This is Wiss...the next step!

Wow! This week has just flown by. I was hoping to have blogged before now but what with a bout of hand foot and mouth, Sell it Mama last weekend, going to see In the Night Garden Live! and trying to buy a new house I've just not found the time!


NB: Wiss is all recovered now and it seems he had hand foot and mouth very mildly, but it has been spreading quickly round nursery. We are currently keeping everything crossed for the sale of our flat and the purchase of a new house. If it all works out then I'll post all about it then! And In the Night Garden Live? What can I say? Yes, it was expensive but Wiss loved it...

Anyway, now that I am actually writing this post I should get round to what I really wanted to talk about. This is Wiss... the next step!


I've been doing craft fairs and mums and babies fairs for around a year now. I started out tentatively, mainly just wanting to gauge if there was a space in the market for my products. It seems there is (which I am over the moon about!) but now I feel that it's time to plan the next step. I want to see if This is Wiss has the potential to become a proper cottage business. I know it's the dream of many mums out there, but it really would be amazing if I could start making proper money from something I love doing (and that fits in perfectly with childcare and school terms!)

As many of you will know, I joined Twitter at the end of last year and through it I have 'met' many fantastic, inspiring, creative people. People who are pursuing their dreams, whatever they might be, and people that are happy to offer advice or simply get involved. I think Twitter is brilliant for networking and already I've made connections that I just would not have been able to do alone.


So here I am, thinking about what step to take next, where to put myself to get seen and how I should go about it all. Stacie Swift has some great posts on her blog Swift Somethings that deal directly with the practical sides of setting up and running a business. She is a fab illustrator, and her boyfriend handily is an accountant! There is information about business accounts and you can even ask her boyfriend questions, but her recent post on reviewing your business came at the perfect time for me. (Do have a look round the rest of her site as there's so much more fun stuff too.)


I'm still working through my SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) but think it's a great way to take stock of where I am and where I want to go. I have a few big plans that I hope to share with you soon, but I'd also love to hear your opinions: good or 'constructive'! If you have purchased anything from This is Wiss then let me know what you think, how you are using it and what could make it better. Where would you like to be able buy stuff: online, at a market or in a shop? Does it matter to you that all my products are handmade in the UK using the best materials possible? (All my stuff can be found in the gallery on my website)

I know this is a big ask and it's time consuming but your opinions are invaluable to me and I'd be really grateful if you would leave me a comment below.


As always, thanks for reading and I'll be back tomorrow with another #silentsunday photograph, and some more sewing projects next week.

Handmade Diamond Jubilee Limited Editions!

As promised, I am back with some very exciting This is Wiss news! (In fact, there was so much news that I'm splitting it into two posts so you don't get overwhelmed!)

Jubilee Fever has struck! Regardless of your royalist beliefs, it's hard not to get carried away by these kind of events when you have children; it's a great opportunity to have fun (and of course, dress up!).

I wanted to make something to give a nod to the occasion so I was honored when I was approached by The Noverre Gallery & Shop who were interested in my Bobby Horses. They are running an exhibition called 'Queen & Country' which invites artists to interpret the title in their own quirky way. I decided to make a strictly limited edition series of 'All the Queen's Horses'.

The Queen's Horses are made from red, navy and grey wool blend felt, with reinforced vintage button eyes and bamboo blended wool for manes. So far, they are not all that different to the standard Bobby Horse but there are a couple of special touches:

Diamond Jubilee 2012 has been lasered onto the handle, along with the edition number for the strict limited run of only twelve horses made. And of course, there are the usual ribbons and bells.

You can't really think about 'Queen and Country' without thinking about a crown either, so I've also made some very simple but cute felt crowns. These are lasered from yellow wool-blend felt before being sewn together with round felt 'jewels'. They are adjustable with either Velcro or elastic to fit all kids' head sizes. Unfortunately, Wiss wasn't a very willing model so I had to enlist the help of someone more compliant!

'Queen and Country' runs at the Noverre Gallery in Norwich from 1 June - 27 August so pop along if you are in the area, it looks like it will be a really interesting exhibition. If you  aren't local to Norwich but would like to purchase either a Queen's Horse or a Crown then please contact me directly on mail@thisiswiss.co.uk

As Jubilee fever increases I have one more surprise planned - a 5 day blog event leading up to the long weekend! It will run from Monday 29 May - Friday 1 June, with craft ideas, recipes, activities for kids and some wonderful guest bloggers. Please stop by next week for some inspiration and if you're making any Jubilee-related items then I'd love to know about them...

I will be posting again very soon with more news about improvements to existing best-sellers, and an exciting new venue for Sell it Mama this Saturday!

South London, Handmade Toys and Childrens Clothes

Wowee! Where does the time go? So much has happened since my last post I don't know where to start.. So let's begin with some very exciting news!

You can now purchase This is Wiss Bobby Horses from a fantastic new shop in Crystal Palace. Juliette's Handmade Gifts (3 Belvedere Road, SE19) sells gorgeous handknitted clothes for babies and children as well as carefully sourced handmade toys. If you're looking for a wonderful and original gift for a special little person it's a great place to go. (Plus Juliette has a super cute house rabbit called Oscar who is sometimes in the shop!) The shop is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

After the last Sell it Mama event I decided to take a few weeks off 'business making' to get busy making some clothes for Wiss. I was so chuffed with the results that this 'break' has snowballed into a long list of things I want to sew and a big pile of fabrics waiting for their relevant project. I don't imagine I'm alone in this obsession though? It's summer, it's the start of the birthday season for us, and there are lots of parties to go to. So this means I plan to make: some seersucker shorts and trousers, a little summer dress for a 3 year old, some PJs for a birthday boy, a waterproof overall, one mini Elvis outfit, and some tailored shorts for a 28 year old man! I'll post later with photos as and when they're all finished.

But with This is Wiss firmly in mind I was able to go fabric shopping this weekend. The Bobby Horses have been such a huge success, and especially the bright yellow ones, that I am going to be expanding the range to include more colourways. Just look at how gorgeous these felts are:

So as well as well as the grey, yellow and brown horses, there will soon be pink, green, turquoise and red ones too! All will have contrasting wool manes and vintage button eyes.

As you can see, I've got my work cut out this summer. And I've not even mentioned the allotment or the marathon training. But they will have to wait....I've run out of time!