Alice opens an online wonderland

By John Rainsford

A NEW online niche business is offering hope of that all-important break to budding entrepreneurs in the Mid-West.
Alice Quinlan has hardly had time to draw a breath such is the level of success she is having with her new venture, Fondelifair.com. The creative director for the business is Michelle Harding, who lives in Ennis and is originally from Killaloe.
Just a few years ago, Alice was unemployed and looking for somewhere to hang her creative hat and now she has found it, in spades.
“My first job was in Cork but after being made redundant in 2002, I returned to UL to study for a graduate diploma in advanced materials. I then went back to UL again, after a time, to study for a MSc in material science,” she explained.
“After university I travelled for a while, living for five years in Bangkok, Thailand, but following my wedding in Thailand, I decided to return home. I found that I wanted to be closer to my family and I now live happily in Annacotty.
“My only daughter was born in December 2009 and after the first few weeks I began to think about new ways to make some money, as I was unemployed at the time. During night feeds, I did a lot of thinking, eventually bringing a pen and notebook to bed with me to record my thoughts. Amazingly, I began to come up with the idea of designing knitting patterns.
“At the time, I thought selling original knitting patterns would be a good way to get a cash flow going. I also thought about selling my knitting to the public. However, I soon discovered that online, there are many blogs, forums, and ways to sell crafts but none of them are based in Ireland. So I could see a gap in the market if you like. The new business venture I created as a result is called Fondelifair.com.”
The inspiration for her project was a desire to create a place online where a person could sell crafts, share ideas and communicate the creative process to interested parties. There is nothing comparable available in Ireland and it was a huge undertaking, as she had no previous knowledge of web design. Instead, she had to learn as she went along, starting by taking notes of all her ideas and implementing them one by one.
“I am an avid knitter,” said Alice, “but even now, I would not consider myself to be any type of artist. I learned to knit and crochet from my grandmother and how to sew from my father. I began to knit once again in 2007 and became passionate about it. I quickly went on to learn new styles and techniques, knitting everything from hats and jumpers, to blankets. I am also a keen reader and like to cycle so my diary is fairly full.
“There are a lot of very talented individuals in Ireland, who are not getting the recognition they deserve for the gorgeous work that they produce. Therefore, I started to think about creating a ‘craft hub’ to help them. I do not think that creativeness runs in the family; although my grandmother was a very talented knitter and, of course, my sister has many different projects on the go at any one time. However, I do think that anyone can become an entrepreneur as long as they have a passion and an interest in what they are creating. The qualities you need to succeed in business are a dedication to the project, attention to detail and patience.”
Not only is the website dedicated to arts and crafts, which have been handmade in Ireland, it is also intended as a social community, a blog host and marketplace and as a platform for art enthusiasts and hobbyists to share information about upcoming art exhibitions, craft fairs and art and craft classes.
The site caters for all standards, from novice to more experienced craft practitioners, with tips on improving technique and even ideas for new money making projects.
“The name originated from when I started on the internet in 1998. I was doing a work placement in Maryland and I was reading a Terry Pratchett novel. There was a character called Fondel in it. Needing a username for forums, chat rooms and so on, I decided to use that, but it was already taken so I added the ‘i’, to become ‘Fondeli’. I used this for years and then added the fair for my site.
“Later I bought the domain name on a whim. They were 3.99 at the time, I just went for it, without checking anything out and luckily it was free and unique on all the social media. I used a website to check and then made accounts for all using ‘Fondelifair’, to ensure it could not be used again.”
On the website, practitioners can sell their wares in their own virtual store. Indeed, the market is currently experiencing a huge upsurge in the amount of people now making handcrafts in their own home.
Alice’s friend and business associate, Michelle Harding noted how the Crafts Council of Ireland and Craft Northern Ireland have designated 2011 as the Year of Craft.
“There has never been a better time to dust down the sewing machines, dig out the old acrylics and have a go at some homemade card making and maybe even make some money out of your passion,” she said.