Meet Our Makers - Heartening Creations
Sarah aka Heartening Creations is based in Derby, and creates embroideries which combine her love of gardening and flowers with positive mental health messages and affirmations.
In this edition of the ‘Meet Our Makers’ series it’s lovely to be talking to Sarah from Heartening Creations; whose creative business started almost by chance after she used embroidery as a way to focus and nurture herself whilst coping with chronic illness.
Hi Sarah, i’m so pleased to be talking to you today. Can you tell me how your business first begin?
I suppose it was from a place of depression, despair and desperation. I was signed off sick from work with chronic fatigue. I was depressed, sleeping a lot and avoiding the demands of everyday life. My occupational therapist suggested finding a mindful 'nourishing' activity so I found embroidery. Also, I found the work of Katie Abey (A derbyshire illustrator) uplifting. I bought a tonne of her postcards to help me, with sayings such as 'Learn to rest, not quit' and people bought me flowers. So I kind of combined the uplifting words I needed to hear with the flowers in my embroidery. The few people I showed them to would say, 'these are great, you should sell them' - thus the business was born.
I potentially have ADHD (it is a lengthy process to get a diagnosis as an adult) as I have trouble with impulse control and can hyperfocus on things I find interesting. It didn't take long for me to go from 'I need a mindful activity' to 'I am enjoying embroidery' to 'I am bored of these kits' to' I want to create my own designs' to 'let's start a business selling my own designs'. It wasn't a long, well thought out process. It was a quick impulsive decision. My challenge now is to keep it going when times get hard because us ADHDers tend to get bored quickly. I think this is why my range is so large so quickly. If I get bored of hoops, I will do a cushion or a kit or a brooch and I have enough variety to keep the interest going.
My process usually involves me choosing a mental health message I need to hear e.g. 'You can do this' and then seeing flowers in my environment that I think are pretty and uplifting. I hand draw/sketch these (with embroidery pens) on to the hoops, embroider them and then use heat to remove the pen lines and sew up the backs.
Heartening Creations at Tissington Craft Fair in April 2023.
So do you have a creative background?
My first degree was in Illustration at Derby University. I have always lacked self-esteem and suffered from 'imposter syndrome' so the idea of a life of competing for commissions against artists and illustrators who I felt were way more talented than me was overpoweringly daunting. I also loved children and wanted lots of my own so instead I went into working with children and young people. Over the years, I have had lots of creative hobbies, needing that creative outlet was very important to me as it is part of my self-identity that I cannot ignore. This gives me the best of both worlds I suppose. I can create and have my creative outlet and continue some work with children and young people.
How do you pace yourself whilst running a business at the same time as managing your illness and what motivates you to keep going on the difficult days?
It isn't easy, I am not going to lie! Sometimes I have to just accept I cannot do certain things (e.g. long weekend and back to back markets) or that it will take me longer to complete tasks compared to someone else. I have had to learn to say 'no' - which has been hard and I have had to learn to not put so much pressure on myself. I try to compartmentalise different aspects of my life and be strict with what days I dedicate to different things. E.g. both my children are disabled and they always come first so I know that it will take longer and at a much slower pace, for my business to grow and I just have to accept that. What keeps me going is knowing that my little business keeps me happy and gives me 'me time' when there is so much in my life that I have to do which I do not enjoy as much. If I am stressed, I know I can sit down and embroider for a little while and it calms me and brings a sense of peace.
“If I am stressed, I know I can sit down and embroider for a little while and it calms me and brings a sense of peace”. Sarah, Heartening Creations.
Which are your favourite pieces to make? I love your aspirational words, but do you have one phrase that really resonates with you more than any other?
This is hard. Each piece has usually met a need. The first piece I designed for myself was 'She believed she could, so she did' and 'You matter' because I believe there is too much pressure on us women to be everything to everyone and we actually only have a finite amount of resources to give before we become depressed and lose ourselves. I have had new mums read 'You matter' at markets and shed a tear because having children it is so easy to lose yourself and who you are. I am honestly happy when I know a message has touched a person so much and made a difference to their day, even if they cannot buy it. However, I also really like make my sweary designs too because we all have days when we cannot give anymore and just need to let it out!
Which of your pieces are you most proud of and why?
The more floral work in a piece, the longer a piece takes, so I suppose it is the sense of satisfaction when they are completed. But these pieces tend to not be my best sellers as they cost more to reflect the time it takes to produce them. I suppose I am proud whenever a person likes a piece enough to purchase it.
“The more floral work in a piece, the longer a piece takes”. Sarah, Heartening Creations.
What do you love to do in your spare time and how does this influence your work?
Ha ha! What spare time? I embroider in my spare time. This is my therapy so this is what I choose to do in my spare time.
With my chronic fatigue, I cannot walk as much as I used to. I used to love long countryside walks and visited national trust properties a lot and anywhere with bright, colourful gardens. I would take a lot of photos of flowers because they are happy and cheerful. My husband is very garden proud and likes flowers too, we find they lift our spirits and I suppose that is also why they are featured in the majority of my designs too.
“I am honestly happy when I know a message has touched a person so much and made a difference to their day”. Sarah, Heartening Creations.
What can our customers look forward to seeing in 2023? Do you have any new products in the pipeline or anything that will only be available at markets?
I am looking forward to coming back to Tissington in October (1st and 29th) as it is such a lovely venue with lots of welcoming and friendly faces. I will continue to expand my designs when inspiration strikes. I often get inspired by the flowers we see in spring and summer so I will be embroidering those on hoops, cushions and bags as well as expanding my card range. I have recently added some brooches into the range. Feedback for my sweary designs has been really positive so I am looking to create some more designs to incorporate even more swear words. I have 4 embroidery kits for sale and I am hoping to create at least 2 more, with words now. I kept the first ones very basic and I suppose more 'commercial' I suppose, whereas people have requested some sweary kits too. (These are covered with a 'over 16's only' disclaimer for family events.)
A selection of hoops by Heartening Creations.