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 Laura from Gifts By Indigo! Congratulations on being the latest stall holder of the week Laura! Let’s start off by finding out a little bit about the face behind the stall shall we, so don’t be shy, tell us a little bit about yourself! Ohhhhh yay!! I was a little shocked to see my name but I’m so happy about it! Supermum’s is a great community J I little bit about me I suppose well, I live in a little town in Worcestershire called Droitwich Spa, it’s a lovely place and really friendly. Everything I need is within walking distance (on a dry day) I especially love the little haberdashery shop, it’s like a community centre it would be a lot of fellow supermum’s hidey hole I bet! I don’t have any little ones or any furbabies but the cat from next door keeps me entertained chasing leaves across the lawn. Having felt pretty rubbish health wise they finally found out what was wrong with me and I had a pretty major operation on my ear last year to fix it. Now I have a theme tune ‘titanium’ because the bones are just that and I have a new ear drum! Whilst off I decided to play around with some of the craft supplies I have hoarded over the years and started making things for friends and family, and my hobby all of a sudden turned into a job!
Oh wow! A titanium ear drum! I do love doing these interviews as I would probably never have known that without it! So if crafting was your hobby before, is it something you have always done and can you remember what the first thing you ever made was.. For as long as I can remember I’ve been a crafter, my mum started us off young making things. I started making jewellery for friends at high school which was where my inner entrepreneur came through, I loved it and people loved my designs. I then decided to specialise in glass for my A-level Art which gave me an insight into the industry, I made a huge fused glass piece (which has a big crack in it now L need to find someone to help me fix it!) and I had the chance to make a stained glass piece too. Then toddled off to uni to study Architectural Design Technology! Now you’re thinking whoa this girl has dabbled everywhere! I took for granted that I could sew and use a sewing machine, it wasn’t until last year when a friend introduced me to her pinterest account went I started making the things she had pinned for her little boys nursery, and that’s where I am now! One thing lead to another and Gifts by Indigo was born!
Lets talk Twiggy Trees… tell us everything! It all started taking my dad into a garden centre… Creativity runs in the family… He saw something that sparked off a thought that my tree design could actually be brought to life in 3D if we worked together. He has the tools and resources you see 
Quick trip home to get making a prototype out of cardboard… Decided that maybe our grand plan wasn’t such a good idea! Things didn’t quite go to plan but after a good night’s sleep a fresh pair of eyes and I tweaked the design and hey presto! (that makes it sound really fast, trust me it took weeks!) Then the task of digitising the design and making all the sharp pointy bits not sharp and pointy. It took a lot of test runs of acrylic through the machine to get the right shape to the finished tree, but we got there after a couple of months! The next designs are already being worked on already
Your family tree fridge magnets are a fabulous idea too, how did they come about? For every family tree cushion or canvas I make for a customer they are sent a fully designed computer graphic to check the design works and they like the colours etc. Sat in a massive traffic jam on the M5 just before Christmas last year I was thinking what a waste I had all of these beautiful mock ups just sat on my computer. I looked at sourcing printed tea towels and mugs but they proved quite costly for singles and I wanted to keep it a low cost option for people to buy one of my designs so the fridge magnets came about! This year I also have limited edition snow dome versions!
I have to confess, I am now super excited by the sound of the snow dome versions, I hope you don’t keep us waiting too long to see them!!! Next question, and its a tough one. If you were forced to only use one, which would it be, fabric or felt… Felt, no doubt about it! My felt stash is HUGE I love the colours and varieties available. I am starting to grow my fabric stash, I’m a crafty hoarder after all. I’ll find a use for these things one day…
What is your favourite item on your stall right now and why? Ohhh that’s a hard one! Obviously I LOVE my new twiggy trees but I think I will have to say my favourite is the Owl Name Wreath. This came in as a commission piece for a little girl’s nursery, inspired by the wall art they had painted. I had a smile on my face the whole day I was working out how to make it and then as another piece worked I got more and more excited for the finished piece. The feedback from the customer was fab, they loved it as much as me J
It is absolutely stunning, I’m not surprised they loved it, I most certainly do! Next question and you have to answer truthfully… how big is your felt and fabric stash… It currently has its very own large storage unit… I have about 95 shades of felt and I have just ordered 20m of my heart fabric for my family trees which will only keep me going for a month or so!
95 shades of felt!!! Oh my days I need to come and live with you, I want to just sit there looking at it! My own felt addiction is growing but its not that big… yet ;) Burning question and its one that every stall holder of the week must be asked… chocolate or wine… BOTH! Nothing better than a cold fresh fruity glass of wine followed by a melt in the mouth thortons continental Viennese bar mmmmmmmmmmmm (need to just nip out to the shops now…)
Hurrah! You have no idea how pleased I am that you have picked both, normally I would be strict and say you could only have one, but you can have them and I’m going to treat myself to an apple instead, ha! Another tough question for you, if you could only pick one stall to be your favourite on the website, which one would it be and why… It has got to be Cath’s! The Banner Boutique! She asked if I could help her with a new item a while ago which got us chatting, the joys of social media, the people behind businesses can get in touch and work together. Her products are amazing and original, can’t wait for her to start on her Christmas items!
A fabulous choice, not only is Cath incredibly talented, she is also a very lovely lady! Well its been a total pleasure chatting with you Laura, just one last question before I let you get back to your felt, chocolate and wine. And that question is… what would you like the future to have in store for Gifts By Indigo…. I gave up planning for the future a long time ago! I have no expectations I literally live each day as it comes and go from there! I want to keep Gifts by Indigo going forever and only the future will tell me in which way that goes!
As I’m sure you will agree, Laura 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