What do you make?
Items to keep crafters organised: knitting needle and crochet hook cases, tool cases, and brewer’s wall organisers.

How did you get into your craft?
I’ve always been a sewer and a knitter. Then last year I was between jobs with a bit of spare time and I finally got to set up Rosalind Craft Supplies, something I’ve wanted to do for a quite while.

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I love nearly anything made of natural fibres (cotton, wool, silk, etc.), whether it’s in yarn or material form. My favourite tool is my sewing machine; my Dad helped me buy a new one for my birthday and it does amazing things like automatic buttonholes! A close second is my sewing shears – a good pair of shears are essential and if you look after them, they’ll look after you. Mine are only for material – it’s one of the first things I teach new flatmates – don’t touch my scissors!

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
I like my products to have a practical use: to store, carry or protect something.

Describe your workspace:
A desk in my bedroom – which means my bedroom often looks like a haberdashery exploded in it.

A favourite quote:
“A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann. It can easily apply to anything else – a historian, a knitter or a painter.

What are you currently listening to? The Suburbs by Arcade Fire.

Recommend an album: High Violet by The National.

What was the last handmade item you bought?
Every Christmas and birthday, my sister and I exchange our Felt wishlists. Last Christmas I bought her matching earrings and a necklace from ladysoldier and she gave me some gorgeous little mugs from tinyhappy. It made Christmas so much easier!

Your favourite childhood book?
The Girls of St Olave’s by E L Haverfield – the book which Rosalind Aymes is from.

What are you reading now?
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

 Check out Kate’s full range of ready-made organisers in her Felt shop, Rosalind Craft Supplies, or contact her through Felt to arrange a custom design.

What do you make? Handmade Christmas ornaments.

How did you get into your craft?
Like most people who craft it all started when I was little. There are fond memories of holiday time at my grandparents farm, where my sister and I would cause havoc knitting and making things. Either my Mum or my Nana Mary taught us how to knit and I remember a phase of us making dolls out of old pantyhose and wool. It was a great way to spend the holidays. Over the years I have pottered away with various forms of crafting – fits of sewing, knitting, bookmaking. It has quietly evolved into making these lovely Christmas decorations.

Five words that describe your mind:
Excited, creative, happy, inspired, I have to add rather tired as well – it has been a busy month or two.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
Not really, just the Nana Mary school of knitting. I love that how I knit is how Mum knits, my nana knits, my great grandmother knitted. I can’t wait to teach my little niece to do this. Aside from my family helping me out, I also have a rather large collection of craft books that I consult for advice from time to time.

Describe your workspace:
A humble little corner in my mother-out-law’s House (thank you Ros).

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I love the crispness of linen fabric and the softness of wool felt. I am learning the importance of having good quality tools such as needles and scissors. I have recently started using old fashion thread spools to store my threads as they were starting to get out of control.

What inspires you?
I am really rather fortunate that I have an aunt who lives in Denmark. For years we have been swapping decorations each Christmas and I can say without a doubt that Scandinavian design is a big influence. I love the clean simple colour combinations, with a bit of whimsy thrown in as well.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
I named my little shop Natale which means Christmas in Italian. I like how in Italian cooking you use good quality ingredients to create a simple meal, so I aim to replicate this idea in my work. I try and use good quality materials when it comes to making my little treasures. I try and keep things simple design wise as well. Also Italians place a huge importance on family and celebrating life which I know may seem like a tall ask for a little Christmas treasure but I hope I can add a little bit of fun to a family’s Christmas celebrations. I like the idea of someone seeing my decorations and just smiling as it makes them happy.

What are you currently listening to?
I recently had a huge wholesale order recently which resulted in me playing a lot of Florence and the Machine. Tom Waits has a new album out so that has been getting some air time. And yes, there is a bit of Glee to make doing the housework a bit more fun.

Recommend an album: Anything by BB King – the man is legend.

Your favourite childhood book?
I have this book, I can’t even remember the name of it, something like the house of many colours. It was about a family painting a house and it showed you how you can mix colours to create new colours using a colour wheel. I loved it mainly ’cause my granddad gave it to me.

What are you reading now? Listen to My Voice by Susanna Tamaro

Your hero/heroine:
I have been reading some essays by Martha Gelhorn, she was an amazing journalist. She wrote during the Spanish Civil War and parts of the Second World War. She also travelled extensively, often getting herself into odd situations, she was immensely curious and refreshingly honest – reading her essays is like chatting with a friend. She decided when she was 18 that she wanted to be a journalist and so headed to Paris in the late ’20s which I think was an incredibly brave thing to do. I also like that she wrote thank you notes to authors she felt wrote well. I just loved that she lived a life that was true to herself.

A favourite quote:
“This too shall pass.”  My little sister always tells me it when I am having a bad run and I try and remember it when things are good so that I enjoy the moment more.

Do you have any pets? Does a hive or two of bees count?

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? I would have to go with red.

View the full range of Mel’s gorgeous Christmas adornments, from linen hearts and doves to paper pinecones and pom pom people, in her Felt shop, Natale.

What do you make?
We personally design, draw and hand cut stencils with vintage New Zealand stamps as a backdrop mounted to recycled flow core. We’ve also started grafting Indian ink into some new pieces as well.

How did you get into your craft?
We started by inheriting an old leather suitcase of unwanted stamps from a dear friend’s childhood collection. After poring over the thousands of stamps we fell in love with the artwork of the stamps themselves. The depth and breadth of the style and artistry contained in the kiwi stamps we thought was worth sharing in a new way. We thought about art that we would want in our house and designed from that perspective.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
At first we were focused on designing something that felt authentic, bright and energetic. Once the stencil and stamp art got to a good place we started to look at the materials and what we could do to bring the final piece to as close to 100% recycled as possible. We eventually came across old real estate advert boards printed on plastic corrugate that replaced our need of foam core backing completely. We now can boast that our art is 90% recycled.

On a separate note we visited Christchurch just before the earthquake and now feel dutiful in helping anyway we can. We designed a Christchurch stencil and placed green stamps for the whole of New Zealand and a solitary red stamp marking the epicentre. 15% of all our sales of that piece go to CHCH Earthquake Appeal.

What inspires you?
Pop art, specifically Andy Warhol and his body of work. The way he was able to define life graphically and starkly is something that we hope to emulate to some degree. We are also obviously inspired by Kiwiana be it pop, modern or nostalgic. New Zealand Tourism posters from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s are hands down some of the coolest art in NZ. We also draw a lot from our experiences living on Waiheke Island, the green attitude, and the way people really get into upcycling.

What five words describe your mind?
Debatably fractured common sense idealism.

Favourite materials, tools, and process?
The best part of the process is getting to know the stamps and culture represented on thousands of tiny canvases. We get very excited about laying down every stamp on a piece; it’s not just about colour blocking but about representing New Zealand sharply in many mediums at one time.

Describe your workspace:
Sometimes the mess gets out of hand with all the cuttings of paper, stamps bits, and plastic corrugate clippings so the floor and the table almost connect like mounds of snow at the base of a tree. Sometimes the stencils take a bit of time to do by hand so at times you’ll find one of us on the couch and the other at the work station laying down stamps or cutting away.

What are you currently listening to?
My Morning Jacket, Neon Indian, Danger Mouse, TV on the Radio

Recommend an album: PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Favourite childhood book?
Mike’s favourite childhood book is Hatchet, a book about a plane crash and how a young boy survives in the wilderness with just a hatchet (small axe) and his knowledge of the forest.

Katie’s favourite childhood book is Matilda, or any Roald Dahl book. “He got me and my perspective as a kid, I really related to the adventures in his books.”

What are you reading now?
Mike just finished reading The Hobbit for the first time – “I wanted it under my belt before the movie comes out”.

Katie is reading The Passage. “Vampires and zombies are in right now, so I’m powerless…brrrrraaaaaaiiinnnnnzzzzzz.”

Your hero/heroine: Meat Wad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Do you have any pets?
Five chickens (insert Grandma names) – Thelma, Wanda, Flora, Margaret and Pearl

Visit 11 Post Studio on Felt to view more of Katie and Mike’s work and find perfect postable Christmas gifts for ex-pat Kiwis and friends or family overseas, as well as meaningful pieces for the wall at home.

What do you make?
I make handcrafted clocks in my spare time after my day job as a set builder and scenic artist at The Court Theatre in Christchurch.

How did you get into your craft?
Many years ago I made my first clock for a present for a friend, who wanted something a bit different to sit on his mantlepiece. I got such positive feedback from people that I decided to sell them at the Arts Centre Market and have expanded from there.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
I have a diploma in visual communication, majoring in 3D studies. As a kid I also obsessively played with Lego for enough hours to earn an engineering degree.

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I really enjoy the process of casting, especially making silicone rubber molds. I like the idea that you can spend hours on the original piece, getting it just right and then having the ability to replicate it quickly and perfectly every time.

What inspires you?
Bridges and aircraft, along with so many other feats of engineering, seem to hold sculptural qualities that inspire me in their aesthetic.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
Apart from the intrinsic enjoyment I get in making my work I get a thrill at the idea that pieces I create end up in different places in NZ and all over the world.

Describe your workspace:
My studio was badly damaged in the Christchurch earthquake. It seems to have attempted to leap away from the side of our house so the walls are cracked and the floor has sunk but I still love working in there. However, I can’t blame the quake on how messy it is.

What are you currently listening to?
At the moment I’m listening to Catch 22 on audio book while I’m working in my studio.

Five words that describe your mind:
Rational
Irrational
Persistent
Indecisive
Adequate (maybe)

Your favourite childhood book? Reader’s Digest – Mysteries of the Unexplained.

What are you reading now? The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.

Your hero/heroine: Jacques Vallee

A favourite quote:
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. – T. S. Eliot.

Do you have any pets? Two beautiful dogs, both King Charles Cavaliers.

Richard’s clocks are available from his Felt shop, Kinetic Craft and can also be seen gracing the shelves of Toi Toi in the newly opened Restart container shopping centre in the heart of Christchurch.

What do you make?
I generally make lamps. I dabble in other areas but always come back to lighting and lamp design, because I love the way that light can transform materials. I’m also involved in an industrial design project to make a lumbar support for use in a car.

Where do your ideas come from?
With Luminant, I knew I wanted to shine light through the hooked wool and was trying to find a way to make it work as a conventional tapered cylinder lampshade. I had someone make up a couple of lamp shades for me, but they were expensive to make and didn’t look perfect, especially where the fabric edges joined. So I decided to design a light shade from a single piece of fabric with no joins. While I was playing around with different shapes, one of the models looked a bit like an animal. This was such a good match with the material that I decided to go with a stylised sheep form.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
A Bachelor of Design, majoring in industrial design, from Victoria University.

What motivates you?
I get pleasure from the making process, and find it a real challenge to design objects that are both functional and beautiful. Another motivating factor is the satisfaction I get when I feel I’ve designed something that adds to the story of New Zealand object design.

Describe your workspace: A corner of a room overlooking a busy Wellington street.

What is your design philosophy?
I try to create objects that deliver pleasure at every stage of their life. This involves caring about every aspect of the product, not just how it looks. My early lamp designs were basically illuminated sculptures, but now I try to design lamps that are functional as well as beautiful. Care for the total product involves caring about: my own enjoyment as the designer/maker (satisfaction gained from designing; well crafted); the environment (material selection; manufacturing processes; waste material; disposal); and the user’s enjoyment of the product (beauty; functionality; ability to be maintained or repaired).

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
My favourite material at the moment is wool. I love wool because it’s fantastically versatile and is linked in with New Zealand culture.

Your favourite childhood book? The Narnia books.

What are you reading now?
Alice Munroe – Too Much Happiness, Michael Smythe – New Zealand by Design

What are you currently listening to?
Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest, PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Recommend an album: Elvis Perkins – Elvis Perkins in Dearland

The Luminant is available on Felt and makes a great Kiwi-flavoured Christmas gift if you’re looking for something different!

What do you make?
I make unique native creations out of printed plywood which are inspired by NZ’s wonderful bird life. I design my own patterns to print onto the plywood which are intended to reflect the personality of each bird. To date my range includes collages, prints, slot-togethers, mobiles, wall decals, brooches and a jewellery tree. I’m also soon to release my first piece of furniture which is very exciting!

How did you get into your craft?
I’ve always had a creative itch and with two preschool aged children I wanted to find something I could do from home where I could dictate my own hours. I started out with collages of native birds applied onto plywood blocks. Eventually, after really falling in love with plywood and all its possibilities, this led on to the creation of my other products.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
No. In the past I’ve worked in many industries including advertising and web design (in non-design roles) so was often surrounded by creativity which I found inspiring. This meant I’ve always been proficient using a computer and am good at ‘organising’. It feels so great now to have found a medium that I LOVE which is becoming successful. I must add that the creative, technical and woodworking talents of my husband have been invaluable in helping to develop my ideas.

What inspires you?
Native bush, lakes and rivers, bird song, beautiful handmade items, clever upcycled products, people who care about each other and the planet, quirky stuff, light and shadow, the changing seasons, my gorgeous children and talented husband… I could go on and on! I adore native NZ birds which so far are the inspiration for all my work.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
The native birds that have motivated my creativity will be seen and heard less if we humans don’t co-exist in harmony. It is my wish that collectively all humans can make a commitment to enjoy – not exploit – nature’s richness.

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
Initially with my collages it was all about plywood, sandpaper, scrapbook paper, craft knife, cutting mat and glue. However I’ve now taught myself how to design my own patterns so lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on my Mac making pretty patterns and drawing up the shapes that make up my products using Illustrator. I also spend plenty of time in the workshop sanding plywood and then have it printed and lasercut by local (Rotorua) businesses.

Describe your workspace:
Semi-organised, busy, colourful and warm with inspiring views and constantly in need of a jolly good vacuum cleaning! I’m lucky as it’s separate from the house so I can escape and then walk away when I need to.

Your favourite childhood book?
Green Eggs and Ham, A Big Ball of String, The Digging-est Dog, Ten Apples Up on Top, Come Over to My House… just love those “Beginner Books” which my mum has passed on to me for my own children.

What are you reading now?
My favourite magazine which arrives in the letterbox every two months – NZ Life & Leisure. It’s full of hugely inspiring stories of people living their dreams and I read it from cover to cover. ALSO I’ve just received in the post How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran after hearing her entertaining interview with Kim Hill. A very funny and wise take on feminism.

A favourite quote:
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Dr Seuss

Do you have any pets?
An English Pointer dog named Koko who loves to come out mountain biking and swimming in the lake with us.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
I would like to think of myself as an earthy green colour but I have to admit that at times I turn into a fiery orange.

The full Native Creative range is available on Felt and you’ll find Aly at the monthly Little Big Markets at Mount Maunganui this summer. To keep up to date with new products as they’re added to Felt, follow Native Creative on Facebook.

What do you make?
My craft is lino prints, screen-printing textiles, hand printed cards, hand carved rubber stamps.

How did you get into your craft?
Growing up my sister and I were always drawing and making things. We even ventured into making Fimo (polymer clay) brooches and selling them at our Auntie’s stall in Manurewa.

While living in Sydney in the ’90s, I made hand painted cushions and crafted photo frames which I sold at the North Sydney and Balmain markets, while also working fulltime. On our return to New Zealand my amazingly creative Auntie (also a printmaker and painter) encouraged me to enter the printmaking section of the Royal Easter Show. Being a mum it was great to get back into the swing of creating, so it’s been non-stop ever since.

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I love my lino tools! Cutting into a new block of lino or stamping rubber – what fun! Whether I’m block printing or screen-printing I do love “inking up” and printing that first image. And I do of course love printmaking inks, beautiful paper and fabrics.

Five words that describe your mind:
Busy, while trying to appear calm and organised. Constantly thinking about things I could make when I should be thinking about making dinner!

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
It was during our time in Australia (while I was working full-time), I attended night school at North Sydney TAFE completing a Fine Arts Certificate. Included in this course was printmaking which re-established my love for this craft.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
I guess the reason I like to create is it is rewarding – soul food – part of who I am. I love the process from when something inspires me to the final piece. The real bonus is when other people find enjoyment from my creations.

What inspires you?
Life! Our children, our cats, nature, the beach, emotional events – the list is endless.

Describe your work space:
I am incredibly fortunate to have a designated area in our house for creating. This room crosses over as an office as I work part-time doing accounts, it also houses my printing press – which I love! Of course the biggest challenge is keeping my space organised as I share it with my very creative husband (musician). I do still use the kitchen table a lot as it is the hub of the house and works well when the kids are about.

What are you currently listening to?
As our six year old daughter Connie has just discovered the joy of owning her own CD I am constantly listening to Now 36. It gets you in a boogie mood even if you don’t feel like going there.

Recommend an album:
There are so many albums I love. Being a true kiwi girl Dave Dobbyn has always been one of my favourite musicians (having grown up with Th’ Dudes and DD Smash). I would definitely recommend his last album Anotherland. Jeff Buckley is another amazing musician who tragiacally died too young aged 31. His album Grace is well worth the listen, with an incredibly moving version of Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah.

Your favourite childhood book?
I can’t recall just one childhood favourite, but I definitely had lots of books with gorgeous pictures of cats and horses. I do still have my ’70s (showing my age here) A to Z of Handicrafts and a Sandie Annual from 1975.

What are you reading now?
Currently I am reading Keith Richards’ book Life which I brought for my hubby (what other Christmas present is there for a musician). It is a great read, and a nice change from my usual murder/mystery novel.

Do you have any pets?
Yes, two cats. Lucy, who is 16, and Felix, who is 8 months old. Another cat was not going to be an option while we still had Lucy but Connie’s teacher brought her homeless kittens into the classroom and I was spun the best story ever by our lovely daughter (who was 5 at the time).

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Yellow! It’s such a happy and bright colour and I always remember loving yellow when I was a young girl.

As well as her fabulous Felt shop, Sandra is regular at Devonport Craft Market and can also be found from time to time at Kraftbomb in Grey Lynn.

What do you make? I handcraft jewellery in metals, mostly silver.

How did you get into your craft?
I began at a very young age, making woven friendship bracelets and polymer clay beads with a school friend. We sold our wares at the local Saturday craft market, off the end of her mum’s jumper stall. We usually made enough to keep us in penny chews for the rest of the weekend, so I thought perhaps a career in crafts could work.

Years later some broken travel plans led me to take a last minute place on a metalsmith course. Instantly a whole new universe opened up before me and I had found my perfect medium….. drawing, design, sculpture and craft all held within one tiny object.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
I try not to let my designs be dictated by changing fashions and instead just concentrate on making beautifully crafted pieces that can become real little treasures in the heart and mind of their wearer.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
Two years study in Design Metals at Plymouth University (U.K)

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I love learning new tricks with metals, so this changes quite often. At the moment I’m working largely with lost wax casting. I’ve also recently bought myself a dinky little kiln, so expect to see some vibrant enamels in my store real soon.

Describe your workspace:
My jewellery making is squeezed in around my main job as a mum of two gorgeous, hectic little girls. So I’m really lucky to have a fantastic workshop tucked under our home that I can scurry down to whenever I have a moment spare. It has huge sliding doors on two sides framing bush views and is the perfect amount of space to house my chaotic stash of tools, machinery and mess.

What inspires you?
My home is nestled into a beautiful little pocket of native bush and as a result botanical themes are a very strong element in my work. I also draw ideas from music, textiles and illustrations, as well as the simple shapes and textures of everyday objects all around me.

Five words that describe your mind:
Very Often In A Daydream. This was written in more than a few of my school reports and twenty years on it’s still true.

What are you currently listening to?
Right this moment, my eighteen month old singing her crazy jumbled up version of “Twinkle Little Star”……it’s ridiculously cute!

Recommend an album:
Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band – A Special Album. Chilled out funky grooves with some truly awesome percussion.

Your favourite childhood book?
The Never-Ending Story. A totally epic magical tale, just brilliant.

What are you reading now?
I am an absolute bookworm and always have a book on the go, at the moment it’s We Are All Made of Glue, by Marina Lewycka. It’s hilarious and revolves around a crazy old Jewish lady with a houseful of really smelly cats and a love of reduced price food.

Do you have any pets?
Two aging cats, Noodles and Mouse. These days they’re mostly in hiding, just out of reach of the little people.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Why one of those snazzy silver ones of course!

Check out more of Hannah’s gorgeous handcrafted pieces in her Felt shop, Whalebird Jewellery.

What do you make?
I make native bird themed paper goods – greeting cards, hand stitched notebooks and notepads. The majority of the products I make are stationery items but more recently I have begun introducing things like tote bags and giclee prints to the range.

How did you get into your craft?
I have always collected notebooks and greeting cards and dreamed of one day designing my own stationery range. I had been doing a lot of bird photography and printmaking which I wanted to use for something practical, I wanted to find a medium that would allow me to combine my love of birds, photography and printmaking, stationery was that medium.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
Not in my craft as such, but I took printmaking papers as part of my Bachelor of Design, which gave me the skills I use to create the prints that form the imagery of my stationery. I majored in photography, which plays a big role in my processes, as all my designs begin with a photograph.

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I love all kinds of printmaking processes, especially linocuts and drypoint etchings. I enjoy putting images on paper in ways that are completely hands on and personal. No two prints are exactly the same and I love this aspect of printmaking.

I have always been into photography, and have always been drawn to the features of olden-day photography like antique cameras, rounded corners, sepia tones, and photo corners. But I can’t deny that new technology plays a big role in bringing my designs together. As much as I’d love to continue using film cameras, digital is much more practical.

What inspires you?
Birds, birds and more birds, I love traveling to bird sanctuaries, and especially love Zealandia. All my designs derive from original photographs I have taken, so I’m always looking to capture an image of a bird that I haven’t yet photographed. Anything vintage inspires me, things like letterpress prints, antique frames and baroque patterns, which you can see elements of in my designs.

Describe your workspace:
A cluttered mixture of old and new. I use a vintage printmaking press and typewriter, but have a shiny new Mac that I use to put my designs together. An inspiration board hangs on the wall in front of my workspace that I pin anything and everything onto to keep me constantly inspired.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
To be as environmentally friendly as possible. Knowing that what I’m doing isn’t impacting negatively on the environment is important to me, I use only recycled paper, natural binding thread, cotton tote bags and natural jute bags. I also value being original, as I think originality adds value and I design my products completely from scratch.

What are you currently listening to? Liam Finn’s new album, FOMO, and Eddie Vedder’s Ukelele Songs.

Your favourite childhood book? Brer Rabbit is the one that springs to mind. But I liked anything with animals.

What are you reading now?
I’m definitely not a book person, I’m a bit magazine obsessed though, I love Frankie, Yen and Extra Curricular, anything a little bit different.

Do you have any pets?
I have one squeaky tortoise shell cat, her hobbies include sleeping, and finding my tote bags and furiously clawing at them.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Something neutral like an earthy brown, or maybe clean and green.

Visit The Paperbird Society on Felt to see more of Melissa’s creations and look out for her at such awesome events as Craft 2.0 in Wellington.

What do you make?
I make a variety of jewellery, clothing and accessories. I have also just started making gift packs in the form of ‘Suffragist Kits’.

How did you get into your craft?
I have always enjoyed making things for myself. My mother very patiently and encouragingly taught me to knit and sew as a child and my parents gave me a sewing machine for my 16th birthday, which is the one I still use. My favourite subject at intermediate school was metalwork, and I have loved metal ever since. I have never been able to choose a favourite between fabric and metal.

Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft?
Not really. But when I was living in Milan in the early nineties I studied at the Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana, after finally admitting to myself that it was okay to be serious about making jewellery. So I spent time working through basic techniques in precious metals in a beautiful workshop – it was great, and consolidated lots of skills I had previously developed.

Your favourite materials, tools and processes?
I am always torn between textiles, metal and various types of junk. So I spend quite a lot of time combining them, or applying techniques to one that might conventionally apply to another, such as stitching on metal. I love colour and texture and with fabric and wool I experiment using different combinations of these. I have been wanting to get into enamelling for ages and have just got myself set up for this, so am really looking forward to adding a new dimension to my recycled metal.

Is there a philosophy behind your work?
I try and use my work for two main purposes – to share the stories of the women portrayed, and to rework junk into something useful and beautiful.

What inspires you?
As is fairly clear by my shop name, I have been inspired by famous women for the last few years. I also think many discarded kitchen utensils are quite inspirational! I love to look at the way they have been manufactured and to wonder about their purpose if it isn’t obvious, then transform them so they can be seen in a new light.

Your hero/heroine: It’s hard to go past Kate Sheppard.

A favourite quote:
Amey Daldy, a New Zealand suffragist, on women voting in 1893:
“Let not babies, the wash-tub, or even dinners prevent the women going.”
(She also set up childminding booths at polling stations so women weren’t put off going to vote.)

Describe your workspace:
I have a small workspace on the southern end (the geographical location only seems relevant at this time of year!) of our house. I completely love it but have to confess that in the winter months it becomes more of a storage area and I tend to work nearer the fire or at the kitchen table. My three children make this necessary most of the time anyway, which is fair enough!

What are you currently listening to?
A combination of Milanese cabaret songs (which my autistic daughter has become very attached to), Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone and RNZ National and Concert.

Recommend an album:
Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3. Some would say a little heavy but for me there’s years of listening in it.

Your favourite childhood book?
It’s a toss-up between the Milly Molly Mandy series and 365 Things to Know. Great drawings, and I felt so full of Knowledge!

What are you reading now?
Counting For Nothing – What Men Value and What Women are Worth by Marylin Waring and The Vote, the Pill and the Demon Drink by Charlotte MacDonald – thanks, Downtown Community Ministry Book Fair!

Do you have any pets? We have two guinea pigs, Fluffy and Ninja.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Definitely red.

Justine’s creations are available from her Felt shop, Plucky Sheilas, and you will find her frequenting such events as Craft 2.0 and Knack in her home town of Wellington. If you have a particular heroine that deserves a garment or piece of jewellery, Justine also designs to commission.