Journal of the American Professional Crafters Guild Crafter Profile by Sharon Bopp

THREE STRIKES, SHE'S IN!
After two business attempts, Wisconsin procrafter now "boxed" in by success.
Carole Robb created two dynamite craft lines that she was sure would sell. The first, a stitchery line introduced in 1974, dropped a stitch: Carole enthusiastically registered at her first craft show and sold only two of the threaded items in two days.
In 1982, she showcased a second product line, stained glass items, at another craft show. "I think I made $75 that day," Carole remembers. "I said to myself, 'This is crazy!'"
A lesser person would have slunk back to her studio and quietly created crafts for friends and relatives. But Carole is not a quitter.
"From a young age, I was always a painter," she remembers. "I always sewed, and I did any kind of craft that came along."
While attending yet another craft show, Carole was impressed by the work of a woman who did stenciling.
Carole asked the woman to give her stenciling lessons. Carole initially learned to stencil on fabric. Later, she took a three-day workshop to become a certified wood stenciler. She then transferred her skills into teaching a stenciling course at a friend's shop. Two years later, she began selling stenciled wooden half-moon disks (made to sit atop door ledges) on consignment.
Carole's next craft show experience, in 1986, was a third-time's-the-charm success. She sold stenciled wooden plaques and finely-crafted boxes. Customers loved the boxes. As a result, Carole says, "My business evolved more and more into the sale of boxes." Since 1993, she has won five blue ribbons at craft events for her work with the stenciled boxes.
Her procrafting business, Carole's Old World Boxes, features boxes crafted from pine or birch. The pine pieces are handmade by her brother, a fellow craftsman. A couple in Iowa craft the hardwood birch boxes.
All the boxes, Carole says, are "heavy-duty pieces," beautifully made, and available in a variety of dimensions.
"They are excellent quality boxes and should be considered heirlooms," she adds. "They should last longer than you and me."
The quality of the boxes is just one of Carole's many trademarks. She is best known for the inspirational sayings she applies to some boxes, like "Bless This Home" or "Circle of Friends." Other boxes have no written message, but the inspirational theme is revealed in the stenciling design she paints. The message, she adds, is "always upbeat and speaks to the heart. Each box is supposed to give its owner a good feeling."
Carole tries to design all the boxes to be functional, so they can be used as household items like recipe and jewelry boxes. "Each box is not just something frivolous that sits there and has no function,'' she says. "I like everything to have a purpose."
As an added trademark and an important step in the customer service process, Carole will personalize a customer's box by adding a special message inside the box or listing the names of family members on the box cover.
Carole and her husband, Tom, work craft fairs together. His gift of gab as a medical products salesman and a mutual selling style that Carole describes as being similar to that of "Regis and Kathie Lee" help draw customers into Carole's Old World Boxes craft booth.
In converted basement workrooms in Carole's Wisconsin home near Milwaukee, she and her staff tackle a variety of production tasks. Many staffers are part-time high school students who prepare and finish the boxes before and after the stenciling process.
When a shipment of new boxes arrives, workers stain and sand each box. The box then moves to Carole's work area, where she and another stenciler apply one of several elaborate designs. After stenciling, the box is varnished three times, sanded a second time, rubbed with steel wool, and buffed with a protective wax. Carole proudly notes that the grain of each box's wood remains visible after the product is finished.
Carole's 800-square-foot studio is separated from the 800-square-foot finishing area. In her studio, Carole creates new stencil designs, does bookwork, and applies the painted stencil designs. A long, rounded counter complete with a light table serves as the perfect spot for Carole to do her stenciling.
"I consider my work to be therapy," Carole says. "It's so relaxing, and I love working with color. My painting talents are a wonderful gift that was given to me, and it's neat that I can share them with other people."
Carole strives to create a continual stream of stencil patterns for her customers. She listens to her customers, who, Carole says, "tell me what they're looking for."
Carole says she often changes the dimensions of her products to accommodate customer requests. Recent suggestions included a storage cabinet for CDs and videotapes.
Fresh, innovative stencil designs are an exciting challenge for Carole, although she admits, "I have to force myself to come up with new ideas."
Carole finds design inspiration from travel, movies, and books. She has the ability to visualize what she reads and translate the vision in her head into a new stencil design. Last year, she read Mists of Avalon, becoming immersed in the fantasy world of King Arthur's Court. The book, which was very spiritual and earthy, Carole says, inspired her to create a series of angels that live on the Earth and to apply a different finishing wash to the box that represents the colors of the Earth.
The fine, complex stenciling work is done by Carole; her assistant does the less detailed stencils like checked pattern borders, flowers, and alphabet letters. "If the stenciling work is more involved, I do all that work," Carole says.
However, Carole has learned the importance of delegating certain tasks to others as her business has grown. In order to give herself more time to create those all-important new designs, Carole has turned the business paperwork over to an accountant
"I am learning to give up certain things, but not the stenciling yet," Carole laughingly admits. "No one stencils like I do. 'They don't have the same technique.''
Carole also learned how to work with supply manufacturers to ensure that she buys product at wholesale cost whenever possible. "In the beginning, I had a hard time buying things wholesale," she says. "The system is like a pecking order. You don't just have success at purchasing wholesale right away."
One supplier wanted Carole to take a picture of her building showing a business sign outside, to prove that she operated a Legitimate business.
Carole found a way to bypass the supplier's requirements. She Located a local store owner who carried the supplier's product and had an existing account with the company. In return for ordering her supplies along with the store owner's, she agreed to pay the owner the wholesale cost plus 10 percent.
Many manufacturers now offer to sell their supplies to Carole at wholesale cost. But there are some products she must still purchase at retail price, like the special varnishes and stains that are used to finish the boxes.
Carole utilizes several avenues to promote the sale of Carole's Old World Boxes. The company produces a color brochure, runs magazine advertisements, and works with sales representatives.
Carole and Tom work 18-20 craft shows yearly in the five-state area surrounding Wisconsin. Carole's Old World Boxes are also sold at two Country Sampler Store locations.
Financial experts often stress the importance of creating a business plan when beginning a procrafting venture. Carole's plans were sketchy, incorporating a seat-of-the-pants approach. "I had no formal plans. Stenciling is a wonderful hobby that has turned into a great business for me."
Her approach to the fundamental importance of trying and trying again are crystal clear. "Don't give up," Carole tells other crafters. "Do a lot of networking and talking with other crafters. Crafters are very helpful and will give you ideas and tell you where to find other craft show locations. We all understand why we're in this business. We're all trying to make some extra money."

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