Meet the Seller: Emily from Cuttlefishlove

Today we get the opportunity to find out about a really interesting new seller who recently gave up her Saturday to share her craft at the amazing Mini-Maker Faire. If you can’t wait ’til December to check out more of her work, then have a virtual wander over to her website ‘Cuttlefishlove’, or her Folksy shop. In the meantime, let’s hear what she has to say for herself…

Please introduce yourself….

 I’m Emily Wright, I make kanzashi under the name Cuttlefishlove Kanzashi. I’m mildly obsessed with kimono wearing and kanzashi making.

Briefly describe the products you currently make

I make kanzashi, which are Japanese hair accessories. The ones that I make are inspired by a traditional Japanese craft of pinching or folding tiny squares of silk. My kanzashi are made in non-traditional designs and from silk, polysilk and cotton printed with Japanese designs.

How long have you been selling your wares and how did it begin? Or is Craftaganza your first time?

I’d admired kanzashi from afar for a year or more before I started making them. I only got the chance to start making them myself after I hurt my back at work in September last year and was off sick for a long time. This gave me the time I needed to really practice making them. Everyone I knew got kanzashi for Christmas last year and people suggested I started selling them! I eventually began selling them at the Brighton Festival in May, where I was in a couple of Open Houses. This is my first Craftaganza- I’m really looking forward to it!

Other crafty disciplines you like to practice?

I also took up crochet while I was off work, though I’m pretty dire at it!  I have created some very deformed amigurumi! I also make and sell some origami pieces, which I got into making after doing the boutonnières and table décor for my wedding in origami flowers.

What inspires the things you make?

I’m really into colour and how we can create different looks with it so I often take inspiration from the way my fashion idols coordinate their outfits. I did a mini collection based on the dress sense of the musician Kim Boekbinder, for example. My interest in kimono wearing (kitsuke), which has a very different colour aesthetic from western clothing also really inspires my use of colour when I’m designing kanzashi.

Other crafter/makers you admire?

I’m very into crafters who use cute or retro prints, so I love Lady Lemurs Awesome Emporium

Personal motto?

Everyday do something that scares you.