Meet The Maker
Hello lovely visitor and welcome to my little world of making!
My creative life began at the age of 4 when my gran taught me to knit. I can still remember being perched on the laundry basket learning how to hold the needles correctly and memorising the steps of knitting and purling! The wonder of being able to turn a ball of wool into a dolly scarf or blanket never left me and I knitted, sewed and painted my way through the next few years until, as a teenager, I found a passion for making my own clothes and jewellery. Having a creative mum meant that attending craft fayres was pretty inevitable, so at 16 I shared a stall with her at a local theatre and sold lots of my handmade earrings. I was totally amazed by this and truly hooked (‘scuse the pun!). Many years of craft fayreing ( if that’s not a word, it should be!) later, and after i’d got married and moved to Yorkshire, my mum fulfilled her dream of owning a real shop so we gave up the fayres and became craft shop keepers! That was 15 years ago and the shop, Seale Craft Shop in Surrey, is still going strong with the Mothership firmly at the helm!
Around the same time as the shop becoming a reality I sadly found myself alone with my two girls, then aged 5 and 10 years. Suddenly, my creativity had to earn me a living so I became a full time maker and now have this lovely online shop all of my own and a wonderful following on Instagram, without whom I truly would be lost! My work has naturally developed its own style over the years and I love to use florals and polka dots, pearly buttons and red striped baker’s twine. My colour palette favours cherry red, petal pink, primrose yellow, lavender, apple green and of course, forget-me-not-blue! I have a ‘butterfly’ brain so rarely plan anything but my mind never stops! I make what my heart feels like making, so things are never dull or predictable but always made with love. On a personal note, as an introvert, I do find it tricky to ‘put myself out there’ in the world but do try very hard to not be a total hermit! My work has become an ingrained part of my life and as many makers will know, long hours are the norm and there are many of us tucked away in tiny workspaces across the world, doing what we do, but I think most of us wouldn’t change things for the world! 
My girls are now adults and living their own lives so I’m slowly becoming able to pursue more of my own passions. I love learning new things and have a huge to do list, which includes fabric dying, home brewing, making my own herbal teas, fermenting and foraging, amongst many other things! I also have an embarrassingly large collection of books, which I really should get round to reading! My greatest passions in life, however (not including family), are my beautiful allotment and the natural world. I love nothing more than making a cuppa on the little red stove in my shed, watching the birds visiting the feeders, and sowing seeds, full of hope for what they will become. The allotment is also a great place for a little quiet crafting and I sometimes use it as a setting for photographing my shop stock! I love living seasonally, (although I will admit to finding winter really quite tricky!), and try my best to follow the rhythms of Mother Nature herself. I’m very easily pleased (just plonk me on top of a big hill with a lovely view and a flask and I’m one happy gal!) and I try to live a quiet, gentle life and to be a kind and thoughtful human being.
I really do look forward to sharing all of these things with you, via Instagram and my newsletter (please sign up below), as well as filling my shop’s virtual shelves with lots of lovely things so you can add a touch of Forget-me-not-blue prettiness to your home!
Thank you for taking the time to find out a little more about me. Please have a browse around my shop before you go and pop over to Instagram to say hello. My social media links are below.
Sending love and hope, from my corner of the world to yours.
