Make Do and Mend-able countdown!

 

This is the logo that you all helped me pick!

I’ve been promising you the new Make Do and Mend-able website for what feels like a looooong time, (I originally blogged about it here, waaaay back in May last year!)  but I’m jumping up and down with excitement to say that it should be ready to launch this coming Thursday! I’m trying hard to think of some special significance to the 5th March, and I can’t, but that’s the date it should be ready, and I’m not arguing!

I never imagined when I started My Make Do and Mend Year, exactly the journey that it would take me on. And that I would end up making it into anything more.
But it feels like I’ve found my ‘thing’.
Spreading the word about Making Do and Mending, and hopefully inspiring others to think a bit about the choices that they are making in their everyday lives, and the impact that those choices make, has become my ‘thing’. And I love it! And I want to do more.

I heard some great advice once about how to live more sustainably, and about how to make a difference: “Just keep doing one more thing”.
Well, this new site is my latest “one more thing”.
And I hope it will grow and develop, as I keep doing “one more thing”!

My dream for Make Do and Mend-able is that a whole community can grow up around it, Making, Making Do, and Mending, and sharing our knowledge, tips, advice, and inspiration with each other.
I want it to be a ‘one stop shop’ for all things Make Do and Mend, and to become a fabulous resource that will help people find out the things they want to know to get started, or to take one more step (do their “one more thing”), on their own Make Do and Mend journeys.

I’m also hoping that it will mean that I can start to generate some income from all the time and effort and energy that goes into all the Make Do and Mend activities that I do.
I have struggled with whether I should be attempting to monetise my efforts, and if so, then how to do it, without being seen to ‘sell out’ or to start selling ad space for lots of ‘stuff’. I hope you can all understand my reasons behind what I’m doing, and that you will support me and join me in the next stage of the adventure.

This blog will carry on, on the new site. If all the technical jiggery pokery is working, if you have book-marked this site, you should automatically be re-directed to the “My Make Do and Mend Life” section of the new site. And from there, you can explore all the resources and have a good old nose around!
When it launches, the site will I guess, be like a baby version of what I envisage for it in the future. There is some new content on there already, but you may recognise some of it from this site! I will be adding brand spanking shiny new content everyday, and it will certainly be a work in progress. If anyone wants to help me populate with really useful Make Do and Mend content, then I am on the look-out for guest bloggers! Please do shout if you have an awesome blog post you would be happy to share.

Once the site has launched and I have some stats to show people, I will start to promote the Directory section of the site, which will have listings of nationwide classes and workshops for all things Make Do and Mend-everything from spinning to crochet, and foraging to preserving. If you have a small business running classes that you want to promote to a whole community of people passionate about Make Do and Mend, and eager to add to their skills, then please do get in touch. I am still working on how to price the Directory, but I really want it to be an affordable way for small businesses and makers to promote their classes, and there will be a special launch offer-so keep your eyes peeled!

Sooooooo, the countdown is on!
I am excited, and kind of nervous. Not unlike how I remember feeling in those last few weeks of pregnancy waiting for my actual babies to arrive!
I hope you’re excited too, and that together we can spread the word about Making Do and Mending, and that we can #makeitbetter 🙂

PS.It might be helpful if I actually told the new web address…!
It’s www.makedoandmend-able.co.uk. You can have a look now, but it’s just a holding page (but do take the opportunity to join the mailing list for the all new newsletters that will start winging their way to subscribers, packed full with even more Make Do and Mend inspiration!!) until Thursday.

PPS. I would never have even felt the teeniest bit capable of even attempting something like this, if it weren’t for the support of every single one of you-THANKYOU!!

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