About
I have a BA in Graphic Design, and took classes and internships in Game Art & Animation. This gave me experience in a broad array of media such as illustration, storyboarding, audio editing, UI design, game design, animation, and I had a running comic strip in my college newspaper. While I enjoy creating fun & educational games, my Graphic Design career focused on print advertising for a local newspapers and magazines.
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I had never heard of needlefelting until one fateful day at a local craft fair, when a kind and friendly needlefelter introduced my younger cousin and I to this fiber craft.
My Story
My baby cousin was enamored by the possibility of making her own ’stuffed animal’ as she watched the woman needlefelting a fluffy sheep. I thought this would be a fun craft for us to do together, so I bought a starter kit and some wool.
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My first 3 attempts at making a cat… all turned out looking like gremlins, but they were solid pieces. Meanwhile, my younger cousin’s critters actually looked like the animals, but they were loosely held together and fell apart.
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Our other younger cousins also wanted to learn how to needlefelt too. So, I went to a Sheep and Wool Festival and bought more roving wool and other supplies for all of us. In preparation for our next family gathering, I studied tutorials on YouTube, and practiced more so I could teach them how to needlefelt safely and not stab themselves. It was a great bonding activity!
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Still, patience wasn’t always easy for them with this craft. So, my younger cousins would often request me to needlefelt their favorite animals and computer game characters for them. I also needlefelted critters as gifts for friends and family. Selling them never crossed my mind...
… until one long weekend, I was volunteering at an anime convention. I was selling raffle tickets at the merch table. Usually, I drew in my sketchbook to keep my hands busy, but this time I decided to needlefelt a three-tailed-fox, inspired by the kitsune (fox spirit) from Japanese mythology. When I finished the first one, I set it on the table to use as a reference as I started working on a second fox. Then people started asking me if I was selling the little foxes along with the raffle tickets. I was utterly surprised! I didn’t even have a clue about how much they’d be worth to price them for. I did eventually sell that first fox for $5, and got my first two commissions.
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And that my friends, was the start of ArachneButterfly.