How Affiliate Programs Work

The way affiliate programs work is that if you as a shopper click on an affiliate link, your browser saves a cookie. If you buy anything from the affiliate site within the referral window, the affiliate (blogger) gets a percentage of the sale as commission. The length of the referral window differs from merchant to merchant, but 1-3 months is common. Your cookie can also be overwritten if you click on another blogger’s affiliate link for the same merchant.

The sales commission percentage that the blogger/affiliate gets also varies from merchant to merchant. Commissions can be anything from 1-20%, with 5% being about average. The product price for the shopper is always the same, whether the shopper has an affiliate cookie or not.

Many merchants have a minimum amount that they pay out. If your commission is lower than that, there’s no way to get at that money. Often the minimum amount looks very small, e.g. $10. But commissions are also small, so the minimum matters more than you think. Particularly when you’re just starting out.

If you blog regularly you can apply to become an affiliate. You have to apply separately for each merchant. Applications often take months to be approved. Becoming an affiliate is always free. Any affiliate program that charges you to become an affiliate is a scam.

There are also affiliate program sites that act as brokers between bloggers and merchants. You have to apply to the affiliate program broker first, but once you’re in the program, applying for merchants that use the same broker is very easy. I’m an affiliate of ShareASale. If you apply using that link, I get a commission even though becoming an affiliate is free to you.

Current Affiliate Programs

Here are all six of the affiliate programs I’m currently participating in. They’re ordered from newest to oldest. I really appreciate you shopping from this page!

If you have any questions about my experience with these programs, please comment here or hmu on social media. I’m always happy to help my fellow crafters!

My Favorite Things

MFT are best known for their critter stamps and for interactive dies. I’m excited about coloring these adorable skunks and you’ve already seen my Ostara cards with a cute little witch.

I’ve ordered some of their money card products too. They’re innovative ways of adding money or gift cards to a card that looks good and ensures they won’t get lost.

Today and until Friday they have 40% off site wide with code YAYMAY. I’ll let you know about future offers from MFT.

Hero Arts

Bay Area local stamp company Hero Arts have been around since 1974 and are located in a beautiful Art Deco building in Richmond, CA. If you’ve followed me for a while you know I’m a big fan of their background stamps in particular. They’re deeply-etched red rubber stamps with amazing quality. Here’s my haul from the Hero Arts factory sale back in December 2022.

They also have monthly subscriptions called Hero Studio, which are fantastic deals. Definitely worth checking out if you like Hero Arts’ style.

My fairy birthday cards are made with the Fairy Kisses stamp and die set.

Dollar Tree

The Dollar Tree has some crafting tools that are perfectly usable and you can’t beat the price. Their pokey tool is something I use practically every day. It works great for getting die cuts out of dies and pushing sequins into place. I have a tendency to lose them, so having a little stash gives me peace of mind.

It’s the same with palette knives and small plastic palettes. It’s not the end of the world if you forget to clean them after a crafty session. Although so far soaking them in hot soapy water has always worked to get them clean.

Another item I use on a near-daily basis is their self-healing cutting mats. Whenever a die cut doesn’t cut 100%, I haul out the mat and a craft knife. I’ve heard that you can use them as cutting mats in your die cutting machine. That’s something I want to try when my current mats are worn out. The minimum number you can buy is three, and getting them shipped to your store is free. So it’s not going to break the bank if they don’t work great.

As for consumables, I used to buy sequin packs at the Dollar Tree. The matching colors look great in shaker cards. But they seem to have replaced them with these little mini sequin pots. I’m going to look for those next time I’m there because those would also be great in shaker cards.

The blanks for my tarot card holders are also from the Dollar Tree. Here are the medium tarot card holders and small tarot card holders. The large tarot card holders are also from DT but I can’t find them on the web site. OTOH these frames with a clothes pin would work fine too. Kind of tempted by the over-sized bottle caps if I can only find a way of attaching a clip that won’t fall off. 🤔

Spellbinders Paper Arts

If you’ve followed me for any time at all, you know that I use Spellbinders dies in almost all my cards. I also subscribe to their Large Die of the Month and I use them over and over. Here are some examples.

Ranger Ink

I use Ranger Ink products in nearly all my cards. The crafting world would be a lot less colorful without Ranger. Here are some of my favorite products.

• Super fine embossing powders. Why even emboss with anything else?

• Distress watercolor pencils are my #1 coloring medium

• Lunar Paste in Gold Rush is great for stenciling and dries quicker than other mediums

• Archival Ink Pad in Coffee is the only ink pad that I actually need the re-inker for.

You get 20% off your first order and there are always 50% off deals and dollar deals worth checking out on the Ranger Ink site.

Their seasonal products, mica crayons and mica sprays, will come out within the next couple of months. Sign up for my newsletter, so you’ll be notified when that happens.

Amazon

The 500 lbs 🦍 gorilla of affiliate programs. Pretty much anybody with a business web site or blog can apply and will be accepted within a day or two. However you have to make at least one affiliate sale within the first 180 days to stay in the program. Given how many suitable products they have and how easy it is to qualify, Amazon is a great place to start earning affiliate money.

You can apply with my referral link here.

Here’s my shop’s wish list. I keep it updated with things I need for my business at all times. It’s roughly in order of importance.

I also have a frequently-linked list for items that I link to all the time because I use them, e.g. the Ohuhu A2 card bases in white and Kraft.