Folksy is one of the services of Folksy Ltd. with the mission to support craft and design talent through showcasing work and also providing a cost effective platform to sell 'stuff'.

James Boardwell and Rob Lee are the people behind Folksy. They are also the people behind Rattle, who do "social innovation for the web". Russell is also a Folksy partner, helping to stoke the engine and map out the way forward.

So, why Folksy?

James was researching programme ideas back in 2002 for the BBC and got interested in the burgeoning craft blogger community. Some of that interest was probably due to James' background growing up in a mill town in northern England. With a interest in online and the power of distributed media as a means to create new business models the notion of Folksy was borne. Rob and James came together in early 2007 and with Rob's interest in electronics and robotics as a craft they worked on creating a sophisticated ecomm and community platform to support the business.

The Philosophy

• We believe that there are a lot of talented people who make wonderful things and that those people and those things deserve a better platform.
• Small scale production and handmade goods offer ways to manage resources effectively and support local economies. We're not anti-globalisation but we just like a thriving cottage industry too :)
• Making stuff is fun. This is really important and taps into the inclusiveness of the site. We want to encourage more people to make things, not necessarily to sell, but for their own enjoyment.

We hope you like it. Please do let us have your feedback.

Folksy around the www

Follow folksy on flickr and on twitter

Be part of our bookmarks network on del.icio.us

See where we're coming and going with dopplr

Credits!

Thanks to:

• Jon Hicks for the page designs.
• LOVE for the logo work (and particularly Emma)
• Phil for some early designing and mapping
• CJ for her artisticy businessy brain (and apologies for losing the shoes!)