Haha, I didn't think anyone would respond at this point. Thanks, and the whole "the dolls will take care of themselves" thing is actually pretty encouraging. I've been worrying that once I get the ball rolling it would get tedious.

Need some advice. I'm ready to start selling, I have everything I need, my business license, my materials and some good ideas but I still feel stuck.

I am a chronic procrastinator, and it comes from more than just being lazy. I'm not really lazy, I'm a perfectionist. I'm trying to protect myself from failure, because I feel in my heart that I am a dollmaker. I guess I think that if I try and fail at what I feel is supposed to be who I really am, then who I really am is a failure. I know, I know, deep stuff.

But I really desperately need to do this. First of all, because it's all I think about. All day, I'm thinking of sculpting and painting and stuffing the dolls. It's driving me insane. I can't even sleep at night sometimes because of it. Secondly because I really need the money. I work part-time as a server and I hate it. I hate working for someone else, I'm bored at work and underpaid. Since I work so few hours, and get paid so little, I do not make enough money to be financially independent. I think if I were able to make this business work, I could at least make as much money as I do there in a month, which is only about $300! I don't expect instant success, but if I want success anytime in the near future I need to get started. Third, because my supplies are starting to take over the apartment, and my roommates are starting to whisper about it. lol

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has ever had this problem? And how did you overcome it? Obviously knowing what I'm doing wrong is not helping enough to get me over to my work-area. I've tried to "just do it" but once I get over to my work-station, I find any excuse not to do anything productive, like cleaning or setting up my calendar, you know, other stuff I procrastinate on. lol

Aww cute. He reminds me of that facebook app, petville.

I'm thinking about designing my own logo for my business cards, website and etsy. I was wondering if anyone here has designed their own logo for their crafty business and if so, do you have any advice?

Sounds like a cool idea to me. I saw a seller at a craft fair last year who was selling kits that came in little clear makeup bags that can fit in your purse (well, if you have a huge purse like mine LOL), but those were for only one project at a time. Like she'd design a pattern for crochet, and add a crochet hook, yarn, stitch markers, the pattern and whatever findings or supplies you need for the project. It seemed like she had sold most of them.

Try to see if you can get these things wholesale and sell them at retail (typically twice or 3 times the amount you paid for them). If you can calculate that and imagine someone paying that much, then I say go for it.

Ah no, the lady at the bank said I needed to register for a fictitious name which apparently costs 50 bucks at the county clerk's office.

Okay, so I took 2 buses to get to city hall and get a business license, come to find out that I needed a seller's permit first. So I took another 2 buses to get to the Board of Equalization building, got off at the wrong stop and had to walk almost 2 miles. Waited around for an hour, got my seller's permit, walked back to the bus stop and took 2 buses to get back to city hall and finally got my license number ::pant pant::, but they had to mail me the actual license.

Now, it cost me about $45 for my license and I tried to go to the bank and open a small business checking account and they told me I couldn't open one unless I had the actual business license or a certificate for a fictitious name, which the lady told me costs another $50. My question is, do I need to get that right away? I don't technically need a business checking account, I can make due with a personal account if need be. $50 is a lot of money for me right now while I'm just starting out.

Another question I have is, if I do go that way and get a personal checking account, will I still be able to use my certified reseller certificate to purchase supplies or am I going to have to pay tax on them until I get a certified business account? Sorry if this is a stupid question. I'm new to all of this. Thanks in advance.