Running a Business Whilst Managing Chronic Illness

I've been wanting to write a post about this for so long and fear has absolutely put me off.  Fear of opening myself up to criticism, discrimination, judgement and more. There is still so much stigma attached to mental illness, so if this gets deleted, don't be surprised. Publishing this is a risk to me professionally and personally, as so few people close to me even know. My main reason for this is to provide inspiration and reassurance to others in a similar situation, so here it goes.

I'm disabled. Not disabled in the way people imagine a disabled person to be. I don't have a wheelchair. I am able bodied. No, since I was 12 years old, I've suffered from major depressive disorder and social anxiety, and more recently, been diagnosed with an ED and emotional instability personality disorder (something which in itself, is highly stigmatised). For me, working in full time or even part time work is challenging. In my life, I've been in hospital multiple times for suicide attempts, had a stay in an inpatient unit and have even once been sectioned. Whilst I very likely could get signed off work and get benefits (which is a perfectly reasonable option to take), I so desperately want to work and be as independent as I possibly can be, so instead, I have created my own job whilst I get back on my feet.

Working from my home can be both a godsend and a curse. It suits me as I can work it around my chronic illness, so on my bad days, I don't have to feel guilty about calling up sick to an employer. I'm my own boss, so instead I simply adjust my hours accordingly. On the other hand, I have a responsibility to meet deadlines for customers. I'm extremely lucky in this instance. Firstly, I try to plan in advance and give myself enough time to allow for falling ill. Secondly, my lovely Eloise does the bulk of the shipping, so will work more hours when I'm unable to. Creating your own business around illness involves a lot of organisation and managing the particular challenges you may face as a result, but with prior planning and a bit of experience, you slowly get to grips with the adjustments necessary for you to manage the two together.

There are some limitations that still do affect me and I have missed out as a result. Unfortunately because of my anxiety I don't attend many (if any) craft fairs, which I so desperately wish I could. There have been a few opportunities to collaborate with other makers involving meet ups, which I also declined as I knew how difficult it was for me. This isn't the be all and end all however, I have also worked with a number of people via the internet, such as a Little Bundle, and have made strong friendships through a number of crafting groups.

In the future, we aim to work with more charities, but of course, mental health charities, and in particular Mind, will always be our main choice, as it's something I'm really passionate about and is very very close to my heart.

I hope this post may help some people and if anyone wants to talk to me for advice on setting up a business and working around a disability, you're more than welcome to!

FAQ: FAVOURITE PHOTO APPS

One of the questions I'm asked the most is what photo apps I use and how I get them to look so good. For those of you that don't know me, I'm incredibly lazy and guarantee a good 90% of the photos I share have been taken on my iPhone. It's convenient, quick and easy to use. I have a good DSLR at the ready, my trusty Canon 40D, but sometimes it's just not ideal to carry round. So, here is how I edit my photos!

First, I'll show you a before and after of a photo I took on my phone this week.

The difference isn't huge as I like my photos not to look overly edited but it's definitely there. The first image is much duller and the wood pieces don't stand out, whereas in the second, the colours show up brighter, the illustrations more vivid and the wood pieces stronger. In this one, the tokens look far more like how they look in real life than in the original shot.


1. A Beautiful Mess (ABM)
This little app is super handy for a number of reasons. First, adding pretty text! This was really the main reason I downloaded it in the first place - it has lots of pretty text and graphics and is much faster than adding overlays to images on your phone. Secondly, I really love the filter Poppy. I use this one quite often just to brighten up my image. When you take photos on a white background such as paper, often it can come up quite dark and grey, and this filter is perfect for really brightening up the background without affecting the main objects too much.

2. Afterlight
This app is one of my most used and well worth the small fee to download. I use this app probably the most to add filters, crop and adjust lighting levels. One of my favourite filters on this app is Glacier under the original filters section and, very occasionally, Nico and Dallas. I rarely put filters on to 100% as they can be a little harsh. Rather I may use one or two filters on the same photo but on a low level, just to enhance it.

3. Mextures
I occasionally use Mextures to add some unusual effects to my photos or to brighten them up. On here, Frosted under Landscape Enhance is definitely my most used but I do occasionally add other effects, like grain and coloured filters.

4. VSCOcam
I've used VSCOcam less and less recently and have relied more on ABM, Afterlight and Mextures, but every so often I do come back to this little beauty. VSCO does have a number of really really lovely filters, so although I use it less often than I did, I still can't bring myself to delete it off my phone.

Finally, just to bring this blog to a close, if you're looking to edit photos into shapes (occasionally I will crop mine into circular shapes), Krop Circle is the best app for the job. I prefer leaving my photos in the classic square format but if you're wanting to mix things up a little, this app is ideal!

If you have any apps you'd like to recommend to others, leave them below in the comments and let me know what you think!

Follow your own path. Try not to step in anything.

As a huge crafter at heart, I haunt a number of crafting groups on Facebook and am always amazed by the things I stumble upon. This week, I wanted to share this piece by the talented Crafty Little Sew and Sew who I discovered via The Handcrafters Lounge. Although this piece was my absolute favourite, Tracey does a range of stitched products, from little sock cats to handsewn flowers!

I absolutely love positive quotes and anything embroidery related, so this instantly captured my heart by ticking both those boxes. Plus, I absolutely love the way she photographed it - the natural wicker really sets it off. She kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me, which I've included below:

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SEWING FOR?
"I've always been crafty, and used to make all sorts of things when I was little - from macaroni necklaces to finger knitted scarves for my toys. My first sewing project was decorating a cushion for my son to use at school four years ago. I enjoyed making it so much I haven't put my needle down since!"


WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT YOU'VE UNDERTAKEN TO DATE?
"My favourite sewing project to date has to be a fleece English Bull Terrier I made to match a photo of a little boy's pet.  I used accurate dimensions to make the pooch as realistic as possible, down to him having one black ear and a bandana!"


WHAT ITEMS DO YOU MOST ENJOY DOING?
"I most enjoy making the bears I call Teddy Long Legs. When I began sewing, a bear was one of the first things I made using a sewing machine. I love that they can be made from new fabric, or from an old special piece of clothing."

You can find her work at https://www.facebook.com/CraftyLittleSewAndSew, where you can browse her items and get in touch if you're interested in something custom. She's super friendly and approachable, and posts the best little updates!

16/02/14: New In This Week!

Another dreaded Monday is over and the week is getting in full swing. I'm super excited to share two new necklaces that will be listed in store this week, silver plated and gold plated antlers.

They will be new additions to the tiny collection, and are definitely my new favourites!

This week I'm going to have a sort out of the shop and get the blog up and running (finally!), get a few features in the mix and hopefully get around to putting an email together for shop sponsors. Lots of new updates will be coming soon, so keep an eye out - eeeeekkkkk!

DIY: Cheap and Easy Five Minute Pegs!

The weather is getting better, plants are starting to appear and it's time for that dreaded spring clean! However, if you're anything like me, you've just paid off a bunch of bills and don't have a lot of spare cash.

One of my current favourite DIYs are these super easy and cheap magnetic pegs, perfect for pinning up important letters, things you need but constantly lose or your little one's drawings. You can make them as decorative or simple as you like, using paint, washi tape, buttons and resins. 

I'm quite minimalist in my style so I went for a simple colour block in my absolute favourite colours - bright pink, mint and gold. I used spray paints, due to their relative ease and affordability. I'm going to be planting soon and have a bunch of tin cans ready for me to paint up, so spray paints are always super handy to have around the house to add a quick splash of colour to otherwise plain bits and bobs. 

Another good colour choice would be copper. Copper accents are currently my absolute favourite and Rustoleum do a reaaaaally good copper spray paint. I used gold for these as my copper paint is currently running low, but you can't go wrong with any splash of metallic!

To do this, literally all you need are:
- Wooden pegs (which can be found at your local pound shop or supermarket)
- Magnets (optional) 
- Paint, washi tape or other embellishments

I put magnets on the back of mine so I can pin them on my fridge and boiler, but another quick and easy alternative is to hang some twine or pretty ribbon up and clip them on. 

Know any other good cheap organisation DIYs? Leave your suggestions below in the comments!