Meet the Maker - Maria Made It

Here we have another quick interview, this time with keepsake artist and jeweller Maria Bateson of Maria Made It. 

How did you decide on your business name?

I was making things for friends and they kept saying "Maria made it" it seemed to work!

What year did you establish your business? 

I started making things as presents when my son was little and I was living in Ukraine. I started my business when I returned to the UK in 2013.

What led you to create your business? 

I wanted something to do whilst my son was napping, it was -30 outside so needed to be an indoor activity. I didn't speak any Russian so buying clothes and jewellery was tricky and I had a number of friends who wanted to be able to choose colours etc. I did a mini prints course at the London jewellery school last June and my fine silver work just grew itself from there.

Is there one item that you’ve created which is more memorable than others?

Probably the cufflinks I made for my husband with our children's prints on. They were some of the first cufflinks I made and he loves them.

What’s your most expensive item? 

Cufflinks with hand/footprints on £110

What’s your most affordable item? 

I have fine silver charms starting from £10, with fingerprints from £20 and hand/footprints from £40

What are your plans for your business this coming year? 

I am doing a new course in the next few weeks, hopefully I will have some news after that but I don't want to say too much in case it doesn't happen. I also have lots of ideas for new products and collaborations etc. I am also hoping or have a stand at a big local event.

...and the fun questions!

What is your dream holiday destination? 

I'd love to go back to NZ and I'd love to take my children on safari but I would be happy anywhere as long as my family are there with me.

If you could take a celebrity on holiday with you who would you choose & why? 

Miranda hart (going to see her on Friday night...)

Bikini or swimsuit? Tankini to cover my mummy tummy.

Relax by the pool or explore the area ? Explore always.

What’s your favourite flavour of icecream? 

Our local Italian does panna cotta ice cream yum, but I usually have to share with my daughter so am getting less and less....

One thing you couldn’t live without on holiday? Camera.

If you want to find out more about Maria Made it, please visit the Facebook Page

Meet the Maker - Cobweb Creations

We spoke to Clair Craig from Cobweb Creations about her business selling personalised wooden keepsakes and gifts.

How did you decide on your business name? 

The business name came from a tiny heart shaped cobweb that I found while clearing out my very messy bits and bobs box

What year did you establish your business? January 2013. I am self-employed and Cobweb is my main job.

What led you to create your business? 

Ill-health meant giving up the day job and I had always made painted or sewn gifts for family and they encouraged me to get started, needless to say I am loving every minute, working from home. 

Is there one item that you’ve created which is more memorable than others?

The memorable creation is the hanging heart - My family is tied together with heartstrings. A heart shaped plaque with mini hearts round the edge, all joined together with string and family's names on each heart. It came from knowing what a supportive and loving family I have.

What’s your most expensive item? 

The most expensive item would be a set of wedding table display made to colour co-ordinate with wedding theme.

And now some quick-fire questions...

What was your new year resolution? 

New Year's resolution was to be positive and laugh loads.

What is your dream holiday destination? Lanzarote

What’s your favourite cake? Chocolate cake

What’s your favourite flavour of crisps? Sweet chilli crisps

What was the last film you went to watch at the cinema?

Haven't been to the cinema for over 20 years, prefer to watch a dvd in the comfort of my snuggle sofa.

What’s your favourite time of year? Summer

How do you like to unwind? I unwind by spending time with my lovely grown up daughters and especially my granddaughter.

If you want to see more work by Cobweb Creations you can visit the Facebook Page

Meet The Maker - Barbra Stretch

We caught up with designer-maker Barbra from Joosey Bee Designs, Guild member and Ambassador.

Hi Babs, Nice to meet you, tell me what is the nature of your keepsake business? 

I design bespoke greetings cards, stationery and artwork using Joosey Bee imagery (line drawings, painting and photography) and a little computer magic!

So, who are you and how did you start your business?

My name is Barbra, wife and mum to 3 kids, living in York. I am a Design Communication graduate. I had my first baby 7 months after graduation! I started my business when my youngest was just over 1 year old, after I'd made a few cards for family and friends. I realised how much I wanted to get back into designing and illustrating and decided to go for it and open a page.

What do you think is the best thing about selling keepsakes?

It has got to be the lovely feedback, I treat each card as a design brief, I research so I can convey as much meaning I can through that image. The cards are so personal to the customer and recipient. Its wonderful to know you have created something special for someone!

What are your short term plans for Joosey Bee Designs?

In the next few months I am planning to create my website. I also have a few products I'd like to work on. I would love to do some craft fairs but need to sort out my stock first!

And...what are your long term goals, where do you think you will be in 5 years time?

In 5 years time I hope I am designing and illustrating as a job. All my children will be at school so my ultimate goal is to be able to work around school hours and holidays, creating wonderful things.

Finally, Do you have any valuable information, tips or advice about being successful?

Believe in yourself, if in doubt, stop, step away and pour a glass of wine! xx

The 12 Days...Showcase. Voting is now OPEN!

Good morning everyone, as of 9am this morning the voting for the 12 Days Showcase is now open for voting on the Facebook page.

www.facebook.com/KeepsakeArtists

You must leave a like and comment to vote for your favourite keepsakes. You can only vote once per photo but you can vote for multiple photos if you wish. If you do not have a Facebook account you can still cast a vote by viewing the entries on our website and emailing us who you wish to vote for!

www.guild-keepsakeartists.com/#/showcase

Voting will close next Saturday at Midnight so don't leave it too long! After which a panel of judges will be picking their top 12 keepsakes for 2013 taking the public votes and their own votes into consideration.

Good luck everyone, and get sharing the album and photos!

12 Days of Christmas Showcase!

Christmas will be here before you know it and keepsake artists will know very well that they have to be prepared well in advance as custom made items take much longer to create, we are even aware of some members are fully booked up for Christmas 2013 and are taking orders for Christmas 2014!

This year we will be running another Christmas Showcase but with a twist! This year the theme is "The 12 Days..." and we aim to get as many members involved with a wide variety of keepsakes. The items in the showcase do not have to be christmas themed but they do have to be keepsakes of course!

Here is how it works:

Guild members can submit as many items as they wish to the Showcase, the more the better. Items can be submitted by Email, Facebook message or Twitter DM. They must include a picture and a description of the item. A price can be included if it is available to order.

All the submissions will be added over the coming weeks to a Facebook album and a gallery on the website. The closing date for submissions is Friday 15th November.

We will then open an online voting system via the Facebook album where the public will be able to choose their favourite keepsakes by liking and commenting. The voting will be open until Friday 29th November.

The votes will be taken into consideration when we choose the final top 12 keepsakes for 2013, one for each theme of the 12 Days of Christmas, descriptions are below:


12 Drummers Drumming: Most Original Keepsake
11 Pipers Piping: Gifts for Boys (kids and teens)
10 Lords-a-leaping: Gifts for Men (adults)
9 Ladies Dancing: Gifts for ladies (adults)
8 Maids-a-milking: Gifts for girls (kids and teens)
7 Swans-a-swiming: Animal themed keepsakes
6 Geese-a-laying: Gifts for babies
5 Gold Rings: Any type of jewellery (not just gold!)
4 Calling Birds: Keepsakes with messages
3 French Hens: Quirky and unusual keepsakes
2 Turtle Doves: Gifts for couples
A Partridge in a pear tree: Family themed keepsake


If you wish to take part, you must be a member of the Guild, you can join by visiting the website www.guild-keepsakeartists.com
You can then submit your items by emailing info@guild-keepsakeartists.com or messaging us on Facebook www.facebook.com/KeepsakeArtists or by Twitter DM www.twitter.com/KeepsakeArtists

We look forward to seeing your fabulous keepsakes!

Love from the Guild team x

Keepsake Business of the Week- Paperama

This week our award went to the lovely Kerry from Paperama, She is a lovely member of the community and makes everyone feel welcome. Here are her interview responses which were posted on Thursday evening:

1. What is the nature of your business? 

I make hand-cut paper art keepsakes, gifts and wall art. I make people smile through taking an idea, turning it into a design and making it pop from the page, using a computer / pencil, paper and a scalpel.

2: Who are you and how did you start your business?

I’m Kerry, 32, have been a youth worker for the last 10years and am ending my 3rd year of my youth work degree (I am doing this for me not for the work ). I currently live with my folks – long story. We have always had crafty things in the house: shelves of paper, boxes of bits ‘n’ bobs, glues, things I don’t even know the name of never mind what I’m supposed to do with them. My Mum used to make cards and my Dad can turn his hand to pretty much anything and recently started painting. I decided late December I was going to make a card for my cousin, cutting out his name I really enjoyed it, started looking around the internet throwing words into google and was fascinated. I started trying different things and amazed myself. I met and was introduced to some amazing people who helped me find resources and supplies and if it wasn’t for the support and encouragement from my folks (not to mention the supplies they had already), the amazing friends I have and have met along the way and the fact I love it and enjoy it I wouldn’t be answering these questions.

3: What is the best thing about selling keepsakes? 

I enjoy the fact I am making people smile, I love hearing the joy my creations have brought to someone else. I love that I am giving someone something during that special time / event that they can keep. I love that there are so many possibilities. I also love the fact that I have found an art form that I can do, share and develop.

4. What are your short term plans, any events etc.? 

Kerry: I haven’t booked to attend any events yet although people keep telling me I should, it makes me a little nervous at the moment. I hope things will continue to grow and I have some new ideas being developed so I hope to get those out soon. I have to focus on finishing my degree and not sending my parents (particularly my Dad) around the twist with “what do you think?” “what about this?”.

5. What are your long term goals. i.e where do you think you will be in 5 years time? 

To be honest I don’t really know I am working on this at the moment. I would really love to be successful, I hope business is booming and is enough to be full time. I hope to have new lines and ideas and to have more space to work in / store things.

Finally, Do you have any valuable information, tips or advice about being successful?

Don’t give up. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. As long as you are true to yourself and honest in your work keep going. Have faith in your own imagination and creativeness, don’t look to other people’s work for it, you have it all around you. Don’t take on too much and don’t let it become a chore, enjoy it.

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We hope you have enjoyed reading and remember if you want to be in with a chance of being a Keepsake Business of the Week, keep interacting with us on Facebook and Twitter!

www.facebook.com/KeepsakeArtists
www.twitter.com/KeepsakeArtists

Interview: JellyBean Home Decor & Gifts

Our Keepsake Business of the week was awarded to Anastacia of JellyBean Home Decor & Gifts as we felt she had made a great contribution to the page over the course of the week. We choose one business to win the award on a Friday and they get to feature as our cover photo over the weekend! We also like to find out more about the business so we ask some questions, these will be shared on the Facebook page as well as here on the Blog.

What is the nature of your business?

We make personalised home decor and gifts made to customer specification. What the customer wants, the customer gets  We make a range of items including freestanding words, shapes, clipboards, hanging signs, moons and so much more. Our product range is always evolving based on our customer requests. 

Who are you and how did you start your business?

 I am Anastasia, I'm 19, I'm a big animal lover! Jellybean was founded when I had to leave my previous job as a carer due to injury. I couldn't do nothing as it was sending me crazy, and having always been the arty type, I got creative and Jellybean was born. 

What is the best thing about selling keepsakes?

The best thing about making keepsakes is knowing each piece is never the same, it's completely unique to that customer and completely individual to their requests. I love it when customers tell me the back story of the keepsake, it allows me to really learn more about why i'm creating a particular piece. 

What are your short term plans, any events etc.?

Our short term goals are fairly simple at the moment, we're unable to attend any events at this time but we're working to continue to networking, build our range, improve our business to move to bigger things in the coming years. 

What are your long term goals. i.e where do you think you will be in 5 years time?

 I'm not sure what stage our business will be at in 5 years time, we HOPE that we'll have moved to stocking local family run shops, perhaps even with a shop of our own. We'd like to eventually have a shop with not only our items, but other small business' items.

Finally, Do you have any valuable information, tips or advice about being successful?

Love what you do, learn from your mistakes, be friendly and follow the rules. Our business blog on the website is catered for fellow small business' and is full of tips and advice about business matters, i feel it's important to pass on things I've learnt along the way. http://www.jellybeanhomegifts.co.uk/en/blog

If you are interested in Anastacia's work, please visit the website www.jellybeanhomegifts.co.uk and the facebook page www.facebook.com/JellyBeanHomeGifts 

If you want to be in with a chance of winning a KBOTW award make sure you visit the Facebook page and simply interact! www.facebook.com/KeepsakeArtists