this week i'm excited for you to meet charlotte; not only is she a spectacularly creative lady, but she's obviously a wonderful person too, because she is giving you all the opportunity to win any piece of handmade jewellery from her shop charlottemushacrafts! first though, the obligatory interview...
charlotte, tell us the three must-know things about you...
1st thing - I have crafting ADHD - I never have just 1 project on the go (in fact at the moment I have at least 6 in my 'Work in progress' box)
2nd thing - I find it hard to slow down - it drives my Boyfriend mad! I work a 60hour week on shift in an office as my full-time job as well as running a blog, online shop and a few other websites. If I'm not on the computer I'm on my phone. I have to force myself to take a few days technology holiday every few weeks.
3rd thing - I'm a Hogmama! I own a little African Pygmy Hedgehog called Peppe and she is the most adorable little ball of spikes ever.
1st thing - I have crafting ADHD - I never have just 1 project on the go (in fact at the moment I have at least 6 in my 'Work in progress' box)
2nd thing - I find it hard to slow down - it drives my Boyfriend mad! I work a 60hour week on shift in an office as my full-time job as well as running a blog, online shop and a few other websites. If I'm not on the computer I'm on my phone. I have to force myself to take a few days technology holiday every few weeks.
3rd thing - I'm a Hogmama! I own a little African Pygmy Hedgehog called Peppe and she is the most adorable little ball of spikes ever.
how long have you been blogging, and what made you start?
I've actually been blogging for nearly 5 years now! Its been an on and off hobby over the years but for the last year at least it has been a full-time interest. I started blogging after I stumbled across the blog StickyFingers,Tara became my 'Fairy Blog Mother' and explained to me how to get into blogging and introduced me to lots of other friendly bloggers.
I've actually been blogging for nearly 5 years now! Its been an on and off hobby over the years but for the last year at least it has been a full-time interest. I started blogging after I stumbled across the blog StickyFingers,Tara became my 'Fairy Blog Mother' and explained to me how to get into blogging and introduced me to lots of other friendly bloggers.
what does a regular day look like?
A regular day (one where I haven't been at work/worked until 8am that morning) for me is busy! I usually start off with an hour or so at the gym at around 8:30am. I come home get freshened up and then start my 'work' day. I will then work solidly from around 10am to 4pm on answering emails, taking photos, drafting blog posts, doing shop admin and placing wholesale orders.
Dean gets home from work at around 4pm so we sort dinner and watch a bit of TV before getting back to work. Most of my evening are spent crafting items for my Etsy shop or working on DIY's for the blog. I usually go to bed around 11:30pm.
On days where I've been at work 8am-8pm I don't get much done at all, its pretty much just eat dinner and then go to bed.On days where I've worked 8pm to 8am I usually go to sleep and wake up around 4pm. I then get some housework done and get on the computer for a few hours before going back to the office.
[christ, i'm exhausted just reading that!]
where do you draw your inspiration from?
I blog about what I know and what I'm interested in - my blog has a lot of weekly features that mean I can work on posts in bulk and get really absorbed in certain areas of interest for a good few hours.
I blog about what I know and what I'm interested in - my blog has a lot of weekly features that mean I can work on posts in bulk and get really absorbed in certain areas of interest for a good few hours.
what three things can't you live without?
My iPhones (I have 2 one as my usual phone and one for online stuff)
Coffee
and
any Potato based food lol
[i am 100% with you there, girl]
Coffee
and
any Potato based food lol
[i am 100% with you there, girl]
tell us about your two online shops?
Musha-Makes.com is a shop that I wanted to open for years! I have been importing craft items for the past 5 years and was always annoyed byt the postage costs or the fact that I had to order certain times in wholesale quantities (sometimes in 50's or 100's) when I only wanted maybe 5 of an item. The more people I talked to on craft forums about importing the more people seemed to feel the same - that's where the idea for Musha-Makes was born.
I import the goods in wholesale quantities and sell them as more of a pick'n;mix selection to keep the costs lower for UK crafters. I try to keep P&P costs down to a minimum by using recycled boxes and if I get any great wholesale discounts I pass it straight onto my customers.
CharlotteMushaCrafts is my Etsy shop, it's a bit of a mish-mash of random items! I blame this on the fact that I have Crafting ADHD and can't just do one thing at a time. I like to try out all different types of crafting so I have a few different sections in the shop. It's not too full at the moment as I have lots of half finished items that need finishing off but I'm hoping that once I've got a few more items in the shop it'll be a good showcase fo what I do :-)
if you could take over any blog or brand, which would it be and why?
I love the blog A Beautiful Mess - Elsie and Emma are the prefect sister team and they have built their whole brand exactly to their own specifications and get to do something they love every day - I would love to be lucky enough to do that!thank you so much for taking the time to chat to me this week charlotte! i'm so there with you with taking over a beautiful mess - you'd be hard pressed finding someone who didn't agree with you on wanting their blog!
now, the giveaway... one lucky reader will have the chance to pick any item from charlotte's jewellery collection in her shop. just follow the details in the 'copter below, and as always, may the odds ever be in your favour...!
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