The Crafter's Way 149 - Master Crafter

This week's Messenger column features Kellie Christie - Master Crafter.

If any of my readers are MasterChef fans then you will already be familiar with Kellie Christie’s work. Celebrity Chef, Maggie Beer wore Kellie’s button necklace during her appearances on the show. Kellie will also be featured in a book called Handmade Living, available early December. I recently caught up with Kellie and had a chat about her work.


Can you give us a brief rundown of your craft journey to date? When I first left school I studied Graphic Design, which I never actually used. I started beading shortly after finishing this course then studied Fine Art at QCA. I worked in a café for a few years and started selling my jewellery through the Museum of Brisbane Store.I got married and have had two children. Being at home with the kids has given me more time to focus on my jewellery and create a vision of where I see my jewellery going. I joined Brisstyle last year and also started to sell my jewellery through a few other stores locally and interstate.

Do you create the pieces especially for a specific exhibition and/or market or do you create a range? I create a range of pieces; my most popular are my Flat Button Necklaces which are always available. I do have other designs that are also button themed and compliment my necklaces. These are rings, brooches, earrings, bracelets and different style necklaces.

How planned is each piece before you start or does it evolve? Each piece definitely evolves; I start with colours and then stack, sort and line up my buttons until I get something that I like that also have a great aesthetic.

How has your Fine Arts Degree prepared you for a) creating & b) the business side of things? I absolutely loved my course and gained a lot out of it. I really enjoyed being around so many other creative people and having people to talk through ideas and designs with, something that I have found again through the Brisstyle group. Creatively speaking it was a fantastic course however it didn't cover the business side of art. That is something that I am stumbling through by myself and learning a lot along the way.


You can visit Kellie at the BrisStyle Markets on Saturday 4th September, 9am -2m. Visit http://brisstyle.blogspot.com/ or http://www.kelliechristie.blogspot.com/