ABOUT

My Story

Hi! I’m Sally – designer and maker at the Natural Craft Studio. I live in Ashbourne, Derbyshire with my husband and two daughters, and our extended family of house plants!

The Natural Craft Studio is a lifelong dream of mine to transform my love of crafts and nature into a collection of sustainable handmade gifts and home décor for others to enjoy. For as long as I can remember, I have always loved being creative and learning new crafts. I first began making jewellery in my twenties when I discovered the art of beadwork and became slightly addicted to Swarovski crystals! Since becoming more aware of environmental issues in the jewellery industry, I now work with more eco-friendly and sustainable materials. I love making modern, minimalist jewellery with natural cork leather and recycled silver. I also make a collection of boho style earrings using the spare recycled cotton from my macrame pieces.

Discovering the world of macramé has been so rewarding as it perfectly combines my love of working with beautiful natural materials and the freedom of creating a piece of art entirely by hand. I really enjoy creating designs inspired by nature as well as making accessories that allow us to bring more greenery into our homes like my plant hanger collection.

In the Studio

I make all my macramé and jewellery in our garden studio here in Derbyshire. It’s a lovely creative space where I can just become completely absorbed in making each piece.

I really enjoy each stage of creative process that goes into making a handmade product. From the initial inspiration, to drafting out a design, then bringing it to life by experimenting with different materials and samples, and finally, the exciting part – creating the final piece ready to add to a collection.

I work with premium quality materials to give each piece greater durability and a high-quality finish. By using natural materials each piece also has a richness of texture and colour that is hard to replicate with synthetic materials.

My macrame pieces are made entirely by hand so each piece is truly unique and made with care and attention to detail. When making jewellery, I enjoy the freedom of working by hand using simple tools like my trusty craft knife, jewellery pliers and hand drill to craft each piece.

Making a Difference

My aim is to create beautiful gifts and home décor that are handmade with love and kind to our planet. I enjoy making pieces from natural, sustainable, and recycled materials, which at the end of their life are naturally biodegradable or easily recycled. Where possible I source my supplies locally from the UK, both to support local businesses and reduce the environmental impact of transporting goods.

Every item I make is 100% plastic-free. I also post each order in eco-friendly packaging which is 100% plastic-free, fully recyclable and/or biodegradable and made in the UK.

To make my craft more sustainable, I have partnered with Ecologi and plant a tree for every order I make. You can find out more about my sustainability goals and tree planting scheme.

Sharing the love!

Giving a handmade gift to someone you care about or receiving one yourself feels very special and personal. I grew up in a family of craft lovers, which really helped me appreciate the care and skill that go into making things by hand. To spend time creating handcrafted pieces for people to enjoy and share with loved ones makes what I do so rewarding.

Thanks so much for stopping by to find out more, I hope you enjoy exploring the shop and find something special.