Tea Cosy for Mad Tea Parties

Let's meet a talented UK designer. Her name is Ann McGuinness, she is great with needles and for creating fun, funky and adorable home accessories. She has accepted to answer our little questions for us.

- Bonjour Ann, tell us, how did you get started ?
I have been crafting in one way or another since I was very small, and everyone always said "you should try to sell these" The internet is a great tool for people just starting out, so without much in the way of investment I was able to open an etsy shop as an outlet for my crafting tendencies. I all moved on from there.

- Where are you from?
From Glasgow, Scotland originally but now settled in a tiny village about 25 miles to the south, in rural Lanarkshire. A whole different world to the busy city I grew up in.

- Are your creations limited editions or unique?
Everything I make is one of a kind, as it is all hand-knitted, hand-cut, hand-stitched, etc. Even 2 tea cosies will never be identical, the wool I use is not highly processed and the beauty is that the colours and textures differ from one ball to the next.

- When did you start knitting?
My Mum taught me to knit when I was about 8 I think, but I picked up the needles again when I was pregnant, around 4 years ago and it is only since then that I have followed patterns and learned fancy stitches.

- Where do you get your yarns?
All the yarn I use comes from New Lanark Woolen Mill, which is a water powered victorian mill on the banks of the Clyde. New Lanark itself is a world heritage site... well worth a visit if you are ever in Central Scotland.

- Which one is your favorite?
I love working with the pinks and purples, I just love the way the wool takes on the dye.

- Are you a professional artist or is this a hobby?
My crafts are my income, I also run our 'mini-holding' and home educate our daughter so I am a busy lady.... I guess 'artist' is one of my professions.

- What inspires you?
Walks in the woods, flowers in bloom (my sweet peas have just come out now... I just love the colours) I also love a cosy home and I get lots of ideas from looking at magazines and websites about homes around the world.

- What is your favorite piece and why?
I love my tea-cosies, they are chunky and cosy and I love the way they come together.... needless to say I have a few myself.

- How do you promote your work?
I use facebook and twitter, I have my blog and have give-aways occasionally, I try to keep active in relevant on-line forums (especially on Etsy) but there are only so many hours in the day...lol. In real life I hand out my business card and talk to people about my crafts and any fairs I might have coming up.

- Where are you showing your work?
At the moment, on-line - on my own website and at etsy. I have some interest from gift shops, so that is something I hope to move into soon.

- What advice you wish someone had told you when you started?
Keep active, make friends with the on-line crafting community and work on your presentation.

- Do you have any advice for fellow artists?
Keep on keeping on. Don't get disheartened by lack of sales and always consider how you can improve your product.

- any special promos?
Everything from Snowdrops and Daisies comes gift wrapped and can be delivered directly to the recipient. I occasionally have give-aways and special offers through my blog so check in there for offers and promos http://snowdropsanddaisies.wordpress.com/blog

- what would you like to be when you grow up ?
Content and happy :).... or maybe an astronaut.

- favorite jeweller ?
Alibali - just love her style.

- favorite websites ?
Design sponge  I could just spend hours flicking through the pages here.
Etsy, of course, amazing range of handcrafted work from artisans around the world.

- Anything else you'd like to add?
I have recently re-opened my shop after a harsh time with some very naughty builders. I am getting back into the swing of things but sadly my home has been destroyed and I have a long slog ahead of me to get it sorted out. Selling boosts my confidence a lot and knitting really helps calm me down.... now, if I could just find my sewing machine and work table I could get making my new ranges... :)

- Her site www.snowdropsanddaisies.com
- her blog http://snowdropsanddaisies.wordpress.com/blog/

Top 50 Etsy moms

50 Best Etsy Moms

As reported on Babble.com

Etsy.com is a booming hub for artists all around the world to sell their handmade products, consequently creating a community bursting with creativity and ingenuity. It’s a place to find unique treasures that directly supports some of the most talented individuals and their crafts. Not surprisingly, many of these artists, dreamers, designers and builders are moms like us. They’re balancing the day-to-day parenting responsibilities — sometimes with another day job, sometimes as a single mom — while still squeezing in time for their growing business. (This is where naps and bed times come in handy.) And they’re not just doing it for the money; they’re utilizing this creative outlet while teaching
their children the value of artistry, resourcefulness and determination.
We sifted through thousands of these talented moms to find our favorite 50 of the bunch. (Not an easy feat, you can imagine.) What we love about Etsy moms is the fact that, besides being exceptionally talented and busy, they all create products inspired by a mother’s own needs and wants. That’s why so many of these shops feature affordable, safe and stylish alternatives inspired by motherhood.
Although our picks span dozens of different categories, cultures and time zones, there were overwhelming similarities between the moms. The vast majority described their skills and insatiable need to create as being passed down through the family tree — one generation patiently teaching the next. Even more similarly, each and every one — whether they’ve been crafting for 3 or 30 years — pinpointed their children as inspiration. Often it was the desire to work from home while raising the kids; sometimes a need for better, safer products for their children; and many times it was a dream resurrected from the innocent imagination unfolding before them. Regardless, these moms are all motivated by their children, who in turn will be inspired by their mothers.

Of course it’s nearly impossible to find every talented Etsy mom, so we encourage you to share your favorites and, of course, support these striking talents.

Business Management - tips

A few tips from Michelle Blakeley

Small business management is a delicate balance of planning, action and intrinsic perspective. With minimal resources, time and money must be spent wisely. Business fundamentals must be incorporated at all times. Below are 7 "best practice” seeds to plant. When watered (acted upon), they will help your business grow.

1. Be clear about what need your business fulfills – Just because you have business cards and your sign says "open,” doesn’t’ mean you have a sale. Be clear about how your product or service helps or benefits someone. We have so many choices these days and people are savvier than ever about how and where they spend their money. Make sure you have something of real value and use and be ready to explain why and how it makes life easier or better.
2. Know where to find your ideal clients and how to communicate with them. It doesn’t make much sense to have the perfect product or service for pilots who fly charter planes if you are spending your time connecting and marketing to them on Facebook or Myspace. You have to know where to find your ideal clients and how to communicate with them. Too many small business owners are still marketing to "everyone” or the "general public.” It can quickly kill a business.  Refine your target market and define your ideal client.
3. Have a clear, concise and consistent marketing message – Do potential clients know what you do based on the information on your business card, website, social network profile? What is your elevator pitch? Do you have one? Can you clearly define your business AND its benefit in 30 seconds? You never know when an opportunity will arise or when you will spontaneously be in the presence of your biggest client. Always be prepared to explain what you do, how you do it, why you do it and what’s the benefit.
4. Take inventory of your existing resources – Small business owners are in constant "I need” and "If only I had” mode. The truth is, often times what you need is already in your bag of resources. You had a life before you started your business and you have colleagues, friends and family. Always be sure you check your sphere of influence for your needs first before looking outside. The people that already know you are your greatest asset. If you need clients, tell them first. If you have a sale or promotion, tell them first. If you need help, tell them first.
5. Have a functional system in place – As a small business owner, you probably can’t afford to get sick or take long vacations. Which is why it is vital that you have functional systems in place that will minimize unexpected absences and the need for damage control. You should document your processes. When your business is streamlined and you have systems in place, it reduces chaos and stress on bad days, missed days and sick days. It also makes it easier for someone to come in and "follow along” when help is needed.
6. Communicate with your clients… often – Many small business owners spend an inappropriate amount of time generating new clients. This time and energy is better spent if you focus on cultivating relationships with your existing clients. How many of your existing clients are "repeat customers?” If your "new clients” outweigh your "repeat clients,” you have a problem. Repeat clients are the ones who are singing your praises to their friends and family. Word of mouth advertising is priceless. Repeat clients are the ones who will continue to patronize you out of loyalty through price changes, varied economic climates, and a bad day. Yes, you need to engage new clients, but your existing clients are your foundation.
7. Stay ahead of the curve – The best way to stay ahead of the curve is to continue to educate yourself in all areas of your business and industry. You also want to keep your finger on the pulse of your clients’ needs. Clients’ needs change with the wind and the quicker you can adapt to the changes (while maintaining the integrity and purpose of your business) the better your business will be for it. Anticipate change and adapt.

Michelle Blakeley is the Founder and CEO of Simplicity, Inc.; a progressive small business development firm. She manages her clients’ business expectations and prevents information overload via Micro Business Therapy™ and Micro Business Action Plans. She is featured in Forbes.com and the Financial Post as one of 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter, contributor for the San Francisco Examiner, the host of Simple Truths for Women Entrepreneurson BlogTalkRadio.com and author of the NEW e-book: "Get it Right and Move Along… a collection of practical tips, tools and techniques for small business owners.”

What to wear...

youv_gotmail
Originally uploaded by kalicat_designs

... to go to the post office

V neck tight fitting sky grey dress, Diva red lipstick and nail polish,
styles with elegance by the addition of soem jewels: a statement necklace and bracelets

featured - Ice dreams

Featured product of the day on Dawanda
Ice Dreams was born from very thin sterling silver wire with rock crystal gesmtones, inspired by melting ice cubes.

Dotty blue ring

A new addition to the Dotty range of jewellery, with the Dotty ring

This cute little ring is 2 mm wide, with a flat sterling silver band, that has a satin textured finish.
It features 3 little dots of turquoise cabochons, that are the perfect complement to the Dotty blue earrings.
Ideal to wear everyday, this hand crafted band is available at http://en.dawanda.com/product/9343346-Dotty-Blue-turquoise-silver-ring

Not an April Fool

Time to try winning some jewelry, curtesy of Skepti,
at http://urbannaturalhistory.blogspot.com/

a little bit more about this creative:
"
Since a very young age my primary interests have been the natural sciences and art.
They are intimately connected in everything I do.
I have studied Fine Arts and Philosophy.

My goals:
-Get a degree in the History and Philosophy of Science.
-Learn to make my own furniture.
-Get a sewing machine.
-Do most of my traveling by bike.
-See the fossils starting from the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
-See all the plants listed in the Flore Laurentienne by Frère Marie-Victorin (founder of the Montreal Botanical Gardens).

I read voraciously, I do botanical photography, collect antique botanical illustrations, have a rather large indoor flora, and more recently have been making jewelry using vintage and recycled parts here on Etsy!

I have 3 men in my life: my amazing boyfriend and two adorable boy rats adopted from the SPCA.

I reduce, re-use and recycle - in that order!

To explore more:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/EcoRetroBling
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12714842@N03/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EcoRetroBling
"

Creative wishes

1. What is your business/craft and give a summary of your handmade process.
I create handmade costume jewellery, greeting cards and other handcrafted keepsakes and gifts.

I use all manner of items to create my 'wishes', from found, reclaimed items to brand new bought raw crafting products. This allows me to offer unique pieces that are either one of a kind or are in small quantities.

I have been a crafter for as long as I can remember and have dabbled in many different crafts over the years, honestly I can’t think of a type of craft that doesn’t interest me and this can leave me feeling like time is running out, as I would love to try my hand at everything. My main stays have always been paper based crafts and more recently over the last 8+ years creating jewellery, in last 6 months I have become truly fascinated with creating wearable art and so plan to explore this avenue more in depth.

2. What event, series of events, or situations allowed you to start your business and make money with your crafts?
I am recently new to the world of selling my creations, only started Oct, 09. I have always been told by family and friends that I should turn my then hobby into a business but I finally decided to bite the bullet last year when I found myself finally a stay at home mom with a lot more time on my hands.

So I decided to put my time to good use and started creating items from my craft stock cupboard, I was accumulating items with no real plans on what to do with the finished products and so decided to open a little blogshop to flog my wares so to speak.

3. Where does your inspiration for your designs come from?
I get inspired by many different sources;
Magazines, tutorials, other crafters and designers all sometimes lead me in another direction or help me to challenge the way I would normally do things, allowing me to put my own spin on an idea.
Nature and the natural world also greatly influence the materials I use, the colours I lean to and some of my design ideas.
But most times I simply sit in front of my work table and just let my ideas come freely. I rarely draw out my designs before hand. I am though planning to create various mood boards to help me find inspiration for when I am having a crafters block moment.

4. How does your culture, upbringing, and/or environment influence your designs/crafts?
My father was an architect and my mom was an accomplished seamstress while I was growing up, I was also very lucky to have a couple relatives whose careers were art related, this along with a very supportive extended family lead me to enjoy and pursue my creative side as a youngster.

The adults from my childhood always seem to praise the individuality and uniqueness of the kids in their charge, which constantly gives me, even now, the confidence to think and create outside the box so to speak.

5. What are some of the ways you market and promote your business/Craft?
Like I said before I am new to this and so I am still finding my way in self promotion of my brand so to speak. Currently I use the following:
Blogging and all that it entails.
Twitter.
Free ad type websites.
Craft forums.
Face to face self promotion such as business cards, etc.
And this year I also plan to do a few local craft shows, school bazaars, jewellery parties, etc.

6. Do you use myspace, facebook, flickr, ning, or other social networking sites? If yes or no, why?
You can find me on Flickr, Twitter and UK Handmade ning forum. I had initially been on lots of others but found I was spending more time networking rather than creating. I am still trying to find the right balance.

Flickr - I use to show case some of my work mainly when I join groups with other creators concentrating on a specific creative topic/ medium.
Twitter - I use mainly to advertise when I add new items to my shops and to advertise me shop overall. I also use this site to let others know when I have updated my blogs and as time go on I will also use it to inform others of shows, bazaars, etc I can be found at.
UK Handmade ning based forum - is a great place for me to network with other UK based creators, its where I can share and get feedback on my ideas and make new friends with others who have similar interests.

7. Based on your experience, what advice would you give to other crafters selling or looking to start selling their crafts?
Like I said before I just started my business on a whim but when I have ran businesses before I found and experienced a steady upward growth quicker when I laid a good foundation before launching the business.

I had no experience selling online when I started and though I am learning a lot every day, I would have done better to research what it entailed before jumping in. there certainly would have been less mistakes and better uses of my time if I had followed this fundamental rule of business.

Thankfully it hasn’t cost me any loss of money the way I did it but I‘m sure it has affected some of my earning potential.

8. Aside from running your business what are some of the fun things you like to do in life?
Gardening is a big love of mine; it’s another thing I have been doing for as long as I can remember.
I also enjoy being a stay at home mom and home schooling my youngest at the moment.
Reading, long countryside walks/ bike rides (with/ without my family), dancing and hanging out with girlfriends are some of the other things I enjoy doing.

9. Please add any links here:

My store name is Kella’s Creative Wishes and…

My Blogshop is for UK shoppers: http://kellascreativewishes.blogspot.com/
I also have a store for international customers: http://kellascreativewishes.storenvy.com/

My blogs are:

http://mebutalittlebitmoreindepth.blogspot.com/ Where I blog about family life and my crafting projects.
http://kellasvegeplotandothermusings.blogspot.com/ Where I blog about my gardening exploits and growing my own food for my family.

Other places to find me are on:
Twitter.
Flickr.
UK Handmade forum.

Thank you

Turquoise treatments

Stabilized Turquoise, what does it mean ?

STABILIZING is a treatment which enhances the hardness of the gemstone.
(it does not mean that the gemstone is dyed)

There are other different treatments available;
Among the ways of treating turquoise, treatments can include wax,staining, plastics impregnation.
Different treatments have quite an effect on quality, so the type of treatment is a very important parameter in measuring the quality of Turquoise

Suivre le fil d'Arianna

1) What is your business/craft?
I mainly do jewellery, but my crafts also include some home decor and some accessories.I use different media, so the processes involved in each type of craft are different.For my “normal”jewellery I mainly use wire-wrapping and stringing techniques with beading wire,metal wire and glass beads or semi precious stones.
For my polymer clay jewellery and home decor the process is totally different and lenghty.
It all starts with the row materials(clay) and patience.I use both the standard colours and my own blends.The clayis kneaded, rolled and then worked in different ways, depending on what you want to do.If you want to make a cane then you just keep on rolling, flattening and composing your design into a log (the cane).Then you build your item’s shape (a bead,a pendant,hair barrette or a sheet if you are covering something) and you decorate it with slices of your cane/sheet.You cure your item in the oven and then you sand it, polish it and glaze it.

2) What event, series of events, or situations allowed you to start your business and make money with your crafts?
After doing some beading and fimo to fill up the time I was spending alone at home I decided to give it a try and open my online shop. This is when I realised that I was totally addicted to making crafts, so that it was a natural development. And, just to be on the safe side, although I didn’t expect to make much money with it, I registered with the HR for peace of mind.the business was set up!

3) Where does your inspiration for your designs come from?
I take my inspiration from everything. Shapes, colours, other crafters’work or any tiny detail you can notice around.I rarely have a plan, I’m a messy crafter!Most of the time I fall for a shape or a colour and I start from there, trying until I find my way around it.

4) How does your culture, upbringing, and/or environment influence your designs/crafts?
I come from a country where attention to details is very important, So I guess this has somehow influenced me, madking me prefer simple designs with small details to give emphasys, rather then elaborated ones.My mum is a creative person too, and I guess this is my main influence.She thaught me to add your personal touch to things.

5) What are some of the ways you market and promote your business/Craft?
Lately I haven’t been promoting so much, as I’m focxused on revising my suppliers, stocking up supplies and the branding, so that I haven’t had much time to do anything else.NormSo far the most effective way to promote has been the word of mouth, I reckon. Most of my work is on custom orders, and these arrive to me through friends/friends of friends etc. Etsy tools have also been very useful, from the FB application to the simple (and debated) item re-listing and renewal. I’m planning to buy some ads (on FB or Google), but I have to fill up the shop again first!

6) Do you use myspace, facebook, flickr, ning, or other social networking sites? If yes or no, why?
I do use FB and Flickr..and UK Handmade, which I believe is a ning...?I’m not always so active lately for the reasons i explained above. fb really gets me lots of views..not sales, though.

7) Based on your experience, what advice would you give to other crafters selling or looking to start selling their crafts?
To be consistent. To set up a structure for your business before getting into it with no direction.
To set your goals, To be not so emotional about your business, but rather be clear, rational and open-minded. To observe things and people, from competitors to customers, and understand what your tools are. I’m only trying to do all this now and it is draining!Better a bit of planning ahead.And always remember that you are doing what you love, even in the lucky case you’ve transform it into a proper business.Under pressure it’s easy to forget that you love making that fiddly thing, much easier to look at it as something that now has to be done and possibly quickly. Wrong, as you’ll loose your touch, in my opinion.

8) Aside from running your business what are some of the fun things you like to do in life?
Well..lately I haven’t got much time left, as I’m employed full time and do my crafts in my “free”(!) moments... But,in a normal situation, I like to walk, going around with no destination, discovering hidden corners of London, taking pictures, visiting markets, and of course....having litres of coffee with my girlfriends!!!!

9) Visit the website www.petitechacal.com and the Blog
http://somuchlife-petitechacal.blogspot.com/