I love brooches, they can jazz up a shirt, jacket, coat or cardigan and adds a little bit of individuality and colour. They often don't cost much (although some of the vintage brooches are preeety pricey) inparticular, I love the novelty brooch, something cute often striking and makes me smile when I catch myself in the mirror. I don't own a lot but the ones I do own I love.
I have a mixture of vintage brooches and brooches by contemporary designers in a range of materials.
It was this love of brooches that I met Erin
through Instagram and we started posting photos of ourselves with
another brooch from our collection on Fridays and so that is how Novelty
Brooch Friday began.
This is the first of I hope many Novelty Brooch
Friday give-aways. Once a month Erin from The Fawn Times and I will be showcasing designers and vintage sellers of brooches.
Our first months shop is Each To Own, Kirsten was
the person who planted the seed, to take the fun idea of #noveltybroochfriday
on Instagram (that Erin and I had started a couple of months ago) and turn it
into something bigger.
I first saw Kirsten's jewellery last year at the
Finders Keepers Market when I was visiting my parents in Brisbane. I love the
Finders Keepers Markets but sometimes its so overwhelming; so many stalls with
amazing, creative people offering their hand made creations for sale. As soon
as I saw Kristen's brooches with their geometric patterns and animal
silhouettes I rushed over to have a closer look.
I bought two of her brooches; one for myself (the
bear) and another for a friend, and my mum bought the wolf brooch. I often get
lovely comments when I wear it and I think her work is cute, striking and constantly
changing.
5 questions for Kirsten:
How did you come up with the name of your shop 'Each
To Own'?
It was originally just a play on words but it did
become a bit of an ethos. I really did want each piece to go to a home that
loved it so I made sure that I kept the price points well within most people's
budgets and the designs accessible to a wide range of people.
When did you first start making jewellery?
It was just over two years ago. I had been at
home with a little tacker and not working full-time for the first time since I
was about 21 (not that motherhood isn't a tough gig at times) so I started
fiddling about with assembled pieces. A friend asked if I could make some
necklaces and rings for her school's Mother Day stall and it occurred to me
that people actually liked what I did. It sparked something. I joined a
local craft and market group called Brisstyle and it all kind of chugged into a
life that I now call my full-time job.
It seems like you are working a lot more with wood
(when I first came across your work it was more synthetic materials) is there a
reason for this? And are there other materials you would like to work with?
There was one big reason - we took the plunge and
bought a laser cutter. I had been getting my designs cut by other people,
as machines are expensive and, even though they were my own designs, I wanted
to have a bit more creative control. When I met you I was just coming out
of a phase of working with shrink plastic because I could play with it at home
more easily - it was a fun medium. I love working with wood - painting
it, papering it in vintage wallpaper and overlay prints. The machine is a
tricky beast but it's a fun ride most days. I have just become mildly
obsessed with acrylic and fabric combinations and am working a bit with those as
well. I feel like I never get all the ideas out but I think that that is
common.
There are a lot of animal and plants/flower
motifs in your work, did you grow up in the country or have a
lot of animals around you when you were growing up?
I did grow up in a country town and I was animal
mad, as a lot of wee girls are. I wanted a million dogs and horses and
cats; I bought mice with my pocket money and dragged neighbours dogs home
trying to tell Mum that they were strays. I think I was safe to call it
obsession. And on the floral side of things; my mum was a folk art hobbyist and
I think her love of flowers and plants influenced me at some stage.
Are there other jewellers/artists you admire and
inspire you in your work?
There are so many brilliant designers and artists
working in Australia at the moment but the jewellery I love to wear most would
be Angus & Celeste, My Mother Mabel, Betty Jo Designs and Jettas Nest.
My favourite Australian artists are Bruce Reynolds and Kitty Horton and I
adore all of the work of Tracey from Gretel Girl for everything from her
artworks to her jewellery.
We’d like
to thank Kirsten for taking the time to answer our questions and for offering
us one of her brooches as our first months prize.
I've chosen the Summer Pixel Pink and Yellow Fawn
brooch (who can go past a fawn?!)
So to enter the
competition just post a picture of yourself on Instagram with your favourite brooch, entries can be submitted on any Friday from now up to and including 21st June with the hash tag #noveltybroochfriday and we will announce the winner (randomly chosen) on Monday 24th June. Open to everyone, you can enter as many times as you like
either new or vintage brooches.
We hope to do this once a month and both Erin and I
will take it in turns to showcase those sellers of vintage brooches and designers we admire and love to wear
ourselves.
*If you are a designer or sell vintage brooches and
wish to donate a brooch for an upcoming month and have your shop showcased,
please contact me at tunabake@hotmail.com
