About Nancy Nally

An explosion of signature lines has been happening in the crafts industry, and in Anaheim this month Pink Paislee will be unveiling partnerships with two new signature names: Heidi Swapp and Christy Tomlinson.

Pink Paislee, founded in January 2008, has rapidly become an industry mainstay by producing not only its own brand of lines but also licensed lines from popular designers such as House of 3 and Collage Press. The company will be at CHA Winter 2012 in booth #2091.

Heidi Swapp, who formerly had a signature line with Advantus, is returning to the market at CHA Winter 2012 as a solo brand after several years as part of the House of 3 brand that created digital products and also has licensed designs through Pink Paislee. Pink Paislee is partnering with Swapp to handle the manufacturing, customer service, logistics and distribution of the Heidi Swapp signature line, while Swapp will maintain ownership and creative direction of the brand and its designs as well as responsibility for product development, marketing, and education.

This arrangement is strikingly similar to the recently announced deal between Studio Calico and American Crafts, and emphasizes the increasing importance of economies of scale in product production in the industry, and the need for the creative business owners in the industry to rely on experts in non-creative areas of running their enterprises.

In addition to her new product line, Swapp also has a show on My Craft Channel called Create to Remember that is currently in its second season of shows. She will also be the subject of the June/July 2012 edition of Northridge Publishing’s new book series, Signature Series. [Read more...]