local markets :: pombamarela - A Place for Twiggs

hello lovelies, how are you doing? i hope this week has begun in the most adorable way, i have been working from home, as i announced yesterday and it was a lovely start!

today is {local markets} day, as as usual i shall present you one lady who knows her way with her hands. and let’s be honest, in these times of economical crisis, knowing our way to do things we can wear or embellish our homes with, is indeed of a great value.

but let’s get started. this week the shop chosen for this {local markets} edition has a very cute name…{pombamarela} or in english something like yellow dove. {pombamarela} is about handmade & embellished pieces for babies, and the lady behind this is called ana, and she comes from lisbon (we could actually be neighbours, for all i know!)

{baby girl flowered shirtvia etsy}

can you tell us something about yourself?

i’m a 36 year old, mum of two young girls. i’ve a full time job in webdesign. i work as graphic designer, copy & webdesigner for 12 years. i come from a family of women, all of them with crafting skills, so since my childhood i started to learn how to knit, to crochet, to embroidery, etc, etc… although i love my full time job i’ve this need to create, without the restrictions from clients & time. when i’m crafting i’m can have all the time to create something that i’m completly happy with.

{pombamarela via etsy}

how did tricotaria start?

i started to do use my craft skills, that i learned during my childhood (it’s like ridding a bike, you don’t forget) & try to apply in different concepts & pieces. i start making knits during my first pregnancy, then i tried a few local craft fairs, some were great but others i just wanted to cry, so i decided to open my shop on etsy, because from the craft fairs i noticed that foreing people pay more attention to handmade & one of a kind pieces, their budgets are different from ours too. i have work for kids, females & art lovers, so right now i manage three different oriented etsy shops. that’s a lot, but like my friends say “when do you sleep?” and i’ve to answer I’m focused & organized.

what inspires you?

my beautiful daughters, vintage pieces, what’s around me, for example, architecture is great to find patterns & then try to tranform them into knits, my daily life, the light, someone passing by. i’ve boxes & cans filled with materials waiting for the right moment to give birth, the moment that I’ve completly mature the idea 6 puts my hands on them.

{pombamarela via etsy}

what advice can you give for those small business owners in our country?

try harder, although you might feel inspired by other great crafters, try to make it your own. do it because you love it, because you need it like you need air to breath, don’t do it because you think you can earn a lot of money. that’s not the reality.

{pombamarela via etsy}

what do you think would be helpful for small business owners in our country?

personally, i find the international market a lot more interesting. be friendly with your customers, make the descriptions interesting, take good photos, be helpful when they have questions or doubts. don’t get upset or discouraged if after a lot of convos the “possible” customer does not answer anymore, after all it’s kind a blind purchase, they see your pieces through photos.

{baby bootiesvia etsy}

and this was our weekly interview on {local markets}… today featuring {pombamarela}. it is curious how women explore their creativity while pregnant or after. i really love reading these stories to understand how these talented artists began their activity and what inspires them. usually, they are so interesting and above all… real life stories.

{…a place for twiggs} wishes to thank ana for being a part of this edition! if you wish to know all her handmand precious products, you can visit {pombamarela} on etsy!

have a great tuesday, dear friends!

did you enjoy finding about joana? look here for more portuguese talents!

have you been featured on local markets? grab a button and place it on your blog!

what is local markets? a community dedicated to the very best portuguese talented & independent artists that strive for an original work and exquisitely executed handmade design & photography. once a week, there will be a special feature for these artists, to spread the word about their talent, to introduce you to new & fresh work. local markets is an original feature from a place for twiggs. you can read more about this feature here and join the facebook page for news!

twiggs

Comments

Kristi says

23/11/2010 at 4:10 pm

This is a great interview of Ana and I loved seeing her work…I'd love to have a baby just so that I can buy her pieces! I really enjoy learning about other crafters/artists. She also gave some wonderful advice as well. ♥

{twiggs} says

23/11/2010 at 4:17 pm

hello kristi, how are you? i am so happy to see you here! and do you know what am i happy about too? that you followed {…a place for twiggs}, because now there are 80 lovely members!!! :) it thrills me! thank you for that sweet comment, i believe ana will be so happy too!!! ;) hugs, twiggs

pombamarela says

24/11/2010 at 1:03 pm

Hi Claudia,
Thank you so much for featuring my pombamarela shop. I noticed that I've made some gramatical errors during the interview :(

The name pombamarela came from my daughter Alice. When she was 18 month she called everybird "dove" and everything in white she would interpret as yellow, that's how the name came out :)

@kristi thank you for your nice comments. I can start buy baby pieces right now, by the time you get pregnant you will have a few pieces in you baby layette :)

Share this:

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply