Maked - feature #25

Name: Maked - a collaborative group of 3 (sometimes 4) girls
Website links: Maked



What do you make?
A bit of everything!   We've done adorable little zipper pouches, cheeky notebooks from repurposed old novels, melt and pour soap with a sassy side, jewelry from vintage buttons, silkscreening.... I could go on - there are so many crafts to dabble in!



What or who inspires you?
The whole craft community (online and in person).  Seeing all the fantastic stuff that all these creative people come up with inspires us to put our heads together to see what happens. The internet (craftster.org) brought us together originally and gets us all excited to try new crafts; the internet is a powerful thing.
 


How did you get started?
Our group formed because we each wanted to learn the crafts that the others knew.    That desire to learn and willingness to teach turned into Maked!   Also, our passion for making stuff far outstripped our ability to find uses for the stuff we made, so we started selling our products and discovered the fabulous Vancouver craft scene in the process.



What are your favourite materials to work with?
We love repurposing stuff that would otherwise go to waste.  Our novel notebooks, for example, take old cheesy novels and give them a new life.   We also love beautiful yarns, cute fabrics, and vintage buttons.   One of us is nuts for tiny delica beads.



What is the hardest and most favourite part of crafting?
The hardest part is probably finding the time to do all the crafty things we want to do (both Maked stuff and personal crafting), or finding space for all the craft supplies.  ;)   Favourite part is the inexplicable satisfaction/pleasure that comes from using your hands to make a thing - something that at one point was just an idea in your head and turns into something that makes someone else smile or laugh.



List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them

Colour Lovers: So fun to play around with colour schemes and get inspiration for the ones other people make.
 
Burda Style: Another great one for inspiration, but also a wonderful source for modern, fun patterns.

Flickr: I'm very visual. As much as I like reading blogs I feel like Flickr gets down to the good stuff. The groups and tags make it such a great place to go for specific inspiration. Speaking of which, if you want some ideas for what to do with your charm packs and jelly rolls, I manage a group on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/charmandjelly/

Wists: I'm trying to get all my friends to start a wist. It's basically an online wishlist. The great thing about it is you can pull items from any place on the internet which makes it so easy to collect all your etsy wants. I also like to search through other peoples items because it tends to be a much craftier, eclectic group than just googling.
 
Craftster: The crafty gathering site that brought us together - the forums are filled with inspiration and amazingly crafty people!



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
Produce a quality product and do whatever it takes to make your customers happy.  And have fun!



Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
We've never had this debate among ourselves.   We view ourselves as crafters/makers.    I think there is a difference between art and craft - not that one is better, they just aspire to different purposes.   And there comes a point where the two get blurred and people start to debate it.   We'd rather use our energy to make things than debate.  ;)

(photo images courtesy of Maked)

If you are interested in being featured, please send us an email at info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Check out our past features...

Firefly Notes - feature #24
Florence Ann - feature #23
Him Creations - feature #22
Jenny Hart - feature #21
district thirty - feature #20
tinywarbler designs - feature #19
telly designs - feature #18
Cabin + Cub - feature #17
Rachel Hobson - feature #16
Green Couch Designs - feature #15
Tanis Alexis - feature #14
Sweetie Pie Press - feature #13
Fibre Manipulator - feature #12
Sam Made - feature #11
All Things Paper - feature #10
Owl + Pussycat - feature #9
Bliss in a teacup - feature #8
It's Your Life - feature #7
Faythe Levine - feature #6
Coco Cake Cupcakes - feature #5
pomomama design - feature #4
GroovyGlassGirl - feature #3
Bueno Style - feature #2
The Beautiful Project - feature #1