AT A TIME when e-cards are becoming increasingly popular, there is a “paper crafter” who delights in making something that you can hold.
Elizabeth Blackman has turned her hobby into a business and she is enjoying every minute of it.
In an interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY about her micro business Handmade, she said that she makes unique cards for every occasion including birthdays, christenings, Christmas, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
“I have been making cards from the time I was a child. I grew up in a very crafty home. My mum was artistic but I have only been doing them to this level for two years,” she said, describing her love for making them as “an addiction” before breaking into laughter.
“They are time-consuming but it is a hobby. My mother-in-law Yvonne Blackman said to me one day, ‘Why don’t you try to sell them?’ I asked, ‘Who is going to buy cards when there’s Hallmark and Pages bookstore?’ She replied, ‘Yes, but your cards aren’t like any of those’.
“She started off my asking me to do one for a friend’s birthday party and then it all unfolded. People encouraged me to put it on Facebook and Instagram. It is what it is today because of her. I consider myself a paper crafter so cards are just one form of my paper craft.
“I have made things from big baby scrapbooks. Parents would call and say ‘I have all of these messages from people, can you put them together for me nicely’ to charts for the classroom; Anything that is made out of paper and card, I do,” Elizabeth said.
She makes from large wall flowers out of paper to “something as small and intricate as a tag that goes on Christmas presents and everything in between”.
“The first year was a huge learning curve because we would all like a little bit more money than we have. I thought initially when I did this that I would be able to secure customers quickly but then I realised the reality is that if you are making you won’t have time to market and if your marketing then you fall behind on your making,” Elizabeth said.
Juggling her home, family and professional commitments was not easy and she did ask herself what she was doing because it was to time demanding.
“However, there was a passion for it and I was at a point in my life where I needed to find something that was more than giving me a pay cheque. I needed to find something that made me feel like I was using a part of myself that was dormant for too long. That was my creative self. And so, two years ago when I started, I had this idealistic idea, this idealism, that I would make cards, be happy and prosper. I have since learnt that I have to do more than that if I want to make a success of it.
“It’s been a lot of acquiring materials and doing research, learning everything from how to design my own website and acquiring the skills that I need to be a better rounded hibness than what I thought I needed when I first started,” she said.
With some cards taking as long as two or three hours to make if she works on them steadily, Elizabeth goes by the premise that if you are going to take somebody’s money, you have to give them the best quality product. Therefore, each card has to meet her exacting standards.
“That’s part of the reason I take so long. I would throw something away if it had a tiny flaw. I have actually given away more cards that I have sold,” she noted. Even if people do not notice, she can tell when the items are not balanced or even.
This summer Elizabeth will be working on increasing her customer base and getting Handmade’s name more in the public sphere. She will not be “trying to produce 7 000 cards in a day” but “a unique product that can’t be found anywhere else in Barbados”.
“Handmade is a ‘hobness’. It’s a hobby that brings in a little extra money and I don’t want it to stop. Even if I never get another order I would still be making them because I would then give them from me. I can’t separate the two. I’ve said that it’s not work, it’s play.
“I craft to de-stress. You know some people drink wine? I craft,” she said laughing. (GBM)
