I’m a huge fan of Etsy.com. If you haven’t checked the site out before, it’s like an eBay for independent artists, clothing designers, jewelry designers, and other crafty sorts. That way, they can sell their wares to people all over the world instead of just hitting the local craft fair every Sunday.
Etsy has a great feature called Quit Your Day Job, where successful sellers tell how they were able to parlay their art of choice into a full-time profession. The first-ever person profiled was Dennis Anderson, who went from working at a lawn-care company and working on people’s yards in 100+ degree heat to being able to support himself with his handmade soap business. He and the other profile subjects are some really inspiring people who were able to, in the words of the immortal Tim Gunn, “make it work.”