The Makers Market Part 2

On Tuesday night I took part in the first ever The Makers Market held in The Joker in Brighton. I had a really great evening as there were workshops, stalls selling jewellery, art and other crafts, a DJ and a bar! The Makers Market is a new event in Brighton that will be held every month and from hearing the plans Finola Maynard (who organises The Makers Market alongside Lucy Davidson and The Joker) has for it in the future I'm sure every month it will just get bigger and better. I'd definitely like to have a stall there again over the summer hopefully. Here's my set up from last night:

Other sellers that were there included; Billy Mather Illustration, I might have bought the Jeremy Adorabyn tote bag:

Harper and Finch with their beautiful embroidered pieces:

Fleur De Carotte and her lovely clay and leather jewellery:

Glasshouse and her wonderful terrariums and air plants:

Finola Maynard ceramics beautiful pottery (who co-founded The Makers Market with Lucy Davidson):

Finola also put on a pottery workshop and there was a live DJ playing some tunes whilst you threw your pots on the wheel! I'm currently doing Finola's Intensive Pottery Course and learning so much every week, if you've ever wanted to try out working with clay you should definitely check it out:

The super talented Lucy from Peas and Needles also held a weaving workshop, I've been to one of Lucy's workshops before and they're so interesting and really fun, would definitely recommend it if you'd like to learn the art of weaving!

You can join The Makers Market Facebook group to find out about upcoming events and opportunities HERE :)

The Makers Market

I'll be selling my wares at The Makers Market in The Joker in Brighton tomorrow night! I'll be there with a load of other talented designers and makers from in and around Brighton from 7-10pm, you'll also be able to take part in workshops and get cocktails! See you there :)

Etsy Blogger Sleepover Event at Lick Yogurt Warehouse

The super talented people at Lick Yogurt have made an amazing video of The Etsy Blogger Sleepover Event I and some other members of The Brighton Etsy Team were at a few weeks ago! Take a look here: 

Video by Mary Martin for Lick Yogurt

Women In Business: Brighton Style Magazine

I have recently been featured as one of Brighton Style Magazines Women In Business, you can read the interview below or head on over to their website to take a look at all the inspiring women who have been featured

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Kate Holden is the woman behind Oh Someday jewellery. She makes personalised jewellery and sells them through her Etsy shop, having taken her business from part-time to full-time in 2013.

Here’s what happened when we caught up with Kate to find out more about her recent leader role with the Brighton Etsy team, and where she finds her inspiration.

Oh and BTW, we just had to buy one of those Be Brave and Be Kind bracelets.

Tell us a bit about you and Oh Someday..

I set up Oh Someday Jewellery in 2012 and I’ve been running it full time since the end of 2013. Before this I had a part time job alongside the jewellery making, it was quite scary to leave behind the security of my other job but it was definitely the right decision and I haven’t looked back!

Have you always lived near Brighton?

Yes, although I’ve actually never lived in the city, throughout my life I’ve never lived more than 30 minutes from Brighton! I’ve recently become a team leader for the Brighton Etsy Team where alongside some other team members we organise talks, meet-ups, events and markets. I think Brighton is such a wonderful and unique place and will find any excuse to spend time there.

How would you describe the type of accessories you sell?

I mainly make personalised pieces out of brass and silver at affordable prices- so everyone can have a truly individual and personal piece of jewellery. Every piece has been made using traditional jewellery making techniques, I saw out each piece myself and they are all hand finished too meaning every piece is slightly different and unique.

When did you start actually creating jewellery?

I started making pieces of jewellery for myself when I was in school but didn’t truly discover a passion for jewellery design until I signed up for evening classes to learn silversmithing about 5 years ago now. Learning about different types of metals and gemstones and how to work with them was so exciting to me and made me realise the design possibilities with jewellery are endless.

How did you find your niche?

I think really just by trying new things and seeing which pieces my customers responded to the best. When I first started out I had no intention of making personalised jewellery but through customer requests over the years it’s now the main part of my business and the thing I enjoy doing the most! I love hearing the different things people would like put on their jewellery and finding out the story behind why they would like those particular words is always really special.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

The jewellery I make is heavily influenced by music, nature and the people around me. I’m a bit of a daydreamer so most of my pieces are thought up when I should be in the middle of doing something else, or late at night when I’m trying to get to sleep!

Most of my favourite pieces have been commissions that customers have asked for. I loved making a pair of rings with the words ‘Noli Timere’ on them which is Latin for do not be afraid and were the last words of the poet Seamus Heaney.

What tips do you have for others wanting to set up a local business in Brighton?

I think my main advice would be to just go for it! You can spend too much time thinking about doing things rather than just giving it a go.

I would recommend joining a website like Etsy where it is relatively inexpensive and simple to set up a shop. There are great communities on there that can help you with every aspect of your business.

Joining the Brighton Etsy Team has been really valuable for me and my business and I’ve met some really lovely people through it too. Going to the meet ups (which you can find out about on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/brightonetsyteam) is also really useful as everyone has tips and advice to share.

Etsy has also given me the opportunity to reach customers all over the world, which I think is really exciting!

Find out more and Kate and her jewellery here:

Website: https://www.ohsomeday.etsy.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohsomedayjewellery

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/_oh_someday_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohsomedayjewellery

Etsy Blogger Sleepover

On Tuesday I took part in the Etsy Blogger Sleepover event! Etsy UK invited a group of bloggers down to Brighton to show them around this beautiful seaside city and then to come to the wonderful Lick Warehouse where a group of us Etsy sellers had set up work spaces to show how we made our wares! This was one of my first events as a Brighton Etsy Team Leader! As well as this the Brighton Etsy Team also put on workshops by Georgie St Clair and Karli from Designosaur. I took quite a few photos on the day and thought I'd share them below.

Here's my little work space:

Sarah from Rockcakes workspace:

Claire from Cat-A-Cake Creations workspace:

Toby from I Like Cats workspace:

Ellen from B Millinery's workspace:

Ali and Jam from Hello Dodo's workspace:

Hello Dodo printed hundreds of these Brighton Up Your Day prints while we were there!

Georgie St Clair did a workshop where everyone made beautiful works of art from flower petals!

Karli from Designosaur hosted a workshop making colourful dinsoaur charm jewellery

The day was held in the wonderful Lick Warehouse,owned by Lick Yogurt (which is delicious by the way, if you ever get the chance to try some do!) here's a few photos from their space

It was so great to spend the day working with other Brighton Etsy Team members and see how they create their work! All the props and tables were made by Clare from In The Making Made , the space looked amazing! 

If you 'd like to see more pictures from the day and the bloggers weekend search on Instagram using the hashtag #etsybloggersleepover

Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

I had a look around the Wildlife Photographer of The Year exhibition at Brighton Museum recently, the photos are absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend going and having a look around if you're visiting Brighton at any time. 

There's also a section taxidermy and animal skulls on show which I took some photos of. The skull is from a Fennec Fox, which is also in the photo below from the exhibition, by Bruno D'Amicis. It was one of the saddest one's I saw there telling the story of poachers illegally selling them as pets to people in the West as there's a demand for them because they're so cute. On a side note the wonderful hand model in the photo is also wearing a couple of personalised rings I made (Thanks again for showing me around Kerrie Curzon! :D)

 

I also really love this chair display as you walk into the museum:

You can find out more about the exhibition at Brighton Museum here: Wildlife Photographer of The Year

Brighton Etsy Team Blog Hop

I've been nominated by the lovely Kate of Actually I do and Anna from the wonderful Anna's Drawing Room to do a blog hop post as part of the Brighton Etsy Team! Here we go:

What inspired you to start your business or Etsy shop?

I started making pieces of jewellery for myself when I was in school but didn’t truly discover a passion for jewellery design until around five years ago when I signed up for evening classes to learn silversmithing. Learning about different types of metals and gemstones and how to work with them was really interesting and made me realise the design possibilities with jewellery are endless. I'd been shopping on Etsy for a while and always dreamed of having my own shop so nearly three years ago now I got some designs together and thought I'd give it a go!

We're looking at goals in the Brighton Etsy Team this month (you can follow along with #btnetsygoals!) Can you share one of your goals for your shop for the next six months?

My goal over the next sixth months is to try out some new designs I've had in my head for a while now but never got round to making and to be better at every aspect of social media!

What are you working on at the moment?

I'm doing a couple of courses over the next month or so and working on my spring/ summer collection, hoping to have a few different designs to what I usually do ready by around May time.

If you could give other sellers or someone looking to start their own design/craft business one piece of advice what would you say?

I think my main advice would be to just go for it! You can spend too much time thinking about doing things rather than just giving it a go. Definitely educate yourself as much as you can as you can never learn too much, whether it be on different techniques and materials or on marketing. I would recommend joining a website like Etsy where it is relatively inexpensive and simple to set up a shop. There are great communities on there that can help you with every aspect of your business. Joining a local team can be really helpful too. I’m a member of the Brighton Etsy Team, I've found it so valuable and I’ve met some really lovely people through it, it's so important to be able to talk to people who are going through the same trials as you with setting up a small business. Etsy has also given me the opportunity to reach customers all over the world, which I think is really exciting knowing that there are people wearing my jewellery in countries that I've never even been to!

For the next blog hop I nominate Mooshpie, The Emporers Old Clothes and Forever Foxed