Friday 30 July 2010

Folksy Friday

Oooh, my first Folksy Friday! I only just found out what a Folksy Friday is a few weeks ago, and since then have been busy on Fridays, with weddings and things. So, today is my first!I haven't yet managed to post links/photo's to my blog yet, so this may turn out to be a bit of a disaster, but I'll give it a go.

I seem to have been incredibly lucky lately, winning not one, but two prizedraws in the past month! And since it's Friday the 13th, apparently an unlucky day, I thought I'd choose items from Folksy sellers who are currently doing, or have recently done, giveaways... so hopefully some of my luck will rub off!

First up, here's what I won from Bizzy Beads last night when she reached 150 fans on Facebook! Buttons and books combined... amazing! She's going to do another giveaway when she reaches 200 fans, so you should definitely join in...

Yellow Squirrel are also doing a Facebook giveaway at the moment, but I just love this necklace over on their Folksy shop. I found an ancient Singer in a charity shop last year, so think this is great... and apparently the scissors actually work!
And isn't this just lovely?! Made by Laura's Little Lovelies who had a giveaway last week.










Jesselu's Craft Corner won Laura's Little Lovelies giveaway, and has her own giveaways from time to time too. She makes fab jewellery, but I spotted this cheeky bag in her shop today and think it's ace!
Little Wren Pottery had a giveaway earlier this week, which I was really hoping I'd win... but I didn't, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed for next time. Here's one of her items from Folksy which I think looks delicious... even tho there's no custard in it yet!













And last but not least, here's what I gave away to the winner of my prizedraw last week...










Happy Friday the 13th!

Monday 19 July 2010

Hereditary?!

I've just been chatting to my Granny on the phone. The baker, not the tea drinker. (Well, she does drink tea... but not THAT Granny...) Anyway, I haven't spoken to her for a while, so we were catching up on all sorts, including news of my Folksy store and this blog. She's a pretty keen writer is my Granny, having kept a journal pretty much all her life, and is also a published author (ooooh!), but doesn't really get the whole 'blogging' thing. To be honest tho, until very recently, neither did I, and she's 55 years older than me!

I tried my best to explain my personal reasons for starting this blog to her, and she became more intrigued about Folksy and my attempts at online knitted sales. My knitting is a relatively new pursuit really, music having been my main thing for quite a while, so Granny hasn't really seen much of what I've made. Apart from a pair of Eco Mittens I made her last Xmas (the Eco bit coming from the untreated wool I used... they don't really save the world or anything... as far as I know...) and a bunch of phone covers I did for other presents.

The best way I could describe what Folksy is to her, was "It's kind of like eBay... except everything is handmade and sold by the makers themselves... and you can chat to the other sellers through Facebook*. And everyone is really lovely and supportive... but it's all virtual and online, so you don't actually meet them. And hopefully, come winter, I'll sell loads of wonderful woolly things. So that when I go back to uni, to learn how to organise events properly so I can then run my own event management business, I'll have some extra beer money!!"

(*My Granny is actual really hi-tech for a Granny so already knows what Facebook is, therefore, I didn't need to explain this one. Not sure if we'll ever convince her to set up a FB page... but still. Pretty impressive, eh?!)

To this my Granny replied, "Phew, I wonder where you get all these entrepreneurial skills from? It's definitely not from either myself or your Grandad. And nor your Mum or Dad. How strange..."

This made me think. Ok, so my Grandad was a school teacher and headmaster. My Granny was a social worker. Mum and Dad are both vets. And on the other side of the family, there haven't really been any business ventures...

But hang on a minute! My mum and dad run their own veterinary practice. That's a business. They could have just worked for other vets and had a much easier life! And Grandad was a pretty awesome photographer who did weddings and stuff on the side... and his genes have been passed down the line to my brother, who is now building up his own wedding photography business. And Granny! Like I said earlier, she's always been scribbling away in her journals, writing bits and bobs about the family and her life. And she had one of her books published!

AND, as well as the photography and writing, my Grandparents also squeezed founding a charity, to support girls education in Malawi, into their lives. Sixteen-odd years on and it's still going strong.

My point here?! It's not that I've got magical entrepreneurial skills from some unknown source. (My Dad is definitely my Dad! There's no mistaking it... I look just like him.) And I'm pretty sure the definition of an entrepreneur is something about someone who takes risks in business and comes up with new initiatives. I hardly think teaching the flute and knitting mittens and stuff is a new idea... I think it's just more likely that I've got the 'must keep busy and do lots of different things to keep my mind and fingers active' gene, passed down from my Grandad, my Granny, my Dad and my Mum! I can't help it.

One thing I don't know though... where did my ability to knit come from?! None of the women in my family are owning up to that one... tis a mystery!

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Introduction

A knitter, a musician, a tea drinker, a cake baker, and a soon-to-be student (again)... that's me.

I've been a cake baker and tea drinker most of my life, thanks to one Granny teaching me to bake, and the other Granny encouraging me to drink. Tea, that is. I've been a musician since I was a teenager, but a professional one for the last 6 years. My instrument is the flute, and I also teach it to sprogs and grownups. I organise concerts occasionally, and in a bid to boost my esteem with regards to the event management, I'm starting a Masters in the art of doing it properly in September.

The knitting obsession began about 3 years ago. I was starting out on the self-employed career ladder so my brother bought me a knit-a-monkey kit, in case I got bored/stuck for something to do! Little did he know that this cute little monkey would lead to a wool addiction. In fact, neither did I. It took me a few months to get started on the wee critter, since I hadn't held a knitting needle for about 10 years. Then I remembered you need two knitting needles for it to work, enlisted the help of a visiting friend and knitting extraordinaire, et voila, the monkey was unleashed!! Since then I've been knitting pretty much constantly and now have an online shop at http://www.folksy.com/shops/easyosy where I'm attempting to sell some of my wares.

And that's what has prompted me to start this blog. When I knit, I think... sometimes about what to knit next, but more often about life, the future, the past, blah blah. I read some fellow Folksy sellers blogs recently and thought that it looks like a good way of noting some of my ideas that I have when I'm knitting. And who knows, now I might actually get round to doing some of the great things I come up with!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy following my blog. Please feel free to get in touch, and don't forget to visit my Folksy store and Facebook page too! x