Maker Spotlight: Susan of Mellowpine DIY

Name:

Susan

Where are you located?

 We run our office from Seattle

What is your day job?

I’m a speech pathologist during weekdays.

Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube | Website

What kinds of stuff do you make?

We do DIY Woodworking projects. We focus on easy to do, beginner friendly, furniture projects. We think about what people would like to make or love to have in their homes. Typically those includes, desks, wall art, and kitchen furniture. Then we zero in on an idea and make a design for it. Then we design the making in a beginner friendly way, so that it doesn’t need advanced skills or expensive tools. This is something that we try hard in our projects. It has to be DIY, for us to make it.

How did you get started making stuff? 

I tried to make a gift for my grandpa a few years ago and took advice from my friend on how to go about it. It was a photo with a wooden frame. It was challenging for a first project, but I enjoyed the process. My grandpa loved the gift so much that I started making more stuff. I got lots of appreciation from people around me for my initial projects and that got me really interested in woodworking and making stuff. It was around this time that I really started playing around with sketchup. Sketchup is life for me :)

What is something that you’ve made that you’re really proud of? 

Our best and proudest project was an abstract wall art project we did. It looks really simple but it needed some perseverance to get the angles and joints right and to make it look good.

What is next on your project list? 

We’re working on a hutch cabinet project that we’re eager to complete.

what is something you’d like to work with but you haven’t yet?

We’d like to something with CNC Routers for a different audience. But we haven’t been able to find the time for it yet. But it is something that we’re looking at, considering how popular and affordable CNC Routers are becoming, for DIYers.

Any advice for people reading this? 

Acquiring any skill is a matter of putting in the time and effort. There’s no magic.