I can't express how much i adore
Laura and her shoppe
Lupin. She makes adorable felt pins and mobiles. Her work is just incredibly detailed! Laura also has a personal
blog where she not only showed her work, but is also runs the crafting 365 group, where she and other amazing artists show us a photograph of their art 365 days a year.
How long have you been crafting?I've made stuff for as long as I can remember - I was an early upcycler, saving any interesting little box or piece of sparkly paper that I thought might be "useful". I've always had some kind of project on the go, and normally 3 or 4 half-finished in a drawer somewhere!
Did you always craft in this genre?My felt obsession only really began last year. Before that felt was just another material - I liked to use it to make handstitched card toppers, and when I was a kid it was my material of choice for making hats and other accessories for dolls. I sewed a little, drew a little, made collages and gift boxes, all sorts of things. Knitting was my way to relax for many years, but I was always dreadful at it and I never really progressed beyond simple blanket squares. We stay very warm in the winter, but it's not the most exciting crafty endeavour! Nowadays I have so many things I want to make out of felt that other crafts rarely get a look-in...
Who or what inspires you?I have found it hugely inspiring to connect with communities of crafters via the internet, on Etsy and on Flickr. Feeling part of a crafty community helps me feel like being this felt-obsessed is "normal", I get a huge boost from every comment on one of my Flickr photos or sweet message sent via Etsy, and seeing how high the bar has been set makes me strive to improve my own work. In general though I just like turning my various obsessions into felt - I look at things and think "how would I make that out of felt?", and sketch furiously until I find the solution.
What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?The list of skills I've developed in my first year in business is very long! I design my products, make them, photograph them, list them, blog about them and promote them, package them, ship them and restock them... Selling on Etsy has been great as I've been able to start out very very small, and learn all these things gradually, but the learning curve has still been huge. I am trying to build on what I've done so far, to learn from any mistakes I've made, and to have the confidence to say "I make this, it is awesome!" :)
Her work is great, so head over to her Etsy site to see all of her brilliant work!! She's very nice and would love to hear from you. :)
