Handmade Cards - Lynsey Searle
Lynsey runs her own business - www.swirlyarts.etsy.com selling handmade cards, knitted items and vintage chicken doorstops!
The Interview
Name - Lynsey Searle
Location - Burnley, Lancashire
Family - Married to Matt and I have two daughters, Anya, 3 and a half and Tara, 10 months
What inspired you to start making cards?
I started making cards when I was pregnant with Anya as I just couldn't find any birth announcement cards I liked. After a few months I sat down with my husband (who is IT minded!) and said that I would like a website please! We then had to come up with a name for the company and decided on Swirlyarts. From there I started making cards for friends and family and got some of my cards into a shop - unfortunately it has closed down now. I joined a really good craft forum (www.craftsforum.co.uk) and on there saw many other very talented people. I then dug out the sewing machine and made Anya a skirt. From there I decided to open and Etsy shop and I'm still coming up with new ideas to try out. Lots of ideas but not a great deal of time!!
What is your background (previous career area?)
I trained to be a primary school teacher but left when I had Anya - I'd always intended to go back to it but I never did and won't now.
Did you have specialist training in mkaing cards? - if so what/where was your training?
I haven't had any formal training and tend to pick things up from reading other peoples blogs, craft websites and magazines - also trial and error!
How did you go about setting your business up? (from a business perspective - initial funding etc) Did you have any professional help?
Setting up as a business went hand in hand with my husband setting up his company. We started a parent company and Swirlyarts is an offshoot of that as is my husbands company which is in a totally different area. We spoke to an accountant about setting up the parent company and to check that we were ok with two very different businesses running under the parent company. We were very lucky that my husbands business had no start up costs and neither did Swirlyarts - I had most of the things already.
Did you carry out any research you carried out to know your business would work?
The online crafts business is very large and I knew that to succeed in it I would need to have some different items that not everyone else is making - I'm slowly moving into that area but it takes time. Other than talking to other crafters I didn't do any research on how the business would work.
Where do you carry out your work now?
I have my own craft room up in the attic at home which I am very lucky to have. I'm slowly moving all my crafty stuff up there out of all the other rooms in the house! Inevitably though things do end up where they aren't supposed to be!
Do you need lots of specialist equipment?
My sewing machine is the only specialist piece of equipment I have apart from a die cutting machine for my cards. Being into crafts though means that you are a hoarder - I collect coloured plastic bottles to turn into jewelery, ditto bottletops, game pieces etc etc.
Do you make all of your designs yourself?
I make all of my pieces myself apart from the knitted and crocheted things - my mum and sister make those as I am no good with wool although I am hoping to learn soon.
What inspires your designs?
Anything and everything inspires my work - I love looking in charity shops and finding unusual fabrics and trinkets etc. I also read lots blogs and get inspiration from other crafters.
How many hours do you work a week?
I tend to work in the evenings although I do get about an hour in the afternoon too when Tara is asleep - Anya will come and 'help' me in the craft room!
How does the job fit round your family life?
It's quite easy to fit in around the children because I can sit on the sofa when they are playing and sew in the labels onto my personalised baby grows. I can also sit and watch tv in the evening whilst making brooches or cards.
How do you find customers - do you advertise?
I advertise on the craft directory that is linked to the craft forum I belong to and I have my work on Etsy too. I also post a lot of my photo's onto Flickr so that people can see my work on there too. I'm going to start attending craft fairs this year and the woman that runs my local play centre has asked to have my business cards in there too. So it's small steps at the moment but things are coming together.
What is the earning potential?
The earnings aren't great at the moment but I'm hoping that these will improve and they should once I get to more venues to sell my products.
Is the job/running the business rewarding?
I absolutely love this job and I think it helps my daughters too as they get to see me as someone other than mummy. I think the job will get easier once Tara starts nursery and Anya is in school because I will have more time to put into the business but that's another three years away yet! Until then I will continue working in the evenings and grab some extra time when I can!