Tag: unique

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Meet the Sellers x 3!

 

Team TBCH South East Cornwall Meetup – meet Halyey, Buffy & Chris

 

Written by Buffy…who is The Twisted Felter

So earlier today I met up for brunch with the lovely Hayley aka The Northern Smuggler and Chris The Chris Artist. Chris paints beautiful artwork from the surrounding areas and Hayley creates fabulous Resin artwork and jewellery inspired by the local Cornish Coast. Luckily Chris had chosen the best café (award winning @olivecocafe thankyou…delish!) and so I turned up to meet 2 complete strangers thinking I should have worn a rose in my lapel?! Sadly I was lapel-less so I took a chance and sidled up to a random man sitting on his own who fortunately turned out to be Chris and Hayley joined us soon after.

My brain is a busy one so I had brought along a list of things I wanted to ask (I feel like a bit of a duffer with the whole online selling and social media stuff as I’m new to the game) and was pleasantly surprised that they too had the same questions and doubts. As Hayley put it ‘Fake it ’til you Make it’. Although Hayley was not giving herself credit as she had lots of  great media tips and advice and has her own professional branding which looks fab. Chris is already self employed so gave me good advice around tax returns, a boring but necessary part of it all. It was sound advice…pay an accountant!!

We chatted about The British Craft House website and how we were finding navigating our way around. We wondered when Dottie (our Illustrious Leader, advice giver, encouragement officer and all round good egg) EVER SLEEPS?!? She seems to be sending encouraging posts in the middle of the night!

We talked about how isolating working alone and from home can be sometimes and how fab it was to meet up with the real people behind our sellers names. We shared contacts for work in the local area, craft initiatives,the best Apps, training days, ideas for display and presentation, photography and we laughed at ourselves a fair bit. We talked about the insecurities of seeing the imperfections in our work and whether they are good enough to sell, the vulnerability of putting your work out there in front of people, the difficulty of feeling comfortable promoting (non-stop!) yourself online. And we arranged to meet again of course.

So this is my first blog. I’ve no idea whether it’s good. Or not. But I’m venturing right out of my comfort zone writing it AND putting a photo of myself online. That’s how rock and roll I am today. I’m a blogger. Boom!

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How It Started – Meet JoSara

Me, Jo from JoSara

Hi, I’m Jo, thanks for popping in. Where did it start? Well, I was looking for a decorative and practical bird bath for my own garden and I couldn’t find any that fitted the bill. I had seen a few mosaic style designs on my search and I thought, I could have a go at that. So, I researched garden suitable materials, taught myself how to mosaic, and made my own unique pattern Moroccan pool style bird bath (a design that is still one I have in my shop today, and the bird bath is still going strong in my garden). That started me on a train of thought where lots of different mosaic designs I could create were popping into my head.

handmade mosaic birdbath with unique hedgehog design
  Rainbow Hedgehog bird bath

Those train of thought designs included something to help our hedgehogs, because it was around that time that I became aware of the plight they were in with their numbers plummeting. As I read more on the subject I realised water is key to attracting wildlife to your garden and can be a lifesaver for them, too. So I thought what better? You could have something decorative to look at, while the water it provides is helping keep your garden wildlife healthy and you could also enjoy watching the wildlife that appeared. Seemed a win, win to me.

Mosaic bird bath with a unique handmade design created by josara
     Moroccan Pool bird bath

I have always been quite arty, but never pursued it, I certainly never thought it would become my career. I also have always had a keen interest in the natural world, but never thought of combining the two things until I made that first bird bath and the penny dropped. There must be other people out there that want something a bit more unique for their home and garden too? Fate had it that I was in a position to leave my long term, very dull, admin job and try starting my own business to find out. The timing was perfect with the handmade boom just getting going and lots of information about how to start a handmade business online was appearing on the internet. So my brand, JoSara, was born with my first online shop opening in 2011.

JoSara in Birds and Blooms magazine
JoSara in Birds and Blooms magazine

Since then it’s been going from strength to strength, including more online shops, a website, and being featured online and in print, with my Three Bees bird bath being in the 5th best selling mag in the home and garden category in the US, Birds and Blooms. And in the US that means a LOT of readers, so that was amazing. My ranges have been expanding, with new designs still popping into my head. And it’s all thanks to the nature and wildlife lovers, and lovers of things a little bit different that were definitely out there.

To follow new designs in progress follow me on Facebook – JoSaraDesign

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Gold and Red Radiance

I gain a lot of inspiration while out running with the dogs, did you know it’s actually a sport called Canicross or Canix for short? I don’t enter races, I find that I get enough satisfaction with the local trails…which is where certain tiny details in nature catch my eye.

It was while I was out on one of these runs that I passed a wonderful Cotoneaster plant cascading over the ground with it’s scarlet leaves and berries. It was quite a sight!

cotoneaster

cotoneaster

The tiny leaves and the number of them and did I mention the colour!? Wow! I knew that I had to make something based on this! Paired with another find of the gold centred red leaves of brambles also turning in the cold late autumn weather I had the perfect combination for something very special. Did you know that red is considered a lucky colour by some people? 

brambles

This is where the Red and Gold Radiance bridal range was born.

Starting with a clear acrylic hair comb, while I mulled over the larger details of the tiara, and a number of different coloured beads of various sizes and shapes I drew together the elements that would work well together adding in extras to embellish and be a contrast against the richness of the red and gold; something to draw the eye in and to hold the attention.

Working very much in an organic way the gold centred red leaves and foliage began to take shape. Wire twisting and bending into curved stems. Stems building and a dense design beginning to unfold and grow.

bead work

Stems secured onto the hair comb by the tail ends of the wires, twisting and trimming the excess the before the finishing touch of a band of red and gold could be placed as a boarder hiding all the working and bringing the piece to a stunning conclusion.
hair comb in held in hand  
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Welcome!

I just thought whilst I was photographing, listing, measuring and generally sorting what planters and window boxes I have made it would be a nice idea to introduce myself properly. 

This is my world of Metal Garden Planters. 

Welcome, my name is Fiona, I have 2 children (12 and 9) 1 mini dachshund and an OAP Cat who thinks he is a teenager still. I live in the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, famous for being voted the most boring town in the UK one year, being the birth place of myself, Margaret Thatcher, Doris Stokes and Sir Isaac Newton to name a few. 

The image is of me, no makeup, not having done my hair and dressed for the cold,  about to set off in my VW Flatbed, with some roofing sheets on the back. I sell a variety of Box Profile and Corrugated roofing sheets, and manufacture the flashings to finish the edges in house. It was from the waste I was generating in terms of making the flashings which lead me down the path of making metal boxes. 

I was on the hunt for an office bin one day, and the cost shocked me, let alone the fact they are all fairly boring looking so after some cutting, measuring, and general faffing with the Guilloline (not the kind the Frenchman used to lop off the heads of Aristocracy) but a blade which can cut thin metal sheeting safely, and my bending machine (its clamp with a lever that once lifted puts a fold in a metal sheet in its simplest form) A bright yellow tall, square bin was created, and 6+ years later it is still used daily. 

So thats how I started, if you have any specific questions for future blog posts I would be happy to answer them, in the meantime I will continue selecting troughs, and planters along with a special gardeners gift pack I am pulling together. 

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Jewellery by Camilla

Hello my name is Camilla, a bit of background on how I started making Jewellery.

I took up knitting and crocheting when I was a child, and I have always loved making things. As time went by I put my artistic leanings to one side and chose a career in computers, and later went on to raise a family. My children have now grown up and no longer need my time, so I decided six years ago to return to my creative side, and began making jewellery – using my knitting and crocheting skills to make a different type of jewellery.

I love to create new ways of using different threads, wire and beads and to juxtapose different colours in my jewellery. Choosing colour combinations is exciting as well as therapeutic. Inspiration comes from all around me, whether I’m walking through the woods and fields, by the sea, with my dogs, down the high street, through the shops, or looking at the new season’s clothes.

I took up Japanese Braiding (Kumihimo) five years ago to add to my jewellery skills. This offers another way of using different textured threads and beads, adding a vast array of techniques and colour combinations to create interesting pieces of jewellery. The colours and effects are endless.

In 2016 I got excepted by the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen, to become a Member and to sell my Jewellery through their Gallery, which I was thrilled about.

Everything I make is a one-off and is never repeated, each piece is unique to the person who buys it.