Interview with Hanaletters

I stumbled on Alina's embroidered pieces by chance, and I have a huge crush on them. Her creations seem to spring from a magical inner world, full of fantasy and sweetness. I was intrigued by her blog, her shop, and all of her wonderful creations. Thank you, Alina, for being sweet enough to answer a few questions for us - everyone, please meet Alina:







I love the fairy-tale quality to your work - it seems like there's a story behind every piece you make - what inspires you to create your pieces?
The inspiration comes from the fairy tale I imagine. Girls wandering, wearing colorful dresses and befriending small animals, girls that love flowers, animals that offer flowers to girls, it’s a world of harmony, serenity and joy, my imaginary world. There is no villain in this fairy tale, the girls are goodhearted, the animals are kind and they all spin the thread of my heart into felt. For me, my work symbolizes the clear sky, my strong faith in all that is innocent, bright and simple in this world.







Do you sketch or plan your work, or does it just happen?
I draw, make paper patterns then cut in felt, the only thing I do freely is embroidering the details which is my favorite part of the whole process actually.






How long have you been stitching?
As a daily basis I have been stitching for 2 almost 3 years but I have had a strong weakness for stitching and needles of all kinds as long as I can remember. When I was little I loved to knit clothes for my dolls and also spent a tremendous amount of time doing needlepoint, my first love was a sewing needle.



Where is your favorite place to craft?
My favorite place to craft is my current studio, which is actually a small corner hidden behind the red velvet curtains of the second hand bookstore I run together with my fiance. It’s kind of obscure with no natural light but I am very attached to it. I call it my forest, the place where I play needle under a fuchsia lamp, I share secrets with my toys and tell stories to the vintage children on my walls.








Where in the world are you?
Spin an earth globe and put your finger on that country in Europe that looks like a fish, that is Romania and I live in its belly, just like Pinocchio. It's warm and quiet and involves a lot of water since I live near a river. :)


Do you have an art background - if so (or if not), how do you think this has affected your work?
I am positive that an art background would have helped me to be more organized, more focused and even more inspired but there is no art background for me, only an utterly skilled grandma that has been earning a living through needles from the age of 16. I call her "The Greatest Encyclopedia of all things done with a needle" because she reached a stage when she uses no templates, knows by heart tons of complex embroidery stitches and patterns and there is nobody in this world she wouldn't be able to dress. She must have passed me a gene or two and I am really grateful for that, she is my role model of continuous hard work, creativity and passion.




Name one project of yours that you LOVE
From all the pieces I have created so far this girl is my very favorite. She wears my dream hairstyle (that, with my disobedient hair, I would never be able to keep in place for more than 5 minutes) and has my dream job, manga artist or mangaka, I would love to have the talent to do that. Oh well, what are sewing needles for if not for inventing new selves?


5 books you LOVE
I am going to mention my top 5 children books, I love this top more!
1. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
2. The Adventures of Dunno and his Friends by Nikolai Nosov
3. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
4. Momo by Michael Ende
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum




Name 1 person you would LOVE to meet: (past, present, real or fiction)
I would love to meet.... Heidi, the little girl imagined by Johanna Spyri but more precisely I would like to meet her in me. I want to spend my life becoming Heidi.

*****

Thanks, Alina, for sitting down with us! It was wonderful to meet you and learn about your magical world. If you'd like to keep up with Alina, visit
Her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/hanaletters
Her blog: http://hana-wordsinabox.blogspot.com/
Her flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanaletters/
Her facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/hanaletters/231656036848171