Freelancer In Focus July 2008 - Cathy Bass

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Address: Leicestershire Email: cathybass@ntlworld.com Telephone: 07958 657 949 Area of Expertise: Design consultant, stocking maker!

Description How have you found working freelance? What are the highs and lows, the frustrations and the bonuses? Initially with trepidation, but that was replaced by a feeling of empowerment as it enabled me to take charge of my work life balance. I now fit work projects around life commitments. So no complaints. What are the biggest challenges for you throughout the second half of 2008? To get my self sorted and finally get my stockings on the Internet. Tell us about your unusual stockings. I first made the Christmas stockings for my family, carefully selecting the style and material to suit their character and personality. Before long, friends were asking me to make them as Christmas gifts and it has steadily grown from there. The styles of the Christmas stockings vary from the traditional festive boot to jester’s boots with curly toes and bells, to Louis XIV shoes with covered buttons. In fact any style of footwear can be translated into a Christmas stocking of any size. The sumptuous silk and jacquard woven textiles are sourced from interior designer suppliers. Each material is selected to suit the theme of the stocking and interior colour scheme of its eventual home. Having a passion for shoes certainly helps with the design research! Who’s your favourite author/actor/actress and why? Favourite author: Mary Wesley ~ because she started writing in her 70s, proving it’s never too late to start a new venture and she wrote with a knowledge of a life well lived and well loved. Favourite actress (es) Bette Davis – for not being afraid to take on unglamorous challenging roles and for standing up for what she believed. She was a very funny and loyal person too. Judi Dench – fantastic actress across all genres, brilliantly funny sense of humour. Favourite actor – Cary Grant – he makes me smile when I watch him, and I would feel safe in his hands, so to speak! Jake Gyllenhaal (token young person) – great films, thoroughly decent human being. See Cathy's entry featuring her gorgeous stockings and lingerie bags at www.freelancersintheuk.co.uk/products.php?productId=474.