Guest Showcase is where we have a catch-up with one of our fabulous guests to find out what they have been up to and learn what makes them tick! Last month, our Guest Showcase featured the wonderful Jo Channon – if you missed it, catch up here!
This edition promises to be just as exciting, so without further ado, let us unveil our special guest…
Phill Martin
Hi, I’m Phill! I have been a papercrafter for well over two decades, but you may not know the story behind why I created my brand Sentimentally Yours… so, I’m thrilled to be part of this month’s Guest Showcase where I will take you on a journey and hopefully you’ll see just how important it is to me!
Where did it all start?
Before Sentimentally Yours was born, I opened my first Honeypot Crafts store in 2007 after much deliberation. Leaving a secure job to venture out into business on my own was a huge challenge, but one I relished as I was going to be doing what I loved every day. I just knew that this is where I felt at home, in the craft world. That same year, I was approached by a company who asked if I’d be interested in representing their brand on shopping TV… you can see what that led to!
The more I searched for co-ordinating products to stock in my shop and to use for myself (stamps, papers and so on), the more I struggled to source quality sentiment stamp ranges, particularly anything unique. This is where the idea was formed… I should design my own. I designed my first collection of sentiment stamps back in 2013 and I wanted the brand to be different from my shop. These were personal to me; they had feeling, and this is how Sentimentally Yours was born. It’s a perfect description of how important the right words and phrases on our projects are and how important my designs and coordinating products are to me, on a personal level, in their longevity and the creative opportunities they provide us.
What makes Sentimentally Yours special?
For anyone who has followed my career over the years, you will know that I have a saying that “we make our own cards and projects because we have something to say”, and this is why I develop so many different styles of sentiment stamps, to offer unique, individual designs that will work for us for years. Sentimentally Yours and I have developed and grown so much together over the years. I now have so many crafty products that I design myself – from my stamps, craft papers, craft dies, embossing folders, tools and everything else, this is still personal to me and I even design all our packaging too! We are renowned for superior quality products, and I insist that only the best will do for our amazing customers.
Who else is involved in the brand?
I’m very lucky that I now have my sister, Karen, working with me, I couldn’t manage everything if it wasn’t for her. On top of this, she runs our second Honeypot Crafts store in Sheffield. I must give a ‘shout out’ to our Auntie Sue, who is so supportive and helps us out all the time! I’m surrounded by my small group of loyal, dedicated staff and I couldn’t do what I do without them, so big thanks to Karen, Carol, Val, Joanne and my amazing design team of Alison, Jennifer, Lozzy, David, Trudie and Julia!
Also, I’m so excited to now have Trudie Howard as part of my Sentimentally Yours family, her artwork is amazing and she fits into our brand perfectly! I am so proud to be able to bring Trudie’s designs to life and turn them into stamps for her, under her own Designs by Trudie Howard range (available at Hochanda). My very good friend, Julia Watts is also part of my Sentimentally Yours family and she brings so much inspiration with her demonstrations of Trudie’s products on Hochanda – what a star!
Any exciting plans for the future at Sentimentally Yours?
The future looks good! I can’t say much but I have so many exciting, new products in development and I can’t wait to share them all with you on Hochanda soon!
Finally, can you share your top tips for our crafters?
Create layers and dimension on projects using our dies and embossing folders. Remember, you can stamp images out, cut them out and make your own embellishments from them. This creates a unique style and gives lots of crafting opportunities to make ‘your own’.
Don’t be afraid of colour! I love colour, but I also love my own elegant style, so I balance out popping bright colours with lots of white space and pretty embellishments (yep, I love a flower or two on my cards).
Let the words do the talking! I love making my sentiment and verse stamps do the ‘talking’ and become the main feature of the front of my cards. This offers so many opportunities to completely personalise the project and decorate how you wish.
Thanks for joining us this month Phill! If you enjoyed this fascinating read, make sure you check out the amazing diverse range from Sentimentally Yours on our website!