We are always asked how we display our work for selling in stores or for shows. Many are surprised when we tell them we make all our own cards and print them on our computer. We find this method the best as we can make them in any size or shape and as many or few at a time. Now we create even more complicated ones that are cut out with our Silhouette Cameo machine.
But you don't need a fancy machine to make your own cards and this is our latest method used for selling and displaying our interchangeable art snaps. These ideas not only work for snaps but can also be applied to other pieces such as brooches, earrings and even buttons!
You can see a previous post here where we showed how we display our snaps using the display cards that are available in our online store in the DIY Snap Supply section.
These cards work really well for the regular size snaps and when selling them in groups of three or in pairs but what to do about those irregular shape or larger size ones? We have found several ways we like to keep them organized in our studio and displaying in shows. A simple way of organizing is using jewelry trays with dividers. You can fit quite a few snaps in a tray and additional trays can be stacked. This looks really nice when putting them out at a show and doesn't take a lot of time with packing and unpacking.
But since we started selling our decorative snaps to several stores, we had to come up with another way to not only display, but also for merchandising.
For this purpose, we designed some simple cards just by using the Word program on our pc computer and then printing out on a heavy card stock. The simplest way for this is to create a "Table" with squares in the size you want. Here I fit 8 to a sheet and made them longer so they can fold in half with the fold at the top.
After cutting them out, they are folded in half. We punch a hole at the top for hanging (optional). We then punch a hole in the center for inserting the snap. This hole has to be the right size or the snap will fall out if it is too large. After a lot of searching, we finally found a hole punch in the correct size (3/16") to fit the snap.
Punch the hole through both thicknesses so the snap is more secure on the card when hanging.
Another cool thing is how the card can turn into a mini stand for display as well!
Here are some extra large snaps we made on larger size cards. We made them the same way, but with only 4 cards to a page. They show off nicely when standing up.
You will notice that our cards are very simple and plain looking and for a good reason. We feel the card is only a background or support for the art piece which is what we really want to show off. A busy pattern on a card can be very distracting and not show your pieces off very well.
You can also store or display your carded items in trays (or drawer dividers shown here) which is also quick and easy for packing and putting out at shows.
And if you aren't into making your own cards and want something already made, we have some new cards available in our online store in the DIY Snap Supplies section. These cards are a soft plastic with a plush velvet background and a center hole ready to hang. Snap jewelry is printed in silver on the front of the card and you can always add a sticker with your name on the very bottom or on the back. The cards are 1-1/2" wide and the larger snaps on the cards shown below are 1-1/8" and fit quite nicely on them.
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Creating your pieces in a snap are so much fun and versatile! Just think of all the possibilities you can do with them!
