Cocktails & Chat | Meet the Maker Sara Jayne Slocombe AICB

Join Sophie Abell, The Dye Wizard of The Stitchy Ferret, and me. We chatted about cocktails, business, dyeing fabrics and more, balancing the demands of family and business, and her exciting new projects and plans!



It was such a delight to chat with Sophie. I learned a lot about her craft and journey, and I just loved getting to know her. I hope you do, too!



Highlights in this episode include:

🧙 Tips for making time for your business with an active toddler on hand

🧙 The importance of running a values-led business

🧙 The importance of building a community to have a good sounding board

🧙 Some thoughts on the practicalities of transitioning your following from buying on Etsy to buying from your own website



This is episode 6 of my Cocktails & Chat series, a community-building project for makers and artisans to share the highs and lows of business and making and make it a bit less lonely. For more community, do join my Facebook group Handmade Business Club UK.



The Stitchy Ferret on Instagram



The Stitchy Ferret's Website



The Stitchy Ferret on Facebook



The Stitchy Ferret's Crafty Corner Facebook group



Ferret Dyeworks on Instagram



Ferret Dyeworks Website



Sophie's Patreon



Full show notes


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Listen in to some brilliant insights from Louise Lewis, Nutritionist, as the first guest expert on this show designed to build community among makers & artisans. She shared some top tips for getting better nutrition without spending hours in the kitchen every day, her favourite health podcast, what she loves about being in business for herself, what she finds challenging, the importance of role models, and more.



The scientist in me delights at the way Louise provides individual nutrition plans based on testing hormones, gut health, and more. Her goal is to help you have enough energy to do what you want. That could be having enough energy to play with your small children daily, join a wild swimming club at the weekends, or even simply stop falling asleep on the sofa at 8 pm every night. I know that hubby & I have had much more energy since revamping our diet in 2019 to be more nutritious (and to successfully avoid the statins the GP wanted to give hubby). So, I'm now a firm believer in the power of better nutrition and how it can have some surprising ripple effects. 



Highlights include:


0:00 - Intro
1:44 - Tonight's drinks: Louise loves her teas
3:12 - Introducing Louise and her holistic view of nutrition
5:39 - Louise's maker hobbies
7:25 - How Louise got started in nutrition and her business
9:45 - Louise's thoughts on how to find role models for entrepreneurship
11:33 - Louise's 3 top tips for how to get better nutrition whilst being time poor
17:10 - What would Louise outsource in her business?
18:17 - Louise's thoughts on low-calorie and low-carb diets
21:01 - A few thoughts on choosing alternative kinds of pasta
23:10 - Can better nutrition help with period health, perimenopause, and menopause?
26:14 - Louise's most and least favourite things about running a business
28:28 - Louise's favourite underrated tool
30:30 - Favourite podcasts
32:52 - What we've learned lately and what we want to learn
36:13 - Louise's 12-week De-Stress Method
38:03 - How do you know when a work is finished?



Connect with Louise:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Facebook

YouTube



Resources mentioned in this episode:

Dr Rangan Chatterjee's health podcast "Feel Better, Live More"

Helen Pritchard - Get leads from LinkedIn



Complete show notes


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Jeweller Chelle Mullen of Storm and Grace and I chatted about all things jewellery, business, horses (and cats and raccoons), eco-consciousness, and gin.

Highlights include:


1:05 – Introducing Chelle
3:07 – Tonight’s cocktail – Horse’s Neck
4:13 – Who is Chelle, what does she do, and how did she get started?
5:59 – The joy of running her own business
6:35 – Top tip for jewellery care
7:45 – A common myth about jewellery making
8:31 – How do you go from a lump of silver out of the ground to a ring?
10:14 – Chelle’s most underrated tool in the workshop
12:03 – More of Chelle’s thoughts on starting and running her own business
15:15 – Top choice for outsourcing
16:38 – Chelle’s horses (and one semi-tame squirrel)
20:27 – Inspiration for new makes and how the commissioning process works
22:19 – Our favourite pieces
24:47 – Chelle’s top tip for planning without overwhelm
27:03 – Top tip for an easy way to begin being eco-conscious in your business
28:29 – Music that gets us pumped up and going
29:58 – It’s okay to be yourself!
32:12 – Chelle’s upcoming plans and where to find her online
33:29 – How do you know when a work is finished?




Chelle's Website: https://www.stormandgrace.co.uk/jewellery/ 
Chelle's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storm.and.grace/  

Resources mentioned: 


The Design Trust planner: https://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/online-course/the-design-trust-diary-planner-2022/  
Alex Boyé's music: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexBoyeReal
Raccoons Hourly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/raccoonhourly

This is part of my community-building 🥂 Cocktails & Chat podcast and Instagram Live series. The idea is to kick back, relax, get to know your fellow makers, and realise you're not alone. 🤝 For more community, join my Facebook group Handmade Business Club UK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebusinessclubuk⁠

Full show notes: 

https://www.amethystraccoon.co.uk/cc4/


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Krista of Crystabelles and I had a lovely chat about all things candles, business, community, and a little bit about weddings! She makes exquisitely scented luxury soy wax candles with crystals. She carefully matches each scent to a crystal so they work together in perfect harmony.  


2:02 - Why are they called cocktails? 
3:23 - Introducing Krista 
6:22 - Why candles & crystals? 
8:12 - Parrafin wax vs soy wax - candle science! 
13:20 - A candle's top notes, middle notes, and base notes - more candle science! 
15:51 - The attraction of running her own business 
17:23 - Krista's goals & plans for 2022 
19:26 - Translating abstract concepts into scents 
20:35 - The surprising requirements for legal and quality candlemaking 
22:57 - Finding non-toxic scents for personal candlemaking 
25:13 - Krista's favourite and least favourite parts of running a handmade business 
28:23 - Favourite crystals and organising them 
31:08 - Krista's wedding excitement 
33:05 - Favourite places 
34:06 - The importance of a network of business buddies 
36:26 - Podcasts for entrepreneurs 
36:55 - Krista's exciting new plans! 
38:37 - How do you know when a work is finished?  

Website https://crystabelles.com/ 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/crystabelles/ 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Crystabelles1  

Entrepreneurs Growth Club Podcast: https://theentrepreneursgrowthclubpodcast.podbean.com/  

Entrepreneurs Growth Club Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theentrepreneursgrowthclub  

It was so nice to chat about all things business with a fellow entrepreneur; it was world-changing for me when I found Entrepreneur Land and started spending time around others who get the back story and context without my having to explain it. This series is part of my effort to build a community specifically for makers and artisans, so they get that same joy and sense of belonging. Do join in - with these live chats and with the Facebook group Handmade Business Club UK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebusinessclubuk

See you soon!

Full show notes at https://www.amethystraccoon.com/cc3/


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Listen to the Christmas episode of my new fortnightly Instagram Live podcast series! Christmas is all about family, so I chatted with my husband Chris, Technomage and hobby woodworker, about business, supporting someone in business, making, and Christmas over some favourite beverages. We both asked each other questions, so you get to know me a little in this episode, too.

Chris has made some beautiful things in his woodworking adventures, which started some three decades ago. He carves, builds, turns, and more. In his day job, he works with computers.

Highlights of this episode include:


1:21 - Introducing Chris
4:13 - Introducing me (Sara-Jayne) and my business
6:32 - The most rewarding and hardest parts of my business
7:55 - A common myth about woodworking
9:41 - Supporting a spouse who's running their own business
11:38 - Our chosen superpowers
13:41 - Chris' favourite woodworking tools
15:38 - Fun books & films
18:08 - Building a community of makers & artisans
19:23 - Chris' current project
21:02 - The legacies we hope to leave
22:34 - Finishing a work

Full show notes are at https://www.amethystraccoon.com/cc2/


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Join Tori, Niki, and me for the first episode of Cocktails & Chat, a live podcast designed to promote community in the UK maker sector.  

Tori Brewster is The Diaper Cake Diva, on Instagram @diapercakesbytori. She makes the most fantastic centrepieces and souvenirs for this special time in life. Many recipients of her work keep the outer frames as souvenirs after removing the diapers, and I can see why!  

Niki Swinson is The Sweary Crystal Lady, on Instagram @magikal_echoes. She makes crystal grids, provides crystal healing, and facilitates several networking groups both in person and online. A woman of many talents!  

Highlights of this episode include: 


6:58 How Tori started on her journey to becoming The Diaper Cake Diva  
9:13 How Niki started building her networking groups and how she pushed herself to do public speaking  
14:45 Sara-Jayne's love of storytelling  
16:35 Who we talk to when working through problems in our work  
19:46 Some great resources that have helped us in our businesses  
23:59 Our thoughts on advent calendars and Christmas sweets  
31:56 Projects in the works: Tori's new Diaper Cake Diva Club, and Niki's new accredited courses on crystals and reiki 
34:27 Crystals!  
41:57 How to know when a work is finished  

Tori's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diapercakesbytori/ 

Tori's newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/b7fde705e312/diaper-cake-diva-club 

Niki's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magikal_echoes/ 

Niki's website: https://www.magikalechoes.co.uk/ 

Join us having a laugh and an honest discussion about the highs and challenges of business! This is part of my community-building 🥂 Cocktails & Chat Instagram Live series. The idea is to kick back, relax, get to know your fellow makers, and realise you're not alone. 🤝 For more community, join my Facebook group Handmade Business Club UK:⁠ https://www.facebook.com/groups/handmadebusinessclubuk⁠ 

Full show notes: https://www.amethystraccoon.com/cc1/


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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/cocktails-and-chat/message