12:13pm Tuesday 1st December 2009
When mum-of-two Vicky Lloyd set up a children’s craft business from home, she had no idea how popular it would be.
Ruth Addicott finds out the secret to her success.
WOBBLY eyes, pipe cleaners and sequins aren’t the obvious foundations on which to build a business, but for entrepreneur Vicky Lloyd from Darlington, it has proved an unexpected success.
Vicky set up her own business, NE Day Crafts, in May, holding creative workshops for children and selling creativity kits for parents.
A married mother-of-two, she came up with the idea after struggling to find crafts for her own children in the local area.
“They have always loved art and crafts, but I found there weren’t many places where I could buy all the pieces,” she says. “I had to go to one shop for pipe cleaners and another for wobbly eyes and glitter and by the time I got home, I’d run out of energy.”
Vicky decided to produce a onestop creativity kit for parents who want to encourage their children to be more artistic but don’t have the time to shop around. The kits offer a range of ideas from how to make butterflies, fairies and spacemen to tie dye T-shirts and jewellery for older children. They also include basics such as non-toxic glue, a paint brush and a full set of instructions.
They are currently aimed at children aged between two and nine, but Vicky is hoping to come up with new kits for older children next year.
She has also been able to do her bit for the environment and keeps costs down by recycling a lot of the materials.
“Toilet roll tubes are an obvious one for Christmas crackers and they are really popular right now,”
she says.
The creative workshops, which run on weekends as well as during the week, have also been popular with parents. Promising “no mess, no stress”, she holds them every week at children’s centres, nurseries, playgroups and parties. They have been held in towns such as Northallerton, Yarm and Stockton and even from her home in Darlington, although numbers there are limited.
“It encourages children to be more creative and to express their individuality,”
she says. “It also helps them develop their skills and improve their dexterity. I don’t think children are getting the opportunity to be as creative as they should be in schools. They are using technology and computers more and more and I think creativity has really lost its way. My daughter is only seven and she has already shown a lot of flair, she has become one of my little testers.”
Setting up her own craft business has been a major career change for Vicky, who previously worked for an engineering firm. It has given her more flexible working hours and enabled her to spend a lot more time with her children. “I never used to take my children to school or pick them up and I felt it was a major part of their life I was missing out on,”
she says.
As a further boost, she has just won a Future 100 Young Entrepreneur of 2009 award. Vicky is hoping to expand further in the new year, ideally holding the workshops and selling the creativity kits from the same premises and even distributing the kits through shops.
While she does have to cope with the occasional toddler tantrum and scuffle over wobbly eyes, Vicky says she is happier than she has been in ages.
“Seeing the pride children get from making something themselves is amazing,” she says. “They get so much joy out of it and they also get something they can take home and show their granny and granddad. It’s been a massive learning curve – stressful – but well worth it.”
■ Vicky Lloyd is on 01325-241415; email: nedaycrafts@ntlworld.com; nedaycrafts.co.uk
ATALKING hamster and an electronic kitten are likely to be hits with children this Christmas, says a leading retailer.
Argos says role-play toys with a technological “twist” will be the hot trend this festive season.
The retailer is tipping Go Go Hamsters – artificially intelligent rodents able to talk and move around their hamster “funhouses” – as one of the top ten toys for Christmas. Lulu My Cuddlin’ Kitten, an interactive pet which purrs, rolls over and responds to its owner, is also on the list.
The most traditional toy on the list is Lego. Other well-known names to feature are Baby Annabell and a Transformers helmet.
QWe allow our 13-year-old son to have a glass of wine with meals.
Is this likely to make him a more responsible drinker when he’s older?”
ADr Arpana Agrawal, an assistant psychiatry professor at Washington University in the USA, has just co-authored a study on age at first drink.
She says: “While research shows that starting to drink at an early age is associated with later alcohol-related problems, not all early drinkers develop problems with alcohol. Other important influences, even in early drinkers, are peer influences, parental monitoring, predisposition to other behavioural problems and family history of alcohol-related problems.
“Research also suggests that the context in which drinking occurs can help clarify whether early-onset drinking will have detrimental effects.
The flip-side to this is that if early exposure to alcohol modifies genetic vulnerability to later alcohol problems, as has been shown by a few studies, then drinking at home or outside the home may be equally risky.
“Our study found that heritable influences played a more prominent part in those who started drinking at an early age and the individual environmental factors were more relevant in those who initiated drinking after the age of 15.”
AS more and more weird-looking, postscalpel Hollywood stars appear on our screens looking as though they have just emerged from a wind tunnel, it’s little surprise that more down-to-earth Brits are becoming more cautious about cosmetic surgery.
Even the stars are realising that having a face that’s been stretched to its limits might not be conducive to a job that requires them to have facial expressions.
One less drastic option might be to opt for Botox or facial filler, a route the stunning model Yasmin le Bon has recently admitted to taking. The gorgeous 45-year-old mother of three says her flawless complexion is down to doing all the rights things, like drinking water and eating well... and to a spot of Botox. “I do like to party so I have been having Botox injections every 18 months to keep the wrinkles at bay,” the model recently admitted. “I don’t do much – I have to be able to move my face – but it does work.”
If you’re tempted, there are a number of places in the North-East which offer the treatment, and now Bannatyne Spa has thrown its hat into the ring. The define clinics specialise in non-surgical cosmetic procedures and aesthetic treatments, such as Botox and facial fillers (Juvederm, Softline and Teosyal), laser facial thread vein removal and hair removal, skin peels and a medically managed weight loss programme.
Define therapist Sarah Gilmour, from Newcastle, will be one of the practitioners on hand every two weeks at the Bannatyne Spa in Darlington. She has been an aesthetic nurse for 11 years and before that, worked as a nurse at Newcastle RVI on the general medical ward. “The effects of Botox last four months or more, but it is cumulative too: the more treatments you have, the more you seem to get out of it longevitywise,”
she says. A testament to the effectiveness of facial fillers, Sarah is a youthful looking 36 and has been having filler treatments since she was 23.
“One side effect if Botox is injected into the forehead can be brow droop, but it’s quite rare and doesn’t seem to put people off,” says Sarah.
After a full initial consultation, remote prescribing is done on the phone by a consultant, who makes sure the client is happy with everything. The Botox is then injected into the wrinkle and although no change is visible instantly, after a few days the wrinkle is all but erased. I had it injected into lines under my eyes and it’s quick, fairly painless (as long as you’re not needle-phobic), and has fantastic results.
Clients are warned not to bend down for a number of hours after the treatment, as the filler can migrate. Bruising and swelling can occur, though this lasts for only a few hours.
Thankfully,theoveralleffect–thecompleterubbing out of deep facial lines – lasts much longer.
■ Define at the Bannatyne Spa. Botox from £160; facial fillers from £240; laser hair removal from £35. Book in at reception on Houghton Road, Darlington or call 0845-434-8466.
Jenny Needham
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