(The Handmade Story} Chunchitos & Co.

Ever wonder how some designers name their business and products? It is no surprise that some names may come naturally to some people while some were named after their favourite words. We had a great time chatting with Lucy from Chunchitos and getting to know more about her as she tells the story of her adventure in her colourful world of birds, owls and cupcakes. As we walked through the interview, we also discovered her diversity and unique personality. Here’s the story…

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and Chunchitos & Co. How did you get the name?

Well, I’m a graphic designer and I graduated from university on December 5, 2005. I still remember it like it was yesterday. The girl inside of me has always wanted to be a painter. I have always liked to draw and paint and I love drawing in my notebook in class during my high school years. Also during high school, I liked to “customize” my jeans and on one occasion I decorated them with paper clips! That was something crazy and fun. When I was in university, I love to recycle old papers, notebooks, frames, etc.

The name “Chunchitos” was born in a very spontaneous and fast manner. When the project began, my sister who was helping me with it asked me, “What are you going to call these “chunches”?” Without thinking, I replied her and said “Chunchitos”. In Mexico, when the people are too lazy to give a name to a group of small things, they refer to them as “chunches”. Chunchitos itself sounds like a small thing, (because it’s minuscule) beautiful, gentle, cheerful and alive!

2. How did you get started in doing what you do? How long have you been creating?

I started creating in April 2007 when I was unemployed but I was curious since November 2006. Back then, I was searching for an image of a tree in Google and the moment I found it, it wowed me! I was thinking how is it possible to have the tree figures done so beautifully. I started to make some fishes, birds, small owls, giant pandas and a cup. At first, the creations were not very nice but practice makes perfect, they say. My first fashion accessory, a pigeon, had more style and was more artistic. Later I also made felt roses with leaves and a little celestial tulle, which I still have. In the beginning I just used felt, tulle and a sort of cotton. At that time I did not know much about fabrics but was curious and wanted to learn more and more about them.

3. Where do you get your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from everywhere. I like fonts, nature, birds and mosaics. I also love textile designs. I’ll start to create things from there.

4. How do you find balance between your creative life and your loved ones?

It is very easy because my life is full of creativity. My family supports me 100%, and they help me a lot. For example, they would help me in some decisions when I do not know which material to use or whether to use buttons on my creations or not. I would have struggled without their support and my boyfriend has also been very supportive and encouraging, especially when I am designing and making new creations.

5. What was your first creation? Do you have a favourite?

My first creation was a small bird, but my first artistic and more detailed creation was a pink pigeon. I love birds. Yes, I have a favourite and owls are my favourite creation. My owl creation is called “Doroteos”, I liked them so much that I made 5 of them. When I was creating the third owl, I thought about a name for the owls and named them Doroteos. I created one of the owls from a page taken from an old book titled Don Quijote de la Mancha. The page holds the sentence, “I am Dorotea, daughter of”, you could read this on the owl.

6. What is your favourite colour?

What is my favorite color? That is an easy question, I love blue, orange and pink. Because I am a Latina, I like colors that are full of life and joy.

7. Do you like cupcakes?

Yes, I like cupcakes! Chocolates, coffee and sour candy too!

8. What is the cupcakes geeks story?

Well, I once had some cupcake key chains in yellow, purple, and pink and recently, I thought geeks are fashionable in many ways. The Big Bang Theory is a good example for this. And because a lot of people like cupcakes too for its wide variety of flavours, shapes and colours, I decided to create cupcakes geeks. It was easy to start creating them, but it also took me a long time. The first one took me about 2.5 hours to create.

9. What do you do to relax?

I love listening to loud music and I have various taste in music. I love Algerian rai music, the music of North Africa. Besides, I also like gypsy music, flamenco, bossa nova Brazilian music, music from Greece, France and Italy. I love listening to music when I am cleaning or when I just want to relax.

More of Chunchitos creations:

Visit Chunchitos blog here: http://www.chunchitos.blogspot.com/

Chunchitos’ Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/chunchitos.handmade