Meet my fairy godmother, Dawno

Anyone reading my blog or following me on twitter can't have failed to notice my excitement when my meerkat trekkies went viral.



It took me a while, but eventually I worked out the trail and it led back to a lovely lady known as Dawno who sent the first article off to boing boing.

I found Dawno on twitter and set about learning a bit more about my new fairy godmother!

She has found a very specific niche to fill with her Etsy shop, Dawno.etsy.com. As she explains: "I have to wear a badge at work and the shoestring lanyards just don't look good with professional dress. So I decided to make my own jewelry style lanyards and other people wanted their own."



Despite (or maybe because of!) her full time job this busy lady also finds time for two blogs:
http://www.beadedbadgelanyards.blogspot.com/
and www.dawnonowyouseeit.blogspot.com


and a jewellery shop, this time on Artfire!




Dawno on twitter
http://www.beadedbadgelanyards.blogspot.com/
www.dawnonowyouseeit.blogspot.com
Dawno on Artfire
Dawno on Etsy

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to the lady who kick started the wave of publicity which took my meerkats into the spotlight, and ask wach of you who reads this to have a wander around her stores and blogs. Thank you Dawno!

Let's meet...Skully!

I first came across Lynne on Folksy, tracked her to Etsy and now discover that she's gone to Artfire! She has a stunningly beautiful family member who models her knitwear...



Cats or dogs?
Cats.

Favourite colour?
Purple or orange

City break or weekend in the country?
Weekend in a field with a group of fire spinners/hoopers.

WHAT? *niftyknits steps back, mouth open*


Lynne assures me there are people holding the burning thingies. I think I'll stick to knitting!


Soaps or documentaries?
Neither, TV bores me

Bath or shower?
Bath… umm.. or if you are utterly filthy dirty shower followed by a bath.



What brought you to Etsy?

I joined Etsy after finding it through a friend. After a long year and a half of trying to get the site changed to run in a more internationally friendly way, I closed up shop and moved to Artfire. Etsy struck me as having very little knowledge of customer service and is completely America-centric. Their inability to change every $ sign to US$ on their site proves this. They offer no reason why they won’t change it and it seems obvious to me that they do not understand why it needs to be changed despite having explained to them over and over. Their lack of communication and attempts at blinding their customers to issues going on by setting up fish making contests and posting up cupcake recipes instead of informing people what is going on just made me feel it was time to leave.


Artfire is still in the very early stages of being built. The Admin there bend over backwards to communicate with their customers to let them know what is being built, what has been built, what problems there are and they listen when their customers talk to them. They aren’t afraid to say “oops we slipped up there, thank you for pointing out that error” either, which is refreshing. I know for now the site isn’t running smoothly, but I can see a bright future and feel that their plans of how the site will be run is more in keeping with my own hopes for the PiratePixieCrew . Jumping onboard with the site so early on has its benefits and its drawbacks, but over all the benefits outweigh the problems.

I'm sure you'll be keen to see more of Lynne's work in her
shop. I can also highly recommend her blog,
Autonomous Artisans, where I was honoured to be featured last month. Find out more about Lynne here

Let's meet...BlackRose!

I met BlackRose through her Folksy shop but soon discovered she has cast her net far and wide. She also has an etsy shop, her own fascinating website and a blog

Let's get to know this woman of many talents!

Cats or dogs? I love cats and am considering getting one!

Fruit or chocolate? Shhh....chocolate

Favourite colour? Pink

Favourite meal? West Indian style rice n peas or a nice Thai dish



Bath or shower? Definitely a bath......I love to soak and reflect/day dream

What brought you to Folksy? Do you sell anywhere else?

I’ve been creating something or other since an early age. I used to do the odd craft fair when I was heavily into salt dough modelling. I discovered selling online - and thought that might be an easier option than standing out in the cold. I’ve opened a shop on Artfire but that is empty at the moment.



I now realise selling online isn’t an easier option and can be even more involving than doing craft fairs (i.e. taking suitable photos, networking to get known, packaging and posting, etc) but just one of many options. I’m now thinking that I will have a mixture – my online shops and craft fairs. I have a stall in March via the Telegraph Hill Festival in SE London and am investigating a stall at the new Roman Road Craft Market in East London.

In your profile you state: “I am attuned to reiki, and am also a professional psychic reader and certified life coach - you will therefore find that some of my items have a healing, spiritual or affirmative/self developmental aspect to them.” Can you give us an example of this please?

I like to make a few items that I think will help others in some way, whether to relax or as a tool for meditation and self growth – such as my spirit art dolls or herb sachets/pillows.




What’s the favourite item you’ve made so far?
Gosh....mmmm...my favourite things have long gone (I used to make my own clothes and made some culottes years ago which I wore to death). My current fave is a spirit art doll I’ve made and just listed on Etsy – I’m quite torn about whether to leave her there or remove her and keep her for myself!


Listed on Folksy at the moment – it has to be Creative Bella another of my little art dolls.


Thank you! I'm going to end with the inspiring title of Val's website:
Dream your life, live your dream.