Introductions

[#1]

Hi Everyone,
I thought it would be nice for everyone to include a little post about themselves and their shop by way of an introduction.
Just a little bit about yourself and what you make etc.

I'm 30 years old, I'm married and have a 2 year old son. I am a web designer by trade but have always loved arts and crafts, my shop CLS Creations primarily sells bags, brooches and felted items. But at a later stage I hope to include some artwork and other bits and pieces, so that's me :)

[Former_Member]

Hello :D I'm Kate. By day im a freelance fashion designer, pattern cutter, machinist, and maker of wedding dresses. Also a big fan of ben and jerrys baked alaska ice-cream. I live in Nottingham but travel all over to meet clients. I have been sewing since i was very small, i liked to make clothes for my barbies...( im hoping im not the only one haha) I love to draw, paint, travel and collect vintage items.

I put garments i make on etsy in my spare time. my new spring summer collcetion is coming! very excited!

i love etsy for its amazing talent. Where Art has no limits :D

Hope your having a lovely day! x x

[Former_Member]

Thanks Pipistrellecrotchet! I love your chunky mug warmer, I'm always complaining that my tea goes cold - I spend ages drinking a cup of tea :)

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone,
I love this thread - it's taken me ages to read because I keep getting distracted by all of your lovely shops!
I'm Vick and I make jewellery and collages. I am 23 and I am hoping to make this work as a career. I've been selling jewellery on Etsy for two years and just put my collages up yesterday so I'm busy getting lots of critiques to see if it works.
I like books, cooking, blogging, writing generally, and anything that shines or sparkles.
It's lovely having so many nice UK Etsyers on here, I hope you all have a very happy and successful new year!
Vick.

[Former_Member]

Hello :)
I'm Laura from Kent.
I'm 23, married, and studying Applied Arts. I set up my Etsy shop not to long ago to sell the products i've been making at uni (I have a very small flat and so cant keep it all!).

The kindness of other UK sellers has been overwhelming! I hope I can help everyone else as much as others have helped me!
x

[Former_Member]

Hi all Uk'ers

I'm Nicolet and live in Portishead near Bristol.

At 21 I made an outfit with liberty material, It ended up in a "gear change" shop and they put it in the window. What a shock! Since then I've painted watercolours, then handpainted china & porcelain for years. The British china painters seem to have gone now as too labour intensive. But I still have the kiln etc The last 3 years I've done courses ( love courses!) in Lampwork ( glass beads made with a flame), wire wrapping for jewellery, and beading. Trouble is I'm addicted to sparkly swarovski! and all the lovely colours. So that's my thing right now.

This is great to see what others in the UK do, it's very impressive. Thanks for starting the topic.

I've done 2 treasuries, happy to do more BarSoap

[blacksunshineiow]

Hi :) Im Amy, Im 28 and from the IOW in the UK.

Im self employed, running my own shop called Red Sun selling retro gaming stuff, Hello Kitty and general randomness.
I use my etsy to sell my dreads, hair bows, bags and my Mums knitted things (she has no idea about computers lol).

[Former_Member]

Hi guys, I've just joined so I thought I'd say hello!

I'm Anna, 31, and I live in Chesterfield with my boyfriend, a black Lab called Summer and a rabbit called Neo. I make mixed media polymer clay jewellery (and seem to spend half my life explaining to people what polymer clay is!) and occasional little knitted hedgehogs.

When I'm not claying I love singing (I'm in 3 choirs), birdwatching, roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, cooking and baking, geocaching and Rock Band on the Wii. I've just started using silver clay. And I also rescue and rehabilitate sick and injured wild hedgehogs and release them once they're recovered.

[Former_Member]

Hi,
I'm Charli a 20something from Southend on Sea, in Essex. I don't have a shop open at the mo (have had another shop in the past though to test the water as it were)
I should hopefully be opening on in the next few months...lots of ideas but not much time at the mo :-s.
Looking forward to chatting to you all!
x

[Former_Member]

So nice to meet you all!

My name is Isa maria, I'm 31 and have two children, a 2 year old and a 4 month old and live in Croydon, Surrey with my husband. I opened this Etsy shop at the end of Oct after having my daughter but I'd been thinking about it for a while (pregnancy wore me out so I had to wait lol). I sell my digital illustrations as art prints and personalised stationery for children and I'm hoping to expand into other areas soon. I sell on Big Cartel too. I about to launch into selling my art prints wholesale!

I have another Etsy shop selling marketing and pr plans as that is my day job. Noisette Marketing works in partnership with UK Handmade and I occasionally write for their blog and magazine. I also run a blog featuring inspiring creative business owners and giving free business advice.

I'm in the process of launching some small business workshops to help others achieve their dreams of starting a business.

I look after my kids all day and work all night. You can usually find me on twitter in the middle of the night as I work late to have time to fit it all in!

[Former_Member]

Evening all.

Hope you're well and smiling. :o)

I'm April. I'm 30 years old ( I feel like i'm standing up in an AA meeting! haha ). I have 2 children and a fat cat. I have been making jewellery and headwear for 8 years. Set up my business about 3 years ago. I also work full time in investments. Which couldn't be more different.

[Former_Member]

hello there!

i'm helen, i'm 23 i stay in aberdeen with my fiance magnus and i've just joined etsy. i'm originally from caithness but am currently studying in Grays School of Art in Aberdeen. i am a 3rd year potter and i love it!

i work with mostly porcelain but sometimes stoneware and i've come on etsy to give myself somewhere to start, i'd really like to open a pottery once i graduate so i'm testing the waters here.

very nice to meet you all

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone!

I'm Sarah, a 26 year old graphic designer from South Wales. I was made redundant last October, so I'm starting out on my own. My 'day job' is designing brochures, magazines and catalogues for other businesses, so when I get the time I love to create the artwork that's filling up my head.

In my shop I sell prints of my artwork and some bookmarks, but I plan to add some tote bags and other bits and pieces soon. Very busy at the moment setting up my business and doing last minute preparations for my wedding in April!

I think that putting this team together is a great idea, and I can't wait to get more involved!

[Former_Member]

@purplepepperdesign. I am a graphic designer too! Well that's what my degree is in but I seem to do more web design than graphic design these days :) how is the business going it took me a good year for the work to really start coming in.

[SixAcreMeadow]

It's so exciting reading about everyone and love to know there are lots of Londoners out there too!

I'm 25 and a full-time Junior Designer for a fashion brand in London where I specialise in embellishments and premium evening dresses.

I work on Etsy things at the weekends and sometimes evenings...but wish I had more time because I have a million things I want to make for it!

Love the 1920s and all things Thai, in particular the ancient dancing costumes. Adore all things sci-fi and I'm also a bit of a gamer.

I collect 6x4 art, love blogging, reading, watching films, and my muse is 1920s 'IT' girl Clara Bow...which I also coincidentally share the same name with!

[Former_Member]

@nuvonova - That sounds like an awesome job :) When you say gaming, computers or RPG?

[Former_Member]

Hi everybody,

My name is Sarah and I joined Etsy a couple of months ago so Im still finding my feet.

I live in Essex and work as a team leader in finance. I love making jewellery and am currently putting all of my efforts into Etsy in my spare time.

Its really nice to be a part of such a friendly team on Etsy, thank you!

[Former_Member]

Hi All!

I've been on Etsy for a year now, make ceramic buttons here at home. I now work full time in an office but used to make my living with large ceramic sculptures and thrown ceramic bathroom basins in New Zealand. Since living in the UK, I've had to think small, hence lovely wee buttons.

[SixAcreMeadow]

CLS - It is the best job I could possibly get for myself in London, but it took almost 2 years of unpaid work placements! Worth it though!

I love all types of gaming, RPGs are my fave!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone Im Julie and Ive only just joined the group
I live in Blackpool, Lancashire - Im a textile artist studying part time for an MA in Embroidered Textiles
Im also an adult education lecturer at Preston College where I teach Patchwork and Quilting and Embroidery
I sell my Embroidery and embroidery patterns (under username cucumber) on Etsy

[Former_Member]

Hi, I'm Henrietta and I was just invited to join the group a few days ago.

I'm 18 and engaged to be married; in the last two years I've gone from working towards my childhood dream of applying for art college in London to putting down firm roots up here in Derby with the hubby-to-be. It's working out much better for me creating my own things here at home for now, so I'm sticking with it!

We're both pretty much nerds; we love Star Trek, many series' of Manga and Anime, also game quite a bit and are keen Aquarists.

It's really nice to meet you all! :)

[TheFeltFairyUK]

Hi everyone!

I'm Helen, and I live in a village in Northamptonshire. I work full time in an office job for my local authority, and my evenings and weekends are spent running my various shops here, on Folksy and on Ebay.

In my shop on Etsy I sell lots of lovely craft supplies ... all the things I like to use. Felt, buttons, ribbons, brads and more.

I love to sew, mostly using felt, but also colourful patterned fabric too. I sell my makes on Folksy at the moment, but hope to have enough stock soon to add some to Etsy too!

I'm off to wander round all your shops now!

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone,
my name is Sue, I joined etsy earlier this year but still feel like I'm a bit new and finding my way. My mum and I are knitting mad, we mostly make hats, hairbands,gloves and brooches. I'm really pleased to have found this team, it's nice to know there are other people from Britain here who seem to be making a success of etsy.

[Former_Member]

Hi all,

I'm Amanda (31) and the other half of the duo is Sarah (30). We have been really good friends since school. Between us we have 4 daughters and our eldest two (4 years old) were born two days apart and are bestest buds. The younger two (2 and 2 and a half) are still weighing each other up!

We met our husbands to be when we were 18 and we both got married in 2005 - they funnily enough have also been friends since school. Actually this is all sounding a bit Twilight Zone.... or one of us is a stalker!!!

So - given that so much of our lives have run parallel I suppose it makes sense that we embark on this venture together as well. We are actually complete opposites. Sarah's area of crafting is paper and wood, mixed medium based and I am more concentrated on the sewing and textile side.

We are really enjoying making and creating and meeting all you other lovely crafters!

Amanda and Sarah
xx

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone,

I'm Charmaine (31) and I live in London with my boyfriend Chris.

I graduated with a fashion design degree in 2003, and I worked as a fashion accessories buyer for the past 7 years but decided to give up my job 3 months ago.

I have always loved creating, so I thought I would join Etsy and see if I could sell some of my creations! I enjoy working with all kinds of fabric, but at the moment have a slight obsession with felt! I have cushion covers, doorstops, buttons and pincushions in my shop. I opened in December and am hoping for that elusive first sale!

It's great to be a part of the team. The treasury chain game has worked wonders for views on my items, so that shows the power of teamwork!

[Former_Member]

Hi Everyone, I'm Gemma and I make Jewellery and the occasional beaded box - I've recently transferred here from Folks where I have a shop under the name 'bristoltreasures'. I'm a technical illustrator by trade and that's also my full time job.

I'm 27 and live in Bristol with my other half.