Craftseller - November 2014

Craftseller 93

Q&A

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DearCraftsellerr, 9th Floor,

Tower House, Fairfax

Street, Bristol BS1 3BN

1

Write a detailed specification clarifying

exactlywhatyou wantyour website tobe

abletodo.This should include everythingfrom

thewayinwhichthepageslinktogether,through

to the functionality of the search(keyword only

or phrases?)and the complexity of the content

management system or ‘CMS’ (the administrative

area that allows you to edit the site’s content).

It’s important to think about any additional

functionalityyou maywish to add in the future,

asyou will find it’s often more cost effective

toputelementsofthisinplaceatthestart.

For example,ifmemberswouldbeallocateda

username andpassword shouldyou add a forum.

2

Choose aplatform:Asmostofyou will know,

abrilliant wayto achieve an onlinepresence

on a teeny tiny budget is to set up a blog.In

myopinion,thebestbloggingplatforms are

WordPress and Blogger–eachoftheseallowsyou

to add plug-insandappsthatwillpersonalisethe

designandlayout,allowyoutosendnewsletters

and recruit followers,plus a million other snazzy

things. Most importantly, it’s free!

3

Ifyou decide to employthe services of

aprofessional,make sureyou discuss all

the options available with them, including the

possibility of utilisingfreely available software

such as Joomla! Even if you do decide to develop

amorebespoke system – which is what we did

for TIYK – at leastyou knowyou have considered

all the options and arrived at the most suitable,

cost-effective solution.

(extract from the

eBookMotivating

Business Mums

byDebbie

O’Connor,

harriman-house.

com, £1)

GUEST EXPERT

Hannah Wiltshirestartedher

career as a corporatelawyer

beforegoingontoco-found

thisisyourkingdom.co.uk.Hereshe

outlines the first practical steps to

building your onlinebusiness.

NAME:SarahCryer

SHOP:SarahCryer

Beadwork

WEBSITE:folksy.com/

shops/somanybeads

TYPE:handmade

beadwovenjewellery

TOOL:Bead Buddy

“Design,Save&Go”

beading mat/case

AVAILABLE:

Beadsdirect.co.uk

Q

I was taught to knit as a little girl
and am keen to increase my
limited skillset.I’vetriedinstruction
books butfindthemdifficulttofollow
and with full-time work, I don’thave
time to attendclasses.
BETH CUNNINGHAM, BATH

A

JEN SAYS: A lot of people prefer
to learn apractical skill like
knittingby actually seeing itbeing
done. For this reason, Jen Hoanghas
devisedto-the-point video tutorials
withsimple instructions on our
website(stitchandstory.com/pages/
knitting-tutorials).The aim is tohelp
thebeginnerknitter in their journey,
making itfun andfreshtolearn. As
well as covering the basics, such as
casting on andknit stitch,there are
also instructionsfor cabling andthe
ladder stitch.Witheachvideolasting
just two minutes, you’ll easily find time
towatchandlearn! Goodluck!

“Allbeaders need a bead

mat – they stop the beads

rolling around and getting

lost. Foryears I’d worked on

loose mats sat on a variety

of trays, but having small

children meant I’d have

to put everything away

constantlyorriskdisaster.

This is where thisboard

has revolutionisedtheway

Iwork.It’sactually two

very large mats glued

into a plastic case (like a

giant DVD case). You can

separate the two sides

for even more working

space (useful if you have

multiple projects on the

your

Or, eve

better,wheny ureno

working,closethelidand

your working piles ofbeads

will remain exactlywhere

you left them. It’smore

expensive than a standard

mat,but unless youhave

adedicatedworkspace, its

well worth theextracost.”

ESSENTIAL CR AFT TOOL

Screen time

t

go), then stac

our work.

n you’r

Learnhowto knitwith

simple step by step

video tutorials