A new beginning

Making the decision to walk away from Jupiter Hollow, and running a craft business with my sister, was very difficult to get around to emotionally, but once made we accelerated our planning a lot. Going 'alone' means that we can work at our own pace and have a more coherent brand vision, but because we'll still be going through many of the same stages at the same time we will be supporting each other.

For a long time I'd planned to run a craft business of my own under the name 'Cinnamon Mist', but unfortunately when I sat down to have a look that was taken at blogspot and as an etsy store name, so I didn't think it was a great idea to continue with that (even though I had it as a gmail address. I've since 'released it' back into the ether.) But that left me in a quandary. I'd blithely assumed I could be Cinnamon Mist still, and be happy with that, despite the fact I decided on that name when I was about 16.  Now I needed to find a new name.

Deciding on the new name has been very difficult. Lots of brainstorming. Lots of random words being appended to other words. Lots of 'what do you think of ...?' to sister and husband.

I'm happy with Parlour Duck crafts. It is intended to convey the traditional craftsmanship and the quirky edge of the items I craft. And the fact that I like ducks. Fraser, my very own precious duck, long gone now, is of course a strong inspiration for the name. I suspect she would have been very happy to be a parlour duck. She certainly took every opportunity to be a kitchen duck and an inside duck. (It is a very tiny Fraser in my avatar picture.)

I believe in the long term I'll be happier than if I'd just defaulted to cinnamon mist because it was there in my mind. Parlour Duck crafts reflects the me of today rather than half a lifetime ago. So what can you expect from this blog? Much the same as my posts on our Jupiter Hollow blog - posts about my current projects, posts about updating vintage crafts and patterns, the occasional reflective post on ethical crafting and fashion, etc. But there will also be some new slants - I'm having a baby in November, so that is the focus of a lot of my time, energy and interest at the moment! And as we launch our craft businesses, they'll be posts talking about the crafts and patterns I'm selling.