Kildare's Craft Network: Original Kildare

Kildare Local Enterprise Office Supporting the Best in Craft & Design

Kildare Local Enterprise Office works closely with the craft and design sector in county Kildare, providing practical business support to new and existing makers, creators and artists.

Most recently, Kildare Local Enterprise Office provided a unique training programme to develop a craft network in county Kildare. The programme enabled local craft entrepreneurs to learn the skills needed to establish and operate a craft network. 

Supported by County Kildare LEADER Partnership and Kildare Local Enterprise Office, the aim of the craft network is to bring exciting opportunities to the many talented craft entrepreneurs in county Kildare, and to develop Kildare as an internationally recognised home for the best in Craft & Design. 

Following the delivery of the programme, Original Kildare was established in 2020. 

The members of the group are keen to emphasise their individual craft roots.

The Craft Businesses of Kildare - Meet Petra Cooper

Petra Cooper of P.S. I Love You completed the programme in 2020 and is Chairperson and member of Original Kildare. Petra designs and creates bespoke mixed media jewellery and accessories.

“P.S. I Love You jewellery and accessories are one of a kind, unique, bespoke little pieces of happiness that bring joy to the world. They are bold, colourful, big, statement and different. And that’s what makes them so special! I primarily work with polymer clay, but I use all sorts of different materials to achieve the final look. I use fabric, cork, metal, wires, beads, felt, faux and real leather, anything that inspires me.

My collections are sometimes quirky, sometimes funky, sometimes organic looking and sometimes elegant. I believe everyone is unique in our own way, so jewellery and accessories should be the same”.

“I’ve always been creative and have been making my own jewellery since I can remember. I am completely self-taught and have constantly been improving my skills and learning new techniques”.

About Original Kildare Network

"I like Original Kildare for everything that it has given me: the confidence to start my own business, the amazing support from all members, individually and as a group, the connections with government bodies and institutions, new friends.

I gained an enormous amount of business experience and creative ideas, the knowledge on how to run a business, how to plan my next steps and most of all, it has given me the opportunity to reach out to like-minded people when I struggle or need an opinion.

I like to think of the network as a group of board members I can't really afford to have in my own company!

I cannot stress enough how much support we have to offer and we continuously work towards making our network better and welcoming to new members."

Support from Kildare Local Enterprise Office

"Kildare LEO has been helping and supporting me since the beginning and I can safely say, I wouldn’t be at this stage with my business if I didn’t have their support.

It has been amazing cooperating with everyone. It started with the training they provided for the formation of the Original Kildare Network and during that period I received a lot of business mentoring, which helped me to develop my business plan and continuously improve my work.

I used the Trading Online Voucher last year to build an e-commerce website, which brought more revenue and helped me bring my business to the next level.

Kildare LEO is constantly helping me to raise my brand awareness and their trainings have helped me to gain confidence and knowledge in areas I needed help with.

I have availed of many supports from Kildare Local Enterprise Office including:

• The business continuity voucher to support my company throughout Covid-19
• The trading online voucher to create a website for my business, and use of the shared e-commerce platform www.shopcountykildare.ie to increase my online sales. I was involved in the Look for Local Christmas campaign which further added to sales throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns.
• I exhibited at the annual Make It Christmas Market in 2019, the monthly Craft Café and Meet the Maker Day.
• I also completed many courses with the Local Enterprise Office including Start your own business, Social Media Marketing, Creating Video Content, Female Entrepreneur Training, Branding for Success.

More from Petra

Petra’s products are available on her website at www.psiloveyou.ie and at various pop-up shops. They can also be found on her social media platforms and hopefully back at the craft markets soon.

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