Tag Archives: plush

Feature Friday ~ HinckleDoodle

Name: Jessica Hinck

Business: HinckleDoodle

Website: www.facebook.com/HinckleDoodle

Describe yourself in three words: Oh my… Just three? Mom, Wife, Weird. lol

What else should we know about you? I’m half Filipino, a military brat, and now a military wife. My daughter is one of the quirkiest kids ever!!! Her name is Owen Amelia and my husband is Drew, the love of my life. We have a boxer pup named Bosley. Or Boz, Bozinator, Bozilla, Bozatron, Bozarama…ehhhh lots of nicknames. I am a huge supernatural, sci-fi, fantasy geek! So any craze like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, vampires, etc. I’m on it! There’s a lot I think I could explain about myself. (And I use the word “explain” because of how unusual I can be) But I will end with: I have a lot of love in my life and a lot of humor and that’s how I like it.

What do you do? For now, HinckleDoodle offers just plushies. Plushies being stuffed animals, for those of you who are unsure of the term. I want to offer so many other things and not limit myself to just one creative outlet, but since I’m swamped with orders I haven’t been able to showcase other things that I can do! I start out with my sketchbook, then make the pieces out of printer paper, cut out the fabric, and hope for the best. Then I sit at my work table behind a sewing machine or hand sewing needle letting the magic flow.

Why do you love it? I love it because of the endless possibilities. I love it because of the many new friends I have made, like you, Aly :). I love it because I don’t get to miss out on my daughter growing up. I love it because of the opportunities it provides for me and my family. I’ve been contacted to participate in blogs and charities. It’s amazing! And I love it because it’s something where I am actually accomplishing things…I am notorious for dreaming big, starting fast, and giving up. Yes, yes, I know an ugly character trait lol. But I found my niche and that’s why other things didn’t work, I think.

Where do you get your inspiration? From anything really. Cartoons, especially. Books, nature, something someone says, a dream, or nightmare, even…I’ll take inspiration from whatever comes my way. I have always been very imaginative and that’s why I always knew I’d be an entrepreneur doing something creative. Artsy fartsy, if you will.

Who has been one of your biggest influences? Let’s see, there’s my daughter, my husband, my father, and my grandmother. But since I’m supposed to choose only one of those influences to speak of…I’d pick my grandmother, Phyllis Evelyn. She was a beautiful, spiritual, and most amazing woman–no, person- I have ever met. When I was 11 or 12, maybe 13, she invested in a craft business I wanted to start then. With $500 she took me to a flea market and let me buy whatever I wanted. It didn’t pan out, but I hope that this is my chance to redeem myself and to make myself believe now why she believed in me then. She passed away several years ago and it still feels like it was yesterday. I probably cry over missing her at least once a week. I hope to be 1/4 of the woman she was. Her existence impacted so many lives, mine included. See, I’m crying now!

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things could you not live without? My husband, my daughter, and my dog. Note: If we were stranded for long, I’m sorry Bosley, but you would probably be dinner.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? ? Oh dear 35 years old and my daughter getting closer and closer to graduation. EEK! lol
Business-related though… Let’s see I hope in 10 years that I’m up to 10,000 FB fans, own my own handmade boutique, have several lines of plushies sold all over the country in stores, and I hope by that time at least one celebrity owns a plushie of mine. I guess I answered unrealistically, but these are my hopes for myself :)

Anything else you just *have* to say? OOOhhhh this could be fun. How bout advice? Everyone needs advice now and then…if someone is being mean or rude to you, say this to them–in the words of my daughter to her dad “You’re a twisty tornado in a garden of rotten cheese.” Then simply walk away because really, what could that person really have to say further?

Feature Friday ~ The Handmade Nursery

Name: Joanne Gross (just Jo to friends)

Business: The Handmade Nursery

Website: www.thehandmadenursery.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Handmade-Nursery/

Describe yourself in three words: Creative, dreamy, fanatical

What else should we know about you?I’m 33, I am a mum to one daughter (Fern 3 1/2) and stepdaughter to Lauren (15 1/2) I am married to Martin who I have known and loved for nearly 10 years. I had been all set to do a degree in illustration/typography when I became really ill at 19, and after that fell into a government job where I stayed for nearly 13 years. I was made redundant in Feb this year and so am having a go at something creative again which has always been my passion.

What do you do? I make knitted and fabric things for children and adults. Although i craft just about anything and very rarely stick to just one type of craft.

Why do you love it? I can be a fairly stressed out person and knitting/crafting is always guaranteed to calm me down. I can’t watch TV without some thing to make in my hands

Where do you get your inspiration? When studying art at college I was really taken with Pre-Raphaelite art and the whole Arts and Crafts movement, I adore William Morris and Edward Burne Jones. I love taking patterns from nature especially flowers.

Who has been one of your biggest influences? My mum obviously , she taught me to knit and sew. Also I have been attending a knitting group since early May 2011 and find the girls I meet there every week very inspiring. They have allowed me to find myself again after being a very befuddled mum. The group meets at Make Do and Mend (in Chelmsford Essex www.makedomend.com.) a wonderful place full of people doing workshops and selling our handmade things.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things could you not live without? Apart from my family (naturally) I would have to have my knitting with me, a sketchpad and a pencil

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I really don’t know! I would like to have taken the design side of my work further and as eventually I would love to design craft kits or have some designs made into crafter’s materials. I’ve always had an ambition to have something in print also so who knows a craft book….watch this space!

Anything else you just *have* to say? !? I’d like to urge people to buy handmade, its great to have thing which are different from the norm and unique. Also get making, Make Do and Mend! x