Lisa’s business, Amelie Rose Crafts, has gone from strength to strength since she launched it at her home in 2017. Find out more about her story as part of our May business spotlight.
A Gloucestershire craft maker who quit her corporate job to spend six months working with lions in Africa before becoming self-employed is now hoping to take the craft world by storm after setting up her first studio.
Lisa Halls, who left her 25-year career as a chartered accountant to see the world and start a family, has expanded her handmade art business out of her home and into its first studio after enjoying an eight-fold increase in sales in the last twelve months.
Amelie Rose Crafts, which was set up by Lisa in 2017 to support her and her daughter Amelie, is now a resident business at Space Business Centre in Cheltenham, adding to her Etsy page and newly launched website.
Lisa makes high-quality, handcrafted artistic pieces through a unique combination of paper quilling and pebble art, including items to suit a range of occasions and personalised gifts.
Before setting up her business, Lisa spent six months helping to rehabilitate lions in Zimbabwe, which involved breeding them in captivity and raising them to be strong enough to be released into the wild, after deciding there was more to life than her high-flying accounting job.
Lisa, operating out of Unit 20 at the Cheltenham site, is continually looking to innovate her art and launch new ranges incorporating a number of crafting techniques, as well as holding arts and crafts workshops.
She said: “I was inspired by the pebble art I saw while on holiday in Devon and thought that would be a world away from the rat race and office politics of the corporate world.
“After so many years being career driven, I realised I also had a previously hidden creative side, so I started making and selling pieces at the Cotswold Galleria which unfortunately closed last year. I then had to start generating most of my sales through Etsy and Facebook.
“The business has been a great way to make a living while allowing me to be there for my daughter as much as possible. She is a massive support to me.
“It is a really exciting time for us with a brand-new website now up and running too.
“We are one of the few businesses which were more active during lockdown, and we are hoping to capitalise on that by combining our online presence with a place where we can speak face-to-face with our customers and show off the things we create.”
Space Business Centre Cheltenham is owned by property investment company AC Lloyd, and is one of their two centres in Gloucestershire which offer flexible, easy in and easy out, multi-use units ranging from 275 to 775 sq ft.
Lucy Iles, Site Manager at Space Gloucester and Cheltenham, added: “It’s been inspiring to see Lisa setting up her store as she is a determined individual who works extremely hard, and is incredibly talented at what she does.
“She creates some beautiful items with her materials, turning them into bespoke works of art and we are delighted to have her join us at Space Cheltenham.”
For more information and to view Lisa’s online shop, visit www.amelierosecrafts.co.uk, www.Etsy.com/shop/amelierosecraftgifts, or www.Facebook.com/amelierosecrafts.