I have had a little trouble writing this about myself, words are not my strong point you see, I am more a words and pictures kinda gal.  Which is why I guess I love what I do.

Many people ask where the name Fee J comes from - the answer is quite simple, it was a pet name given to me by my Dad when I was younger and it has stuck over the years.  My Dad was always supportive in what ever I did, even giving up a well paid job in advertising to put myself through university to get my degree in graphic design.  He was a fantastic artist and gladly helped where he could.  Sadly after a long battle with Cancer he passed away in June 2007 - so I take great comfort in still hearing the name Fee J.

Craft/ art & being creative have always been a passion of mine and from an early age, from making pretend magazines and papers ( spookily I ended up working for a newspaper in the advertising department)  Designing CD's all started of when I bought a card making kit - the papers were Ok, but I wanted something a little more special, I  wanted something I had not seen before with the wow factor ... which is when I sat down and designed my first lot of backing papers.  After making lots of great cards with what I had designed I thought there must be like minded crafters out there just like me looking for something that little bit special & different too ...which is when I designed my first CD - It sold amazingly well and a few months later Fee J Designs was born.

Now I have my dream job - creating designs that people can use to make their projects come to life.  I just love to see what people make from the CD's and love to receive all the fantastic pictures my customers send me along with a mass of hand made thank you cards - which are all hung in my office to spur me on when I am having a day where my imagination does not run freely.

At the ripe old age of 40 on the 10th November 2007 I finally took the plunge and got married.  Crikey how scary is that to do?  Good job no one could see my legs under my gown as I was shaking like mad.  Got a bit tongue tied when it was time to say "I do solemnly" took 3 attempts to say solemnly before I got it right, gave everyone a bit of  chuckle including the registrar.  My customers were amazing sending me lots of handmade cards from papers on my CD's - that was really cool & so special.  Just a few pics to share with you below from my wedding.

My daughter was bridesmaid and looked super stunning, my tom boy all gone and transformed into a beautiful young lady, very proud of her that day.

I have worked from my attic for the last 2 and a bit years ...been a bit of a dark experience as there were no windows ... was a bit like a bat...coming into the light for cups of coffee ... As Fee J Designs has grown from strength to strength this February I invested in an office with ....WINDOWS !! ...It has transformed my working day,  I  always enjoy designing at the start of the day but now it a much brighter, lighter day :)  a couple of pic's just so you can see where it all happens - my little wooden paradise.

Single handed I run Fee J Designs, there are no teams of designers, a team that packs your orders, a receptionist who takes your phone calls & orders ... It's all down to me - Customer satisfaction is my number one priority, so I am glad I am able to offer that personal touch when you ring, when I send your orders out ..without happy customers this would all end ...  Thank you to you all for your support, emails and suggestions.

What do I do in my spare time .. ha ha what is spare time?  No I do occasionally get from behind the PC - I guess my main passion besides my family, home, my little hairy baby ...Poppy and Fee J's  .... is my motor bike.

This is hairy baby when she was 12 weeks old ...awwwwwwww

   My now husband always had a motor bike since we met and I used to go on the back with him .. but he went to fast for my liking... one day I said joking " I will learn to ride a bike one day" ..guess what I got for my next birthday !!!  Bike riding lessons....Mmmm what happed to diamonds are a girls best friend.  To cut a long story short, never ridden a bike before in my life ... took lessons and passed my test ( 4th time I will admit - well it's hard to ride a bike and put your lippy in the mirror, the examiner didn't understand a girls just gotta look good on a bike)   I would recommend learning to ride a bike to anyone - great way to blow the cob webs away and just get out with out a reason ( you never need a reason to go out on the bike)   Girls it's not just for the fella's, If you can craft you can ride a bike.  I now own a pretty stunning Triumph Daytona 600 and I am always praying for a fine day so I can get out on it.

I think I have rattled on long enough now ... better stop before you fall asleep.  Hope that has given you just a little insight into who I am  and what Fee J's is all about.

07/07/2008

Thank you so much for your e mails and phone calls - I will try and up date this page occasionally keeping you up to date and may be letting you into a little more of what I get up to :)

Ahh where did we go on Honeymoon you have been asking .. We had a slightly belated Honey moon and went at the end of Feb 2008 to the Maldives. 

What a beautiful place ... one draw back for me was ... there were things in the water ..well to be precise fish & crabs.  If have one phobia it's being in the water with fish, Stu tried always to get me in the water snorkelling ..and I did try... really I did ... but it was no use there were fish in the water ..lol  I spent the rest of the Honeymoon while in the water floating on a lilo ..it was nick named the lurf ( sort of a surf board but more of a lilo) It became a bit of a laugh with a group of people we met there that I was going lurfing ...lol  Below is one of the baby sharks that were in the water ..they were not to bad ... BUT WHERE WAS MUM !!!

25-11-08

Crikey where has this year gone.  Thank you to everyone who came along to see us at the NEC in Birmingham this November I would especially like to thank my husband Stuart who worked like a trooper and even had a go at making cards.  I would also like to thank Deb's and Chris for coming with me and doing card demo's with the CD's on sale, you guys were brilliant.  After the success of this Novembers NEC, I have decided to attend more Craft Shows during the course of next year, as soon as I know when and where I will let you know.

Above - Me & Cass42 from the Fee J's Forum & Chris in the background chatting to customers.

This is the stand and Stuart getting ready for opening, and yes the stand really was that small...lol.  Being the first show I had done I thought I had better start of small not knowing what to expect ... big mistake - Next year I will have a bigger stand so you can all get to the folders and samples ... my apologies if you could not get through to the front... next year will be different.

This is Debs on the left, chatting to customers while  doing card demos, customers just loved the card samples she made while they watched, to the right is Mandi from the forum, a huge thank you to Mandi who came and helped set up and worked on the first day of the show and then came back to help pack up at the end... a million thanks couldn't have done it with out you.

More Fee J's forum members above, thanks to Scrappers for this pic.  If any one else has pics from the NEC please e mail them to me - I would love to put them here for all to see.

This is the fantastic display of cards we had on the stand

This is Jocelyn (another forum member that came to say hi) & her friend to the right Friend