Creative Entrepreneur since 2006..

Hi there!

How is it going? How was your going back to school week ? I don't know about you but it was particular here due to Covid.

My children are grown up now but they still have back to school to do as they're still students... and with that comes the race to have school certificates, insurance, internet connections, housing assistance, student financing etc., etc. Long live administrative paperwork !!

I hope you had a good time stitching and enjoying taking time to let yourself breathe a little? I really hope so because it is the perfect way to take care of your health, boost your happiness and stay healthy!

I have been really enjoying welcoming more and more stitchers and people who love colour to my page and group on Facebook, on my Instagram and here on the blog. I hope my weekly articles are a pleasant relaxing time for you in your busy week and that they bring you a breath of fresh air?

This week I reveal myself a little more than my products for once, so that all the new readers, and the old ones, can know me and understand me a little more.

Creative Entrepreneur

As I said today I wanted to introduce myself and my work as an embroidery designer and colourist to all the new people who have subscribed to my newsletter or who have recently followed me and maybe to those who have known me for a longer time too. ...

First of all, a big thank you to you for following me, supporting me and bringing me joy and well-being! My name is Melanie and I have been a creative entrepreneur since 2006.

I started this journey timidly with only a few cross stitch designs and little by little I found my colourful touch amongst so many designers.

A Haphazard Start

I started this adventure by accident in 2001. I had just had our second child Lily, and I was a young mother of two at home. My job as an English teacher for adults no longer gave me any pleasure, but cross stitch most certainly did! I was constantly stitching designs by Lanarte at the time and I invested a lot of my money in those kits!

Until the day when I no longer wanted to stitch other people's creations and the idea occurred to me to stitch a Catalan themed sampler, my husband's homeland and second home for me. With the help and encouragement of my friends I set out to create this design .. it took me 1 year to make it, but I was successful and it was the start of my career as a designer!

When I discovered Le Fil Atalie

We were living in Salon de Provence at the time and that's where I met Martine from Le Fil Atalie, who also encouraged me to create and use her beautiful threads.

I continued to create very simple models but with each one, I learned a little more about colour, perspective and little by little I found my touch... and I started doing my very first show in March 2006 in Cézac .. kindly invited by Gigi. The shows followed one after another and with each I learned more about my job as a designer and as a salesperson .. something that was not at all easy or comfortable for me at the beginning!

Stitching Fabric

Then came my range of stitching fabrics .. started by chance after an order for a candy pink piece of linen for a dear stitching friend who will know who she is! I added an orange one, then a yellow one and today I have a rainbow of different types of embroidery fabrics and colours that bring me so much happiness to dye, which I think is passed on to stitchers as well. I hope so anyway?

Blackwork in Couleur

I fell in love with Blackwork after returning from a show. I was drawn to a blackwork model at the show so I bought a book about it at the show. With a 5 hour train journey in front of me I devoured the book and I learned the basic points and voila I was addicted! Once I had mastered the technique a bit more, I started to create designs, but not in black, in colour of course! I love creating and stitching blackwork in colour designs and so much so that I have a book coming out in 2021!

Part Time Learning

During that time I had the honour of being chosen to learn how to dye and continue the Le Fil Atalie brand of stitching threads. With the help and invaluable advice of Martine, I learned "on the job" in continuous training how to create and reproduce her beautiful threads.

Every day I gain more confidence and the process of dyeing and working with colour brings me a lot of pleasure and pride. Dyeing the threads with all the colours in the range is a real therapy for me ... they're my vitamins!

Chromotherapy

And that's not all! This path on which I have traveled for so many years, made me realise that colour was the thing that gave me the most satisfaction and that it was of paramount importance in my life .. it is my mission here to create and use colour to help others. This path, which I took so timidly and without necessarily understanding each step, also led me to chromotherapy. I trained for a year last year and I am proud to say that I became a chromotherapist! I added yet another colourful dimension to my bow.

Conclusion

When I reread my article I remember my journey and the encounters throughout it .. each person helped me to grow, to change an idea, to see something from another perspective and have helped me to build myself at the same time as my business .. I was able to do that because I had confidence in what I was doing and that I was comfortable where I was at each time .. I let go and I followed my intuition and I am delighted because colour brings me so much and with embroidery and colour if I can help others to feel better, bring them joy and pleasure and wellness my mission is successful.

Online Autumn Festival

The Autumn Festival is still ongoing and you can get there by following the link below to the group.

If you would like to visit an online cross stitch and multi thread craft show here is the link!

Many French cross stitch designers are taking part. The virtual show was created to promote our new autumn designs and offers, as all our usual shows have been cancelled in 2020!

You’ll find virtual booths for cross stitch and embroidery, patchwork, knitting, crochet, threads and fabric, textile art, boutis, ribbon embroidery, buttons etc

Designers include: Tralala, Atelier des Fées Brodeuses, Le Fil Atalie, Tom + Lily Creations, Jardin Privé, Credo Boutis, Annick Abrial, Isabelle Vautier, ...the list goes on!

Here is the direct link to the show group..you can see the virtual booths and follow the links that interest you directly in each designers posts. Enjoy your visit!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1947382732061981

I hope you liked my story and feel like you know me a little better? I would love to hear your comments and answer any questions about my journey either by email: tometlily@hotmail.com or via messenger!

Have a great week! Next week I'll show you the september Autumn pack pictures and tell you about the October pack ....

Happy Stitching!

Melanie
xxxxxx