Folklore1685 - Handmade Business
Donation protected
Thank you so much for having a read of this and I truly hope you think my ambitions are as worthwhile as I do. I currently run my own small business creating beautiful handmade goods and designing sustainable alternatives to every day items. It is this business I want to push forward and expand with my funds!
Above: My current situation in an arts collective, where I sell handmade products and vintage items.
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Everything I create is inspired by my way of life. My garden, it's wildlife, journeys I've taken and a love of the days gone by all feature in my work. A few years ago I started to become more concerned about my impact on the planet and decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world. Not only did I make changes to the way I ran my home, I did the same for my business. I started to eliminate plastics from my studio, cut out all animal products and ensured that I incorporated as many reclaimed and recycled materials into my work as possible. Most of the things I've created came about because I looked at the plastic and non-recycleable things I used on a daily basis and thought about whether I could have found a sustainable alternative. Sometimes this was something I would have been able to make from scratch and sometimes it was just a case of 'I could have bought that second-hand'!
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Above: Our handmade firelighters are creating using waste materials from other things we make. No petroleum involved! Just scrap natural wax, woodshavings, dried flowers (from our own garden), donated egg boxes or newspapers and wick trimmings.
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I currently rent a space in an arts collective in which to sell my goods and this has been a great opportunity to speak to people directly about my project. Over the next two years I intend to move into a bigger premesis, where I can run the business in a fully sustainable way, from reducing my power consumption to encouraging my customers to donate materials for me to recycle.
I want to prove that it's possible to live sustainably and in harmony with our plant, still surrounded by beautful and useful things, without it being so far away from the modern way of life we have today. Through the positive messages I convey with my work, I hope to inspire people to connect more with nature and take more pride in the steps they take toward their own wellbeing.
While it would be nice to think that by using lots of recycled materials in my work would make my goods free to produce, this sadly isn't the case! There are always tools and equipment that I can't make, and there are raw materials I need to buy in bulk, not only to reduce the overall cost, but to limit the amount of packaging and deliveries involved to make the same amount of product. Overall, the funds I receive will ease the pressure on my existing business by allowing me to fund new ideas for products, while allowing me to continue to save up for the initial costs of taking on a bigger premesis. In deposits and set up costs alone even a small shop takes a few thousand pounds to get going and that's never going to be something I can manufacture myself! I would really love to bring my business back to my native county of Cambridgeshire one day soon...
Please help me grow my business and catch up with me on my facebook page to see how I'm progressing. I'm also more than happy to discuss sustainable and eco-friendly living, and often share ideas for simple things you can do to ease your sustainable way in the world!
Folklore1685 on Facebook
Above: My current situation in an arts collective, where I sell handmade products and vintage items.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything I create is inspired by my way of life. My garden, it's wildlife, journeys I've taken and a love of the days gone by all feature in my work. A few years ago I started to become more concerned about my impact on the planet and decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world. Not only did I make changes to the way I ran my home, I did the same for my business. I started to eliminate plastics from my studio, cut out all animal products and ensured that I incorporated as many reclaimed and recycled materials into my work as possible. Most of the things I've created came about because I looked at the plastic and non-recycleable things I used on a daily basis and thought about whether I could have found a sustainable alternative. Sometimes this was something I would have been able to make from scratch and sometimes it was just a case of 'I could have bought that second-hand'!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Above: Our handmade firelighters are creating using waste materials from other things we make. No petroleum involved! Just scrap natural wax, woodshavings, dried flowers (from our own garden), donated egg boxes or newspapers and wick trimmings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I currently rent a space in an arts collective in which to sell my goods and this has been a great opportunity to speak to people directly about my project. Over the next two years I intend to move into a bigger premesis, where I can run the business in a fully sustainable way, from reducing my power consumption to encouraging my customers to donate materials for me to recycle.
I want to prove that it's possible to live sustainably and in harmony with our plant, still surrounded by beautful and useful things, without it being so far away from the modern way of life we have today. Through the positive messages I convey with my work, I hope to inspire people to connect more with nature and take more pride in the steps they take toward their own wellbeing.
While it would be nice to think that by using lots of recycled materials in my work would make my goods free to produce, this sadly isn't the case! There are always tools and equipment that I can't make, and there are raw materials I need to buy in bulk, not only to reduce the overall cost, but to limit the amount of packaging and deliveries involved to make the same amount of product. Overall, the funds I receive will ease the pressure on my existing business by allowing me to fund new ideas for products, while allowing me to continue to save up for the initial costs of taking on a bigger premesis. In deposits and set up costs alone even a small shop takes a few thousand pounds to get going and that's never going to be something I can manufacture myself! I would really love to bring my business back to my native county of Cambridgeshire one day soon...
Please help me grow my business and catch up with me on my facebook page to see how I'm progressing. I'm also more than happy to discuss sustainable and eco-friendly living, and often share ideas for simple things you can do to ease your sustainable way in the world!
Folklore1685 on Facebook
Organiser
Rosie Carpenter
Organiser