Hello there!
Here's a little tale about the friendly shopkeeper you see before you:
Once upon a time
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Well, just at the end of 2006, actually, this recently graduated fine art photographer had reached a loose end and thought, "this is it, now or never- i'm going to leave this office job and start my real life!"
So, I left work, but, unfortunately, I hadn't really thought it through, and didn't really know what to do next. My mum, trying to keep me entertained, decided to teach me how to knit, using a "knit your own handbag" kit.
I loved knitting (still do), but working with yarn awakened a whole new love for textiles and I bought a sewing machine. Since then, I have been perfecting my skills by making handbags, inspired by the knitting kit that started this radical career change.
Having sold my wares at various craft fairs and getting excellent feed back, I thought I should have some sort of internet presence...
I suppose that bit explains the handbags...but, jewellery?? Well...that's a whole other story...
I suppose it's the usual "boy meets girl" story, but, here, boy meets girl with her own successful jewellery business, a fully kitted workshop and the gift of being a great teacher. So, boy meets girl, boy likes girls power tools (amongst other things), boy discovers the joy of working with precious metals, boy gets excellent teaching and guidance (amongst other things), boy is bullied by girl in to selling his wares...
** wavy lines **
And that brings us to where we are today!
Oh, p.s. The girl (with the good power tools and such) and I have launched an awesome homewares line called abigail*ryan (the name took us forever, I'm Ryan, and she's Abi ;) so do check us out at abigailryan.com ...