Today on The Craft Room Podcast, let's talk about something that most crafters will probably consider at some point in their lives … a no spend year. Sometimes it's a month, a quarter, six months … but most commonly I see people setting this goal for a whole year. It might sound drastic, even unthinkable to some, but in this economy, especially with the rising prices of craft supplies, there are plenty of people doing a no-spend year. I'm not trying to talk anyone into such a dramatic situation, and, of course, there are some alternatives, so let's talk about the difference between a no spend, low spend and mindful spend year, the reasons you might consider them, and how you can succeed at such a challenge. If you've never heard of a no-spend year, the goal is to spend zero dollars on non-essential items for a full calendar year. On TikTok I see a lot of people doing this specifically for fashion, beauty products or home decor, but as this is a crafting podcast, we are talking about spending zero dollars on craft supplies. There are a lot of reasons why someone might go no-spend, usually falling into one of two categories … voluntary or involuntary.

For involuntary, it's usually due to a lack of finances, but I have known people forced to stop their retail therapy due to a lack of space, downsizing or moving house, travel or loss of employment. For voluntary, again, there could be any number of reasons … including a change in lifestyle, lack of time, change of craft preference, injury or illness, change in family dynamics, personal challenge or even a dare.

Whatever your reason, if you are considering a no-spend year, there are some things you can do to set yourself up for success.

1. Create your roadmap

2.Assess your craft stash

3. Set the Rules

4. Remove Temptation

5. Have a support person

6. Gamify it

7. Look for freebies

So, what if you're not doing a no-spend year, but I've piqued your interest with low-spend or mindful spending. Let's talk about those. Low spend and mindful spend are different, financially speaking, but often go hand-in-hand. Let's talk Low spend Usually the goal here is to spend less than you have been spending, and it might be voluntary (to redirect money to something else) or involuntary (like retirement). In order to spend less, you kind of need to know what you have been spending, and from my experience of owning an online craft store for 11 years, a lot of people are … hesitant … to add up their receipts. They just don't want to know, but knowledge is power. So even if it's difficult, I do recommend you at least get a ballpark figure from your Paypal or bank statements.

Then you have some decisions to make. Are you going to set a firm budget for the year or per month? Or are you aiming to generally spend less than you usually would? Are you going to buy essentials only? Just like with a no-spend year, knowing why you're doing this, and what success is going to look like for you will be helpful. Mindful Spending Mindful spending is less about budgeting and saving money, and more about taking time to consider the purchase. Essentially, it's a pause. When you take a little time to truly consider what you are buying, and how it fits into your existing collection, as well as your current crafting habits, you are exercising mindful spending.

Doing a full audit of your craft supplies before starting will help. If you have it in you to catalogue your supplies, even better. Each time you're adding to cart, you can refer to your catalog, or check your stash, and see if you already have something that will do the same job.

Sometimes the way we shop for craft supplies changes with our financial situation, our phase of life, or general interest in a particular craft. Sometimes it's unexpected and we have to react on the fly. Sometimes we can spot patterns, and adjust accordingly. Sometimes it's an epiphany, a life changing event or new information. Whatever your situation, if you find yourself staring down the barrel of a no-spend period of time, I hope that these tips help you achieve success, whatever that looks like for you. Happy crafting, and I will see you next time. LINKS Episode 44 Blog Post (with transcript)Sign up for newsletterOne Sheet Wonder Template Free 6" x 6" card making template Benable budget crafting boardRule of Three NotepadCards on Time productsOnline Courses & Classes Birthday Card address bookWhat to Write Inside Birthday Cards bookWhat to Write Inside Cards for All Occasions

Hello and welcome to The Craft Room Podcast. I'm so glad you're joining me today, as we are talking about the benefits of swatching. Yes, I am on a swatching kick right now and it all started thanks to my friend Sally. I went to visit her last month and she showed me her beautifully organised craft supplies, but more importantly she showed me her ink pad swatches. I knew the second I saw it that this was the solution I had been looking for for years. It's not like I've never swatched before. My Copic markers are swatched out on a hex chart, I've swatched some pencils and a watercolour palette. But I didn't have what I have always wanted … a swatch folder with all the colours in one place. Until I saw Sally's I didn't know why I was baulking at it, and the reality is … I wanted more swatches to a page. It's not like a plastic sleeve with pockets is a revolutionary product, but I'd never seen coin collecting sleeves used for swatching before. I will link to the ones I used below. Benefit 1 - Accurate Colors Benefit 2 - Know What you Have Benefit 3 - Quick Choices while Crafting Benefit 4 - Making Educated Decisions Benefit 5 - Reducing Decision Fatigue Benefit 6 - Viewing Variations Benefit 7 - Get more use from your Supplies

Let's consider the age old conundrum … 'To swatch or not to swatch?', which is a really good question, and thank you William Shakespeare for asking that. Sometimes you benefit from swatching, and sometimes you don't, and swatching requires a significant time investment. The swatches that I've already made took up the majority of my time for 3 days, so in order to answer the first question, we must ask another.

Do the benefits of making these swatches outweigh the time investment?

How you decide if you are going to swatch your craft supplies depends heavily on how you use them, and how you store them.

As much as I would love to go into loads of details right now, telling you how I did the swatching, and why I swatched that way, it's a very visual explanation, and podcasts aren't exactly a visual thing. So here's what I'm going to do instead. I have scheduled a livestream on my YouTube channel on Friday 20th February 2026 at 8:30pm Sydney time. Remember that I am in Australia, and right now we're in daylight savings time, so that's AEDT (I'll link to a timezone converter so you can figure out when that will be in your local time). I will also link to the scheduled live on YouTube. There's a button you can click to be notified at the scheduled start time, but it's helpful to note that notification will be sent as an email, so you might prefer to pop a reminder into your calendar with the link.

We are also talking a lot about swatching and choosing colours over in the Craft with Dawn Lewis Facebook group. If, however, Facebook is not your cup of tea, then you don't have to miss out. I'll be showcasing more of my swatching adventures on other socials … Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest. And if you would like it all distilled down into one juicy bite, you can subscribe to my email newsletter, where I'll be sending just 2 emails per month.

This year we are using our craft supplies, we're not being Pinterest perfect about it, and all of my content will be centred around that. So, until we meet again, happy crafting, happy swatching, and I hope to see you on my YouTube livestream … until I see you next time.

LINKS Episode #43 blog post Website Sign up for newsletter Craft with Dawn Lewis Facebook Group Coin Collecting Sleeves (Amazon Australia) Coin Collecting Sleeves (Amazon USA) YouTube Live Timezone Converter Aradiya Toys Hobbii 8/4 yarn Sandy Alnock Hex Charts Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Happy New Year! Today is the first day of 2026, so I figure it's a great time to talk about new year crafting resolutions. Yes, I have talked about this before, back in episode 32, mainly focusing on planning and different types of crafting resolutions that can be done over 12 months. Today, I want to focus on something different, plus I have an exciting announcement. LINKS Episode 42 blog postEpisode 32, New Years Crafting ResolutionsTim Holtz announcement videoMy WebsiteSign up for newsletterRule of Three playlist Craft with Dawn Lewis Facebook Group

Today on The Craft Room Podcast, let's talk about my Big Announcement and Product Longevity. Last week I made a really big decision, which led to a big announcement this week … it's time for me to close my shop. You can see my full announcement video on the home page, and most recent blog post, at dawnlewis.com.au.

Closing the shop got me thinking a lot about how we use our products, inspiration, motivation and perfectionism. Then this morning the group chat for Homemade Cards for Seniors Australia collection points really got me thinking about giving our products longevity. And I know two big ways we can do that … Rule of Three, and destashing.

You will find a full transcript of this episode HERE

LINKS Homemade Cards for Seniors Australia

Episode 35 - Cost vs Value

Episode 40 - The Craft Stash

Gina K Designs, Tall Stems stamp set

Rule of Three Notepad

Closing announcement blog post

Simon Hurley Lunar Paste

Today on The Craft Room Podcast, let's talk about the Craft Stash, which is near and dear to pretty much every crafter I've ever known, and that is the craft stash. If this is a term you're unfamiliar with, your craft stash is that collection of craft supplies, tools and resources you keep in your home, so that when you find yourself with unexpected crafting time, or inspiration strikes you can get some supplies out and start crafting immediately.

Every crafter's stash is different, and I've never met anyone with a duplicate stash to mine, and it's likely I never will. And that's because items come into our craft stash a variety of different ways, and there are a tremendous number of circumstances that factor into how one builds one's craft stash. You will find a full transcript of this episode HERE. LINKS Episode 22 Episode 38 CMSS March 2025 blog post WF Postage Collage die set TH Just a Note stamp set ME Little Gingerbread Agenda Distress Ink Mini

Hello, welcome to The Craft Room Podcast. I'm so glad you're joining me as we look at ways we can set ourselves up for Success for a new crafting year. I have ten tips that you might find helpful.

I was live in my card membership group a while back, chatting about this delicious week between Christmas and new year. The festive, yet chaotic energy of Christmas has passed, and it's my favourite time of the year. I'm in my pjs on the couch in front of the AC and Netflix, living off leftovers and cheese boards and I have no idea what day it is … living the dream! This is the week I use each year to set myself up for success for the following year, both in business and my personal craft projects. I talked about New Years crafting resolutions back in episode 32, so I'll link to that episode in case you missed it (or want a refresher), but I thought I'd talk about some of my favourite things to do in the last week of December that will set me up for success in the year to come.

LINKS

Christmas Cards on Time limited edition box

Marni's foundation Paper piecing

Rule of Three notepad

Episode 32

Episode 36

Hello … welcome to The Craft Room Podcast. I'm so glad you're joining me today, because we are talking today about the upcoming Card Maker Success Summit.

I've been attending these summits for the past few years, and even though I've been making cards for over 30 years, I still come away from the event having learned something new, and loaded up with inspiration. So imagine my excitement when an invitation to speaker this year landed in my inbox! At the time I was putting finishing touches on the All Occasions box, so when I saw the theme for this summit … Card Maker Success … saying yes was an easy decision. The theme completely aligned with what I was already working on. Now, after months of secret-keeping … I can finally talk about it!

So today we're going to cover a few things you might find helpful to know about this summit, including … What even is a card making summit? What does it cost? Who is the summit for? When is it happening? How to get the most out of the Summit experience? What is an All Access Pass?

And most importantly, what's in it for you. I'll try to be concise, because it's open for sign-ups now, and there are some important things to share before you go grab your ticket.

The Card Maker Success Summit - get your free ticket here

Stamp Me Some Love live YouTube videos

World Time Buddy (time converter)

Happy new year to you, and I'm so glad you're joining me today as I answer the most common question I've received so far this year, which pertains to glue. Way back in Episode 26 I talked a lot about glue, but I've learned a few new things this week, so I thought it was time to share updated information and answer a question that lands in my inbox almost every day … "What is the ETA on the Precision Glue Press". I made a short video about this today, but there's more to know, so while this isn't a super long episode, it does have some useful information, about the product, and glue in general.

LINKS

Blog post (with full transcript)

Precision Glue Press short video (YouTube)

Precision Glue Press (in my shop)

Pre-order form

Video about the Precision Glue Press by MSP

Jennifer McGuire's review

Simon Hurley's YouTube review - (start at 1:05)

Altenew StampWheel

Waffle Flower Grip Mat collection

Bearly Art glue

Art Glitter glue 4oz

Art Glitter glue 2oz

Gina K Connect 59ml

Gina K Connect 15ml

Tombo Mono glue

Make it By Marko glue holders

Fine Tip Squeezy glue bottle

Gina K Fine Tip bottles, 3 pk

Bearly Art Glue short video

I'm so glad that you're joining me for this episode, because it's a wild ride. Even if you're not into crochet (or parasols), I hope you'll stick around for the thrilling tale of how a 34 second TikTok video sparked a crafting odyssey. I have some hot tips to share that you might find useful in your own crafting life.

I'm sure I'm not alone in this … you know that moment when you see something on the internet and you just know in your heart that you HAVE TO MAKE IT. This is what I'm talking about when I say "obsession". I've experienced this many times, though in recent years, not so much, as I've dabbled in most crafts already. However, mid-2021 I had a moment on TikTok where I saw a project, and I instantly became obsessed with it. I had to do it, and I knew I would do it, even though I didn't know how I was going to do it. So today I will regale you with the tale of the crochet parasol.

LINKS

Original TikTok video

Crystals & Crochet

Mandala Madness pattern

Mandala Madness YouTube

My Crochet Parasol video on TikTok

Hobbii

Hobbii, Sultan Yarn cakes

Helen's Hookaholics FB Group

Umbrellas & Parasols shop

Today we're talking about an important crafting topic ... cost vs value.

This is something I mention a lot on the podcast, but have never talked specifically about, so we're going to talk about it today. In a nutshell, the cost of something is the price you pay for it. The value is what the product is worth to you.

Todays episode is sponsored by Altenew. If you're unfamiliar with them, Altenew have been around since 2014 and are renowned for their layering stamps, dies & stencils, detailed embossing folders, coordinating ranges and innovative tools. I am an Altenew stockist here in Australia, but I know that people are listening in all over the world, so the lovely folks at Altenew and I have put our heads together to come up with a special offer from each of us for podcast listeners. When you shop with either myself at www.dawnlewis.com.au or Altenew at www.altenew.com, you can use the code ALTDAWN10%OFF to receive a 10% discount on Altenew products. The code is valid up to 9th August 2023, and as a bonus for my Australian customers, I will extend that code to any Altenew pre-orders that are received and paid in full from today up until that date when you leave it in the comments section of your pre-order form (and if you already have an Altenew order in with me, if you send an email or DM mentioning the code, I will apply it to your existing pre-order). Those who have been shopping with me for a long time will know that this is the first time I've had a discount code like this, so if you've had some Altenew on your wish list, now is the time to add to cart or use the pre-order form. Huge thanks to Altenew for being part of the podcast today!

LINKS

Altenew category in my shop (for Australian shoppers)

Altenew (for International shoppers)

Pre-order form

Blog post for Episode 35 (with photos, links and full transcript)

Episode 28 - Stencils

Episode 27 - Digital Craft Resources

Creative Fabrica (affiliate link)

My YouTube channel, digital tutorials

The Big Birthday Box

Amazon, What to Write Inside Birthday Cards book

Amazon, Birthday Card Address Book