Hi, I'm Vanessa, wife of one wonderful man, mother of two scrummy boys, cat employee (four of them!!) and crafter in my spare time (!). I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and this blog mostly showcases my wee creative outlet - Harpsters. They started off as felt softie monsters and soon evolved into lavender and wheat bags. Then I discovered organic lavender and wheat, so that was the new thing. There was one monster from the original softie gang that never got made into a wheat bag, and I decided (after a suggestion by an extremely creative friend) to turn him into an iSpy toy. After a while I started thinking outside the square, or in this case, the monster, and came up with Betty and Bertie bunnies, who are also wheat bags.
There were screen-printed t-shirts along the way somewhere there too, but I got spooked one late night when Mr Harpster was out and I dropped my squeegee on the carpet, full of ink! I decided there and then that I was never going to screen print alone again, and haven't done it since. One day I'd love to get into it properly, but I think I need a proper workspace for that. And perhaps some better instruction. :)
So, the latest creation I've added to my repertoire (apart from wee button hairties) is baby shoes. I started with a cowboy fabric and went from there. I try and make boys ones more than girls, because I feel that, as a mother of boys, it is my duty to create handmade things for boys - there is not nearly enough of it around! But then I get distracted by beautiful girly fabric and make gorgeous floral ones too.
This story is ever-evolving, and I still make all the things here, so if you're in the market for any of the things I've talked about, pop over to one of my stores on Little Kiwi's Nest or Felt and see what you can find. I'm also happy to work with you to make a custom order, so just ask and we'll see what we can create together.
