Today I’m very pleased to welcome Sarah Marks, creative force and owner of Tiny-Gems Hand Made Jewellery to the blog. Mrs Lilguys has asked Sarah a few questions about herself and her business:
I make handmade jewellery and tiaras and wedding accessories using new and vintage items that I rework ready for them to be reloved by a new generation. I have an office/studio set up in the spare room of my house where I live with my husband also known as Mr. Tiny-Gems (but not to his face) and my dog and my cat
It started as a hobby and a de-stress tool but when I got made redundant I had a now or never moment and decided that if I didn’t give it a shot I would always be wondering what if? So I took the plunge and cannot tell you how pleased I am that I did, don’t get me wrong this year has been a massive learning curve and I’m working twice as hard as I ever did in a full time job. The hours are much longer and you do lack a support structure but when you love what you do it all makes it worthwhile, well I think so anyway.
Where do you get your ideas?
I am a huge lover of old movies and Hollywood Glamour so a lot of my ideas come subconsciously from there. Many a time I can be found staring at a pile of bits and pieces waiting for that eureka moment. Sometimes that has been known to arrive at 3.30am and I just have to go with it lol. I also have a love of nature and I believe a lot of inspiration arrives from that quarter too. But mostly I just buy materials that I like and work with them until I am happy with the result. It’s really hard to make things out of materials that you don’t feel for or have a passion for as you’ll never be happy with the end result. You’ll notice that the majority of my work is on silver toned metal as this is what I prefer, I do try to include gold toned metal to appeal to everyone but as I say it is hard when you prefer silver tones.
What’s the best thing that’s happened for your business?
I recently got re-tweeted by Theo Paphitis on his small business Sunday on Twitter, that was a definite high light along with being number one on the top 100 UK
I have recently started making Heirloom bouquets and they are absolutely flying, so far I have only shown them on Twitter and Facebook so they are not even on my website yet (which I am trying to get them on there ASAP). I have had a massive response not only from Brides to Be wanting to have a bespoke heirloom bouquet made for them but also from photographers wanting to use them in photo shoots and people wanting to feature them in their blogs. The response has been amazing and a lot of other things have had to be put on hold to cope with demand I am over the moon. There is nothing better than getting great feedback from people on something that you have worked on and it has been really hard work.
Oh I have so many plans and ideas for the business but am keeping my cards very close to my chest at the moment. Hoping to get some features in magazines this year amongst other things but I don’t want to spoil any surprises. I am always looking for more likers to my face book page www.facebook.com/tinygems and more followers to tweet with on www.twitter.com/hhjtinygems. To think when I first started out and was told I had to get on Twitter I pulled a face and said I didn’t like it. I absolutely love it now and have made so many great friends and contacts there it’s fabulous.
One last picture to share with you is the stunning headband that Sarah has named after Mrs Lilguys!
Thank you for sharing a brief insight into your business Sarah. Look forward to your surprises this year!
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