Meet the Seller - Olivia Coote from Lily's Make Believe

Meet Olivia Coote from Lily's Make Believe. A Devonport Craft Market regular, traveller extraordinaire and a very creative gal.

How long have you been involved in your craft?

At least 5 years.

What is your craft?
Almost anything, I have always stuck with jewellery making as a base but at the moment am working with paper a lot, paper cuts and prints. I love to sew and knit too. I like to work with anything really, except macaroni and gold spray paint, I drew a line there at 6, but it's something my friends like to tease me with!

How did you get started creating?
I started making jewellery for family and friends when I was about 15, it's been a small addiction since then that grows each year. My friend, Rosemary, and I had so many ideas and would spend hours together knee deep in beads, pliers, wire etc.

What inspires you?
Right now I am overwhelmed with ideas that have stemmed from my trip overseas, hence all the bits and pieces with maps. So that is a major source of inspiration at the moment, I hope to keep travelling in the years to come! But I think what inspires me and drives me most is the work of others, everyday I see something that makes me think 'Genius, I wish I thought of that', it makes me work harder.

What is your favourite book?
The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

What is your favourite food?
It's a dead even tie between sfogliatelle and frittatine. One sweet and one savoury but both so good!

Favourite inspiration site; blog or online shop
Favourite. Singular! Far too hard to call. Can I do a top 3? In no particular order, flickr, I could spend hours on there, and of course etsy too, a visit to etsy is lethal, and no. 3, would have to be a new addiction, 'What I wore today, drawings only' It's a flickr pool where you draw your days outfit and upload it, a mix of fashion and illustration, two things I love, perfect for the shy amongst us, there are so many talented people contributing it's a delight to 'flick' through.

How did you come up with your stall / shop name?
Well, it was all a bit of a mess really that just stuck. I soon hope to shorten it to be just 'Make believe'. It's attempting to be a play on the whimsy of childrens make believe and to 'make' and to 'believe' in yourself and your things.

Apart from The Devonport Craft Market, Where can people buy your work?
I do some other markets around Auckland, Kraftbomb in Greylynn, the new Crafternoon Tea in Kingsland, and I'm doing some small pre-christmas pop up markets this year. I also stock my wee owls in Swonderful in Wellington, Texan Art Schools here in Auckland as well as Pauanesia and Queenies Lunchroom.

See Olivia and her world of make believe at the Devonport Craft Market Christmas Spectacular, 15th November. She has also kindly donated a "Take me Here" artpiece to the Christmas prize draw!