A Coffee Break with My Happy Place

My Happy Place

Was launched in 2013 by Amanda Swynyard.  

Based in the North East of England, she fills her day with... 
ribbons, buttons, hearts, wooden shapes, paint, card, stamps, twine and fabrics - all put together with love, care, attention and much loveliness to make personalised gifts and cards for you!

Amanda is super talented, below is a collection of some handmade goodies I have in my sewing room.  The Forget Me Not, I purchased from Amanda, just one example of her pretty work.

So lets have coffee with Amanda, and find out more about My Happy Place

How did My Happy Place begin?

Actually by accident! I made some personalised jute party bags for my daughters (The Curly) birthday. So many people commented on them and asked where I got them and I had to confess to making them myself. With a gentle push from my best friend and my family I decided to give it a go! It started as a part time hobby/business and very quickly it took over my life . I gave up my Nursery Assistant post last Easter, to Happy Place full time and its grown from strength to strength. I have been a huge follower of other crafters pages on Facebook and have purchased so many beautiful and unique pieces and I'm so proud to be one of those page owners myself now!

Little Bag of Love

Talk us through a typical day in the life of Amanda

I'm of course firstly ‘Mum” so it starts out as most households… trying to get a sleepy child out of bed and ready to go to school, after hitting snooze several times myself! Most mornings I do a class or boot camp at the gym; keeping fit and healthy plays a huge part of my week. My working day generally starts around 10.30 I have a good routine in terms of making my commissions, I paint for the first couple of days of the week and make from Wednesday. But of course being a creative head I do tend to mix the day up a little, designing and discussing new ideas with suppliers, looking for new materials, gathering inspiration and generally being creative. Then the evening madness begins… Mum head gets firmly attached again. I tend to do lots of admin, messaging and paperwork at night once my little family of three are settled for the night

What keeps you inspired every day?

Its funny, but I get inspiration from so many places. The seasons, what I see out of my window, my family, wanting to keep being creative and my happy placers; they give me so much inspirations with the sentiments they want to convey in the products I make. If I ever start to feel like I'm on a treadmill of orders with no breaks to think of new ideas, I try my best to work in a couple of free days to play with brewing ideas.

Where do see your future and My Happy Place heading?

I'm actually really happy where I am right now. I am always busy, its still very much a love and passion and I'm able to give a very personal experience. The nature of my crafting means it will never be able to grow too big as it is just me; this means my production is limited to what I can physically make. But this makes me happy, it means my pieces can remain unique and I can spend time making my buyers pieces as perfect for THEM as I can.

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Ready to Purchase Items

Do you have an inspirational word of advice for small businesses starting out?

• Be as unique and true to yourself as you can.
• Promote yourself and page with professionalism
• Remember if your business is based in a social media forum that this is your shop window… show the best of you and your products
• Build a reputation for your business that you are proud of

But most importantly look after yourself, its hard work, long hours and it can feel really lonely when you’re struggling. Make sure you acknowledge when you need a break! Network! Make friends, be part of the crafting community it makes such a huge difference to have other people to chat with who are like minded!

What is your favourite colour?

All variations of blue!

If you had to choose, which would you pick? Fabric/Buttons/Ribbons/Wood/Paint

Oh this is tricky as I use most in my crafting…. But… I do have a huge weakness for ribbon. I go shopping for a particular colour and I come out of the haberdashery with several “must haves” and lots of new ideas attached to them!

Finally, tell us a joke?

When my friends told me I was delusional…. I just about fell off my unicorn!

Heheheheee!!

 Thank you so much Amanda, that was fun, inspirational, and I loved the joke!!

To find out more about the beautiful work Amanda does, follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Michelle Corbin Design

 And this is me, maker of all things to treasure, from Keepsake items, to Soft Furnishings

Thank you for reading

Happy Stitching

Michelle xx