Those of you who know me, will already know that I’m not a fan of the cold hard faceless sell but am a huge fan of the personal touch! And that’s partly why The Supermums Craft Fair works so well because when you buy something from a stall, you’re not buying from a large corporation, you’re buying from a small business who cares! Behind every stall is a person and I have always encouraged them to come out and say hello in their descriptions and now I have taken it that one step further with this fabulous feature so you can get to know them even better!
Each week a stall holder from the super duper website will be chosen to become…yes you guessed it… Stall Holder Of The Week! This award is given to someone who has been seen out and about networking their stall and generally being an absolute star! And this week the award goes to…. drum roll please…
The lovely Dawn from Little Miss Mitton! Congratulations on being the latest stall holder of the week Dawn! So let’s start off with the most important thing of all… Let’s talk about you! Thank you!! I was very shocked when I saw it was me this week. I picked up my phone and saw I’d been tagged a few times, and was wondering what had happened hahaha. Um, well, I’m 37 years young, single Mummy to Matthew (Batty) who is 8.5, Jack who’s my crazy 5 year old, and my little Ben, who’s 3.5. We have two cats, Georgie and Misty (who for the first two years was a ‘she’ but she’s actually a ‘he’!!!), and we have two Guinea Pigs, Angel and Tinkerbell. I’ve lived in Warrington for most of my life, all my family live here, all within a few minutes walk, which is nice. I don’t really have any hobbies, unless you count drinking frozen beer as a hobby? I used to make cards, and before that I did cross stitching, I’ve been doing that for about 20 years. And in my spare time I volunteer for The Miscarriage Association on their forum. Oh, and I kind of play the keyboard, in my own special way! haha
Now that sounds like a very busy household! So tell us Dawn, how long have you been making jewellery for… haha, only since March this year! So it’s all very new to me, there’s a lot of stuff I need to learn! I had been eyeing up a jewellery making kit for months, but kept finding excuses not to buy it. If I buy something for me, I feel the need to justify spending the money, and I figured I had better things to spend my money on. But eventually I just bought it. There was a little instruction book with it, and it said ‘Warning - can be addictive’, that is very true!! hahaha
I would never have believed you had only just started making jewellery if you hadn’t of just told me, you are a total natural at it! So what was the reason behind starting your own little business…. Well, the original plan for when Ben started school full time was to study midwifery with my sister. We had both been studying with the Open University to get an up to date qualification, and we were both going to help each other out with childcare. But then she had a heart attack at the end of August last year and died. I did try to continue with studying and really wanted to try to do the midwifery thing on my own, but I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t cope with normal day to day stuff, never mind complicated science stuff, so I quit the course in February, and, um, I was very, very disappointed with myself. I then bought that jewellery kit, figured why not, I might not be here tomorrow! I made some bits, posted the pictures on my personal page, a few people said they’d like to buy them, and so Little Miss Mitton was born on 6th April! But it’s been more than a hobby/business, it has literally been a life saver, it’s given me something to focus on, and it keeps my mind occupied when I start thinking too much. I know that whatever I do Susie would be behind me 100%
Do you know what, I think she would be and she would be very proud of you too. You my love are an inspiration to us all and when the time is right you can always go back to midwifery but until then, keep on making your gorgeous pieces. And on that subject….as well as running your own business, you are also a single Mum… how on earth do you find the time! haha, I don’t! My day starts out with me planning to make something in the mornings whist Ben is at nursery, but then I get distracted by Jezza! So I usually do all my making when the lads are in bed. There is no way I would ever make anything whilst they are up and about, if they were to knock over my beads, well, I think my head would spin, my eyes would pop out, and there would be steam coming out of my ears!!
Ha! Now there’s a vision and a half! You’ve mentioned cross stitching and cards but is there a type of craft that you don’t do yet but would love to try…. You know, I would love to be able to draw! My talents end at stick men and a very basic square house hahaha
Ooh you are like me, I can see it clearly in my head but what my hand and the pencil produces is a totally different thing! So Dawn, with all the gorgeous jewellery you make, there must be a fair amount of bead shopping involved…. just how much fun is that then! Oh my God, it’s an obsession!! I get so excited when I have new beads coming, and if I can manage to get someone to take me to the craft shop, I get super, super excited. Simple things haha
A tricky question for you…. what is your favourite item on your stall right now and why? ooh, erm, probably the pink wrap bracelet. I basically just put all my pink beads on it and was pleased with how pretty it looked. Bizarrely, I’m not a major jewellery wearer, I just wear two rings that have been passed down to me, so I really struggle with knowing what will work and what won’t, and what people want
Burning question and its one that every stall holder of the week must be asked… chocolate or wine… hmmmm, I really don’t like wine, I just drink beer slush!!! I don’t really eat much chocolate, but I suppose I’d rather have chocolate than wine, if I really, really had to pick haha
Wine yet again for me then, ah the downside of being the interviewer ;) If you could only pick one stall to be your favourite on the website, which one would it be and why… This is the one question I dreaded, because I just don’t know, there are so many talented people on there, I love Kelly’s Enchanted Castle, Iris Cards and Gifts, Ali B, Twit Twoo Felts, but if I had to pick one, it would be Sarah, Bluebirds and Daisies, not just for the amazing and beautiful jewellery she makes, but also because she is so lovely and has time for everybody. She’s been an amazing friend to me
Sarah most definitely is lovely, a total pleasure to get to know… as are you ;) And it really has been lovely talking to you, just one question left for you and that is….What would you like the future to have in store for Little Miss Mitton…. Pretty much the same as it is now, plodding on, slow and steady, a bit like me hahahahaha!! I would love to do markets, but I think that’ll have to wait until the lads are older and can look after themselves. As long as I can continue working around the boys, then I’ll be happy
As I’m sure you will agree, Dawn was a fabulous choice for the stall holder of the week award! Of course, there are so many other stalls who have been stars over the last week and they deserve a special mention too. Sadly I can’t pick all of them so each week I will pick just 4 and this week, in no particular order, special mentions are going out to….
Before you go…these are a few of my favourite things…. There are so many amazing and gorgeous products on the website, so many talented stall holders! Each week I will picking just a few of my favourites items to share with you and these are just some of them…. Why not take a little time and browse the site to find your own…
If you would like to meet some more stall holders then why not join the group Supermums Chatty Room on Facebook! Its a place for all stall holders to show off their stalls and get to know each other but everyone is welcome to come along and join in the fun. After all, what could be better than chatting and shopping with friends! And please do come back next week to see who has been chosen as the next… Stall Holder Of The Week…. xxx