#happyhandmade week forty-eight

Hey makers, you lovely movers and shakers, you. Welcome to the 48th week of Happy Handmade. Welcome to another chance to get featured - but first, some news! 
I have been thinking long and hard about the direction that Daft is going in. This link up is a huge source of traffic, but does it really build community? That is my goal for Daft, to create a community of makers who share, contribute, and learn from one another. 

I track the #happyhandmade hashtag on various social platforms and noticed that many people who link up, drop their link off and never share for the others in the collection - and sharing is what this weekly collective is all about. It's about discovering new makers to connect with. It's about building connections with fellow artisans & collaborating. It's about helping one another get discovered - it's more than just a tweet you are sending it, it's a "Hello, I saw your stuff, and I loved it enough to share. Let's be friends." 

As makers we are influential. We create things with our hands and stir feelings in hearts. We should use that influence to build one another up. To build a community. To share things we love with our network and help emerging artists get discovered. 

The point of this whole rant is, as Happy Handmade nears it's one year anniversary I am wondering if it has a second year of life in it? Should we continue with it, or just focus on building a better community through tutorials, business articles, and handmade business tips? What do you think? Talk to me in the comments of this post - I would love to hear your thoughts. What would be more useful to you, what would help you the most in growing as a maker & help you connect with other like minded individuals? ♥ 

And without further ado & no more deep thoughts for today - here is this week's Staff Picks. Full of love and handmade joy!





And this week's most viewed: 

Green Chevron Unpaper Towels by Sweet Little Petunia
Love Party Picks by Origami Delights
What can you link up? Handmade products, art prints, and any designs you personally have created and had printed in small batches on clothing, fabric, notecards, etc. So long as you made it, you can share it! 

What you can't link up: blog posts, Facebook pages, giveaways, tutorials. This is to connect handmade shop owners with one another and promote one another's products, so all links you share should be to an individual product in your shop.
 Rules:
  • Link up to three {3} handmade products from your shops below! 
  • Share at least three {3} items from this collection (not yours) via social media! 
(Do not Pin items to Pinterest without express permission from the creator)
  • Tell at least three people about this link up!
{spread the word! the more people who hear about it, the more exposure everyone gets!}
  • Please show your support of handmade and leave a comment listing your favorite three products from the link up that you shared!
Click "add your link" - in the first box put the URL to your INDIVIDUAL product listing, not your shop home page. in the second box, put a description of your product. In the third, your email address. Click Submit and then select a thumbnail for the photo!

29 comments:

  1. I love the link up! I like discovering new items and shops. I've met so many cool new people and shops through Daft Crafts & the link up!
    Its too bad that not everyone participates in the sharing part of the link up, but I don't want them to spoil it for the rest of us.

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  2. This is my first time linking up. Sometimes it takes a while to get the nerve to do it :) As far as linking up to it, do we share this page, or go to the individual links and share those?

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    1. Hi Caitlin! For sharing, you chose three individual products from the collection and share those! Be sure to tag the maker if at all possible - then you can share the actual post with any of your maker friends you think would be interested in linking up. :)

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  3. I don't participate in the link up every week, but when I do, I make sure to come back and share. I think it's more fun to wait a few days to be able to see more items that everyone has linked up though. That does mean that I can forget though, but generally I see a reminder from another maker or from the Daft account and I remember. Maybe that's what's happening though? Maybe you should make it a requirement to follow the Daft twitter or FB so they see the reminders?

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    1. Thanks for the idea, Tessa! I realize some people just may forget, but I just wondered if it may be easier to just focus on business tips & contributions from fellow artisan's to build community rather than the link up.I would love to see the Daft community really thrive and build one another up! ♥

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  4. I enjoy looking at all the cool handmade items featured on the link up and it brings great exposure. I do understand though how it's not fair for those who do share, but hopefully those few that don't share don't ruin it for everyone.

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  5. It is a shame that everyone doesn't do their fair part to share, but I think it would be even more of a shame to get rid of the linkup for the people who do play by the rules, just because of a few bad apples. People who use the link up correctly will get the most out of it. I know I've discovered a lot of great shops and makers by participating.

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    1. Thanks for the input! I love happy handmade and all it stands for, just worry that it is becoming more of a link drop off than a community project where we all work together, you know? I definitely love discovering the new shops that link up and am so glad to hear you do too! Someone new every week, it's so exciting to meet so many great new makers!

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  6. I love #happyhandmade...I do know I am behind - meaning haven't shared but I do not remember if i have linked up for a while. If I did and forgot to share, please forgive me. And I do try and head to the shops page/twitter to follow - may not always tell them how I found them though. I will change that in the future. =) I love building my community - especially when it is crafty handmade peeps! ☺I love this link up and hope it goes forward into year number two.

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  7. I know sometimes I forget to add the #happyhandmade hashtag, which I will be more vigilant about!! I agree with Danielle, it would be a shame to lose the linkup because of a few bad apples. However, it might be fun to mix it up a bit, too, though I'm not entirely sure how.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback Marella! I'm not even such a huge stickler for the hashtag as I am seeing artists reach out to one another, even if just to say "Hey, I saw your stuff and I think it's awesome!" That's really uplifting, you know? And that is what I hope happens to people as they browse the collection each week - that people support one another with kind words!

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  8. I only found your blog a few weeks ago and I really love it! I wish that I would have been able to be a part of Happy Handmade from the beginning. Each week I have shared my items on your page as well as three other items on my facebook (I don't have twitter.) I do know that I haven't used the hashtag every time because I didn't realize that it linked in fb too lol You all have permission to laugh lol However, with that being said, I am very excited to see my unpaper towels as one of the most viewed and I am choosing my three favorite items to link right now! :-)

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    1. Thank you! Congrats on being a most viewed! I am excited to hear that you enjoy our blog & meeting new artists. :)

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  9. I don't link up all the time but I love that you have this available for the handmade community. Even when I don't link up I enjoy coming and checking out what everyone has shared, and have found some wonderful new shops. I do also enjoy reading all the great tips and ideas that are shared on the blog to help fellow handmade businesses. I will be back tomorrow to pick some items to share.

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  10. I LOVE #happyahandmade! And I don't think there's really anything else lik eit out there in the cyber world! I haven't linked up in awhile. I do try to share that Daft Crafts is offering this. And I enjoy coming and meeting new people and seeing the new items out there. Like this week, is the first time I've seen the unpaper towels. LOVE THEM! :)

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  11. I admit, I sometimes forget to go back and share the same week, but when a new week of happyHandmade arrives, I make sure to go back to the one I missed and share it then.
    I do like seeing what others make and sharing what I like best... but if others don't do the same, well, that's not very fair.. You need to do what you think is best even if that means stopping #happyHandmade. I trust your judgment :)

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  12. I like discovering new makers and sharing about them on social media. Also tweeting about happy handmade on twitter! :)

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  13. Shared the Valentine Heart Rag wreath, Hoo Loves You Owl Ornament, and heart tree shirt on twitter.

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  14. Thank you for picking me this week! I still like the linkup, although I sometimes forget to use the hashtag (^-^)

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  15. Thank you all for the out-pouring of love for #happyhandmade! With such a strong, positive reaction to this link up, how could I quit! Looks like it is here to stay! ♥

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    1. I think #happyhandmade is just awesome!
      I can't believe how fast time has gone, I just looked at the feature you did on my shop 2012?! Doesn't feel that long ago :)

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  16. I love looking at this every week! I shared the adorable Dino, Tardis hoop art and Nintendo pillows. I always forget to use the hashtag!

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  18. I have a super crush on Theo, the tiny dinosaur (have you read his story!?). I just shared the Nintendo pillows and discovered all the other super awesome, disgustingly cute pillows, donuts, (and OMG!) poops! I also love the fabric bracelet. Thank you so much for sharing this link up and giving us all a chance to share our creations!

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  19. Yes, so glad #happyHandmade is here to stay :)

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  20. I love the camo garden necklace and the cute purple octopus.
    The Nintendo controller pillow is epic!

    I'm off on a sharing spree now :)

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  21. I am so glad to see Happy Handmade is staying!!! I have not linked up in a long time...(got some devastating family news in September :( and was swamped for the holidays :) )...but I am back and ready to link up and share!

    I too like to come back after a few days to see what else has been added before I share all 3 of my picks...I did just share Cebra because I have a crush on her! Seriously!!! She makes zebra stripes look fantastic!

    Thank you so much for uplifting and bringing small handmade indie businesses together Cody. You have created quite an empowering community and I have to say some of my closest friends(and many I have not met) I gained through my handmade business and our love for handmade :)

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  22. Okay, I "watched", "envy'd", "tumblr'd", "wanelo'd", and "favorited" everyone on here. Thank you Cody!

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