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So I Stopped Paper Crafting

I got hooked to crafting with papers in 2017 and until a few years after that. That's why I bought cutter plotters: from Graphtec Craft Robo to Silhouette Cameo 3 and then the Silhouette Curio. I also bought some nice tools from We R Memory Keepers. I bought specialty papers from Prestige and Star Paper.

Years later, I realize that I no longer want to pursue this hobby or my side business. I never really got back the money I "invested" because it has never been an investment, I didn't pursue this as a serious business as I have a full time freelance work and there is a small market here in the Philippines. It is hard to find customers who are willing to pay the right amount for your creative efforts. I used to design and craft invites for weddings and special birthdays and most customers who inquired only had a small budget for these. I realize it is not worthy of the time and labor that I will be putting into. 

I remember a customer who I crafted a set of 30 for a wedding invite which was composed of gold specialty cardstock and customized pocket envelopes with gold stamped fonts on the names. It was exhausting creating those 30 sets alone and it took me almost midnight because I had to deliver it the next day. I took an Uber to deliver it to the customer's house (there was no Lalamove in my area back then or Grab Express, or maybe I was not just aware during that time in early 2018).

One of the problems I encountered during my crafting era was the paper wastage and I was really bothered. I had lots of excess paper because I had to make an allowance when crafting invites. No one was buying those pre-owned cardstocks in my Carousell maybe because it was colored maroon and not much people would actually need them.

So in 2023, I decided to stop paper crafting as I don't want wasting paper. I lent my Cameo 3 and sold my other crafting tools on Carousell. I still have my Curio though as I am thinking of using it for my own stickers and personal projects instead.

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