Oh look, another intro post….

I’m Roxanne if you thought perhaps I might have named my website after someone else, haha. I live in a little town in New Zealand, Blenheim (well I’m not right now but will be in actual blenheim soon…)
I live with my big man partner (who refuses to marry me, that’s too much commitment), our three daughters, two cats, two rabbits and two fish. I am a stay at home mum with a little bit of time on my hands.

I first started creating as a child. I come from a very creative family. Life wouldn’t be normal without creating. Family gatherings wouldn’t be the same without one or two (or actually several) of us crocheting in the corner! It’s just what it is.
At 17 I studied pattern making and garment construction at Poly Technic. This is when I brought my current sewing machine too actually. For the next few years I made myself random clothing, lots of bags and sold my creations in a few shops and galleries around the place.
At 21 I had my first baby, the sewing machine would wake her up and I didn’t have a lot of time for it, that’s when I took up crocheting. First I started with hats, hats and more hats. I still love making hats. The skill has grown and grown. I now make anything and everything.

Fast forward 5 years, again I’m at home with a baby, I’m bored and on Facebook alllll the time. Friends suggest I start selling my crafts online, I agreed and started Roxanne Rose Design. I started out making all sorts, hand made clothing, crochet bits, dream catchers, bags and a couple of toys. Far too many bits and pieces but most things were custom made so it worked out good enough to start funding my craft supplies obsession. Custom soft toys were a hit though, I made extras too, I done the markets on the Coast (Westport/Granity) and supplied a few different shops, still doing quite a selection but mostly toys and crochet stuff. At some point here I was introduced to Needle Felting (thanks Mum). I also completed a Diploma in Digital Photography too.

Then we decided we would be adults and fly the coop. Both of us had left the Coast before so it wasn’t too hard. So here I was, in a new area, no friends or family (I’m REALLLY bad at making friends), once again at home with a baby, when I on a whim made a big batch of cloth dolls, because I thought my wool stash needed culling and I wanted to paint some faces. All good, all got homes. I was then contacted and asked to supply a gallery with some unicorn dolls. Major boost to my confidence and I decided to focus purely on doll/toy making. In the last few years I’ve made 100s of unicorns and dolls. I absolutely love doing it. Creating little characters that are often running around in my head. But crochet is addictive and I had begun exploring fibres so I also opened Purple Flamingo Fibre Art.

So now I’m at this new stage in life. I am forever creating and selling my characters. I get to play with colour and painting and sewing and everything in between. I get to play with wool, I spin it, felt it, crochet it, make it into dolls hair.
AND now I have days in which all three girls are at school (preschool or primary) AND I have a massively supportive partner who isn’t bugging me to go back to work. I get to live the artist mum life and I am loving it! Lets see what 2020 brings aye!
Well done if you read this entire post. It turned out longer than I had thought it would.

Oh and we just brought a doer upper house. Lets see how much colour and exciting bits I get away with in that project, haha.