Hello dear readers today I bring to you Aya from Rainbow Mittens. She has an etsy shop with lots of knitted colorful mittens and other yarn goodies. I enjoyed very much putting this interview together and to be honest had a hard time choosing what items to feature. She also has second a shop Grandpa's Treasury where she sales collectibles from around the Soviet Era. Please enjoy this interview, her shops and the lovely pictures she shared with us. Gorgeous place to live in right??
1. Tell us as little or as much as you would like about yourself.
My name is Aya, I'm the owner of Rainbow Mittens www.etsy.com/shop/RainbowMittens, who lives in the middle of a forest in eastern Europe, sending colorful mittens around the world. :)
I'm married, 27 years old, love my husband, autumns carousels, fast thinking, lazy swimming, unexpected joy, hot chocolate Japan, romantic movies, early mornings, beautiful clothes, genuine people, rainy days, event planing, falling leaves and blooming flowers.
2. What do you sell?
I sell very joyful and colorful gloves called Rainbow Mittens. Each mitten pair is one of a kind - so they really are unique. Of course that in Rainbow Mittens shop you can also find other winter accessories, but the main idea is bright and happy mittens for everyone. :)
3. Why handmade?
In fact, it is quite unbelievable that I now have this brand Rainbow Mittens. When I studied in school, I did not finish any obligatory craft project. And I went to Waldorf school, so you can imagine how many craft projects we have had in 12 years! And I did not finish any of them! There was a half knitted sock, unstuffed polar bear, unfinished t-shirt and other craft pieces that were lying around the house and waiting for my mom to finish them. To be honest, even now knitting is not my favorite activity in the world! I know, it seems insane to knit 500 pairs of mittens, if you actually don't like to knit, but I just love mixing colors and see how it all comes together. I'm not a knitter, I just like playing with colors. That's why each Rainbow Mitten pair is one of a kind.
Forest rainbow mittens
4. Where does your inspiration to create come from and/or your inspiration in life?
Everything around can inspire me. I can be sick, and drinking the medicine can notice how wonderful my mug color is matching with pill that I'm taking. But of course the fact that we live in a beautiful nature place has a huge influence- you can really experience each season and colors that it brings with it.
Yesterday I saw the horses grazing under a rainbow and it was incredibly beautiful and inspirational.
5. Besides creating what else do you do? Do you have a full time job?
At the moment I'm expecting my second baby and live a very peaceful family life together with my husband in the middle of nowhere. Last year together with my sister we opened up second Etsy store called Grandpas Treasury, www.etsy.com/shop/GrandpasTreasury , where we sell beautiful and sentimental things from the Soviet Union time. Besides that I'm learning french, working on getting my driver's license, being a good mom and wife, and trying to come up with a plan how to use my passion for fine clothes and beautiful things.
6. When did you start thinking you were an artist?
I have never thought about myself as an artist.I have no education or skill in art. I barely know how to knit. I do not know anything about photography, I'm very impatient and I doubt that crafting is my strongest side. But despite all that, I love my Etsy shop. And I really like how all these inabilities come together in something so happy as Rainbow Mittens.
7. Who has been most influential in your craft work?
I think that my country of origin has had a key role in this matter. Latvia is home to at least a half year of very cold and uninviting weather and even in the summer evenings you feel the need for wool socks. :)
So I came up with Rainbow Mittens. Something colorful, warm and happy, that could bring some joy to the cold and gloomy places around the world and in this way maybe extend the easiness and feel of summer.
8. Where would you like to be in five years?
I have no Idea what the future will bring, and I know that you can never be ready for that. So I don't get carried away with long term planning.
9. Is there anything you'd like to try doing that you haven't done?crafts, sports, life in general?
I'd like to have enough courage to materialize my passion for clothes, style and beautiful things in general. I'd love to give a specific form to my enjoyment of these things and trough it find a way to be useful to others. At the moment I'm stuck in a place of uncertainty about myself. In a way I'm used to expect only to be the best, the one and the only in everything I do. I know. It is abnormally foolish and in reality I'm just an ordinary person with rights to be wrong and fail but at the same time its something my nature wants to prevent. The mad desire to be excellent at everything I do brings a form of paralysis caused by fear of letting myself down and not fulfilling my expectations.
10. Besides online where else do you sell?
I really like the Etsy format, I love, that it is so visual and you can just be at home and make something, that someone else from Japan or France would like to buy. So there is no need to look for other places to sell, because I'm already selling to all World.
1. Tell us as little or as much as you would like about yourself.
My name is Aya, I'm the owner of Rainbow Mittens www.etsy.com/shop/RainbowMittens, who lives in the middle of a forest in eastern Europe, sending colorful mittens around the world. :)
I'm married, 27 years old, love my husband, autumns carousels, fast thinking, lazy swimming, unexpected joy, hot chocolate Japan, romantic movies, early mornings, beautiful clothes, genuine people, rainy days, event planing, falling leaves and blooming flowers.
2. What do you sell?
I sell very joyful and colorful gloves called Rainbow Mittens. Each mitten pair is one of a kind - so they really are unique. Of course that in Rainbow Mittens shop you can also find other winter accessories, but the main idea is bright and happy mittens for everyone. :)
3. Why handmade?
In fact, it is quite unbelievable that I now have this brand Rainbow Mittens. When I studied in school, I did not finish any obligatory craft project. And I went to Waldorf school, so you can imagine how many craft projects we have had in 12 years! And I did not finish any of them! There was a half knitted sock, unstuffed polar bear, unfinished t-shirt and other craft pieces that were lying around the house and waiting for my mom to finish them. To be honest, even now knitting is not my favorite activity in the world! I know, it seems insane to knit 500 pairs of mittens, if you actually don't like to knit, but I just love mixing colors and see how it all comes together. I'm not a knitter, I just like playing with colors. That's why each Rainbow Mitten pair is one of a kind.
Forest rainbow mittens
4. Where does your inspiration to create come from and/or your inspiration in life?
Everything around can inspire me. I can be sick, and drinking the medicine can notice how wonderful my mug color is matching with pill that I'm taking. But of course the fact that we live in a beautiful nature place has a huge influence- you can really experience each season and colors that it brings with it.
Yesterday I saw the horses grazing under a rainbow and it was incredibly beautiful and inspirational.
At the moment I'm expecting my second baby and live a very peaceful family life together with my husband in the middle of nowhere. Last year together with my sister we opened up second Etsy store called Grandpas Treasury, www.etsy.com/shop/GrandpasTreasury , where we sell beautiful and sentimental things from the Soviet Union time. Besides that I'm learning french, working on getting my driver's license, being a good mom and wife, and trying to come up with a plan how to use my passion for fine clothes and beautiful things.
6. When did you start thinking you were an artist?
I have never thought about myself as an artist.I have no education or skill in art. I barely know how to knit. I do not know anything about photography, I'm very impatient and I doubt that crafting is my strongest side. But despite all that, I love my Etsy shop. And I really like how all these inabilities come together in something so happy as Rainbow Mittens.
I think that my country of origin has had a key role in this matter. Latvia is home to at least a half year of very cold and uninviting weather and even in the summer evenings you feel the need for wool socks. :)
So I came up with Rainbow Mittens. Something colorful, warm and happy, that could bring some joy to the cold and gloomy places around the world and in this way maybe extend the easiness and feel of summer.
8. Where would you like to be in five years?
I have no Idea what the future will bring, and I know that you can never be ready for that. So I don't get carried away with long term planning.
9. Is there anything you'd like to try doing that you haven't done?crafts, sports, life in general?
I'd like to have enough courage to materialize my passion for clothes, style and beautiful things in general. I'd love to give a specific form to my enjoyment of these things and trough it find a way to be useful to others. At the moment I'm stuck in a place of uncertainty about myself. In a way I'm used to expect only to be the best, the one and the only in everything I do. I know. It is abnormally foolish and in reality I'm just an ordinary person with rights to be wrong and fail but at the same time its something my nature wants to prevent. The mad desire to be excellent at everything I do brings a form of paralysis caused by fear of letting myself down and not fulfilling my expectations.
10. Besides online where else do you sell?
I really like the Etsy format, I love, that it is so visual and you can just be at home and make something, that someone else from Japan or France would like to buy. So there is no need to look for other places to sell, because I'm already selling to all World.
ways to find you:
*RainbowMittens shop*
*GrandpasTreasury shop*
*facebook*
*pinterest.*
email: aija.p.rubule@gmail.com
*GrandpasTreasury shop*
*facebook*
*pinterest.*
email: aija.p.rubule@gmail.com
What a great interview! I love the mittens. It must be so blissful to live the the middle of nowhere. Quiet and nature sounds like heaven!
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