Nimblejacks giveaway!

Sorry that I didn't get to post this yesterday we had a computer malfunction, which then involved lots of transferring of files and wiping of hard drives (neither of which I understand, hence the reason I left it to the other half to sort out) Anyway to the good news! The winner of the "It's a Lovely Cake" Bracelet is Kim of Dottie K blog.

So on to a new giveaway!! Yay I have another. And again this is from a lovely Welsh lady! Go Wales!! This time its Claire from Nimblejacks. And this funky brooch is this weeks prize!

1. Whats your name and where do you come from? My name's Claire and way back I came from Lincolnshire, but I've been living in Wales for 18+ years. My husband and 2 children are welsh through and through. I came here originally as a student at Swansea University, and then I met my husband and we bought a derelict Gower barn to convert. It's been a labour of love, not something for the faint hearted or people hating living in a cold caravan in the welsh winters. It's finished now though and I finally have the time to spen on my Nimblejacks work.

2. How long have you been making your designs? I started making my designs about 5 years ago mainly as gifts for friends and family, then custom orders and then I came across Etsy whilst surfing the net one day and hey presto! I think Etsy is a brilliant way of getting your work out there, of meeting new contacts and finding materials and advice too. The forums are a great resource for that.

3. Why did you name your shop 'Nimblejacks'? Nimblejacks came about after fiddling with words and ideas on paper Nimble for nimble fingered and Jack, is the welsh nickname for someone from or in Swansea.

4. Whats your favourite materials to work with? Given a choice I love working with narural dyed wool for making felt or beads, upcycling jumpers is great fun too and can be a family activity! I recently learnt hopw to make beads from felting jumpers too.

5. Of your items which is your favourite? Currently I am favouring these http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36471895 I made the first one as a custom order for a friend's daughter and then she came back and asked me to make an adult sized one! They are very relaxing to make, I'm not sure why though!! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36291127 or these I had the curly locks in my store cupboard and invented these just for them.

6. Where do you get your inspiration for your designs and also their names? The design ideas come from things around me like the flowers and textured in my garden ( gardening is my other passion it's a family thing), the textures and colours of the wool I use or the beads I may have. I like to take time where I can to experiment with the materials I have I'll often make several trail items before settling on the finished design. My names always come from the colours I used in each particular piece.

7. Do you have any formal training or did this start as a hobby? My only training was Textiles in school, never wasted the learning to use a sewing machine. I did A Level art also and have always painted and drawn the felty part was as a result of seeing someone make some once.

8. Do you have any favourite etsy shops which you buy from? I ordered my logo and banner design and my labels from Pixelbypixelhttp://www.etsy.com/shop/pixelbypixel I love this shop leatherprince they make cute keyrings and work as a team!http://www.etsy.com/shop/leatherprince My fabric comes from downshadowlane http://www.etsy.com/shop/downshadowlane she does very good postage rates and prices.

9. whats your dream for 2010? 2010- I'd love to get my own website up and running I blog when I can and I love Etsy and the galleries here in Swansea I sell through but it would be nice to have my own site too. Other than that, bake more bread ( the kids love that), learn more about felting, take time to teach my daughter some of the skills I use for making my things, never to be bored!

10 Whats you favourite flower? Papaver- poppies the big oriental ones, preferably Lauren's lilac or a good deep red one. They are such good value for th space they occupy the textural leaves, beautiful flowers and those gorgeous pepper pot seedheads in the winter.

If you want to know more check them out at Nimblejacks blog

Onto the giveaway bit!

The same rules apply as before.

• You must be a follower (please tell me how you are following so I can check)
• You must visit Nimblejacks and comment on here as to what is your favourite item

Extra entries may be gained by

• Hearting your favourite item (1 entry)
• Adding Nimblejacks to your favourite etsy sellers (1 entry)
• Blogging/Twittering/Facebooking this giveaway (1 entry each)
• Become a follower of Nimblejacks blog (2 entries)
• Buying something from Nimblejacks (5 entries)

Please provide links to your blog/twitter/facebook. And supply your etsy username.

You must post a separate comment for each one you qualify for so I can assign numbers to each comment, or they will not be counted as separate entries.

This competition will end at midnight GBT on the 28th January!

Good luck

Daisymay XOXO