip off because they could buy 10+ retail. They don't see the cost of the hundreds of hours that go into designing, selecting and collecting material, actual stitch work, wadding, embellishments, site of selling online or fixed or pop-up, photography, packaging, accounts and various other sundries.

The truth is the market who buy bespoke art or craft is very small, and those prepared to pay the type of prices that would allow someone a liveable wage or higher are even smaller. Like the years prior a working artist usually require a patron. These days it's likely to be a family member with money.

Not strictly craft but I'm a cake decorator and that pays well.

It helps that I don't have to advertise or go to craft fairs as once I had a few clients the orders kept coming based on word of mouth.

I charge between 60-350 depending on the type of cake - birthday or wedding etc
It's not really hard work I wouldn't say but I only do it part time and work part time.

I don't tend to do more than 2/3 cakes a week as I'm busy with the children. Not sure I would want to do it full time as I would worry about the security of the income! Plus when you do something full time at home it can be quite isolating and your fun hobby turns into a job and it's not quite so fun anymore?!

It’s hard but doable. No degree and all self taught! I do photography, videography, graphic design and animations. I sell prints, tees, stickers, logos, music videos, event pics etc. I charge up to £250 a night for music events/festivals, £150 for a music video with 4K licensed drone footage, £60 for a photo shoot (outdoors) and £100 with studio hire. £10 per art piece and prints can vary from £5-£100. I do other things as well but I’m lucky as I have connections to Glasto, BBC Radio 1, Leeds/Reading and such like. The key to being more successful is to have more than one source of income! And don’t give up

My SIL has refused to go out to work after she had her children now in secondary school because she wants to build her craft business. She had never really sold anything, but still refers to herself as compamy director. The wannabe craft entrepeneur market is saturated and full of people who just don’t want a proper job.

It very much depends on what you want to sell and your business sense. My dh is self employed doing a traditional craft that people often do as a hobby. He’s very talented artistically but he also has a business degree which obviously made it much easier when it comes to all the boring stuff like financial planning, accounts, marketing, etc. He turned a profit right away and six years later makes about 3,times more than his old salary (marketing for a tech company).

So it is possible, but you have to know you can make something people want to pay money for and do it with low costs and overhead. Advertising and marketing yourself is important too. There are lots of people making and selling some of the things he makes, but they have no idea how to market and brand themselves. If you can sell people a lifestyle more than just a cute little thing you made, you’ll be much more successful. And obviously it helps if you love what you’re doing too.

A kid in ds1 class was a talented artist and sent portraitz to celebs.He was conmissioned to do artwork for a very famous musicians cd cover whilst still in 6th form

So you can fall lucky

Someone in my family does crafting as a fulltime job and makes a decent living from it. Rather than spending time crafting the physical items and trying to sell them, she sells the patterns. That way she gets the enjoyment of the creative process without having to deal with idiots expecting her to sell her work for peanuts. She's also written a number of instructional books off the back of it, so has a few different sources of income. E.g. book sales, sales of patterns through her website and etsy and craft shows to get her work out there.

A kid in ds1 class was a talented artist and sent portraitz to celebs
So you can fall lucky

That's no luck, that's good business sense!