FaveCrafts

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Submitting Your Projects to FaveCrafts: Tips from the Editor

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Last year, we launched a brand new program for our bloggers and designers to submit their projects to our site. Years ago when FaveCrafts first launched, our editorial staff had to manually upload every single project submitted to the site. That meant a lot of work on the editor’s end and a lot of waiting for the blogger. Luckily, we just keep getting smarter here at FaveCrafts.com and Prime Publishing LLC (our home!). In hopes of improving our speed, efficiency, and personalizing the process, we launched our Submit Your Craft program. Now our bloggers can upload all of the information for their craft. By providing the description, photos, and more for projects, our designers have delighted in this new process. So far 1,569 projects have been submitted to FaveCrafts alone. In total all of our crafting and cooking sites at Prime Publishing LLC have received 15,369 projects and recipes!

Submit Your Project

Now, we’re looking for even more projects!

Check out the tips below from the FaveCrafts editor (that’s me!) on how to submit your projects to FaveCrafts and starting sending your ideas our way!

How to Submit Projects to FaveCrafts.com

  1. In order to submit to FaveCrafts, you need to head on over to our Submit Your Project page and click the “Share Your Project” button!Submit Your Project
  2. You will be prompted to choose a type of craft, simply choose the craft project that fits your link best. If you are submitting a general crafting idea, select the “Craft Projects” button!
  3. Next you will be prompted to name your project. Name your project something that is easy to understand and relevant to our readers. We recommend names that are a max of 4 words long. You may also choose a category on the site to place your project. If you’re unsure, leave it blank. Our editors can do that part for you.
  4. Next, you will be prompted to upload an image.
    • You must upload at least one image for any and all projects with a minimum size of 500 x 200 pixels.
    • Please try and upload your best quality photo.
    • Additionally, we prefer photos without words or watermarks on them. This makes it much easier for us to feature these projects in our newsletter, blog posts, and collection pages.
    • You may upload multiple images. In fact, we encourage it!
    • The following are some examples of fantastic photos that have been submitted recently:
  5. Now you will be asked for a description of your project. This description must be at least 50 words long. Get creative here! Remember you are tempting people to click on over to your site or make your project. Sell your project!
  6. From here on out, the information will changes from project type to project type. Fill out these questions to the best of your abilities. If you don’t know, simply skip it!
    • Some fields (like difficulty level) are required. You will be prompted to fill it out if so.
  7. If you want us to link out to your project, insert your link into the HTML link section when it pops up.
    • This must be a direct link to your project and not to your home page.
    • We do not link out to company projects or links. Company projects should be submitted to us in full. When your project is added to the site, one of our editors will reach out in regards to creating a branded profile for your company.Your URL User Submission
  8. After this you will be asked for your materials list and instructions. If you prefer not to provide this information, you can skip these steps.
    • Hint: If you are looking for a link to your blog, we recommend still providing a materials list as many crafters are more likely to visit a link if they know what they need for a project.
  9. In the notes section, feel free to leave any additional information about your project. Additionally, you may leave any special instructions for the editor here.
  10. Before submitting, you will receive a preview of your submission. If anything is wrong, feel free to click on the section list to the left of the preview to return to a tab and fix the issue. Once everything looks okay, click “Save & Continue”.User Submission Menu
  11. Finally, you will be asked for your name and email address. The name you fill out here will be the name that shows up on your byline on the site, and the email address provided here will be the one we use to contact you when the project is posted. We recommend using the same information for all of your projects.

Submit Your ProjectSubmit Your Project FAQs

Find even more helpful tips and tricks on how to submit your project to FaveCrafts in our Submit Your Project FAQ. This helpful list of frequently asked questions offers helpful hints on the submission process as well as some fantastic tips on what type of projects, project names, and submissions do well on out site.

 

What kind of projects would you love to see submitted to FaveCrafts?

FaveCrafts News: Our Brand New Crafting Studio

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcnk5yRvrqk

It seems like just yesterday that we launched FaveCrafts.com here at Prime Publishing LLC. In 2009, our company launched our first website and expanded a year later in 2010 to include even more sites you love – AllFreeCrochet.com, AllFreeSewing.com, AllFreeKnitting.com, and more. After those first few years, we expanded to 38 fully functional sites. Now, we’re expanding even more!

Several years ago, we built our very own crafting studio and test kitchen in-house to begin creating our very own content right here at home. We’ve since hired a stellar video production team and have created nearly 500 videos since then with guest bloggers, our 3 in-house chefs, and our editorial team taking the stage! If you haven’t checked out the FaveCrafts.com Youtube channel or the videos on our site, we recommend you do so ASAP.

After years of growth, we’re still growing! With so much more exciting crafting video content on our calendar, we need more space. That is why Prime Publishing LLC (the FaveCrafts team) is expanding our Northbook, IL offices to include a brand new crafting studio, another test kitchen, more storage space for all those important supplies, and even some extra room for our editors. Check out the video below to learn more and keep checking back for more progress!

Be Sure to Check Out:


We’re going to need plenty of video ideas! What kind of crafting videos would you love to see?

Best Blogger Craft 2016 Announcement

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Best Blogger Crafts 2016

Every year, we here at Prime Publishing LLC and FaveCrafts.com throw a blogger party at the CHA Mega Show. This event is open exclusively to bloggers in the industry and allows the best of the best to mingle with some of their favorite companies, allowing them to make crafting connections that can last for a very long time! To celebrate, we host the Best Blogger Craft Contest every year where bloggers who attended then create prizes from the samples they receive from the companies! After this, we vote on these stunning projects.

This contest ended April 6, 2016. So, we’re here to present the winners!

Without further ado, our Best Blogger Contest Winners for 2016!

First PlaceThe Powertex and Foil Ballerina

The Powertex and Foil Ballerina from Roberta Birnbaum

Second Place

Shabby Chic DIY Scrapbook

Shabby Chic DIY Scrapbook from Cathy Parlitsis

Third Place

Life-and-Live-DIY-Canvas_2_Large500_ID-1579732

Life and Live DIY Canvas from Irit Shalom

Check out the rest of our entries in our list of the Best Blogger Crafts 2016 and stay tuned for an eBook featuring all of these stunning new craft project ideas.

Special thanks to our 2016 Sponsors:

  1. Yarnspirations 2. Plaid 3. Sizzix 4. Simplicity Creative Group 5. Leisure Arts 6. Sakura 7. Premier Yarns 6. FloraCraft 7. Fairfield World 8. Design Master 9. Testors 10. Create and Craft 10. Therm O Web 11. Beadalon 12. Snap

You Don’t Say! Interesting Survey Results from Our Readers

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At AllFreeSewing, we genuinely want to know how to best serve our readers. If you subscribe to our newsletter, Sewing It Up, you may have noticed an opportunity to participate in a survey. We really wanted to know what you liked, didn’t like, and wanted when it came to Sewing It Up. After all, we love making the content, and want you to love reading it!

Take a gander at some interesting responses that we received from you!

Sewing ClothesOur readers sew the most for…

Themselves! We were extremely interested to find that 69% of our readers sew for adults, and given the demographic information that we gathered alongside this, that means themselves! Most exciting. How will AllFreeSewing respond? With more adult patterns and tutorials, of course! It can feel silly to splurge at the store on yourself, but when you actually sew clothing for your closet you can spend some of your creative energy simultaneously.

The second largest age group that our readers sew for is 0-3 year-olds. Deep in our laboratory (at our desks), the editors hypothesized that readers are attracted to sewing for babies and toddlers because of the size of the project and often the skill level. Because of the size, these projects usually take much less time than an adult pattern and obviously they use less fabric.

Bags and PursesOur readers want more…

Bags & purses! Yes, when asked what they’d like to see more of, 49% of our readership responded with bags & purses, and we’re hardly surprised. Top ranking collections on AllFreeSewing include 12 Beautiful Tote Purse Patterns, 27 Patterns to Sew Purses + 6 New Coin Purses, and Sewing Bags: Tutorials You’ll Love & 15 Free Purse Sewing Patterns.

But, editors at AllFreeSewing, that can’t be all your readers want… you’re absolutely right. We learned that apart from the always popular bags & purses, our readers would really appreciate:

 

Patterns for men!          Plus-Sized Patterns!          Tips & Tricks!

 Sewing for Men            Quick Tips: How to Alter A Pattern for...          How to Sew: Sewing Techniques and Easy Projects to Sew for Beginners

Trust us, these patterns are on our radar. We’ve initiated some call-outs for all of these patterns, but we need your help! Menswear and plus-sized tutorials are scarce in the sewing community, so if you know of or have any of these get in touch with us! We’d love to work with you to let these kinds of ideas reach our readership.

Lastly, probably the most important question we asked our readers was if they’d prefer a lifetime supply of chocolate or fabric. 81.04% of readers said fabric, 2.90% of readers said chocolate, and 16.06% couldn’t decide.

Lifetime Suppy ResultsWhat a survey. What results! What shocking information! We appreciate all of our readers and want to extend a big thank you to those that participated in our survey. We still would like to know however,

if you didn’t answer the lifetime supply question…what would you choose? Chocolate or fabric?

 

New Fabric Line Available at Michaels Stores

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Starting today, you can walk into your local Michaels Stores and get your hands on some fabric for your next craft project. Michaels announces the addition of pre-cut craft fabric to the thousands of creative products available in its stores, providing customers with one-stop shopping for their DIY projects.

Michaels New Fabric Line

The pre-cut fabric, includes cotton, canvas, burlap, felt, faux fur, crushed velvet and tulle, and will be available in a variety of sizes from a half-yard to 2 yards. The pre-cut fabric will be carried in the majority of U.S. and Canada stores.

“With the addition of crafting fabric to our mix, our customers can find everything they need for their projects in one store,” said Michaels Executive Vice President of Category Management Philo Pappas. “And because the fabrics are pre-cut, customers can simply select the size they need and be on their way – no waiting for measuring and cutting.”

Michaels.com and Michaels Pinterest Boards feature project ideas that use fabric, including throw pillows, lamp shades, chair seat covers, and bracelets. Laminated burlap, a Michaels limited exclusive, can be fed through most home printers to add personalized messages and images to fabric projects.

Other crafting fabrics available at Michaels include costume silk, glittered tulle, sequined tulle, faux Sherpa, silky fleece and embossed alligator and snake prints.

Michaels also sells a complete line of sewing supplies, including needles, thread, fabric shears, bobbins and notions.

Stay tuned for a free new project featuring Michaels’ new fabric line next week. In the meantime, you can head over to your local Michaels and grab some of this brand new product to work on some of these great free sewing projects.

No Sew Bunting Burlap Purse Pattern No Sew Pillow Project

 

Results are In for the Crafty Christmas Ideas Survey!

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The results are in! If you subscribe to our Craft Christmas Ideas newsletter then you may recall participating in a survey around May 19th.

Here at AllFreeChristmasCrafts we’ve analyzed your answers to our questions about your habits and preferences when it comes to AllFreeChristmasCrafts and more. Enjoy these revelations about readers’ preferences; we hope you’ll find them both merry and informative.

AllFreeChristmasCrafts

DIY Christmas GiftsWho would have thought…

A staggering 98.8% of Crafty Christmas Ideas subscribers are women, the majority of whom are over the age of 50. We found that these newsletter subscribers tend to craft anywhere from once to a few times a week, with a combined 56.6% preferring to spend as long as an evening or weekend crafting. What does this tell us? You want projects that are short, sweet, and simple.

Angel CraftsNot surprisingly, readers reported that they craft primarily for their family members. Readers reported being most frustrated by the cost of crafting. This is consistent with 34.6% of survey takers who reported that they would like to see more gift ideas on AllFreeChristmasCrafts.com, since those ideas serve as inexpensive alternatives to department store merchandise. Predictably, 80.7% of our newsletter subscribers said that project pages were their favorite part of the AllFreechristmasCrafts site.

Snowmen CraftsWhen asked if they crocheted, knit, or sewed in addition to Christmas crafting, 76.2% of survey takers reported sewing, 65.7% crocheting, and 39.5% knitting as hobbies. One of the most diverting responses from Crafty Christmas Ideas subscribers was their favorite Christmas icon. Interestingly, 27.0% of newsletter subscribers prefer snowmen, 25.5% angels, and 20.2% Jesus. If they couldn’t craft for Christmas? 31.1% said Easter, 32.1% Halloween. Other holidays of interests to traditionally Christmas crafters included Mother’s Day and patriotic holidays.

Religious Crafts

Other Interesting Stats:

Favorite part of AllFreeChristmasCrafts site:

Project pages – 80.7%
Collections – 2.5%
eBooks – 12.1%
Giveaways and Reviews – 4.75

Stay connected with AllFreeChristmasCrafts:

Crafty Christmas Ideas Newsletters – 90.6%
Facebook -13.7%
Pinterest – 15.0%
Twitter – 0.6%
Google+ – 6.6%
FaveCraftsBlog – 12.5%

Time of day spent online:

In the morning – 33.8%
In the afternoon – 11.8%
In the evening – 31.6%
I’m online all day – 22.8%

Most Frustrating Thing about Crafting:

The Cost – 49.2%
The time it takes to make projects – 17.6%
Lack of variety – 12.6%
The mistakes along the way – 25.9%

Some of your answers made us laugh, thankfully none of them made us cry, but all of them helped us to determine how we can improve AllFreeChristmasCrafts and Crafty Christmas Ideas going forward. The results have given all of the AllFreeChristmasCrafts editors a better understanding of our readers, their crafting objectives and interaction with the online community. Subscribe to Crafty Christmas Ideas and see how we improve!

Thanks for participating!

What’s your favorite Christmas icon?

Insider Industy News

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Welcome to the latest edition of  Insider Industry News! We’ve got exciting information on upcoming industry events you need to know about! Got a hot tip? Let us know!

  • Still confused about copyright laws? Visit the United States’ copyright law website to download information.
  • The first Wednesday of every month should be reserved for FaveCrafts Radio, a monthly radio show in which you’ll find exciting guests in all areas of creativity. If you are a designer, author, teacher, demonstrator or other industry professional, you should contact us to learn how to be a guest on this show. You can also listen to any show via podcast on iTunes!
  • Drew Emborsky, also known as The Crochet Dude, is having a Summer Boot Camp Tour. Check out the complete schedule. There will be workshops on the topics of granny squares, the ripple stitch, texture, crochet cables, the post stitch, and fabric crochet.

Want to learn more about the business of crafting, subscribe to the Creative Income Newsletter brought to you by Maria Nerius.

Craft Business News: Get Informed, Get Involved

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Do you have news to share with craft professionals? Please drop us a note.

Here’s this week’s news:

  • Resident Craft Expert Maria Nerius has been asked to be part of the Summer CHA Celebrity Judging Panel to help select the most innovative product at the summer trade show.  CHA Summer show dates are July 18 starts conference programs and trade show open July 19-21 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.
  • Would you like to be a FaveCrafts.com designer? It’s easy! The promotional value can boost your business and build your portfolio! All you have to do is contact us.
  • Simplicity Creative Group is actively seeking people like you to help us design the next innovative, time-saving machine(s) that make sewing and crafting easier. All you have to do is click here, create a user account and you’re ready to post your idea and comment on others’ creations. Some of the ideas already posted to the site include a “measuring suit,” a “fabric pattern marker,” and a “miniquin,” which is a 1/6-scale mannequin. Hurry, this challenge ends on April 18. Share your concept and earn up to $1,000!

Subscribe to our Creative Income newsletter for more helpful tips, craft trends and industry news.

This Week’s Craft Trends You Need To Know About

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This week, we’re bringing you information on some of the hottest trends in crafting. Use these tips to your advantage – give the consumers what they want this season!

  • You can find all kinds of craft contests at Craftplace.  This is a great online community for anyone that wants to connect with other crafters.
  • Pantone, a leader in color trending, has lots of color trending news for 2011 and beyond. You’ll find lots of information about hot jewelry trends. Take time to explore this site – there are a bunch of great features you’ll want to check out.
  • We spotted it at Winter CHA 2011, but Delta’s Soy Paint is hot! This product is available on CutRateCrafts.
  • The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) will hold its 2011 Summer Conference & Trade Show July 19-21 with pre-conference sessions starting July 18th at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.  For more than 30 years, the CHA Summer Show has been the craft and hobby industry’s must-attend event of the season for buyers, exhibitors and designers. This year’s show will continue that legacy with a focus on mixed media crafts, a Craft Fusion Center and three unique pavilions. Expect mixed media to rule the show. Find out more.

For more craft trends and breaking industry news, subscribe to FaveCraft’s Creative Income newsletter by Maria Nerius.

Get Informed: Craft News You Need To Know

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There’s always something going on in the world of crafts. From entertainment news to current events, you can always find cool information that relates to your interests. Don’t believe me? Did you know Julia Roberts is an avid knitter? See, even the biggest stars in the world love to craft! Maybe crafting news isn’t on the front page of the New York Times (although I think it should be!), but there are definitely ways to keep yourself “in the know.”

Looking for an easy way to stay informed? Subscribe to our Creative Income newsletter by Maria Nerius from FaveCrafts! In addition to practical tips, tricks and information about the craft business, you can find out what’s big in the industry and what everyone is buzzing about.

Here are some of the biggest stories featured in this week’s newsletter:

  • Tom Hanks pranked Julia Roberts on the set of their latest movie. Roberts would often knit on set so during the shoot, so Hanks had over 50 members of the crew pretend to knit when she arrived on set. Read more!
  • The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) is having its third-annual Student NeedleArts Design Contest. Non-professionals and anyone enrolled in a post-high school educational curriculum are invited to enter. For more details, visit the TNNA website.
  • TV lovers, rejoice! America Sews is back on PBS starting April 2.
  • CutRateCrafts has launched its own blog! Check it out for deals, projects and more.

This is only a tiny preview of what is available in each of our Creative Income newsletters by Maria Nerius. Subscribe today and get informed!

What is your go-to source for craft news and updates?

Crochet

Jewelry

Knitting

Paper

Sewing

Thrifty