March Meet the Maker - Week 1

On 1st March I messaged my friend Kay Barker and said go on, I will if you will. I'm already regretting it!! 

What was I talking about? A lovely lady I follow on instagram called Joanne Hawker started a month of insta posts that anyone can join in on. Each helps you tell the story of your creative business. 

Without a second thought Kay went ahead and posted Day 1. She is good like that. CRAP. Now I was in whether I liked it or not!!

So I thought I'd give you a flavour of that journey, week by week. Here goes...

💕 MEET THE MAKERS 💕
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1st March, first day of spring, 🤣 ❄️, first proper day of snowmageddon here, and the start of #MarchMeetTheMaker set up by @joannehawker. •
I'm joining in to shake up my insta feed a bit, so here goes, each day a new subject.
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Day 1: You. I guess that means me. I don't often turn the camera around, so consider this me shaken!!
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Making my first range of Blue Bowl items last year was the absolute highlight so am super excited about what 2018 holds. I am getting braver and love trying stuff that I previously wrote off as above my creativity level.
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I spend a disproportionate amount of time procrastinating and discussing random ideas with my #OuchDog. She is quite tolerant as long as I feed and water her, and don't insist on walking in the rain.
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I would happily devour a book a day but try to concentrate at my desk or sewing machine instead. It is a constant mental self-employment battle, and not one I always win.
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I took up riding in my 30s (another distraction technique?!) and would love to spend more time expanding #TheAdventuresOfPoldark
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Addicted to 🌶️s, anything neon, blue & white china, @foxedquarterly books, umm... Not sure how to stop this list going on forever!
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Couldn't have started Blue Bowl without my friends and family who support me every step of the way and I KNOW I don't say thank you enough. You guys rock. •
This year I'm going to do things today when I'd normally try and put them off until tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!
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So that's me, and now I'm throwing this challenge at @kaybarkerillustrations @guyrobertsonfinejewellery @lulukalakuttakaboodle 
Anyone else is welcome to join in too, I would love to build a little gang along the way xx 

🗺️📍🗺️ WHERE 🗺️📍🗺️
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Day 2 of #MarchMeetTheMaker
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Blue Bowl is run from a sleepy little corner of the chalky Hampshire countryside.
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I envisioned traveling the world and running the business on the way but the reality of being a one man band is that you need to be in situ to deal with all the things. There are a lot of things.
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This is the door to my workshop, behind which is a weird and wonderful array of stuff. It was originally a tack room, and I have a picture of my Mum grooming her first pony outside the door, admittedly in rather warmer weather, see today's IG story. 

💙💙💙 HOW I STARTED 💙💙💙
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Day 3 of #MarchMeetTheMaker @joannehawker 
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This is such a tricky one! So many things influenced me to start Blue Bowl, here are just a few:
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A love of blue and white china inspired me to travel to Jingdezhen in China to see the town that made the imperial porcelain. I met so many wonderful people on that trip, and I wanted to start a business that meant I could travel the world finding beautiful stuff for you all to give to each other.
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Ming encouraged me to do my gemmology exams and I am so thankful to her that she did. The course really taught me to use my new found knowledge of stones and my gut instinct on beauty to find unusual beautiful things, and not just gemstones!
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Friends have always asked me to help them find the perfect present for their other half, so I realised that if I could curate a website stuffed chocka block with interesting and colourful stuff then I might be onto something. I love the process of creating things that end up being loved and used by people. 

💕FAVOURITE THING TO MAKE💕
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Day 4 #MarchMeetTheMaker @joannehawker 
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I have always found sewing very relaxing, so when I decided to make Blue Bowl Zip Bags with all my Mum's vintage fabrics I hoped that they'd be a hit!
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Luckily for me you lot 💕 them and I spend hours on my trusty 70s Frister & Rossmann listening to podcasts.
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Now that I can personalise each bag I don't make them up in advance. The beautiful embroidery is unique to each bag.
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Which is your favourite fabric, and what would you have embroidered on the front?!
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Would you like to see some stock words or phrases that you can buy at fairs?
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To see some of the stuff that I make click here. 

📸📸📸 PHOTOGRAPHY 📸📸📸
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Day 5 #MarchMeetTheMaker@joannehawker •
I'm really struggling with photography at the moment. I used to 💕 my #panasoniclumix but recently I've been struggling to get the product shots how I want them.
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Which means I often take them on my phone, a sadness as the camera was a huge investment for my business early on.
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Also the manual zoom is jammed so the lens needs to go in for repair. Apparently this is pretty common 😔
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I brought this camera so I could swap between a normal and a macro lens, so I think it is time to take the plunge and invest in a macro, hopefully this will inspire me to fall back in 💕 with my camera.
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Any one out there have any good 4/3 macro lens suggestions that don't cost the earth?

💻💻💻 WORKSPACE 💻💻💻
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Day 6 of #MarchMeetTheMaker@joannehawker 
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I think you've already seen a picture of my studio where the stock is and the pictures are taken and the chaos reigns!
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So I thought I'd treat you to a recent picture of my office space aka my spare room. This is where I spend most of my working day.
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Friends who come and stay have to put up with my desk, my love of Asian textiles, my #OuchDog and my inability to throw anything away!!

🤔🤔🤔 ROUTINE 🤔🤔🤔
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Day 7 #MarchMeetTheMaker @joannehawker 
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I really thought long and hard about this. I just do not have a routine. I should probably want one. But I don't!!
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Sometimes I work until 2am and people think I'm crazy, but sometimes I take an hour/day/week away from my desk to do other things. Often that means soaking in... STUFF...
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Like this amazing plastic cup installation by Tara Donovan at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I saw it aprox 3 years ago and spent a happy hour eating my lunch gazing up into it. It doesn't have a routine but it is pretty cool anyway.
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So my routine is to be flexible, get as much done as possible to then be able to bunk off and go on adventures. Can't say fairer than that! 

Coming up over the next week... how its made, dreams and plans and work clothes!!! 

x Florence