It was New Year and my daughter had friends to stay; miraculously alert after dancing and singing the night away, they were noticing objects around the house that I’ve made: “Did you make these? You could sell them!”. That got me thinking and a couple of days later at the hairdressers, I swapped Hello magazine for Etsy browsing and several screenshots later I believed there was a market for my stuff.
Fast forward a couple of months and good friends, Marilyn and Bill Copland were round and commented on the framed photos of seaweed from Iona in 2015; “You must make these available - give other people the opportunity to appreciate this”. Two weeks later, I had a batch of cards printed via Snapfish.
Around that time, I ran evening classes in decoupage and beach crafts at a local community café – big thanks to Kate Cooper for the opportunity. The name Flow Creativity was borne of knowing that I find my flow in creative activities and seeing how others found a path to relaxation through an evening’s crafting. I decided to go for it. With help from good friend and mentor Mary Bonatti, I got my Etsy Shop set up and thanks to Nadia; all my social media sorted. Having great encouragement and support from all my family and from many friends has really spurred me on.
I got to work on a range of products and Flow Creativity's first launch was the local Primary School Summer Fair and then at the Byres Road Makers Market. Many more craft fairs were to follow. I loved the experience; talking with people, sharing interests, listening to what they like, learning what works and the amazing buzz when someone makes a purchase. By December I was sold out of crescent moons.