An Interview With Kara, The Fairy Maker

Christmas Time is certainly a magical time… twinkling of fairy lights, Santa & his gang of reindeers, a snowy scene, the majesty of the Christmas story, the nativity plays, the Christmas songs, the parties …. and as this is the last blogpost before Christmas Day, my interview tonight is with somebody who is totally magical – The Fairy Maker!  Welcome Kara…image

Hi! My name is Kara and I live in London with my husband and our three children. I am the owner and creator of The Fairy Maker, we make one of a kind fantasy creations which the customer designs.

Your beautiful unique and bespoke fairies, angels and dragons are certainly very collectable. What made you start up your business? Have you always done that line of work?

I started sculpting many years ago, but gave it up due to family and getting a new job, I only made them for friends and family. It was the guys I worked with who told me I should start up a Facebook page and show off my work, I didn’t think anyone would be interested but after a year of not having the confidence to click publish one night I decided to go for it. I was 4 months away from giving birth, some people move house or get a puppy, I decided to start a business ! I didn’t expect it to be capable of being a full time business, but it has and its great as I get to do something I love so much.

imageThe fairies are bespoke handmade pieces, so each is totally unique. The owner can design their own piece by picking a sculpture – adding hair (can be real) – picking colours,clothes and optional extras. What was the most unique fairy/angel/critter that has been requested?

I have a few customers who are very detailed in their requests, many have spent months designing their FairyJar. It’s nice to be able to make those ideas come to life. I have a lot of requests asking if I am able to add real hair to the fairies, a lot of the time it’s hair from a late loved one or the first lock of their child’s hair, I get so nervous doing those as I know how sentimental it is to the customer and how valuable the hair is to them.

imageI have just finished reading the Eragon series and so I was drawn to the cute Eragon Dragon Critter Jars on your site. What other books have influenced your choice of mini sculptures?

I have a wonderful book called Dragonology, I love how it is written and the illustrations are beautifully done, I like my critters to have that cuteness to them.

Aah… my sons have that book, Dragonology! We love the illustrations in it too…I personally adore the “Small Caitlin” (Collector’s Edition) – so cute! What’s your favourite sculpture?

imageToo many to list !!! but I did have a sculpt which was initially in my bin fairy box (the box rejects for whatever reason end up) I got her out for training purposes to teach how to wig them, but after I added the hair this fairy which I had previously discarded many months before had transformed into such an amazing looking fairy I came very close to keeping her for myself. I love how it’s even a surprise to me how they will look once completed.

Prices for each item includes the jar, decorations, fairy/angel wings, plaque, postage within the UK, and a signed certificate from you, the artist – they look very intricate – how long does it take to produce each fairy?

imageAll depends on the size, some can take a few days others can take a few weeks, there is a lot of drying times between stages too and then there is bad sculpting days when nothing ever seems to work how I want it to, which is normally in the summer, summer is not good weather for sculpting.

Have you any plans to extend your range?

I have a list of LOADS of new ideas, boy fairies are first on my list as I have had so many requests for them. I have been wanting to invent some new critters too. We are also in the middle of getting a book published to compliment the FairyJars, hopefully next year we will be able to have more news on this.

imageCongratulations on being awarded one of the runners up for Mum Entrepreneur of the Year on This Morning TV based on your fairy jars and artwork as well as being a Mumpreneur Magazine 2014 finalist! The accolades are well deserved! Being UK based, do you ship overseas at all or have any plans to sell globally?

Thank you, still can’t believe how lucky I was to get to the finals ! I do ship globally but we would like to expand more on this , the shipping costs can work out a fair bit of money due to the weight and the insurance which is a bit of a pain, we do have other options like baskets instead of jars to help reduce the shipping costs but people seem to prefer the glass displays.

imagePersonal now – what outfits and shoes would you normally be found wearing?

The older I got and the more kids I have I tend to choose comfort over fashion, anything which is quick to put on and covers the sins of flabby bits ! Elasticated trousers have become my best friend when it comes to clothes. I still have bags of trendy size 12 clothes in the loft, I really need to come to terms that I will never fit into them and throw them out.

Do you have any favourite shops or online sites ?

I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a Primarni girl (Primark) if I go out to look for something that’s where I aim to visit first, but I tend to do my online clothes shopping in Next.

What’s next on your clothes/shoe wish list?

A big quilted long winter coat, I heard we may be in for some rough weather this winter so want to be prepared this year ! Every winter I see them and now I want one I don’t seem to find any I like!

Boots or Shoes?

BOOTS ! And the reason why is because the only skinny part of my body is my ankles and my wrists. When I wear boots it evens me up a bit.

imageLinks you would like to share e.g. website/facebook/twitter etc so that readers can find out more about you and your fairies!
www.thefairymaker.com – web site which has prices and options
www.thefairymaker.co.uk – Facebook, has latest updates and photos

It’s been brilliant chatting to you Kara!  I look forward to seeing more of your work in 2015 as I find the fairies simply adorable! Wishing you all a magical Christmas!

Linda x

All photos have been published with the kind permission of Kara, The Fairy Maker

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