Enlancer - Susan Fabric Fantastic Q & A

I have long admired the work created by Susan Clark and her lovely designed fabric.  We first met way back at college on our foundation course, we took different paths to University but have kept in touch.   There has been great success with her designs and there are lots of items available take a look at her website - www.enlacer.co.uk -

I thought it would a good blog to interview Susan 10 questions, read on to find out about her inspirations, work etc...

1.    How did you get involved in art and design?
I have always loved art and design, in my school leavers book, my art teacher wrote best of luck, see you when your have come out of your Picasso phase! Think it was a compliment?!! I knew I wanted to take art into further education and after opting to take textiles at foundation course I decided that was what I would follow through to University

2.    What made you choose textiles to specialise in?
My love of texture and fabric I knew I wanted to study design and be hands on practical. At university  I took printed and woven textiles, I initially wanted to specialise in Printed, but took woven textiles instead and I now do both, design fabric, and have an old Harris loom in my living room!

3.    Where do you get your inspiration from?
All around me I love photography working from nature, from landscape, to abstract textures, visiting galleries and checking out latest trends and trade fairs, always find it inspiring to talk to other artist designers and hear what other people are up to! I also keep a pen and paper by my bed, I once had a vivid dream about a cricket design, (I don’t even like cricket), I woke up and sketched it out, the  next day I set up my laptop and designed it from my midnight doodlings. You never know when inspiration might strike! (See pic of cricket image right)....

4.    What made you decide to set up in business?
My love of designing and wanting to produce my designs into products, I love interior design as well, and thought my images would work really well as soft furnishings, so I looked into what products to develop, these now include lampshades, cushions, cards, and jewellery printed with my designs………..(see pic of bangles)

 
5.    What one top tip would you give to a start up business?
Research your niche and your market place, find an outlet for your work, don’t start too big, its fine to test your ideas, try online or craft fairs- and see how it goes! Don’t be afraid of a bit of self advertising either, be it creating twitter or facebook or designing your own website and I always have a few business cards in my purse, just in case. Also listen to other people’s advice, try joining a local networking group and ask questions, the more fingers in pies the better.

6.    Where do you sell your products? 
I sell through word of mouth, through local art markets in particular monthly Winchester Arts and Craft market and through my website www.enlacer.co.uk I have recently started up a blogsite enlacerdesign.blogspot and use social media sites https://twitter.com/enlacer https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enlacer/142994412393346

7.    What is your favourite Design or Product from your own collection?
I would say my most popular design is Tulip tree and bird on the wire, and I love my lampshades, I think they are unique and often have comments on how hard it is to find nice lampshades that are a bit different to the norm. Which is lovely, I like to think that’s what I provide!
I think my favourite design is Robin in field and my favourite lampshade design is 4seasons fabric with a gold reflective inner liner. I like it all, including my bangles printed with some of my popular images, they always make me smile.

8.    Name 3 designer makers you admire and why?
Jessica Jewellery Design  – of course! Especially for her wonderful acrylic bangles www.jessicajewellerydesign.co.uk
http://www.margaretsturton.co.uk/  A fantastic animator and illustrator
Oral Kiely I just love her designs
etre_creative interior design company based in Winchester, run by the very creative and inspiring Emily Tyers

9.    What do you hope future?
To continue to be inspired and that my designs become more  available to a wider audience! To carry on enjoying what I do, I love seeing a new design printed for the first time, it’s always so exciting!  To add to my products I would really like to have a range to bags with my images, for the future I would say I’d like to expand my range and brand.

10.    Name one of your favourite websites or online tools?
I often look at http://www.printpattern.blogspot.co.uk/ for interesting trends and designs
I'm always online scouring to find new creative things & Etsy for discovering new talent and fun creative things!

A big thanks to Susan for answering these questions, please do take a look at her site and follow whichever or all social media that you like!

www.enlacer.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enlacer/142994412393346
https://twitter.com/enlacer
enlacerdesign.blogspot

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Winter Walking

Just a few photos from the wintery North East snow.  Was a lovely day out last weekedn but very cold!!! .... Think the rain has washed a lot away now but it was beautiful!

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Book Review - How to Make Money using Etsy by Timothy Adam

Well after reading this book I was inspired to get on with my Etsy shop!!  It is a really good book for the beginner and goes over all aspects of Etsy.  Some aspects are already starting to become out of date but would say at least 90% is still very valid so worth the read.  It is really a two part book, half setting up and running an Etsy Shop and half how to start and use Blogs. 

The book starts right from researching your subject, thinking of the right name for your Etsy shop right through to how to sell and promote your shop when you've put it together.  It is very easy to read with good clear language and no real techie jargon.  There are lots of photo snapshots of computer windows to help understand the sites and options mentioned.  The book does touch upon social media including facebook and twitter but blogging is the main form of Etsy promotion Timothy Adam recommends.   This leads to the second half of the book which looks at Blogging.  It goes through how to set up a blog and then what to write about and how to make it work for your shop. 

I already have a shop so a lot of the beginning of the book didn't help me - however I would still recommend that the Etsy shop owner should read this.  For me some great chapters were about the various Google word search sites like 'Google Trends' 'Google Insights' which help with Keywords.  There is also all the information about Blogging -  the writer is a blogger so passes on a lot of information about blogs including lots of great ideas of what to write about.  There are also lots of answers from other bloggers and tips they use.

The end of the book rounds up with some examples of successful Etsy sellers, I didn't get a great deal out of these but again can see how they are useful for a new first time Etsy seller.  They do give tips on how to do your photos and about organisation, they also mention that successful shops can take over your life so be prepared!!

If you have read the book and would like to add your thoughts - or are thinking of buying the book and want to ask a question (i'll try my best to answer) then please feel free in my comments section.

You can purchase this from various places including Amazon for new and used copies

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