I so want this - perfect for my creations

I have just found out tonight that my idea has been accepted for funding by Enterprise Nations as part of their Fund101 campaign. They fund up to £5,000 a month for people to start or grow a business. Each person or business can put an idea forward for anything between £50 and £500

As I said my idea (see the VOTE HERE link) has been accepted and as long as I get 290 votes they will fund the £290 I need. WoW !- VOTE HERE

So please find it in your heart to vote for me <3

My idea is...

I have been experimenting over the last year with the creation of bags and cushions out of old woolen sweaters that i have felted. I have the aptitude to create my own designs and I have a good sense of colour to bring the right materials together to create wonderful creations. Up to now I have kept to simple designs as cutting out intricate ones in felt could be complicated and prone to all sorts of errors and slips.
I would really love to bring my designs to a completely new dymanic level and as I’m a bit of a computer whiz (last 30 years of my working life in IT) I would love to be able to do the designs on the computer.
The silouette cameo is an eletronic cutting machine which will link to my PC , allowing me to take electronic designs (design my own too) and cut them out to a professional finish, I imagine pretty japanese style & arts and crafts style (my 2 favourites) felt apliques on the front of my bags and cushions.
http://craftsulove.co.uk/silhouette.htm – I can buy it here for £289.99

OGNI SCENA HA IL SUO MOMENTO ESTETICO. OGNI ETA' HA LE SUA RAGIONI.

I wish my knowledge of Italian could cope with a proper translation of the above. Google translates it to - EACH SCENE HAS ITS TIME BEAUTY. ANY AGE 'HAS ITS REASONS.

I think I "get" what the owner of this blog is trying to get across. The blog is called "TheFeminineTouch"  and shows some beautiful before and after photographs of delicious women. 

 http://thefemininetouch.blogspot.com/


Its a blog I would love to have brought to you , given it's name. Here's a collage of some of the lovely photographs

 

Where have I been?

Ok , it's been a long time since my last blog posting , must be a few months. So what have I been doing , where have I been?

I have been totally devoting my time (whilst I'm not doing the day job) to crafting , knitting , bit of crochet and sewing and generally trying to get my lovely goodies out there for all to see.

As well as selling through Etsy I have been trying other selling venues. These have included a new craft shop in a little market town in Yorkshire, where I have had most of my accessories on display over the Christmas period. Here I sold 2 of my unique bags and loads of my flower brooches plus had tons of admirers of my hand knitted / felted cushions.

I also tried my hand at the Christmas craft fair at my local garden centre , which was a bit of a flop. Even though I cleverly displayed all my items this time , still no customers came my way :(

All is not lost  though and I now have some of my accessories on display in the garden centre full time.

I've also been extending my range of items , trying to find the ideal creation that will get those sales.

Flower brooches seem to be one of my top sellers.

So are my hot water bottle covers that I created specially for the Christmas market.







And then there are the little felted Christmas trees , just perfect.

All in all I'm happy with my little Etsy shop at the moment. I have over 120 accessories displayed. I'm making sure there is plenty of diversity in what I'm making and selling until I can determine where the market is.  I've managed to experiment in selling my goodies off line and I now have more of an idea of shelf rental prices and what I can expect out of such a venture to ensure a reasonable profit.

Sales so far this year have been really good. 7 Sales in one month is brilliant for me. Just think back to this time last year where I was achieving only 1 sale a month :(

Hope this blog posting will inspire other new crafters :) and the more experienced ones will have a little smile on their faces thinking back to a time when they were just beginning their journey.