Shop Feature: Pink Flamingo Handcrafting

This week's shop feature is Pink Flamingo Handcrafting by  by Laura Barker. I love the creativity that she has in her shop ranging  from cards to bracelets to gift tags and so much  more in there. It's nice to see a variety that she has at her shop, that is what I really like there. No mention alot of what shei s making is beautiful and cute too. My  favorite item is the  Animal birthday card set. gosh its too cute for me ot use and give away, I  probably just collect it for myself.  Anyways learn  more about  Laura right below.

1. How did you come up with the Name of your Shop
I set up my small business in May this year to make and sell products and teach craft classes. The name I was going to have for this was what my shop would be called too and I wanted a name that reflected something about the nature of my work and be a memorable image. I had a lot of thoughts but nothing felt right. Then when I was looking in my jewellery box I saw my pink flamingo brooch that I bought from an antique centre a few years ago and it just seemed right! The brooch is a delicate flamingo with pink sparkly stones (not real ones!) and it looks vintage but has a modern feel too and this is an idea I wanted in my work too. So Pink Flamingo Handcrafting was born! Although when I came to opening my Etsy shop that name was too long (something I didn’t realise!) so on there I’m Pink Flamingo Crafting.

 


2. Tell us a little bit about your shop and what you think makes it unique?
I’ve crafted for many years and found that my passion lies in paper crafting and this is the focus of my shop. I also love to rescue and upcycle objects so this features in a lot of my items too. I make greeting cards, tags and other little things using upcycled books which makes them truly unique as there is only one of each image. I also use coloured pages of text to piece together my own designs. Added to this I have some new design cards which are all my own ideas and are simple, clean and fun to give them a handcrafted and modern feel. I’ve done a run of craft fairs over the summer and had lots of lovely comments about how unique my work is.
3. What is your favorite item at the store and why?
 I love all the items in my store as each has its own story, but if I had to pick a favourite it would be the wedding bride and groom card. I wanted to make a wedding card and it took me a while to work out how to make the cute characters in a simple yet effective way; usually I can be a little impatient if things don’t work well straight away, but I stuck at this until I got it right and I love the result.




4. What inspires create your products?
 I’m inspired to create by wanting to provide people with a unique way to celebrate and to offer something people can buy which is personal and truly reflects them. There are a lot of cards out there and it’s easy to buy one from one of the card shops that are everywhere, but I never feel they offer the same sentiment as handmade. As far as designs, I like to play around with images of things I like such as the foxes on my cards.
5. Where can we find you?
 I sell on Etsy, and Folksy (folksy.com/shops/PinkFlamingoHandcrafting) as well as sharing my items on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pinkflamingohandcrafting). I also have a blog where I like to share my work, ideas, tutorials and the work of other crafters that I love (www.pinkflamingohandcrafting.blogspot.co.uk). I’ve also recently branched out into selling in shops local to me in Sheffield.


6. Do you have any coupons or discounts for us?

I’m happy to offer a 10% discount to readers by using the code PJBLOG10 at the checkout until October 31st 2013.

7. What advice can you give for other sellers out there for their shop?
 The best piece of advice I had when setting up my shop was ‘just get on with it!’. There’s no such thing as perfect and things can always be changed later (I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve changed my photos!). And make what you love, there will be others who love it too. 

 8. What is your Favorite Food?
My favourite foods, well, there are quite a few! I love Mexican food – any combination of tortilla, beans, cheese and sour cream is a winner! I also have quite a sweet tooth and can never pass up a slice of Black Forest gateaux.
9. Describe us one positive event in your life in your life that you felt was a miracle to you or that you knew the Universe was there watching over you.
 As for a ‘miracle’ I suppose that’s setting up my business. It’s something I had in the back of mind but never thought I’d be able to do. I was a teacher for a few years but wanted a change and didn’t know where to go next. A friend of mine kept mentioning I should sell on Etsy, even if it was just a hobby but I wasn’t sure anyone would want to buy my things. My friend, Marion, works as a community development officer and had arranged a talk from a woman who helps people start up small businesses for the community she works with and invited me along. At first I thought ‘I can’t do that!’ and was half way through texting her to say I couldn’t make it when my phone deleted the message. Then I thought ‘okay, I’ll go but just sit at the back and not get involved, I’ll just listen’. So one Monday afternoon along I went – and was the only person who turned up! All the attention was on my idea, and they thought it was great and workable. If my phone hadn’t deleted the message and I’d pressed send I wouldn’t be doing this now.
10. Anything else you like to share about you? 
Since this I’ve started to think more in the ‘have a go, you never know’ frame of mind rather than ‘It’ll never work!’ panic I used to – and it’s going well so far, and hopefully will continue to do so.