'Meet The Mummy Maker', a series of posts that was born out of a love for finding inspiring creative mummies that have made a business with their super mum talents. Be they jewellery makers, film makers, designers, bloggers, whatever they have found they have found a way of earning money by being creative alongside one of their biggest jobs of being a mummy.
For our first volume of 'Meet The Mummy Maker' series we would like to introduce Naia and her gorgeous daughter Lea. This girl has some serious knitting talent and is a very creative accessories designer. Her instagram photos are absolutely wonderful and her gorgeous daughter Lea models her designs on her instagram account. You can follow her here.
Naia is originally from a small seaside village in the Basque country. She later moved to the city of Bilbao to study journalism and later a Master in Marketing. She lives with her daughter Lea who is 16 months old, her partner of 10 years and their French Bulldog Lola. Between drinking coffee and spending time with her family she sneaks in the time to make accessories and sell them online. She works from her studio at home and she carries her knitting with her everywhere. You can see some of her pieces in her shop here. Originally selling only bags and jewellery, she has now added an awesome range of children's accessories including bloomers, rompers and adorable knitted baby caps.
Dream holiday? NYC .
Have you always been a crafty person? Always! I always used to ask for craft presents in my birthday or Christmas, I used to spend all my weekends crafting, painting, baking, making jewellery with pasta, hand sewing..
Did you always know how to knit? My cousin taught me how to knit, she is more like a sister to me.
Your inspiration? My daughter Lea, when she was born I started to knit for her, and then became more creative with it and the magic started to happen, and then my range of children's accessories were born.
Has your life changed much since having a baby? Everything changed, since the day I saw that tiny person everything in me changed, the way I used to think, the way I used to live, my priorities... I am the same person but now I am a mother, the most important role I could have. My daughter makes me really happy, she gives sense to everything. Every time when I am worried about something that has to do with my business, or anything else going on in my life and I begin to start stressing, I just stop and think "wait Naia, what is really important in your life?" so that makes me feel better and then I can work much better.
How do you fit the demand for your products around spending time with Lea? It is really difficult but we make it work. We are both very flexible, for example if my partner is not working he spends his time helping me with Lea. Lea demands a lot of our attention, she's very energetic and always wants us to join her walking, playing... She still naps (sometimes) so I leap at the opportunity to spend some time knitting orders. I feel its important to say that I breastfeed Lea so every time she asks for breast I breastfeed her. For me, being a mother is the most important role in my life. I didn't want to spend my days away from her at a conventional job. My priority is my daughter and I think in their early months, its best for children to stay with their parents. We believe in that and we do that everyday. Maybe after summer she´ll go to daycare for some hours in the mornings but we are still looking for the best place for that, we see that Lea loves to spend time with other children and she´s really independent.
What advice would you give to any mums looking to start up their own creative business? It´s hard but it gives you the chance to spend more time with your child. It is important to know what you want to do or what you want to sell... I already had a problem with this. A woman started following me on IG and wrote me asking me questions and asked me advice, I loved to help her and then she started copying all my shop, my bonnets, also her photos are a copy of the photos I used to take (Lea´s feet photos) when L was younger... I was really upset because I thought she was a nice person, I think she made it really bad beacuse when you start a business where you want to sell handmade things your must find your style, see what you wan to sell, you must inspire with other IGs but NEVER COPY, thats is the worst you can do. Find your style and go for it, when you do things with love people feel it.
How would you describe your style? I wouldn't know how to define it. I love to wear black high waisted skinny jeans and a t-shirt.. I love long dresses, leather jackets and loose fitting coats. Vans are a staple in my wardrobe.
What are your recent new purchases for yourself?
Lately I bought a pair of birkenstock sandals (love them for summer) a black t-shirt and a striped long dress from Zara and a mustard Kanken (already my third Kanken bag...)
If you had any spare time to yourself what would you love to be doing? I would love to start yoga classes again.
Travel tips for young families coming to Bilbao?
TO DO // Take a walk along the river in the city, you can drop into the Guggenheim Museum, or you can simply admire Jeff Koons' artworks that are curated outside.
DRINKING // Bilbao La Vieja is a lovely area to visit- visit Bihotz for great coffee, tea or craft beers. Open day and evening.
EATING// Siete Calles is a nice place to wander around for more bars, cafes and eateries. Baster is an authentic tapas restaurant well worth the visit. . They do breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner - great authentic tapas restaurant.
BEST BURGER // Colombo
Rodriguez Arias, 32, 48011 Bilbao, Spain
Open for lunch (13.00 - 16.00) and dinner (20.00 - 23.30)
BEST CAKE // Cinnamon
Done Bikendi Kalea, 3, 48001 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain
Must try the Red Velvet cake.
FAVOURITE STORE // Loreak Mendian is one of my favourite stores in Bilbao. They are located on C/Rodriguez Arias 24. They have stores across the north of spain, and in Paris and Lyon.You can visit their store online too.
VINTAGE MARKETS// Calle Dos De Mayo
Its on once a month on a Sunday. Its on from 10am - 3pm. There are plenty of things to do, street performers, music, food, and lots of great shopping.
VINTAGE STORE // Arizona
VIktor Kalea, 2, 48005 Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain
1. Lightweight cotton top // COS
2. Fjall Raven Kanken Bag in Ochre // I LOVE MY KANKEN
3. MOTO High Waisted Black Jeans // TOPSHOP
4. Vans Originals in White // OFFICE
5. Maiuki Handpainted Brooch // Maiuki.com
If you are ever on the lookout for a gorgeous and unique handmade baby gift then look no further than Maiuki.com. You can follow Naia's instagram here.
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