A crafty way to make some money!

Since K had her first attempt at quilling back in the summer, she has come a long way.

The first thing K quilled.

Most of what she has done have been birthday, Christmas and thank you cards for various family and friends.  She has done some absolutely stunning intricate flowers.

As well as some three dimensional presents.

Secret Santa present for Scouts.

Chess set for M for Christmas.

For some of the things she's done she has followed patterns from various books, but for others she has designed them herself.

The first time that K made cards to sell was back in November at the Fun Club table top sale.

After a few different people had said that K could sell them, I asked K what she thought of the idea and when she said was interested in doing so.  Consequently I popped into Locally Produced for You to broach the idea with the lovely Kate, who said that she would be happy to have a look at anything K produced to see if she thought it would work in her shop.

A couple of months down the line, K had decided on two designs that she thought would work, so we took them in to the shop to show Kate and see if she would like to sell them in her shop.  She had a look and was suitably impressed and doesn't have anything similar already, so suggested that K make five of each design to start with.  We also talked about pricing and how payment works.  The cards are simple, so not too time consuming to make, but effective.  After a rethink of the flower design (the original one was too thick for a standard stamp), the shop now has a two basic designs in a variety of colours, and sold two with hours of putting them on display!

K has worked out how much it costs her to make each card in terms of materials and worked out how much she will make on each card after Kate has taken her 20%.  I don't think she's got as far as working out what she makes per hour on them, but for a 12 year old who enjoys quilling, it is a fantastic way to finance her hobby and make a bit of money.  She is also thinking about doing something more intricate in a small deep frame.  She's in the middle of doing this as a birthday present, so will show it to Kate in the shop to see if she might be interested in something similar before she gives it.

One thing that I have discovered is that K is perfectly capable of discussing things in a business like way when I'm not around, however if I am there, she will hide behind me and not say a word!  I am planning on backing off now that the initial contact has been made, but I do feel that it's a shame that I don't get to see what my daughter is capable of when I'm not there.  Ho hum!