Everyone remembers when Craftzine was CRAFT magazine, right? Our print edition’s founding editor was Carla Sinclair, a crafty mother of two beautiful daughters, and wife to MAKE Editor-in-Chief Mark Frauenfelder. Carla’s introduction to the DIY lifestyle began when her family lived on Rarotonga and she made dolls with her daughters from found objects. Life on the island meant procuring food from scratch, things most of us take for granted, like tortillas and granola. It was slow food – literally. Now Carla lives in California, but her aesthetic is still very much handmade, driven by nature, and centered around her family. We are thrilled to learn more about our new Editor-in-Chief with this 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of:
1. The pillow seen here. It was the first sewing project I ever completed without breaking some part of my sewing machine. After a few frustrating and unsuccessful attempts at learning to sew, pattern maker and CRAFT writer Christine Haynes gave me some lessons and showed me that it could be done!
Two Mistakes You’ve Made in the Past:
1. Before my first daughter was born I painted large green and purple squares on her wall, which Mark filled in with illustrations of monsters. Once we brought our sweet baby home the room seemed too harsh and loud for her. Lesson learned: Don’t create for someone you don’t yet know.
2. Taking my chickens with us when my family moved to the Los Angeles hills. Even with a secure coop, the chickens were nabbed and eaten by coyotes. Lesson learned: Only raise animals that are conducive to your environment.
Three Things That Make Your Work Unique:
1. Growing up with a conservative hippie mom has had an influence on what I do. On the one hand I follow the rules and have a hard time breaking them – to a fault. But on the other hand, you will also find a sense of whimsy, trippiness, or irreverence threaded into my work.
2. Being part of the zine scene when I was editor of Boing Boing back in its paper days gave me a deep appreciation for DIY, and ever since then I push as much DIY into my work – and life – as possible.
3. I always put myself and my experiences into my creative endeavors. Anyone who puts themselves into their work is going to come up with something unique.
Four Tools You Love to Use:
1. Paper cutter
2. Espresso machine
3. Laptop computer
4. iPhone
Five Inspirations:
1. Japanese culture
2. Other makers and crafters
3. Good writers
4. Ancient yoga
5. Both urban life and time spent in nature
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