As this is my first blog post, I thought maybe I should begin by telling you a bit more about myself.
Do please bear with me - I’m much more comfortable designing and making my creations than writing!
I grew up in a peaceful village on the outskirts of The New Forest National Park in the South of England, where my parents still live.
It’s also not far from the sea, so the best of both worlds.
When I was 20, I married my childhood sweetheart, and we have been happily married ever since. We have two wonderful grown-up children, who we adore, and a lovely future daughter in law, which is very exciting.
We now live in beautiful countryside on the Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border, at the foot of the Malvern Hills.
But let’s start at the beginning.
When I was growing up, my Grandmother had a haberdashery shop in our village, and I spent a lot of time there with her - my first Saturday job!
I would spend hours looking at all the wools and fabrics, buttons and trimmings, dreaming of what I could make.
My maternal Grandparents had taken on this shop after my Grandad returned from Asia after the end of WW2, and it was originally combined with a newsagents, which was later sold.
My Nan, together with my Mum, taught me to knit, crochet and sew. My Nan was and my Mum still is, very skilled in these areas. As a teenager and into my twenties, I would sew and knit garments for myself and family members, and then for babies as my friends started their families.
My paternal Granny used to crochet, sew and make tapestries, so I guess it's all in the genes!
Over time though, the world of work and my career took over, leaving me little time to pursue these pastimes. And then our own family came along too, so life was very full.
This all changed five years ago, when I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. I underwent emergency brain surgery, which was considered a success, however, I didn’t make the expected full recovery. Unfortunately, the size of the tumour, and the swelling around it, left me with a residual brain injury, and my way of life changed forever.
As part of my rehabilitation, I began to crochet again - at first I tried knitting but I couldn’t coordinate the two needles! This was a long process, and to begin with I simply made squares for charity blankets. Very wonky to begin with! Then over time, I progressed to adding animals or other appliqués to them. These gradually became more detailed. One Christmas I made hats and scarves for my family, and they encouraged me to think about making these to sell.
And so Annies Creations was born.
Initially my sister set up an Etsy store for me, and over the past year (with a lot of help!) I have been creating my own website.
So, a potted history for you, but that’s enough of me!
I am intending that future posts will focus more on my creations and inspirations, but I would love to know what you think - what would you like to read more about? Do please let me know.
Thank you for reading about my journey to this point in my life. Enjoy life to its fullest, you never know what is just around the corner.
With my very best wishes to you all,
Annie x
