The jewel maker: Lenneke and A little hamster

Lenneke and her “A little hamster” blog have been in my bookmarks bar for a long long time. Every few times I would open a new tab I would see the pale pink favicon of her site and smile. Such a wonderful blog and way of seeing things Lenneke has, it’s very easy to fall in admiration for her.

A la recherche de les plus belles coses, says the blog and indeed in search for the most beautiful things her blogging is.

One year ago she created “Made by l e n n e b e l l e”, her jewelry brand (and shop). Tassels, silver, mythical creatures and stories, this is the language Lenneke’s necklaces and bracelets speak.

Sky Turtle: Who is Lenneke and what does she do? 🙂

Lenneke: I am from the Netherlands, 31, very much in love and living with my cat Jack and boyfriend in Rotterdam. I have my jewelry label Made by lennebelle since one year (ago) and recently I got some ‘design’ projects (website, business card, babycard) on the side, which I really much enjoy.

How did you start doing what you’re doing now?

At one point I started to thinking about what I would really like to do; I found vintage silver pendants on a antique market, the tassels I developed myself and after a while I found some glass tubes, it all came together and enjoyed doing this so much plus the response from friends and family was so good it started out as a ‘hobby’ (I still have a job on the side) and I hope in the near future Made by lennebelle will be my one and only business. I have many ideas about new designs and can’t wait to get them out there! My blog; a little hamster really helped me with Made by lennebelle.

This is very interesting. How did having A little hamster help you start Made by lennebelle? Was it a “building courage” thing?

Yes it was. By showing my work on a little hamster and the positive response I got it gave me more confidence to keep going. Besides the online shop on A little hamster helps me to re-invest in new materials and shop owners from around the world found me through a little hamster that’s also why I have selling points now in Sweden, USA, Australia and Japan!

Tell me a bit about a little hamster, how did it start, what is it about?

I always kept a notebook where I wrote down all things I found inspirational, my own ideas and ripped out pages from magazines. I was looking for a place to keep it all together, that’s why I started my first blog; lennebelle (my name and pretty in French, a nickname a friend used to call me) In short A little hamsters is about everything that inspires me, that I admire in other people and is now also a place where I let people know about my jewelry.

Where do you live and what inspires you about the place you live in? What do you love about it?

I live in Rotterdam, it is a nice multi-cultural modern city filled with creative people. This city is really a no-nonsense city, what you see is what you get. In this city you really need to know where to be. The good places are hidden gems and not around every corner, that is what I like about it. Some places that inspire me in my city are: Picknick, Lof der Zoetheid, SHPPR, Every day Beautiful, Het Naaicafe (translated;The sewing cafe)Besides that creative people start great initiatives here like Swanmarket, Harvestfestival, Day of Romantic Music. But I get my inspiration mainly from other places and people!

What is one of these other places that inspire you? Or who? 🙂

I love to go the Het Naaicafe (the sewing cafe) Already two years ago my boyfriend gave me a sewing machine for christmas. It was the best christmas gift ever! And I started to take sewing classes at Het Naaicafe. It’s like an internet café but you can ‘rent’ a sewing machine by the hour but you can also take lessons. Now I work on my own projects, I come with an image and my own ideas, we start drawing a pattern and they help you when you get stuck. Plus they make the best biological soups, muffins and tosti’s! I just finished my winter coat (a little late since winter is almost over 😉

How does a normal day in your life start and end?

What’s a normal day? For example tomorrow,..I wake up and have a coffee – breakfast date with my pregnant neighbour, after that I will meet with one of my also very pregnant best friend to do the finishing touch for the babycard. When I come home I will start working on some multi tassel bracelets for an order in San Franscico! I just finished my new working space! It feels so good to have everything better organised and in an environment you love to be. In the afternoon I go to my other job (restaurant) and work till one o clock in the night.

Your working space is wonderful. Does it make you feel more creative?

I don’t really know. I haven’t worked in it much yet. I think it makes me feel more at ease to be in a room I like not more creative. You can be creative anywhere, don’t you think?

It was lovely to do this short interview with you Lenneke, thank you!

Plus! Lenneke is offering us a 20% discount in her shop during March. All you need to do is mention the “skyturtle” coupon in your order. 😀