ENTERPRISING Cork dad Niall McCarthy has turned an idea — customising children’s furniture with their own artwork — into a successful business.

The figments of your child’s imagination can be brought wonderfully to life as soft toys and cushions this Christmas — by an enterprising mum who makes original keepsakes from upcycled clothes.

IT IS hardly surprising a sentence praising the cosmic language of Ireland’s heritage would be declared this year’s biggest pile of gobbledegook.

The Craft Council has launched its strategic plan 2004-2006 which indicates that turnover is beginning to climb again, despite tough economic conditions over the last couple of years.