Get to know Notions of Brechin ~ TCN Spring Craft Challenge Winner

Meet Janice…The Owner of Notions Of Brechin

How difficult can it be to write about yourself & your business? The answer is very! But here goes…..

I started machine embroidery as a hobby way back in 2003 when my husband & I had a guest house in Elgin, although I had been sewing a making clothes since a youngster…using my mums Turquoise Singer machine…I guess that dates me! As I was tied to the house waiting for guests coming and going it was an ideal way to fill my days.

I made clothes for my children as they grew up & my love of crafting & making has always been present. We moved to Angus, Scotland in 2005 & opened our own restaurant, but I was still to be found at my machine late into the night completing orders for ebay customers!

As time went by I ‘branched out’ & opened a small shop but found that it wasn’t right for my creative nature, being tied to opening hours limited the work I could do. I now work from home & love it. I chiefly do corporate logos but in my spare time I create my own styles using clothing or items I’ve found in charity shops. My other passion is working with tweed & I make random patchwork cushions & bags which I now send worldwide. My business is still developing & I now get asked to do custom orders which I find very satisfying especially when given free rein to express my own ideas.

My outlet for my work is mostly via facebook & word of mouth, I don’t sell on ebay now, but I am in the process of setting up a website which I hope will increase exposure & sales!

My most popular products at the moment are cushions, handmade from Scottish Linen, embroidered with Scottish Thistles, I have sent loads over to the USA & tweed patchwork cushions which all have a wee stag embroidered on them & the brooches are very popular too.

If you would like to see more of my work, or to contact me please visit either of my pages:

https://www.facebook.com/notionsbrechin#

https://www.facebook.com/TweedllDee

 

Her Winning Entry ~  a customized, vintage handmade, woollen fabric, undertakers jacket.

 

Tweed’ll Dee — A range of Tweed products, created in the craft studio of Notions of Brechin, Angus, Scotland. Each piece is a unique, handmade one-off

The name ‘Tweed’ll Dee’ for this range of products, from Notions Embroidery Brechin , loosely translates from the Doric language as ‘Tweed Will Do’. Doric is still prevalent in my home town of Ballater on Royal Deeside…& the Dee also refers to the famous river Dee. Although i now live in Brechin, Angus…i’m not that far from my roots!
Each of the products is handmade I don’t take custom orders or commissions for these, if you see one you like please message the page to complete a purchase. x

 

 

FEATURED BUSINESS ~ Klik Klak Blocks

Would you believe it, I am so excited to say, we have another featured business article this time all the way from Latvia.  They have a very special story and they also make my most favourite children’s toys ever, wooden blocks. 

Every young child should have wooden toys in their toy box, my sons did and they still have them, even though they are now 15 and 20, they won’t part with them!  Wood is so special, wooden toys last forever and are so tactile and safe, also wooden blocks help inspire a child’s imagination.

I hope you enjoy reading about Liga and Guntis and their business Klik Klak Blocks and we would love it if you left a comment.

We are a young family with two lovely kids from Latvia (Europe). Our eldest son Valters is 3,5 years old, but our baby girl Paula is just 5 months old. I have a Master’s degree in Engineering.

Our family business is making handmade natural wooden toy building blocks for children. We started to think about producing wooden blocks when our child Valters was about 2 years old. We wanted him to have the best quality toy blocks made from natural wood, organic, non-toxic and completely safe. Watching him playing with the blocks, we understood that it’s worth trying to make the same joy to other children. So we founded a small company, bought all the equipment necessary for making the blocks and started making them. We started offering several sizes and shapes of the blocks, but our customers loved them so much that they often asked if it was possible to make blocks with letters and numbers. So we started doing that as well. All the blocks are made of the highest quality of pine, absolutely natural. They are treated with natural linseed oil. Why pine? We make our  blocks of pine not only because of its great look and texture, but because of its great qualities. Pine energetically is a “giving” kind of wood. You can make sure of it yourself – take the toy block of pine in your hands, you will feel the warmth while holding it. Pine also increases immunity and gives positive energy. It takes all the stress away.

Our wooden toy building blocks are made just the way we had ones in our own childhood – big enough for playing, smooth for the little fingers and with no sharp edges. And completely natural. They even have a name – Klik Klak Blocks. The name of the blocks was given after hearing the sound of the blocks while our son was playing with them – it’s something like this – klik klak klik klak.

We sometimes receive questions, asking why wooden blocks are better than plastic ones and why they are so good for children. And we always answer – the main difference between plastic and wooden blocks is: the wooden ones are ALIVE! They really are! They give you the positive energy of wood while playing with them. You could never get this from plastic toys.

About the place we live

We live in Latvia. Where’s Latvia? It is one of European Union countries. It’s a small country – just a little bit more than 2 000 000 inhabitants. So our main value is people! Each and every! We have amazing talents living in Latvia – we are proud of our first Olympic Champion in BMX Maris Strombergs, we are proud of our Maestro Raimonds Pauls who creates great compositions, we are proud of our most popular band BrainStorm, of so many great people who have done big things to make our small country known worldwide. Latvia is also a very green country – with lots of woods, parks, green territories. We love that!

Our capital city Riga is a well-known city worldwide – one of the destinations that is quite popular among European and American people while going on trips. Our family lives in Valmiera, which is 8th largest city in Latvia, about 100 km away from Riga.

How we started selling online

It happened about a year ago when we started making our Klik Klak wooden toy blocks and made an e-shop in Latvia. People loved our wooden blocks and they suggested us to think about selling internationally. So that our blocks are available for everyone not only for people living in Latvia. We started making our online shops on Etsy and ArtFire. It’s just the very beginning now and we are extremely happy about every sale we get. It’s such a special moment for us! Our values are personal attitude and high quality.

Our online selling experience and some tips

We are newcomers of online selling, no huge experience yet, but still there is one thing we can advise. Love what you do and make it as much personal as possible. We love sharing personal stories and many customers have wrote us that they love it. For example, one of our products, 50 Christmas wooden blocks is much more popular than others. And you know why? Because there’s a very personal story behind it and we shared it online:

„Our eldest son Valters is 3,5 years old and he LOVES playing with the building blocks made by his Dad. Every day after coming home from preschool we hear different kind of sounds while he is playing with the blocks – he imagines them to be cars, trains, bikes, he builds houses, castles, towers and he imagines them to be telephones, TVs etc. Valters has a very special friend in his preschool – a cute girl called Jenny. One evening we asked Valters about his wishes on Christmas presents. He answered that he would like to receive new books from Santa Claus. Then we asked – “And what about your girlfriend Jenny? What would she want to receive on Christmas?” He answered: “I will give her a part of my wooden blocks”. We asked: “Why?” And he seriously answered: “Then we both will be able to build a bridge to each other’s house…”.

This is a true story and it really is special. At the beginning we thought maybe it’s worth keeping it just for us, not making it public, but you know – sharing these kind of special stories help to stay them alive forever!

Liga & Guntis

Klik Klak Blocks

Our e-shop: www.klikklakblocks.com/en

www.etsy.com/shop/KlikKlakBlocks

www.facebook.com/klik.klak.blocks

www.twitter.com/boon_wood

I hope you enjoyed reading Liga and Guntis’s article, please visit their links and take a moment to leave a comment here, it would be appreciated.  Also if you feel inspired to write your own article and tell us about your business, then please get in touch.  We can make it easier for you and send you some questions to help you write your article or you can do it like Liga and Guntis and tell us in all your own words.  Contact us via our email address thecraftynetwork@gmail.com Thanks. Linda x

 

FEATURED CRAFTER ~ My Craft House

It’s been a good while since we featured an article by a crafter.  I don’t know about you, but I do love reading about other crafters, how they got started, what inspires them and keeps them motivated to continue creating, I find it really helps me keep motivated too.  

I know it’s very hard to self promote yourselves especially when asked to write your own article, I would love to be able to travel the length and breadth of the country visiting and interviewing you all, however, unless circumstances ever change and we start to generate some income this isn’t really practical.  So I thank every brave person who stands up and says I will do it, who puts their head above the parapet and writes about themselves and their business.  You ALL should do it you know.

So I would like to thank and introduce you to Rachel the owner of My Craft House, who very kindly and bravely agreed to write this article and tell us a bit about herself and her business. 

All stitched up: The life and times of a crafting mum.

My crafting days started way back when I was just a young girl, I watched as my Granddad painted and I loved to see my Grandma’s knitting. Despite it being the 80’s and the love of all things crafty not being at the height of fashion, I loved it. I remember the first time I picked up a set of knitting needles (which I still have!) and made my first attempts at making something, I was hooked, even though it was full of holes! My love of making grew with me and as a teenager I would make clothes, paint as well as knit. I took GCSE Textiles and Art & Design although I never envisaged an actual career that would use any of these skills. They were hobbies and that is what they remained until I had children.

I was 30 when my second son came into the world and I would say that it was at this point that I started to consider using my craft skills to try to make some money. It was the age-old situation of a mother at home wanting to help with the income, but also wanting to be at home with the children. I trawled the internet for ideas and soon realised that there were a lot of work at home scams out there. So I decided that the best way forward was to use my craft skills to my advantage. My first website was not at all successful, which left me disappointed, but it also helped me look at what I was doing more critically. After a couple of years, I returned to work part-time and started listing things I had made on Ebay. I had a mixed reaction to my creations, but
the personalised tote bags where a hit, in the process of making these, I inadvertently created a product. Iron on fabric shapes, letters and numbers, which I started to sell on Ebay, very successfully.

In August of 2011 I had to take time out as I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer which came as a shock to us all, after a couple of operations, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, love and support of my husband and children and a year on, I was back on my feet and ready to take the world on again. I knew I was getting better when I realised how much I was missing doing anything creative.

I did a fair bit of research to make sure what I had created was ok to sell. The end result is the very lovely Iron on shapes, letters and numbers. I use a combination of Sizzix cutters, a heat activated fabric adhesive and quality cotton fabric including Cath Kidston fabrics to create iron on embellishments that do not require sewing and are machine washable. The letters are particularly popular as they can be used to personalise all sorts of things from bunting to bags. From this My Craft House was born, the original website was replaced with a super shiny new website www.mycrafthouse.co.uk last year and has been gaining a dedicated customer base with many customers coming back time and time again.

As well as the iron on embellishments you will find felt and card die-cuts at My Craft House along with jewellery from a very talented local designer and some of my own creations too, but the backbone of my business is the Iron on embellishments.

It’s not been an easy process and I have been on a very steep learning curve and I still am. I’m always learning new things, not just crafty things either there is so much to learn about starting, building and maintaining a business too, as well as developing a website! It’s been a long road but worth it because I love what I do.

Thanks for reading.

Rachel x

Contact Details for Rachel:

Website: www.mycrafthouse.co.uk

Facebook: My Craft House

Email rachel@mycrafthouse.co.uk

I hope you enjoyed reading Rachel’s article, please take a moment to leave a comment, it would be appreciated.  Also if you feel inspired to write your own article and tell us about your business, then please get in touch.  We can make it easier for you and send you some questions to help you write your article or you can do it like Rachel and tell us in all your own words.  Contact us via our email address thecraftynetwork@gmail.com Thanks.

 

March Craft Challenge Winner ~ Mary-Beth Originals

Please say a big Hello to Mary-Beth Originals who you voted as our March Craft Challenge winner.   They have very kindly agreed to tell us a little more about their business, their products and what inspires them, please read on….

1. Can you start by telling us a bit about you?

I think the idea of wanting to work for myself began in the late 80’s, I had just met my husband and living just over 100 miles apart a lot of my time was spent in the car travelling and thinking and dreaming. At the time I was a graphic designer for the Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh and my job was to computerise the Edinburgh Herald & Post. I was the first female to work in the caseroom since the 2nd world war and I had to train time served compositors to typeset on a publishing computer package, it was a rough job and I would dream of being away from the male chauvinistic world and wish to be my own boss, the foundations were laid.  

Several years later now married and working for an Advertising Agency in Edinburgh designing leaflets and still travelling too and fro to where I met my husband on holiday there was now two dreamers in the car on those journeys and many miles spent discussing a family business and how great it would be to work for ourselves. In December 1995 I became pregnant with my eldest Mary-Beth, and after being made redundant that Christmas I began making dolls house miniatures from fimo and cards and selling them as a hobby at fairs, Mary-Beth Originals was born, and now just over 17 years later we have a full-time family business, my husband and I work side by side and we are making a profitable living from our little craft business that started as a dream while driving the country roads of Scotland.

2.      Please tell us about your experience in crafting and your skills?  

I don’t think you need any paperwork telling you that you can “craft”.  I think artistic skill is there or it’s not there, I can draw because I was taught to draw, tell me to draw a dinosaur, or a landscape in front of me and I will give it a fair go but don’t ask me to compose an artistic and aesthetically pleasing piece of artwork, I have NO talent for that.  I can however sculpt with clay, I was never taught to do that I can see a picture in my head and whereas I could never put that on paper I can sculpt it in clay.  I think you can learn to bead, sew, draw, crochet, knit etc, etc, etc., and become and expert in the chosen skill or craft you choose to learn, but I don’t think its essential to gain training or qualifications, I think if it’s in your heart you will succeed at it, whether you are self-taught or attend courses or training.

3.       Where do you sell/exhibit your work and what has been the most successful for you?

Everywhere and Anywhere!  I think we have our fingers in all the relevant pies, internet, fairs, retail outlets, and wholesale outlets.  The internet has been hit and miss. Certain things that we sell fantastically through retail outlets and fairs go unnoticed on the internet, as a result I have had many likers of my Facebook page come to see me at a fair and not recognise any of the things on offer on the stall. At the moment the Facebook page is our only internet outlet. We did have a website but the orders from the Facebook page got so busy that we couldn’t keep the website stocked so we closed it. Facebook has its ups and its downs, ups being great sales, great exposure and downs being the fact that the minute you put up a photo of something new, someone else copies it and puts it on their page at a cost that is totally unrealistic for a person like me to compete with as because this is our full-time business we have to cost items to make a profit.  My favourite way to sell though is standing behind a stall and selling direct to the public, I love it, even the funny customers who say daft things. I remember in the early days when we made hand-made cards… I was at a fair in Glasgow and this little lady and her friend came up to the stall and stood quietly discussing the designs on the card stand for a few minutes, suddenly she turned round and in a loud Glaswegian accent asked “Are these careds jist fir sending tae folk?”, Still makes me giggle.  As for selling goals,…………… well, next year we hope to fulfill one of our selling goals by taking a pitch at the Wickerman Music Festival, something we have often been asked to do but the children were always to young in the past, I also wish I could share with you all some exciting news about where one of our products will be next year but I can’t at the moment, maybe if I ever win another craft challenge it will be a tale I can tell then.

4.    What have been your favourite or most challenging pieces that you have made and what inspired you to make them?  

Oh that’s a hard one.  My most challenging one EVER was a mad idea I had while making 1/12th scale dolls house food that I would like to do a “making coleslaw” preparation board. The only problem was how make a white cabbage look real when it is made out of clay and smaller than the size of your finger nail and sliced. Have you ever looked at white cabbage, can you tell me how many layers are involved and how the veining looks?  Yup it was not as easy as it first seemed and working it out took me well over a month but I was so proud of the day my tiny white cabbage trial number 100+ actually looked like a tiny white cabbage…. Still can’t do a 1/12th scale whole pineapple though ;).

I’ve faced so many challenges that this is really hard!  Okay 2nd one I have picked was from a message I received from a Facebook liker one evening, would have been just over a year ago and she was asking if I could make a miniature replica of her dog that had just passed away.  I had never done a fimo dog before apart from tiny charm ones about 15mm tall and to be honest I was scared to death to even try it, I mean if I got it wrong, this was her beloved dog that she had just lost. But I said I would give it a go and it opened up new challenges, and new learning curves about mixing colours and how to get the effect of fur so I was really pleased that I took it on and even more pleased that the lady concerned loved and cherished her little keepsake and from that one job grew the fimo pet portraits which also blossomed into the likeness hangers, figures and cake toppers that are so popular now.

Lastly one of our wands and another mad idea…. “I’d like to put an owl on a wand”, why I do these things to myself I have no clue but anyway, I never realised that a barn owl’s feathers had so many different colours and patterns in them.  One of the fimo skills I am less familiar with is caning and for the owl, each feather pattern needed its own cane so I had to practice and learn the art of basic caning, which has been a great skill to get to grips with and has been a bonus for my work with the dragon wands, the endless myriad of cane patters that dragon scales can be made from is so much fun and it all started with the “I’d like to put a barn owl on a wand” manic thought.

5.   We can all have times when we feel less inspired, where and how do you find/keep your creative inspiration?

Remember the 100+ mile journey?  Well at the end of it is a very special place called Brighouse Bay and it’s where I go to relax and recharge. I take a pad and a pencil and I will sit by the sea on a rock I have sat on for so many years that it probably has an indentation of my backside on it (well its got more comfy over the years) and I listen to the sea lapping against the rocks, the kids playing on the beach or walking through the wood and the inspiration just flows back if its been lost. I never go there without my work box and fimo either so that any ideas can be quickly made up so that it’s not forgotten. It is a truly magical place and I am so excited to be leaving for there very soon, the first time since last October so the inspiration tanks are very low right now.

6.    What keeps you motivated to continue in this business?

This answer is two-pronged. Firstly my kids, it always has been about them really. We are so lucky in that this business has allowed us to always be there for them, school shows, meetings, appointments etc and on school days one on of has always been in the house for them coming home. If you were to ask my 14-year-old he would see the continuing motivation as the getting into the music festivals for free! Me it’s still all about the kids, getting them through the driving tests, university, while being able to still attend all my daughters shows and performances and being there for my son who still needs a hug at the end of a long school day.  Secondly if I ever do feel the motivation waning and the odd thought of “giving it all up” creeps into my brain then I just think back to a smokey, dark caseroom in the Scotsman building or a boardroom full of sharp suited advertising executives making comments about how my skirt could do to be 6 inches shorter.  I remember and I never ever want to go back to feeling like that EVER AGAIN.

7.    OK, just for a bit of fun, if you were stranded on an island, what 3 pieces of craft equipment would you like to have with you and why?

Can a husband be termed as craft equipment??  (that answer was his idea).  Seriously 1. would be my piece of dowling with a needle in the end of it as I rarely use anything else as a tool when I am sculpting.  2. would be Fimo as if I don’t have fimo or my dowling tool to fiddle with I would seriously bite my nails down to the quick so fast the natives on the island would think I was a cannibal.  3.  Pasta machine… because I would be able to practice so many different fimo blends I would never get bored :).

8.     What are your goals/plans for the future of your business?  Also, do you have any plans to further your skills or to learn something new?

Okay I have waffled a lot during answering these questions but this is going to be the shortest answer.  Goals and plans right now in this climate is simply keeping our heads consistently above water and if I get the water to shoulder level then I am extremely happy. As for plans to further skills, I will just keep playing with the clay and learning as it teaches me, I often find I learn best by accident – something goes wrong but it leads me in a new and wonderful direction.

9.   When you first started if you could have been given one piece of advice what would it have been and what advice would you like to pass on?

When I first started selling it was at car boot sales, purely because they were the cheapest place to sell and there was a guy there, name of Jimmy that would sell his Granny if he was given half a chance, but without those many freezing mornings listening to his advice about anything from Public Liability Insurance to sales pitches, I would not be where I am today.  The best advice he ever gave me was “If you believe in yourself and you believe in your product then the customers will believe in it too” and he was right.  I think I’d like to pass that on… Believe in yourself, believe that the thing you created, whatever it may be is the best it possibly could be and your customers will see that in you and in your product.  I still see Jimmy at fairs, we have both moved on from where we were x amount of years ago but I still owe him a great deal and am very grateful for those cold mornings stood in a car park.

10.  Lastly, where can we find you?  (Contact details etc)

Yay an easy final question!!  

Email is either: e.mcfern@btinternet.com or marybethoriginals@btinternet.com  

If you want to call that is fine too and its 07718882738

Or you can find us on Facebook at either:   Mary Beth Originals or Mary Beth Mysticals

Thank you.

10. Mary-Beth Originals (MARCH WINNER)

 

Handmade Items for Weddings & Parties ~ Directory

Planning a special occasion and looking for unique handcrafted products to make that occasion especially memorable, then please have a browse through our Wedding & Party Directory. We have crafting artisans all waiting to offer you unique handmade products and bespoke services.

Please click here to view the directory: WEDDING & PARTY DIRECTORY

New people are always being added but to whet your appetite here are just one or two we have already listed:

HEIRBLOOMS BESPOKE BRIDAL

Offering highest quality bespoke items, handcrafted and tailored to suit each individual for all special occasions!

At Heirblooms Bespoke Bridal we pride ourselves on providing our customers with the highest quality bespoke items, handcrafted and tailored to each individual. Allowing us to provide guaranteed customer satisfaction.

So if you are looking for a unique alternative for your bouquet and decor for any event, why not order a one of a kind item from our range as no two creations will be the same.

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TINAKIIANA

Tinakiiana are petit four makers based in Norley Cheshire.

Inspired by the amazing displays seen in Parisian patisseries. We are a family team who have sought to combine our love of baking with the visual arts.

Each petit four is individually made. We use all natural flavourings and locally sourced free range eggs.

We aspire to make little delicacies which are a delight for the eye as well as the taste buds.

They can also be found at the following Markets: Kingsley Farmers Market (quarterly). Grosvenor Garden centre Chester – 2nd Friday of the month. Wilmslow- third Saturday of the month. Treacle Market Macclesfield last Sunday of the month.

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LOLA & I JEWELLERY

Lola & I Offer Handmade Wedding Jewellery, bridal accessories and a bespoke jewellery design service.

At Lola & I we know how special it is to have something unique, so if you love wearing completely one-off designs, have a wedding or special occasion coming up, why not make use of our free Bespoke Jewellery Service and be the envy of all your friends!

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If you offer handmade products or services for Weddings, Special Occasions and Parties, why not get your business added to our directory?  You can either comment below or send us an email [ thecraftynetwork@gmail.com ], letting us have all the details you would like included.

 

February Craft Challenge Winner ~ BSpoke Victoria

I don’t know about you, but I love discovering and finding out a bit more about other crafters and how they started on their crafting journey, I also like having a look at their wider range of products as you never know what unique and beautiful pieces you might discover. 

Last month we discovered B Spoke Victoria and their fab product range of bespoke wooden letters and plaques, they were also voted by you as our latest Craft Challenge Winner, winning our February ~ Winter Blues Challenge, with their gorgeous ‘Together we make a Family’ Plaque.  As part of winning I like to give each winner the opportunity to tell us a bit more about themselves and I am really pleased that they agreed.  So please read on ….. 

We are a family based business, consisting of my husband and I. Stephen and I began making wooden letters and plaques at the beginning of 2011. He cuts them and I paint and decorate them.

As we started to get busier in summer 2011, we decided it would be a good idea to start looking for someone to help us out by administrating our page on Facebook. This person would take the bulk of the online orders and queries, meaning that Stephen and I could spend more time completing orders and getting them shipped out to our customers. We managed to find Kirsty who is very dedicated in helping our business bloom. We are very happy to have her as part of our team.

We are based in Huncote, Leicestershire. We currently run our business from home, meaning that we are often busy working into the early hours of the morning.

We sell so many different wooden items. We cater for everyone!

Including the winning Craft Challenge piece, this was our newest make. The letters are approximately 6″ high for the tallest ones, and our smallest ones are approximately 3″ high. The plaque it is mounted on is a massive 315 inches by 236 inches plaque. The collage house is A2 in size (23 inches by 17 inches). The house is a replica of the customers actual house, but collaged. The picture really does not show the sheer size of it. It was a huge challenge but we were so happy with the outcome, as was the customer.

There are collage letters for the harder person to buy for. These are done with your own photographs which are sent to us by email.

These are our fully bespoke toy boxes;

Boys and girls letters, door plaques as well plaques and letters for you to decorate your home with.

We also offer many different fonts for weddings, to place on the head table or cake table. These are extremely popular and are available in a range of different fonts.

I don’t think it is essential to take up training or courses within this line of work, but it will help if you’re wanting to take the business further and it may help you to open your mind and think outside the box more, so you can continue to provide your customers with different makes that are unique to everyone else.

We have started moving forward with our business and our future plans are consisting of now designing and making bespoke kitchen doors using water resistant MDF and painting in new ranges of colours and styles like Annie Sloan and milk paints, we are also incorporating the odd piece of furniture using distressed techniques and we have recently started attending craft shows with our products and applying for online craft fairs.

To contact us, you can find us on Facebook and we also have our own website:

Find us on Facebook BSPOKE VICTORIA 

Or on our Own Website 

As you can see from above, we do plan to keep extending our business and not just rely on Facebook, so hopefully we’ll start appearing in all directions soon 🙂

Thanks for your interest and for voting for us as your winners.

Vikki and Kirsty xx

 

Featured Crafter ~ Penny Jane Designs

I haven’t featured a crafter on here for quite a while, mainly because a lot of the Craft Challenge Winners have not taken up the opportunity to promote themselves with a feature and also due to my laziness at not promoting this feature more.  But I must apologise to this crafter as she sent me her article the middle of September and it has taken me until now to be able to find a good slot for her.  (The Craft Challenge does get in the way sometimes, lol!)

Please tell us a bit about your background and your business and how you got started?

Penny Jane Designs emerged in 2007 and followed on from my years of involvement in community arts across Birmingham.  I realised I was spending all my time putting together examples for workshops and all my energy was going into running workshops with no time for my own artistic pursuits.  My background is in textiles and I was running workshops covering every art or craft category under the sun but at a basic level.  I really wanted to take more time to develop an art form of my own.  After my partner encouraged me I took a chance and exhibited a somewhat eclectic range of pieces at Birmingham’s Artsfest.  At first it was excruciating putting my work on show but I was so pleased when I sold some of it.  During the weekend I was also asked if I was interested in taking part in several craft fairs, which was to be another huge learning curve for me.

Tell us about your experience in crafting? Did you require any special training and/ or qualifications to make your crafts? Do you think it is essential to get training and would you recommend any courses or training?

I did a Fashion and Textiles degree way back in 1993 – when the internet was just a twinkle in everybody’s eye and I have just got my Masters in Art, Health and Well-being, which although it was very academic gave me some useful bits of information along the way.  The most useful bit of training I have done is various short day courses with the International Feltmakers Association at Ridware Arts.  I have learned so much from Melanie there.  Her knowledge and patience are second to none!

I don’t think it is important what level you are working at but I think a well-planned course can help with organisational skills and give the confidence and help to see a design through from the sketching stage to the final product.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-felt-studio-at-ridware-arts/108316492628657

http://www.feltmakers.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Feltmakers-Association/207453496012841

Where do you sell/ exhibit your work and what has been most successful for you? What if any are your future plans for your crafts?

Most of my sales come from face to face contact with the lovely people I meet at craft fairs.  I have sold work online but this has been slow and I admit I haven’t really gone for it big style yet….

I have various online stores and I am experimenting with paying a small fee to Etsy for a few weeks which gets my listings up when people search.  We’ll see how that goes!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pennyjanedesigns

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Penny-Jane-Designs/192153117479243

http://folksy.com/shops/pennyjanedesigns

www.pennyjanedesigns.co.uk

I am listed with some other online shops but am working hard to get them up and running alongside my others.  It’s certainly a challenge to keep track of what is for sale in them all, along with updating them regularly so things don’t look stale.

I really enjoy the feedback at craft fairs.  I try to really listen to people when they say “Oh that would be nice if it had a different backing” or “ I would prefer it like this.”  I am also ready to do little things like swap a brooch back for a clip if the customer pops back in five minutes.  It can make all the difference to a sale sometimes and I want people to be happy with what they have bought from me.  I made some little needle-felted babies recently and a customer held it up to her jacket and said she would like it as a brooch so that’s how they developed further.  I have also been asked recently by other crafters whether they could buy some pieces of my hand-made felt that they can cut up, sew and craft with.  They are now on my sites and will be for sale at my next event!

http://www.spacehopperevents.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MoonandLightMarkets

What have been your favourite or most challenging pieces that you have made and what inspired you to make them?

What a difficult question!  I put a lot into each piece so it’s difficult to choose a favourite really.

I am fond of my dry-needle felted babies.

But then I love my hairclips too – both the flowers and the Art Deco style ones.

And then there’s my embellished records and felted wall hangings.

It’s just too difficult to choose as I have times when each of these is a favourite and it’s all I ever want to make.  It’s the obsessive artistic streak in me.  Each one is a challenge to make the first time round.

Where and how do you keep your creative inspiration?

I find that the more I do, the more inspired I get.  I have always been an ideas person with scrapbooks and envelopes full of magazine cuttings and postcards.  One thing I remember from art college was that none of us design in a vacuum.  Ideas can come from everywhere at any time.  If I am blocked however I won’t carry on.  I will go out in the garden, take the dog for a walk or go for a mooch round the shops.  I find that switching off can be the best way for the spark to happen!

What keeps you motivated to continue in this business?

Sheer pig-headedness.

After I left Uni I really didn’t have the knowledge or confidence that I needed.  I am amazed by young people now who are so business minded and savvy about marketing.  It’s taken a while but I now believe in myself, my products and my ability to show them off to people without cringing (too much!)

What are your goals/plans for the future of your business? Do you have any plans to further your skills or to learn something new?

Well, I don’t really think I will be going for world domination with my felt-making as there are so many talented textile/ felt artists out there but I think there is room for us all.  I would like to see my work in galleries and shops so do let me know if there are any outlets looking for stock!  I have ridiculous amounts of ideas about where I want to go and items I wish to make – and not just from felt.  Watch this space!

What would be your 3 essential pieces of craft equipment if you were stranded on a desert island?

These would have to be my felting needle and sponge (for nights in front of the camp fire or if I can’t get hold of any water.

My bamboo rolling mat and soap for when I have room to fling warm water around and stick my elbows out.

I think that’s four but I reckon there’ll be room on the island.

When you first started if you could have been given one piece of advice what would it have been and what advice would you like to pass on?

Be business like and don’t be apologetic about your work. Ouch, I’ve done it!

Have cards ready because if you don’t a potential customer is more likely to get in touch with the one whose card they have.

Phone, email or send a link if you say you will as it will be remembered.

Be positive – it’s catching!

That’s a sort of three in one bit of advice.  I’ve never stuck to the rules.

Lastly where can we find you?

All these places!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pennyjanedesigns

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Penny-Jane-Designs/192153117479243

http://folksy.com/shops/pennyjanedesigns

www.pennyjanedesigns.co.uk with lists of craft fairs I shall be at.

I would love to hear from you.  I am also looking for constructive feedback on my online shops as I really value it!

Thanks.

 Penny Jane Designs

 

Featured Crafter ~ Paint Pots And Petals

It’s been a while since anyone has agreed to do a Featured Crafter article, I think you must all be feeling shy regarding self promotion?  But luckily Paint Pots And Petals who jointly won our last Craft Blog Challenge, way back at the end of July, accepted the opportunity and agreed to write an article for this Blog. But due to myself taking August off as a holiday, the article has been somewhat delayed, sorry!  However, now that I’ve almost caught up on the mountain of messages, I am very happy to finally introduce to you the ladies behind the business, Paint Pots And Petals.  Thank you.

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As Paint Pots and Petals we were offered the opportunity to feature on this lovely blog.  I (one of said Petals) thought I would use the questions provided as a guide to write the post, but alas when I read my answers back I made the Petals sound incredibly dull.  Therefore, I gave it up and I am ad-libbing – OK so where to start…?

We are two creative mums who have a knack with a paint brush.  Over the last 2 years we have built up our business slowly to fit in nicely with our family lives.

This is our online face  www.facebook.com/paintpotsandpetals  (prices ,updates and ideas all here)  We also have a blog which has been neglected of late due to holidays and my new hobby (papercutting – totally addicted) www.paintpotsandpetals.blogspot.com

This is our new logo ….. ta-dah!

And, this is us……

This is one of our main products, personalised wooden bunting ~

Oh hang on now I sound like I’m talking you through my holiday snaps!  Oh dear!

Ok never mind I’m over it, start as you mean to go on etc etc.

Here are a few of our favourite commissions:

Bell on Bottle

Canvas

All our items are hand-painted and unique.  We work mainly on recommendation and repeat business, but we also attend craft fairs from time to time.  Our inspiration comes from our customer’s requests and also our children (The Little Petals) who come up with incredibly fabulous ideas un-daunted by convention.

We have recently branched out into wall murals so I thought I’d share a couple of these with you all.

Castle

Train

Fairy

It is very hard taking a decently lit picture in a room and if anyone has any useful tips on how to get the best photograph of something you can’t move out into the light we would very much appreciate this.  We mainly go for children’s themes as this seems to suit our style and you can really let you imagination run free when painting for children.  This has led us to get involved with two local schools and have helped the school children to paint some outdoor murals (one is still in progress to be finished in September due to the awful rain we had in July).

Lastly, we are excited to announce that we have a plan in the pipelines to be involved in a ‘pop-up’ gallery within Astley Park Chorley, Lancashire where artists/makers work will be for sale and there will be the chance for visitors to get involved and try out a variety of arts and crafts.  Please keep an eye on our blog and Facebook page for further announcements.

Lots of Love The Petals.

 

Featured Crafter ~ Mosaic tree

I really must apologise to Annie and Maggie of Mosaic Tree, I have had this article in my draft folder for quite a while now and I  forgot all about it.  I am so, so sorry. 

Please read more about these two lovely ladies, who make a glorious array of colourful inspired handmade accessories and gifts.

Tell us a bit about your background and your business?

Mosaic Tree is the home of handcrafted accessories – for you and your home.  Most items are knitted, lots are decorated with wooden beads and all are inspired by colour.  I’m Annie and the needles behind the outfit, Maggie is my co-partner in craft.

The knitting started one Christmas when I was at a loose end and came across a junior knitting book, a child sized pair of needles and some decidedly dodgy coloured wool.  Mosaic Tree grew from there – online Folksy shop and local craft fairs around the Somerset area where we’re based.

Tell us about what you make and what training and qualifications you have or needed?

Mosaic Tree has some in-house creations which are always popular – gadget covers (iPod, mobile), necklaces and spiral brooches – knitted with wooden bead detail, wooden beaded bracelet watches and hairbands/ear bands with spiral detail.  New this season are the mini hot water bottle covers (mini hot water bottle included).  In the pipeline are sunglasses cases – this may be a joint project with my mum!

Phone Cover with rainbow spiral detail

Every item is unique, beautifully handmade, and created from a selection of cotton yarn, silk sari yarn, vintage buttons and wooden beads.  Customers feel like they’re in a sweet shop when they stumble upon Mosaic Tree’s shop window on-line or in real life.

No training or qualifications needed for this one – just a serious attachment to perfectionism and oodles of patience – particularly when developing a new design.  And an ability to ferret out you tube videos showing ‘how to’ when trying new things, and befriending experienced knitters so that I can pick their brains!

Where do you sell/exhibit your work?

Mosaic Tree Folksy shop (www.folksy.com/shops/mosaictree) was the first foray into the world of online shopping.  Further down the Cyberspace High Street, Mosaic Tree now has a stall at love-somerset.co.uk, buying and selling locally produced goods is a topic close to my heart so it’s positive to be part of this.

I attend a bi-monthly local produce and craft market at Wookey Church Hall.  Doing one craft fair regularly is a good way to build a rapport with customers who look forward to you being there and enjoy a chat and catch up.  It’s fun as well as there’s camaraderie between the stall holders.  We’re growing Mosaic Tree slowly – the main thing is to enjoy all aspects of the crafting – and building up craft fairs that we enjoy are part of it. It takes time to find what markets work – and what doesn’t.

Mosaic Tree products are currently stocked in two shops – Red House Gifts (www.redhousegifts.co.uk) in Totnes, Devon and Padma in Glastonbury.

Tell us about some of your favourite or most challenging pieces and what inspired you to make them, is there a story behind each piece? 

The most challenging piece to date has been developing the design for the mini hot water bottle covers.  I worked from a pattern for a full size one and then had to work out how to translate this into a mini version!  The biggest problem was working out the best place to do the opening (an early prototype had a side opening but I’ve now settled on an opening at the bottom with a flap and 3 button fastening.  This has been incorporated into the design).  The inspiration for these came from Maggie challenging me to try to make them!

One of my most fun items has been the Mosaic Tree wooden beaded bracelet watch.  I had seen something similar in a shop but realised that I had a much wider choice of beads at home already in my craft store.  Ebay came up with the watch faces and it was then just a question of experimenting with the best way to make them.  Readers can have a go at this themselves with the step by step instructions on the Mosaic Tree blog (http://mosaictree.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/how-to-make-wooden-beaded-watch.html).

Sometimes it is other stallholders who come up with the best suggestions.  A neighbouring stall holder mentioned how she loved knitted hairbands and she thought that they’d go down a treat as part of Mosaic Tree’s repertoire.  And how right she was!  I developed a design in ribbed knit so that they’re stretchy.  The joy is that they can fit all size heads as the pattern has a series of natural holes which are ideal as buttonholes.

Where do you find your creative inspiration?

Colourful yarns always inspire me – a woolshop or an online shop will get my creative juices flowing (ethniccrafts.co.uk is a favourite haunt).  Colour combinations work too – nature, a photo of a featured room in a home and gardens magazine etc.  When working on a new design, I often start with a basic pattern and then rework it to become a Mosaic Tree original.

What motivates you?

My motivation is the fact that I spent too many years ignoring my creative side.  The personal satisfaction and pride in creating something is very special.  Plus it has made present giving easier the last couple of years!

What piece of equipment could you not live without or which is your favourite?

Knitting needles – I’d be scuppered without them!

What are your goals/plans for the future?

We’re exploring working with new materials – fimo clay is the latest.  I’d like to master the sewing machine; I have one in the loft waiting for me to get to grips with it.  I think a whole new world will open up then using both knitting and sewing techniques.

When you first started if you could have been given one piece of advice what would it have been and what advice would you pass on?

For me, it’s about enjoying Mosaic Tree and working out its niche – not to have unrealistic expectations.  And advice to others?  Check out your craft fairs before signing up to have a stall at one – it’s the best way to gauge if it’ll work for you.

Where can we find you?  (Contact details etc)

www.facebook.com/mosaictree

www.folksy.com/shops/mosaictree

www.mosaictree.blogspot.co.uk

twitter – @mosaictree

email – mosaic_tree@yahoo.co.uk

 

Featured Crafter ~ Cathy N Designs

I’m really pleased to introduce to you Cathy N Designs the winner of our recent  ‘Craft in Music’ Challenge.  Cathy makes a lovely selection of unique textile gifts, please read on ……

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Cathy N Designs

Hi my name is Catherine Napier and I run Cathy N Designs. I live in Chippenham with my partner and 2 children, 2 year old Joshua and 4 month old Ethan. My partner came up with the name Cathy N Designs which I sell handmade textiles including; patchwork quilts, cushions, bunting and other textile gifts which are hand-made by me. I have always loved to sew ever since I can remember and actually recently came across the very first thing I ever made, a stuffed teddy made from a kit bought at a car boot sale. Cathy N Designs was created when Joshua was born after I created a baby birth details cushion for him which I then posted on Facebook and a friend asked me to make her one too, and so Cathy N Designs was born! I then slowly started to make other items all which can be personalised for that extra special personal and unique touch.

I am predominantly self-taught, though I do have a GCSE in Textile design. I would love to go back to university to study textile design one day. (I currently have a degree in Education and Creative writing, so totally unrelated to sewing!)

I mainly sell and advertise via Facebook. I have a page – www.facebook.com/cathyndesigns and use a lot of networking pages to advertise my items.

I have recently started doing stalls, my first one was at a dog show and fete in my local park sunday just gone and I am lucky enough to have a stall in my local shopping centre on the 13th and 14th July.  I would love to be able to get enough stock together to do maybe 2 craft fairs a month and to make enough profit to make this my full-time job, I currently work as a carer for a woman suffering with ME and I also work for a company who care for the elderly in their own homes.

I think this quilt was one of my most challenging pieces as it was the first photo item I created so there was a lot of experimentation into what methods worked and what didn’t.

One of my favourite items has got to be this Cath Kidston inspired quilt with a massive 48 photos! As all the photos were posted to me to scan in first this was a huge project, but I feel it turned out beautifully.

Cath Kidston Inspired Quilt

Another of my favourite pieces has got to be the item that won me this competition, my decoupage chair. I am supposed to be selling it, but shhhh, don’t tell my partner I’m not making too much effort as I kind of want to keep it for me!!

Music Inspired Chair (Winner of ‘Craft in Music’ Challenge

My motivation comes from a desire to earn money by doing something I love and that can fit in around my babies and enable me to be a stay at home mum. I love to create my items and take great pleasure in the pleasure that people get from them. I love to pick out fabrics that go well together and create items to individuals specifications.

The one piece of equipment I could not live without is my sewing machine. I am actually very new to the use of a sewing machine and 2 years ago prefered to do everything by hand. This was fine when I was only sewing for myself, but not so practical when creating double quilts to a time scale! My sewing machine actually belonged to my Grandmother and is older than me, but is still going strong. It broke once and I replaced it with a new machine which very quickly went back to the shop and I repaired my lovely old Toyota!

When I first started the one piece of advice I wish someone had told me is that it is hard work! I know this shouldn’t be a surprise really, but a friend once asked me recently how I have so many fans on my page, I told her it was because I spend hours each day advertising and networking, people wont just find your page, you have to show it to them. If you’re not carefull it can totally take over your life. So the one piece of advice I would give to someone starting out is its hard work, it takes dedication and hours of time not just in creating items, but in marketing and advertising your items too, but, if it’s something you love, it’s totally worth it.

If you’d like to check out my gorgeous items please pop over to my page www.facebook.com/cathyndesigns. If you would like to discuss or place an order please feel free to message me via my page or email me at catherine.napier@hotmail.co.uk.

Thank you.

Cathy