Needlings is an independent toy
company run by 29 year old fulltime plush artist and designer, Heather
Saunders.
Located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Heather has made colourful creatures by hand from eco-friendly felt and high quality fabrics since 2007 after many years of crafting and creating. She started a line of uniquely designed plush felt creatures with their own stories, all one of a kind, after creating a small plush as a gift for a little girl. Later on, as her business grew, she branched out in to accessories, housewares, illustrations, and her popular kawaii Owl Mamas that are now available in independent stores around North America as well as large Canadian retailer, Chapters Indigo, a book/music/gift store along with her line of smaller plush owls, kitties, ninjas, and robots.
She was approached early on, through her
etsy shop, to have her work carried in unique handmade-focused shops such as
Wholly Craft in Columbus, Ohio, and Young Blood Gallery and Boutique in
Atlanta, Georgia, which kept her developing her line of plush for retail stores
and encouraged her to approach similar stores online in both Canada and the US over
the next few years while still growing her business through requests from more
stores and online sales. Needlings are now
sold in over 14 retail locations, not including online and at anywhere from
10-20 shows and conventions she does per year in her local Toronto/Hamilton
area. Heather was able to leave her day
job at 25 in 2009 when demand grew for her items - she has been working for
herself ever since. She makes anywhere from 50-200 items monthly while working
on restocking stores on a monthly basis, preparing for markets and shows, and
keeping up with online sales, but still values a careful handmade approach to
her work and business.
While
working to keep up with the demand on her line for retail stores, she
participates in plush art shows with the Etsy Plush Team (www.plushteam.com)
and at galleries in North America. She creates one of a kind items, like her
bespectacled furry headed dolls, on a more occasional basis and wishes to make
more time for them in the future, as well as developing exciting new work to
continue to keep the Needlings brand growing and changing as she continues her
business in to the future.
And in recent exciting news, Needlings was recently featured in the fall issue of Hamilton Magazine for her Wilhelmina W. Wasserman Kawaii art doll!
Where to find Needlings:
I love this seller and her store. What an amazing story!
ReplyDeleteGreat write up!! What cool products...they look like something from a sci fi fairy tale!
ReplyDeleteI agree, they are so whimsical and so cute!
DeleteLove, love, love the owls! You have some awesome products! ;)
ReplyDeleteKim
{Sweetsie's}
Thanks for your support!
DeleteI LOVE the furry headed dolls! They are so cute!
ReplyDeleteThey are some of our favorites too! She just released a new one today!
DeleteI love her creations! I've got my eye on a few robot plushes she has listed :)
ReplyDelete