My small business is Kokokelli and I make a variety of colourful & creative handmade crafts at afforable prices! I've been crafting since January 2010 when I got my very first jewellery making set. After seeing a handmade bracelet a friend had made, I thought to myself I can do that!
Kokokelli was officially born in June 2010 when I opened my first shop on a craftsite called Folksy. Unfortunately I closed my shop on there after a year or so due to poor sales and growing tired of paying endless fee's & commission. In the end I decided to focus on growing my skills, learning new crafts and making my own website with the help of my brother.
Over the years my business has gone from just making jewellery & greeting cards to teaching myself how to knit/crochet, use a sewing machine, wood burning (pyrography), and in the very near future also how to tie dye! I also now offer my services as a Tarot/Oracle Card Reader as it's time to use my gifts to help others.
In June 2012 I was blessed with winning Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday (#SBS) which really helped with boosting my business as well as my confidence. I love being part of the #SBS family and have made some great new friends through it. That's not the only award I've won over the years either as I also won a #QueenOf award over on Twitter too a year or so later which I'm also very proud of. I'm also determined to become a #WOW winner (Jacqueline Gold's Women on Wednesday) this year as it's been on my list for a while.
It hasn't all been plain sailing though as in January 2016 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and spent the whole of that year having treatment (fertility/chemotherapy/lumpectomy/radiotherapy) so my crafty business was put on the back burner while I focused on my health. It was a truly terrifying experience and I wouldn't wish what I had to endure even on my worst enemy. I still get told I'm an inspiration and brave even today but the truth is I'm not, I just had no other choice but to fight, and fight is just what I had to do to survive! As hard as it was I'm still grateful for that experience as it had so many lessons to learn. I found out how strong I really am as a person, who truly cares about me and who I can really rely on! My body may be scarred and I may still suffer with a lot of after effects from the grueling treatment but I am still here and still able to create my colourful crafts so I am happy.
My website has been down for over 3 years but I'm finally in the process of creating a new one again with my brother's help. I'm not going to lie it has been really hard to build my business back up since finishing my treatment as I lost a lot of followers on both Facebook & Twitter due to not having the energy or time some days whilst having my cancer treatment but a lot of loyal friends & followers who still had faith in me were there to ride the storm with me and celebrated with me once I came out the other side.
I set my business up because I got so fed up of doing jobs I hated and I wanted to finally work for myself. I may not be a millionnaire but I still have dreams of finally being able to do my Kokokelli handmade crafts as my main job and to earn enough to live on comfortably but in the meantime I'm still recovering slowly.
I've also been focusing on branding my small business which has included finally getting myself a lovely Bespoke Stamp from Stamptastic which I intend to use on product packaging for my crafts as well as my parcels, I may even use it on the backs of my greetings cards too as it's perfect! I've been looking at ways I could finally put the Kokokelli name on the products I make so to finally have a Logo Stamp I can begin making my business look more professional. So I'll be stamping the Kokokelli wherever and whenever I can from now on and if you're looking for your own Custom Company Stamp be sure to check out Stamptastic!
If you would like to check out more about me and my business, as well as see some of the wonderful creations I have made or to arrange a Card Reading be sure to find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
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