Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts: From a market stall to an Etsy business – my crafty journey! (BSL)

“Never say never,” they say and I did!

At some point during my teenage years, (a long time ago may I point out!) it was suggested I worked with my uncle Alan and my Nan (my uncle’s mum) on a market stall as a ‘Saturday job.’

Alan had a stall in London, and worked at various markets such as Roman Road, Bethnal Green and Whitechapel. At first, it seemed like a great idea. It was bound to be a lot of fun, wasn’t it?!

Alan used to sell things like washing up liquid, loo rolls, Palmolive cleaner, Ajax, and Jif. That alone could take you down the memory lane with brands that are either no longer available because they’ve been rebranded or stopped trading altogether.

We worked on the stall in all weathers, and often more than not, I seem to remember it rained most of the time and at times I would be so cold, I couldn’t feel my feet!

I also had the added anxiety of being a Deaf teenager. Alan’s customers would approach us, and verbally give us a list of what they wanted to buy.

I am sure the Deaf community will relate when I say I hate being at the till in a shop such as Tesco, waiting for those dreaded questions thatdart my way, for instance do I have a Clubcard? Need help packing? Have I got vouchers? Want a bag? Have I come far? Isn’t the weather nice?! Can you enter your pin number, do I want cashback?! NO NO Nooooo!

I do my best not to make eye contact and pack as quickly as possible and leave.

So imagine being a teenager with customers asking for bottles of bleach, loo rolls and cleaner, and most importantly of all, to add to the mix I was and still am rather mathematically challenged. Sums/Maths is not my strength and it never will be.

Give me a calculator and I can do the odd sum here and there but put simply, I’m dreadful! I recall at the age of 14 asking my brother of 7 in Woolworth’s to add up my sweets, he was so much better at it.

I would have customers verbally give me their list of what they required, I would have to lip read for the products they wanted, add the products up in my head – no calculator in sight, if that wasn’t bad enough I then had to work out how much change to give them! No debit card machines in those days.

I would have a money bag around my tummy and I admit some of it, or perhaps much of it when it came to the calculations, I guessed! I’ve never owned up to that till now, does my uncle read ‘Limping Chicken’ I wonder!?!

I assure you, I had a panic from time to time and would wait for the customer to return to say, I had worked it out dreadfully wrong or given the wrong product, it was such a relief when they continued to walk away! I’m sure you’ve guessed, I didn’t do this job for very long!

Over the years, I have always enjoyed doing crafts and being creative, a number of people suggested I sell my items. Remember how I started this article? I said…… never again to retail!

After much thought, I decided to be brave and began my journey earlier in the year.

I created a ‘Facebook’ page, joined ‘Etsy’, ‘MadeMe’ and decided I needed a name ‘WoodRob Craft’ seemed to fit the bill.

I tend to make personalised/custom items and everything is made to order such as greeting cards, personalised book stacks, hedgehogs and mice from recycled books and all items can be gift wrapped with hand-made wrapping and tags with all sorts of materials.

 

I take photos of the products I’ve made, create the adverts and put these online using my mobile phone. Gone are the days of selling in cold weather, lipreading customers and personally dealing with money.

If a customer wishes to contact me, they simply send me a message either direct to my mobile using ‘WhatsApp’ or via ‘Facebook’, ‘Etsy’ or ‘MadeMe’ app/sites and if a Deaf customer wishes, we can have a video call!

Better still, today with ‘Paypal’ and ‘Stripe’ banking (equivalent to ‘PayPal’) payments are made online. I do not have to add up the total amount or work out if I have to give any change – it’s all done for me – what more could I ask for?!

This is all done in the comfort of my own home, with warmth and a cup of tea, (a must!) and often in front of the TV.

This is all thanks to modern technology today. This allows me to explore crafting projects without the anxiety of dealing with communication issues and maths. I could choose to sell my items via craft markets but I have chosen not to take this path, preferring to stay with ‘Deaf friendly’ selling.

I’m slowly building up my platforms, and hoping to advance to ‘TikTok’ to make videos of the products I make in the near future. I was overjoyed to see on Facebook there are groups such as ‘Amazing Deaf Handmade Craft’ shop’.

On a personal note, I wholly enjoy crafting, I can lose myself for hours at the kitchen table being creative.I enjoy making that special gift, knowing it will brighten someone’s day and they will look at it daily and it’s even better knowing if a Deaf person wants a special gift, they will know they can communicate with me without any stress or worries.

If you’re sitting there with your phone and wondering what I make, punch in WoodRob Craft on Facebook and see what pops at you and join me on my exciting journey.

So maybe what I have really learnt is, “never say never” after all!

Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts.

Joanne is a profoundly Deaf BSL user based in Essex and has worked as a BSL tutor and Language Aide. She recently wrote and was involved in the production of ‘Give Us The Sign’. She is passionate about sharing ideas, Deaf issues and supporting one another.