Pia is in our current Year 6 and started working with fimo (polymer clay) when she was 9. She started by making miniature sweets and cakes for her toys. When she was around 10, she started making ‘canes’ – a technique for making patterns similar to how words go through a stick of rock. This led her to making beads, which then led to her making jewellery.
At the start of 2020, Pia was off school for most of the first term with post viral fatigue. The only thing she could really focus on was her fimo. She spent many hours experimenting with designs and making literally hundreds of beads with a huge range of designs and styles. When lock-down happened due to the COVID pandemic, Pia decided to sell her jewellery so she could raise money for the Hexham Foodbank. She sold to relatives, family friends, neighbours and the post lady! During this period, she raised over £180 for the foodbank.
Now 11 years old, in December 2020, Pia was invited to have a stall at a local craft fair in Hexham. It was an exciting and nerve-wracking experience as she was testing her jewellery on the public for the first time. By now, Pia was making her own designs – drawing on nature for inspiration – using imprints of oak leaves, the texture of wood imprint. She also made fridge magnets and keyrings. Pia only wanted to use her new designs for the fair as she felt these were truly her own ideas. It was a great experience for her to meet other craftspeople, and to talk to people about her work. She raised a further £120 for the foodbank, bringing the total proceeds and donation to £300.
Pia has been invited back to have a stall at a summer fair and is coming up with lots of new ideas for that – including pen covers for biros, and she’s come full circle, and making ‘toy-food’ again, which she plans to sell.
