Hello! A huge thank you for taking the time to visit my site! Here’s a bit about me, and what I do…

I was born and raised on the prairies of Manitoba, Canada in a little town called Sandy Lake. My current home is in Dublin, Ireland with my two lovely kiddos, and our two goofy retired greyhounds - ex-racer Niamh, and ex-courser Fianna, both adopted from the wonderful RIGHT - Rehoming Irish Greyhounds Team*.

I love crafting, painting, drawing, sewing, embroidery, DIY projects…you name it!! I love creating things, and working with my hands to make something beautiful, fun, or practical, or all three! I’ve always sketched, painted, sewed and crafted in one way or another.

In high school, I adored art class and I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful art teachers who really pushed me to develop artistically. I went to college into a very non-artistic field, and quickly realised it was not for me. My focus then became working to make enough money to travel and socialise, therefore artistic pursuits fell by the wayside for the most part.

After moving to Dublin in my early twenties, I decided to tap into my creative side once again. I took the odd painting class, and went through spurts of drawing or creating. Then kids came along during a six year part time BSc. in Environmental Studies with the Open University. (Well timed I know…) So it wasn’t until a few years ago when I was taking an evening watercolour class that I really got the chance to tap into my creative side again and was pushed out of my comfort zone, to see outside the usual ‘rules’ of painting and art. I got to experience my first exhibition and even sold a few pieces. So I continued to dabble here and there with painting and drawing, and started to try out some new crafts. like macrame and air dry clay. Always keeping the idea of starting my own craft business in the back of my head.

Then…. a pandemic broke out, and through the emotional rollercoaster of lockdown, I got a chance to re-discover sewing. I started making masks as a necessity, as I really don’t like the waste generated with disposable masks. I had some cute cotton fabric laying around, so I got to work experimenting with some different patterns. The first few were pretty awful, but over time I developed my own patterns that I felt really worked for me and my family (aka. my mask guinea pigs) and were comfortable, adjustable and super easy peasy to care for which is a big must for me! So whilst keeping the mental health in check (which was by far the hardest part at times) and trying to build my own confidence in my creations, Katie Makes… was in the making! The final push was thanks to a fabulous workshop with the lovely Tara Predergast (of Bite the Biscuit and The Biscuit Marketplace), that actually got me to start selling what I make!

If you click HERE you can start shopping now! If you would like to see my gallery of paintings and things that I have done (and hope to do more of) please click HERE!

Doing my best to do my bit…

Lets be honest, it can be really really tough to live sustainably ALL the time. Life is busy, and when you have the demands of a busy job, kids, pets, caring for family members etc. it can feel almost impossible. I am not here to preach, but I think we all know that things don’t bode well for our beautiful world if we all, as a collective Earth-wide population don’t come together and stop being so wasteful. Therefore, I’m trying to do my little part by making products using upcycled materials and/or using natural, eco friendly materials whenever possible. ALL of Katie Makes… packaging is 100% compostable or recyclable (and will be labelled appropriately) so it takes one less worry out of your shopping. You know you’re being a bit kinder to our planet by buying things that Katie Makes…

This is such an exciting new journey and continuous learning curve for me. I am so happy to be creating things and to share what I make with you. Thanks so much for taking the time to check out my website and supporting Katie Makes…

Katie x

*RIGHT is a registered Irish charity that rescues and re-homes Irish racing and coursing greyhounds, who are no longer wanted. To find out more about the wonderful work that they do, or to look into fostering or adopting your very own greyhound (which I can’t recommend enough!!) check out their Facebook page HERE for more details!