Merry Christmas everyone!
Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and catch up with you in the New Year on the Misi Forums...
xxx
Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and catch up with you in the New Year on the Misi Forums...
xxx
Friday, 25 December 2009
Friday, 18 December 2009
This week's lovely lady... Louise from LoubieJewels...
How did you get started in your particular craft and how long have you been doing it?
I started card making but it didnt challenge me anymore so one day I woke up and thought I would like to create something stunning and went shopping, I havent looked back since, its been about 2 years.
Are there any negative aspects to doing your craft and if there are how do you work around them?
I find in general people would rather go and get something mass produced and not shop mademade, if they do they expect handmade to be cheaper but generally we can not compete with these prices, its a shame I think there are so many talented ladies out there - i'll always shop handmade if I can.
What tips would you give to anyone thinking of starting your craft?
Research first, I started with nothing, no ideas and guessed- looking back I would have researched more, I love my stuff now but cringe a little at my early stuff
How did you find Misi?
Crafts beautiful I think, it was a small note on the site and I could have easily missed it - I think it was fate, I love it and spend as much time as I can on it, the ladies (and Gents) are some of the nicest people I know and Emma has done wonders for us all.
What is your favourite item in your own Misi shop?
I've developed a new love for Glass pearls, I love their colours and how bold they look, i`m just working on a collection and I love them all.
What is your favourite shop on Misi (besides your own)?
I love the bears on Paw Prints of Staffordshire, The tins of Wisteria and of course all the handmade beads - I know i'm terrible but there are just so many to choose from
Random Facts about you:
What is your favourite TV programme?
I'd have to say Greys anatomy, I love it I knnow its not like real life but there is always some sort of romance and drama going on
What is your ideal vacation destination?
Jersey in the Summer, my Uncle lives there and its full of little boutiques and I found a great little bead shop, just one girl in a beach shack all day every day, life looks just so peaceful and beautiful
What is your favourite website (other than Misi)?
Is there one other than Misi - well and my website of course (www.loubiejewels.co.uk), i'd have to say Facebook for catching up with my school friends, and its where I got back intouch with my other half
Do you have a hobby (other than your craft)?
Only really salsa dancing, but i'm always planning something even if it is the shop I aim to have one day, Lolas Boutique.
What actor/actress would you NOT kick out of bed?
Channing Tatum, man can dance and he's beautiful! He's the only one on my "can do" list!
Thank you for chatting to us today Louise. Take a look around LoubieJewels for last minute Christmas gifts...
Helen
xxx
How did you get started in your particular craft and how long have you been doing it?
I started card making but it didnt challenge me anymore so one day I woke up and thought I would like to create something stunning and went shopping, I havent looked back since, its been about 2 years.
Are there any negative aspects to doing your craft and if there are how do you work around them?
I find in general people would rather go and get something mass produced and not shop mademade, if they do they expect handmade to be cheaper but generally we can not compete with these prices, its a shame I think there are so many talented ladies out there - i'll always shop handmade if I can.
What tips would you give to anyone thinking of starting your craft?
Research first, I started with nothing, no ideas and guessed- looking back I would have researched more, I love my stuff now but cringe a little at my early stuff
How did you find Misi?
Crafts beautiful I think, it was a small note on the site and I could have easily missed it - I think it was fate, I love it and spend as much time as I can on it, the ladies (and Gents) are some of the nicest people I know and Emma has done wonders for us all.
What is your favourite item in your own Misi shop?
I've developed a new love for Glass pearls, I love their colours and how bold they look, i`m just working on a collection and I love them all.
What is your favourite shop on Misi (besides your own)?
I love the bears on Paw Prints of Staffordshire, The tins of Wisteria and of course all the handmade beads - I know i'm terrible but there are just so many to choose from
Random Facts about you:
What is your favourite TV programme?
I'd have to say Greys anatomy, I love it I knnow its not like real life but there is always some sort of romance and drama going on
What is your ideal vacation destination?
Jersey in the Summer, my Uncle lives there and its full of little boutiques and I found a great little bead shop, just one girl in a beach shack all day every day, life looks just so peaceful and beautiful
What is your favourite website (other than Misi)?
Is there one other than Misi - well and my website of course (www.loubiejewels.co.uk), i'd have to say Facebook for catching up with my school friends, and its where I got back intouch with my other half
Do you have a hobby (other than your craft)?
Only really salsa dancing, but i'm always planning something even if it is the shop I aim to have one day, Lolas Boutique.
What actor/actress would you NOT kick out of bed?
Channing Tatum, man can dance and he's beautiful! He's the only one on my "can do" list!
Thank you for chatting to us today Louise. Take a look around LoubieJewels for last minute Christmas gifts...
Helen
xxx
Friday, 11 December 2009
This week's Misi crafter makes beautiful jewellery. Please welcome MornieG...
How did you get started in your particular craft and how long have you been doing it?
The christmas before last I couldn't find anything I liked or could afford to wear to a ball. Always looking at craft magazines and saw one with a necklace on the cover I liked the look of. Found that it was a to do project so I bought the magazine, made some alterations, ordered all the bits from USA as I didn't know any better at that time and it was an American edition, and eventually made it after a few false starts, with days to spare. But I was so proud of it and still have it. I was totally hooked on the idea of making jewellery, but only seriously started the following June when I got a web site and a gallery to sell some through. I want to find the time to teach myself to silversmith. I have all the basic kit just need to stop procrastinating and get on with it.
Are there any negative aspects to doing your craft and if there are how do you work around them?
Time is the biggest one. As a wage slave I still work full time, anything from 40 to 50 hours a week, help my OH with designs and seeing clients sometimes for his business, take a couple of dance classes a week and make the jewellery. Then there is keeping up the websites, taking the photos, craft fairs when i can get into one at short notice, and all the other things connected with running a home. The jewellery just has to be slotted in between everything else often late in the evenings. The only TV programme I watch is Strictly on a saturday night, I'm not much fun at a gathering when everyone is talking about whats on the box, I've no idea!
What tips would you give to anyone thinking of starting your craft?
Could say lots of things like, research your market, sort your funding, organise your time, get other members of your household to support you and help out, don't get carried away buying components willy nilly for stock, but all that would be, do what I say, not what I do . We are all in this for different reasons, I am trying to run a viable business direct to my clients, unique quality goods at a fair price, others may be a hobby maker which would have a differernt set of rules, reasons and goals.
How did you find Misi?
In a roundabout sort of way by word of mouth, but I think the source was Jean from Talking Beads, thanks Jean.
What is your favourite item in your own Misi shop?
Often the favourite is the latest design you make. I have started to work with sea glass from Rob Johnson and I absolutely adore it, especially the beads he makes from it. They are expensive but the romance of sea glass is wonderful, imagining where it might have originated, its former life, firstly transformed into beads by a lampworker to then be made into something beautiful ( I hope ) and useful like jewellery, recycling at its best.
What is your favourite shop on Misi (besides your own)?
Everybody says they can't choose as there are so many and they are right, I haven't even scratched the surface of viewing them all yet, and the rate they are increasing is wonderful. Just found Stickman, his walking canes are amazing and beautiful. As a furniture designer I love timber and appreciate his craft. I would have one just to stand in a corner and look at. Dogplant is wonderful. Martins planters were my first purchases from MISI. He made me a special order black cat and a cow for Christmas presents, he must have liked the suggestion as they went straight into his shop. Jewellery wise, I think it has to be The Hairy Growler, I covet the fork bangle, by the time you read this I may well be the proud owner of one !
Random Facts about you:
What is your favourite time of day?
Sunrise or sunset, not that I get to see too many sunrises as I'm an owl rather than a lark. The sheer beauty of those times of the day can take your breath away.
What is your ideal vacation?
Has to be by water somewhere. I go to Norfolk to have a few days to get my head together sometimes, holed up in a little cottage by myself, and walk the beaches around Heacham, read, listen to music and relax. I take my jewellery and if I want to still be making something at 3 in the morning I can and sleep till 10, not that I do sleep in, as I want to be up and on the beach.
What is your favourite colour?
To wear, I live in black but lilacs, purples, pinks I suppose, but not pastels clear and bright.
What is your favourite animal?
Tigeress, the perfect feline. Beautiful, lithe, elegant, fiesty, clever, captivating, dangerous. Everything I aspire to, but never will be, the perfect woman.
What actor/actress would you NOT kick out of bed?
Daniel Craig. Not into 'pretty' men, got to be a bit rugged, tall, with come to bed eyes, and look a bit naughty ( You can interpt that how you like ha ha )
How many DVDs do you have?
None, never have time to watch them. I have the loan of a set of Garth Brooks concert DVD's and they have been sat there for nearly 2 years now without even been taken out of the box. One day, maybe this Christmas !
Visit MornieG Jewellery on Misi for a tantalising taste of gorgeous goodies. Quick ~ you only have 2 weeks until Christmas!
xxx
How did you get started in your particular craft and how long have you been doing it?
The christmas before last I couldn't find anything I liked or could afford to wear to a ball. Always looking at craft magazines and saw one with a necklace on the cover I liked the look of. Found that it was a to do project so I bought the magazine, made some alterations, ordered all the bits from USA as I didn't know any better at that time and it was an American edition, and eventually made it after a few false starts, with days to spare. But I was so proud of it and still have it. I was totally hooked on the idea of making jewellery, but only seriously started the following June when I got a web site and a gallery to sell some through. I want to find the time to teach myself to silversmith. I have all the basic kit just need to stop procrastinating and get on with it.
Are there any negative aspects to doing your craft and if there are how do you work around them?
Time is the biggest one. As a wage slave I still work full time, anything from 40 to 50 hours a week, help my OH with designs and seeing clients sometimes for his business, take a couple of dance classes a week and make the jewellery. Then there is keeping up the websites, taking the photos, craft fairs when i can get into one at short notice, and all the other things connected with running a home. The jewellery just has to be slotted in between everything else often late in the evenings. The only TV programme I watch is Strictly on a saturday night, I'm not much fun at a gathering when everyone is talking about whats on the box, I've no idea!
What tips would you give to anyone thinking of starting your craft?
Could say lots of things like, research your market, sort your funding, organise your time, get other members of your household to support you and help out, don't get carried away buying components willy nilly for stock, but all that would be, do what I say, not what I do . We are all in this for different reasons, I am trying to run a viable business direct to my clients, unique quality goods at a fair price, others may be a hobby maker which would have a differernt set of rules, reasons and goals.
How did you find Misi?
In a roundabout sort of way by word of mouth, but I think the source was Jean from Talking Beads, thanks Jean.
What is your favourite item in your own Misi shop?
Often the favourite is the latest design you make. I have started to work with sea glass from Rob Johnson and I absolutely adore it, especially the beads he makes from it. They are expensive but the romance of sea glass is wonderful, imagining where it might have originated, its former life, firstly transformed into beads by a lampworker to then be made into something beautiful ( I hope ) and useful like jewellery, recycling at its best.
What is your favourite shop on Misi (besides your own)?
Everybody says they can't choose as there are so many and they are right, I haven't even scratched the surface of viewing them all yet, and the rate they are increasing is wonderful. Just found Stickman, his walking canes are amazing and beautiful. As a furniture designer I love timber and appreciate his craft. I would have one just to stand in a corner and look at. Dogplant is wonderful. Martins planters were my first purchases from MISI. He made me a special order black cat and a cow for Christmas presents, he must have liked the suggestion as they went straight into his shop. Jewellery wise, I think it has to be The Hairy Growler, I covet the fork bangle, by the time you read this I may well be the proud owner of one !
Random Facts about you:
What is your favourite time of day?
Sunrise or sunset, not that I get to see too many sunrises as I'm an owl rather than a lark. The sheer beauty of those times of the day can take your breath away.
What is your ideal vacation?
Has to be by water somewhere. I go to Norfolk to have a few days to get my head together sometimes, holed up in a little cottage by myself, and walk the beaches around Heacham, read, listen to music and relax. I take my jewellery and if I want to still be making something at 3 in the morning I can and sleep till 10, not that I do sleep in, as I want to be up and on the beach.
What is your favourite colour?
To wear, I live in black but lilacs, purples, pinks I suppose, but not pastels clear and bright.
What is your favourite animal?
Tigeress, the perfect feline. Beautiful, lithe, elegant, fiesty, clever, captivating, dangerous. Everything I aspire to, but never will be, the perfect woman.
What actor/actress would you NOT kick out of bed?
Daniel Craig. Not into 'pretty' men, got to be a bit rugged, tall, with come to bed eyes, and look a bit naughty ( You can interpt that how you like ha ha )
How many DVDs do you have?
None, never have time to watch them. I have the loan of a set of Garth Brooks concert DVD's and they have been sat there for nearly 2 years now without even been taken out of the box. One day, maybe this Christmas !
Visit MornieG Jewellery on Misi for a tantalising taste of gorgeous goodies. Quick ~ you only have 2 weeks until Christmas!
xxx
Friday, 4 December 2009
Today we are talking to Lorraine from Fairly Girly. Huge apologies to Lorraine ~ I am soooo not organised this morning and this came up without pictures first. Just fixed it so you can see a few of her beautiful creations...
How did you get started in your particular craft and how long have you been doing it?
About two years ago I changed my job at the College slightly to job share with a colleague. Then I saw a jewellery making course advertised on one of my days off and thought I would like to have a go at that. I had sort of given up on my other hobbies when I had my son and thought it was time I did something for me! My friends encouraged me to take it a step further and start to sell what I make and Fairly Girly was born about a year ago.
Are there any negative aspects to doing your craft and if there are how do you work around them?
The only negative for me would be lack of time - as a busy working mum there is never enough hours in a day and we would all like to spend more time crafting.
What tips would you give to anyone thinking of starting your craft?
Just to have fun and be as creative as you like, it really doesn't have to be that expensive to begin with. A basic tool set, some findings, threads and beads will get you started to see if you like it. You will soon find that you have a mountain a beads!
How did you find Misi?
I found Misi through a craft forum and took a look and thought it was worth listing a few items. I think we have all found that it is a very friendly site and has a great sense of community where we all help each other.
What is your favourite item in your own Misi shop?
I think it has to be the sterling silver aqua hearts bracelet the links of hearts make this very eyecatching.
What is your favourite shop on Misi (besides your own)?
There are so many wonderful shops on Misi it is hard to chose one.......but if I had to pick I will say Carolyn's Creations as she made me two custom orders for a birthday and 50th anniversary, and they were delighted with their gifts.
Random Facts about you:
What is your favourite way to travel?
I mostly walk to work dropping my son off on route......that sounds really good doesn't it! I suppose my favourite way would be by plane because that would mean we are going on holiday :-)
What is your favourite chocolate?
I love white chocolate and as a child remember loving a pink, pink panther bar as a treat......showing my age here I feel.
What is your favourite time of day?
Has to be mid evening, all the jobs done and sitting down to relax.
What is your favourite place that you have lived?
I have only ever lived in two places, St Austell in Cornwall where my family still lives and Bideford in Devon where I now live. I think I am lucky to have only lived in the South West, being spoilt having beaches, moors and countryside right on the doorstep.
What is your all-time favourite movie?
This is a tricky one for me as don't get much time to watch movies and the ones we have recently are childrens ones.......the most recent being James and the Giant Peach. My son had to go to school as a Roald Dahl character recently and this is what he chose.
What actor/actress would you NOT kick out of bed?
Another tricky one.....Johnny Depp.
Thank you for allowing us to chat to you Lorraine. Lorraine's shop on Misi is Fairly Girly, go and visit now.
Helen
xxx
How did you get started in your particular craft and how long have you been doing it?
About two years ago I changed my job at the College slightly to job share with a colleague. Then I saw a jewellery making course advertised on one of my days off and thought I would like to have a go at that. I had sort of given up on my other hobbies when I had my son and thought it was time I did something for me! My friends encouraged me to take it a step further and start to sell what I make and Fairly Girly was born about a year ago.
Are there any negative aspects to doing your craft and if there are how do you work around them?
The only negative for me would be lack of time - as a busy working mum there is never enough hours in a day and we would all like to spend more time crafting.
What tips would you give to anyone thinking of starting your craft?
Just to have fun and be as creative as you like, it really doesn't have to be that expensive to begin with. A basic tool set, some findings, threads and beads will get you started to see if you like it. You will soon find that you have a mountain a beads!
How did you find Misi?
I found Misi through a craft forum and took a look and thought it was worth listing a few items. I think we have all found that it is a very friendly site and has a great sense of community where we all help each other.
What is your favourite item in your own Misi shop?
I think it has to be the sterling silver aqua hearts bracelet the links of hearts make this very eyecatching.
What is your favourite shop on Misi (besides your own)?
There are so many wonderful shops on Misi it is hard to chose one.......but if I had to pick I will say Carolyn's Creations as she made me two custom orders for a birthday and 50th anniversary, and they were delighted with their gifts.
Random Facts about you:
What is your favourite way to travel?
I mostly walk to work dropping my son off on route......that sounds really good doesn't it! I suppose my favourite way would be by plane because that would mean we are going on holiday :-)
What is your favourite chocolate?
I love white chocolate and as a child remember loving a pink, pink panther bar as a treat......showing my age here I feel.
What is your favourite time of day?
Has to be mid evening, all the jobs done and sitting down to relax.
What is your favourite place that you have lived?
I have only ever lived in two places, St Austell in Cornwall where my family still lives and Bideford in Devon where I now live. I think I am lucky to have only lived in the South West, being spoilt having beaches, moors and countryside right on the doorstep.
What is your all-time favourite movie?
This is a tricky one for me as don't get much time to watch movies and the ones we have recently are childrens ones.......the most recent being James and the Giant Peach. My son had to go to school as a Roald Dahl character recently and this is what he chose.
What actor/actress would you NOT kick out of bed?
Another tricky one.....Johnny Depp.
Thank you for allowing us to chat to you Lorraine. Lorraine's shop on Misi is Fairly Girly, go and visit now.
Helen
xxx
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