NAUTICAL_DESIRE

WHAT INITIALLY DREW YOU TO THIS KIND OF WORK? HOW DID IT ALL START?

My journey in leathercraft started nearly 5 years ago. I had always wanted to learn more about the craft & lucky for me it happened.
It all started when I was in my early 20’s working in retail, there was an older Italian gentleman named Tony who worked as security in a store near me.
Tony and I spent hours talking about his leatherwork, I must have asked him a million and one questions (poor guy).
One day he brought me in some of his old tools and some leather offcuts and encouraged me to go home and get started!
Unfortunately, for me, I didn’t start straight away & those tools got pushed to the back of my mind & also my cupboard.
However, the tools did make a re-appearance just a little later than expected. 12 years later to be exact… Id just become a mother & had left corporate life behind. Between parently duties I found my feet, working with the tools that Tony gave me.
5 years later and I couldn’t be happier, what a turn of events. Little did Tony know that his influence changed my life. I tried to reach out to Tony, unfortunately, I found out that he had passed away only a year before. I would love to have shown him my work and let him know I came good on my promise.

HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN CREATIVE?

Creativity is definitely embedded within my bones.
I remember all through school, my artbook being my pride and joy.
I even won a statewide drawing competition for my whole class, we got to celebrate by going on a Fisheries boat.
As I grew up, I spent the majority of my pocket money on polymer clay & oh so many beads for my ever-growing jewelry collection. I remember when I finished school hand-painting every white ceramic dish my Mum had in the kitchen cupboards. Oh, and our fridge out the back was the prettiest beer fridge you’d ever seen.

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU & YOUR COMPANY?

The most important thing to me is to be original.
To be unique and to be proud of what I create.
If I ever lose those values I’ll go get a job working for someone else.

WHERE DO YOU SOURCE YOUR MATERIALS?

I source my materials from a range of suppliers locally wherever possible,
What is your favorite thing about The Sunshine Coast Collective Markets?
The collective markets have been my comfort zone since I moved to the Sunshine Coast it is the only regular market that I have done. The people are kind, the vibe is always good and there is a fabulous selection of vendors.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT SHOWCASING YOUR STALL AT THE SUNSHINE COAST COLLECTIVE MARKETS?

The collective markets have been my comfort zone since I moved to the Sunshine Coast it is the only regular market that I have done. The people are kind, the vibe is always good and there is a fabulous selection of vendors.

IF YOU COULD PASS ON ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO SOMEONE STARTING OUT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

My advice to someone starting out would be to ignore the “likes” and just go with what you like….. trust yourself.