Back in June, we celebrated all things British with our Best of British theme. This included chatting to several prominent card making connoisseurs around the country, who told us all about what inspires them and what is so great about being part of the Great British papercraft industry! 

Crafty Interviews

BARBARA GRAY (Clarity Stamp)

“This year we celebrate our Clarity Silver Jubilee! After 25 years of
working in the industry, I would say it is the kind, creative, caring
Clarity Community that has grown up around us which makes
my heart sing.Together we are much much greater than the sum of
our parts, and whilst I personally cannot change what is going on in the big wide
world, I can help make positive waves within our Clarity crafting community."

ANNE-MARIE (Hunkydory Crafts)

“I love working in the craft industry, it is almost like a hidden
industry but within our crafty bubble there are hundreds
of thousands of lovely crafters. I think people underestimate
how important craft is for us too, crafting keeps our brains
buzzing and keeps us  creative. I love that my work inspires
people to get  involved and motivates people to start a new
craft. I love being able to share my crafty ideas and hints
and tips and Create & Craft is the perfect place to do this.”

MATT MACNAMARA (Hochanda)

“Well where do I start? Just today, I had a lovely and
inspirational show with Michael and Shona Bossom,
demonstrating the wonderful and colourful encaustic
wax art. I showed my first attempt at this craft on air
today. I made it over two years ago, but still carry it in
my bag to show people to inspire them with what they
could achieve with this easy and rewarding art form.
So I think there’s my answer - we have a wealth of
talent, creativity and knowledge in this country.
We have to nurture and take advantage of it, so that
word spreads and more people become aware of the
potential to learn and create beautiful pieces of art.
Micheal and Shona are just one of many companies
and individuals representing our home-grown
creative talent!”

CARLEY DUFF (Create and Craft)

“The best thing about working in the craft industry is I
get to see all the inspiring new products as they hit the
market, but the most important thing is I get to inspire
and share trends and techniques.”

DAWN BIBBY (Dawn Bibby Creations)

“The best thing about working in the craft industry is
that I get to share my passion for crafts with
everyone else. I love to teach and inspire and then
see what people create with my products and the
twists they bring on my concepts. It’s a very
rewarding industry and I’m very lucky to work with
products and craft away to my heart’s content.”

JOANNA SHEEN (Joanna Sheen Craft Supplies)

“Doing what you love, helping other people feel
good about their crafting and creating lovely things.”

YIANNIS MORGAN (Hochanda) 

“For me the best thing about working in the craft
industry is that I basically get paid to play! (#lifegoal).
I also love seeing the inspirations our guests/ viewers
come up with; it never fails to amaze me how you can
give the same die or stamp to ten people, and each of
them will come up with their own unique way to use it.”

We spoke to several other familiar faces, including Paula Pascal (Tonic Studios), Jodie Johnson (Hochanda) and Nigel May (Create and Craft). Grab our June issue now to see what else they had to say!