Thoughts on Hiatus and Promotional Supplies

As some of you already know, I have a second side business doing digital photo restoration. Yes, I like to overload myself with time-consuming hobbies that I love and hopefully can make enough money off of to support the habits in the first place.

Well, I'm in the midst of a big photo project, and a massive amount of un-fun things like taxes, appraisal classes, and getting ready for a Labor Day yard sale, and something has gotta give. So...

In the next month or two, I won't be making any polymer clay pieces, aside from any custom orders that come my way, which I am still always VERY happy to make. I will, however, be using these months for brainstorming new ideas, as well as thinking about improvements upon my techniques and my packaging/promotion/etc., and will get this photo job done, I hope (I must!) in time to get started on some new amazing stock for the holiday season.

THEN, after the holiday Etsy rush has passed, I'll have all this new work for my restoration portfolio, and will probably take that January-February stuck-in-the-house misery and put myself to work on a new website for Second Impression.

So that's where I am right now.

Now as far as promos go, I won't be ordering anything yet, but there's nothing like looking at promo catalogs. Oh, the things you can get for only 39 cents apiece!
However, I need to set myself some boundaries...

1. Size - the promotional product really shouldn't be any larger/heavier than my pendants, or my shipping is going to go though the roof. So no Pollyhyper mugs. Hmm, too bad.
   
2. Usefulness - I don't want to waste my money on giving away something that no one really wants or can use.
3. Cool factor - It should be cool(ish) and should, if possible, reflect my style. Which leads me to... what IS my style?

So those are some things I should think about. In the meantime, just because I can't resist, here are some ideas, for better or for worse.

I love these things.

Custom air freshener.

Custom sewing kit ($$)

Your basic button pin these could be fun with a good design, and I know people collect them

Custom measuring tape

And, of course, there's always the promotional pen. Or something handmade. I don't want to to spend a lot of time on these things, because that will take away from other projects, but I also don't want something crappy that screams "PROMOTIONAL PRODUCT CATALOG!"