Home to everything from hard-to-find collectables to one-of-a-kind original art, checking out our Exhibitor Hall is a MUST at any Supanova event. With geeky goodies as far as the eye can see, it would be easy to spend the entire weekend browsing the aisles, hunting for bargains and all those must-have additions to your collection.
Alas, all shows must eventually come to an end – but that doesn’t mean the shopping spree has to! In this week’s Artisans in Focus, we’ve curated a list of the cutest creations The Alley has to offer, courtesy of the crafters in Created Collectables!
Featured Exhibitors hide
This Kawaii Life
The perfect accessories for Supa-Fans looking to live their most kawaii life, Emma’s pastel acrylic laser cut jewellery is inspired by all your favourite franchises, from Animal Crossing to How to Train Your Dragon! After only two and a half years of trading, This Kawaii Life has already amassed a community of passionate fans, and exhibits at Supanova events all across the country.
This Kawaii Life at Supanova 2021 – Gold Coast. Photo by James Presneill
When asked how her kawaii creations come together, Emma gave us this bite-sized masterclass in laser cutting:
“To create one of our adorable pieces, first we design a vector file, then plan which lines will be cuts and which areas will be etched. [Next, the file is imported] into another piece of software that communicates with our laser cutter (which lives in my garage!). When we’re ready to cut, we put a piece of acrylic into the laser cutter and tell the machine to go! Once the piece is cut, we hand paint any etched areas and glue pieces together, attach the findings then voilà! Our piece is complete.”
With such an adorable catalogue of wares, we figured it must be near impossible to pick a favourite; however, Emma does have a soft spot for her ultra cute Drifloon Earrings (Editor’s note: we agree and bought a pair – just in time for Halloween!). Sagely, she notes that she’ll no doubt go on to create more and more favourites as she continues to evolve as an artist. To keep up to date with This Kawaii Life’s evolution, fans can visit her website or head to the social media channels below.
thiskawaiilife.com | _this_kawaii_life | This Kawaii Life
The Owl & The Serpent
Can’t get enough of the acrylic stuff? The Owl & The Serpent create beautiful pop culture-inspired jewellery, ranging in style from vibrant statement pieces to more subtle, monochromatic designs, catering to all shoppers.
Artwork by and courtesy of The Owl & The Serpent
Once inspiration has struck (usually in the form of a game or TV show), it’s off to Pinterest, collecting reference images and colour schemes before sketching out their ideas. After workshopping the designs as a team, it’s time to create the digital files that are needed to cut the acrylic. From there, the real work begins: constructing a single product out of several cut pieces, a process they’ve described as sometimes feeling like “an impossible jigsaw puzzle”.
While they’re proud of all their creations, The Owl & The Serpent set themselves a particularly difficult challenge for this year’s Goldnova. “We created a series of D&D class pins that took us a couple of months to invent. With each individual class being its own unique piece of art, we had to create 13 unique pins before the Gold Coast convention in 2021. It was the first con since COVID and we wanted to kick things off with a BANG!”
As if 13 pieces wasn’t hard enough, the team have set themselves an even wilder goal for Halloween, ambitiously flipping the numbers for a total of 31 new designs! Incredible! To be the first to see these exciting new pieces, be sure to follow The Owl & The Serpent on social media.
/shop/theowltheserpent/ | The Owl & The Serpent | theowlandtheserpent
SiennaUnknown
Now we’re fully accessorised, it’s time to whip out our diaries and plan the day ahead – and what better way to bedazzle a dayplanner than with some ultra cute stickers inspired by kawaii culture and the beauty of rural and metro Japan? Based in Victoria, SiennaUnknown creates adorable sticker sheets, badges, cards and prints, endeavouring to capture a moment in time or a feeling within a memory.
Artwork by and courtesy of SiennaUnknown
“For most of my collections, I give myself about two months from idea to final product,” she tells Supanova, “However, sometimes I get ideas that I really like and do it all in one day. […] It starts with an idea, image or memory, then I start to sketch how I’d like it to look, workshop a few versions ask my friends or Instagram [followers] for their opinion, and work from there. Once I’m happy, it will go to print, or if it is a sticker sheet I will compose the arrangement on the sheet then print, cut, and then it’s [product] photography time.”
Of all her works, SiennaUnknown’s Ethereal Art Print holds a special place in her heart, representing her vision of an afterlife. Whether you’re chasing teeny tiny frog stickers or pastel skyscapes bursting with nostalgia, you really need to check out her online store now!
/shop/siennaunknown/ | siennaetsy
Handmade By Rimabella
We’re glammed up, our itinerary is sorted – we just need a buddy to take on our adventure!
Artwork by Handmade by Rimabella, via Facebook
Look no further than the adorable creations of fiber artist extraordinaire Handmade By Rimabella. A long-time Supanova Exhibitor, Sydneysiders will have most likely come across her cute and creative crochet work at one time or another whilst exploring the show floor.
Having crocheted everything from a wearable Infinite Gauntlet to a life-size Master Yoda, Rima tells us that a single design can take anywhere from half an hour to several months to complete. A recent project even required some recovery time as a result of difficult materials! She explains, “It had taken me quite a while to make using T-shirt yarn, which is much harder than using regular yarn. By the time I had completed it, I had to take a week off for my hands to recover.”
Was it worth it? Rima seems to think so, citing her life-size baby seal plush as her favourite creation! (Yes, you read that right: LIFE-SIZE BABY SEAL PLUSH). We’d talk you through her creative process, but she’s actually got that covered, too, selling her crochet patterns via Etsy. If like us you’re a little rusty on your stitching, you can shop the no-crocheting-required Handmade By Rimabella range on Facebook.
Handmade by Rimabella | /au/shop/RimabellaBeanies/ | handmade_by_rimabella
Loving these Supa-Cute creations as much as we are? Be sure to click the links above and pay these awesome artists a visit when you next see them exhibiting at Supanova!
LEAD IMAGE: Promotional image by The Owl & The Serpent, Drifloon Statement Earrings by This Kawaii Life, Spring Collection artwork by SiennaUnknown, and Grogu in his pod by Handmade by Rimabella (via Facebook).
