Another interesting jewellery destination - Isle of Man

I just sold a happy pair of earrings to another interesting place!  Last week it was Iqaluit, Canada, in the Great White North, and this week it's the Isle of Man!

I don't know much about the Isle of Man... except that I had a co-worker that was from there.  And living there involves ferries.  It's also where Manx cats are from... and the Manx language, which I believe no longer has any native speakers.

So off I go to learn a bit and share about this latest interesting place...

[as an aside, what should I call these posts about  interesting places I sell to?  I need a catchy name - any suggestions would be appreciated!]

So in case you didn't know, the Isle of Man is an island between Britain and Ireland in the Irish Sea.  It's a 'British Crown Dependency' which means it's sort of governed by the UK, but mostly does it's own thing.  It's not considered part of the UK though.  It was so confusing when I was studying for my life in the UK test about which countries made up the UK, and that this was different than Great Britain, and this was different from The British Isles, etc etc... and the crown dependencies like Jersey and Guernsey. And the Isle of Man. It's all very confusing, I don't know if British people get it either.

The Isle of Man has a very long history and a good chunk of prehistory - it seems to have been inhabited since 6500 BC, back in the good ol Bronze age, which makes it nice and interesting.  I like the Bronze age, they had some nice mounds and things :)  Apparently it was never part of the Roman empire either, which is interesting.

The Isle of Man's capital is Douglas, and is home to under 100,000 people.

The Isle of Man's capital, Douglas

My research shows I was right and the last native speaker of the Manx language died in 1974 - but luckily, it was well recorded, there even being a Bible written in Manx, and it is being revived in the media and in communities.  Hooray!  Manx is a Celtic language so it is closly related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

...Oh my gosh, have you seen the Manx Loaghtan Sheep??  They have four, or sometimes SIX horns!!  That's amazing!  Six horns!  It's like something out of a fantasy novel! There's some crazy things I learn when learning about these different places.  I have to go just to see these sheep!

Crazy Isle of Man sheep

I went to look if any famous people come from the Isle of Man, and whaddya know!  The BeeGees are from there!  Who knew.

Know we all know a fair bit about the Isle of Man.  I hope you enjoyed this post!

Start your own Etsy business with less than $50 (and make it all back before investing another dime!)

Or, less than £30 if you're in the UK like me (...and that's £29.18 to be exact!)

You want to set up a jewellery business, but you don't want the risk of putting lots of money into something before you start making a profit, do you!  In this 'example business', we're going to start a polymer clay jewellery business with less than 30 pounds - and you'll be making money before you invest any more money!  The money you make from the business is what you can reinvest and watch your business grow.

I've had so much fun watching my own Etsy business grow, and one of the things I'm most proud of is how I never sunk a lot of money into my business before it started making profits.

Iqaluit - another interesting place!

I've just been made very happy by getting a purchase from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada!  I love a sale from somewhere interesting - and even though I'm from Canada, Iqaluit to me sounds exotic and wild :)  It is the capital of the Territory of Nunavut, in the north east of Canada.  It's a relatively new Territory, I sort of remember it's formation when I was a kid - when the Northwest Territories split into two.  I've always wanted to visit the Canadian north... the wild landscapes and small communities sound really attractive.

So off I go to Pinterest and Wikipedia to see what I can find out about Iqaluit and Nunavit to share with you all...

Coryographies on Great Imaginations

I love finding my jewellery on other people's blogs... it's a great feeling :)  Great Imaginations has a lovely gift guide for book lovers this Christmas!  See if you can spot you-know-who...