Click on the "Read More" link to read Mel's interview. Find out how she got started, what running a small business has been like, + learn more about who she is as an artist. Don't forget to check out her Etsy listings + maybe order a piece or two for winter (winter's not that far away anymore...)!
Hazel + Ivy Co. I have an online shop on @ hazelandivyco.etsy.com
What specific skills/services/products/expertise do you provide?
Modern and cozy knitwear for the entire family
How + why + when did you get started? Did someone teach you, or are you self-taught? What other key elements help to tell your story?
My grandmother taught me to crochet as a little girl and I've always loved being creative. I have a very stressful job in the hospital and am a mama to two little men, and doing knits is a great way to relax and express my creative side.
What do you love about what you do?
I can take a ball of yarn and turn it into something beautiful and functional.
What is your favourite medium to work with? Why are you drawn to it?
Yarn is my obsession. There is so many to choose from.
Greatest accomplishments?
Having my two little men, and starting up my small business is up there too.
Biggest challenges?
Finding the time to work on my small shop. Knitwear takes many hours of work and a lot of love goes into each piece.
Who is your biggest supporter?
My husband has been my biggest supporter which makes me want to be better every day.
What are some of your short-term goals?
Continue to grow my small business and to expand my stock of knits.
Long-term goals?
Expand past markets and online sales and move into selling in local small shops would be a dream.
Wise advice for any beginners out there?
Just take the leap. I feel like the new kid on the block but am pushing forward, making connections and meeting some amazing people along the way. The makers community in Winnipeg is thriving and oh so inspiring.
Any last things about you or your small business that you'd like to share? (Really, anything at all. Like, you could tell us about your cat, or what you ate for breakfast this morning, or about why you don't like your lawn mower, or what you planted in your garden this year, or what time you normally go to bed, or...)
It's never too early in the morning for chocolate, I'm French Canadian and love passing the language onto my boys and I live in yoga pants on a daily, secretly wishing I was a yogi.