Professional Crafters Guild

Hey All

Its been a while!! Its all been pretty quite here at FSS, not been up to much at all. 

I had to get a new driving instructor and had my 1st lesson today. I was so so nervous!!  Its not easy getting to know someone else just a little time away from my test plus get used to a new car, petrol rather than diesel, its so so quiet and I am struggling with the clutch.  I had an hour & a half this morning and have another 2 hour lesson tomorrow just to try and get used to it........freaking out!!!!  Only good point is the lovely lady I now have has given me great reference points for my manoeuvres and I actually get it phew! 

If anyone is looking for lessons I can recommend Lana from LDC, what a difference in my confidence in just one day, just need to get to grips with the car now.

 http://www.learnerdriving.com/driving-schools-lessons.php?in=paisley 

Since its been quiet I thought I would also pop a little bit in the blog about the Professional Crafters Guild.  The group that I am part of and carry the membership badge on my website;

The Guild was started in July 2011 and its aim really is to raise the publicity and credibility of crafting as a legitimate business and not just a hobby.  There is a huge difference!!

I have always crafted as a hobby, on my days off, during holidays and at night when I couldn't sleep.  It was a release, something to relax me after doing a hard day at the office.  When I decided to take a break from work in September 2011 due to needing the break to help get my health back up to scratch, I needed something to keep me busy.  Like anyone who keeps busy and has worked every single day since leaving school, it is impossible to just stop.

Working for myself meant that on the days when I didn't feel like I could put in a 9-5 shift, I didn't have too but could still do thinks like paperwork or setting up markets etc.  It turned out to be the perfect remedy.

I was making jewellery, cards or bath products from when I woke in the morning to when I went to sleep at night, i soon had loads of stuff, so why not sell it.  That was it, I was then arranging fairs, talking to suppliers and doing accounts, I had a business and it was no longer just a hobby to pass the time.  That's where the Professional Crafters Guild comes in.

I cannot put into words what there actual policy is so this is from their website;

The Guild aims to:

• encourage its members and raise awareness of the beautiful handmade crafts which are available from people who have a passion for crafting.
• reflect the diversity of crafting and keep this skill very much alive in contemporary society.
• provide information for its members on craft workshops, courses and events.

Anne is lovely and works hard to gain discounts for their members from upmarket suppliers, keeps us up to date with new trends & members via a crafty magazine and gives us an additional network of support for all those questions that running a business provides.

If you are a crafter and you have products that you know others will love, unique items made with love & care that you know can rival any high street store, then this is the place to go to be part of a professional network to get people talking about your products. 

If you fancy joining this is what to do and where to go;

The Guild offers membership to all areas of crafting. To join the Guild please complete our online application form. Once you have been accepted you will receive an email with your registration details, badges to add to your websites and a digital certificate of membership. Your details and web links will then be added to our online members list.

http://www.procraftersguild.com/

Anyway, I am off to finish the lime crochet square I started the other day and here are another few pages that I have put together using Craft Artist, it is a fab programme and I am really enjoying using it;

This was a picture of fiesta as a kitten, the only one we actually have, I am pleased with how it has worked out.

This is the original to the picture above, like I said amazing programme!!

This was a simple background sheet with embossing of her name and the photo background cutout & a spider stencil added.

This looks really simple but it was two separate photos of Fiesta with the backgrounds cutaway, faded, then resized and positioned into a pattern to make a background paper for a scrapbook page.

Well that's it, happy crafting everyone.

Amanda x