In need of some creative/arty chat

[DrawMeADream]

Hi... Long-time lurker/newbie poster here, so be gentle :-P

I am attempting to step up my freelancing work again (I'm a designer/illustrator), since it all fell by the wayside a year ago when my daughter was born very prematurely. She's 1 now, and her health is finally getting close to 100%, so I feel I can finally make time for 'me' again...

I have a new Etsy shop, which is helping me get back into a creative community, but I really don't know many other 'arty types'... Are there any fellow art makers/Etsy-ers out there? I'm desperately in need of some arty conversation!

Hello,
I dream of an etsy shop! With all the makers on MN I wonder if we should just club together an have a shop between us, it would have loads of lovely stuff in and an ever changing stock.

I can't draw or paint, but I do other stuff. I make bobbin lace, make things from felt (mainly miniature toys), do needlepoint/tapestry & am currently crochet-obsesssed!

I love a bit of crafty chat and at present live on a boat, travelling through the inland waterways in Europe and lots of other boat-wives are crafty too, so it's great to compare projects.

Also, have you tried the iMake podcasts? It's quite a bit of knitting, plus all sorts of other crafts. I don't knit & I still love it. I've just downloaded a load of CraftyPod podcasts too, but haven't listened to them yet.

Hiya :)

I'm in a similar situation to yourself, I do make & sell a little, but nowhere near as much as I'd like due t my own DD having some health problems & more so my own rubbish health. I set up an Etsy shop early last year, but so far have done nothing with it, much to my frustration, but promising myself I will do more with it this year too. I'm a fashion designer/garment tech by trade & try & make bridal gowns, I say try, as though I have the skill to do it easily, it just never happens often enough, I also face paint, which I love & have done a lot of local fetes last year, which was brilliant fun & I made money too, but they don't happen often enough to make it a career, I also love sugar craft & make occasion cakes when asked, but not properly set up for that, H&S certificates etc, which is something I hope to sort out this year - my biggest problem is work space, I need to work from home as its just not practical to rent space, as I could end up unable to work for stretches at a time due to health, so I badly need to sort out attic work space here, thankfully it's there, but needs a lot of work to get it up & usable, but getting tradesmen around here is a nightmare - fingers crossed this is the year it happens, as I just can't do enough to either earn, or satisfy me creatively on my dinning room table.

What are you hoping to sell on Etsy, I'm planning on various things, from clothing, to cushions etc:)