Archive for July, 2009
Featured Seller – TomatoTea
Posted by onI’d like you to meet Katrina from TomatoTea this week…she produces beautiful hand dyed, hand spun yarn – very unique and colourful for all you knitters out there! She also creates lovely, colourful crochet work and machine sewn purses…and what’s more, there’s 10% off all yarn in her Coriandr shop until 31st July – so if you get your skates on, you may just manage to grab a bargain!
TomatoTea
Introduce yourself…
Hi there! I’m Katrina and I love to play with fibre. The name TomatoTea seems to intrigue people but all it comes down to is a love of homegrown tomatoes and a nice cup of tea :)
How did it all start?
Back in October 2005, I learnt to crochet as I love hats and was inspired by a Katamari Damacy one I saw on DeviantArt. This branched out in 2007 when I finally learnt how to knit after many failed attempts! This then branched out again into learning to dye yarn as I received a huge barrel of wool yarn which was mostly white or cream in colour. And just recently, I have now learnt to spin my own yarn!
Have you always sold online?
I started selling online in the usual place under a different name in 2006. This didn’t go so well so I let it rest for a while and came back as TomatoTea in February 2008, selling in 3 different places. I stumbled on Coriandr in Spring this year and loved the look of it so much, I decided to dedicate selling my goods online to it.
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Featured Seller – Kitty Ballistic
Posted by onIt’s Monday again and time for a new featured seller, this week I’m bringing you the work of a Brit who lives and works in Holland, the very, very fantastic…
Kitty Ballistic
Introduce yourself…
I make bead jewellery and felt ‘sculptures’. I love beads, especially brightly coloured ones. I like rainbow colours and a bit of fun, so I tend to make light-hearted items. My felt sculptures are another example of that – anything brightly-coloured and fun, I’m there! I work full-time in IT, so I don’t have a lot of crafting time (or energy) some days, and when I do craft, I want to make things which make me smile, and which will make other people smile too.
How did it all start?
I started getting into crafts (cross stitch and card-making) about 10 years ago when I was off work ill after a car accident. I wanted something to do with my time. Since then, I’ve found being creative very therapeutic, and have tried knitting, crochet, embroidery and paper-making. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve started making jewellery. And even more recently, a friend showed me a Japanese book on felt mascots, and after seeing what other people were making on Flickr, I started making felt sculptures too.
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Featured Seller – Ali Bali Jewellery
Posted by onHappy Monday everyone! This week I’d like to let you find out more about one of my fellow Coriandr blog editors. An artisan from Edinburgh, who loves working with sterling silver, precious metal clay and semi-precious stones – the very talented…
Ali Bali Jewellery
Introduce yourself…
I’m a jeweller, working mainly with sterling silver and precious metal clay. I often combine these with other materials including semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls and locally sourced lampwork beads. I handcraft each piece in my home studio in Edinburgh. I also work full time as an HR Project Manager, so life gets pretty busy!!
How did it all start?
I started making jewellery two years ago when I signed up to do a silversmith evening class. I’d always been creative, enjoying drawing and painting, but the silversmith course really inspired me! Around the same time I also stumbled across a precious metal clay course at my local bead shop and found I loved the wealth of opportunities this flexible form of fine silver opened up. Precious metal clay consists of fine particles of recycled fine silver suspended in clay. When the clay is fired, the fine silver particles bind together to form 0.999 fine silver.
Featured Seller – Toohoi
Posted by onHello! This week I’d like to introduce you to a Danish fashion designer called Eva, who produces stylish contemporary garments and patterns, all at affordable prices and all available to purchase on Coriandr.
Take it away…
Toohoi
Introduce yourself…
Hello my name is Eva Thyghoj. I am a Danish fashion designer based in Bristol and I run a small designer label called “Toohoi”.
How did it all start?
I have always been very creative and started making my own clothes at the age of 14, quickly moving on to making clothes for all my school friends.
But I guess it all really started when I moved to London in 1992 and got a job making film and theatre costumes, that was a good stepping stone and some years later I decided that what I really wanted to do was fashion…then found a job cutting out the fabric and 8 years later I had worked my way up to designing the garments.
In 2003 when pregnant with my first child I decided I needed to be working for myself and started up “Toohoi”. The first few years were a real struggle but it’s going really well now.